Stargate Universe

It's no secret that I am a fan of genre television. But while I am a fan, I am also very picky about my sci fi shows. And while I loved Stargate (the movie), I was never a fan of SG1, and I hated SG Atlantis with a passion that has not really diminished even after the show ended.

So I had no real interest in Stargate Universe. The premise is, well, fucking stupid. Trapped on an Ancient Stargate Ship; that stops only occasionally for 12 hours? W-T-F? But even with that I usually will check out a show; at least watch the pilot. And SGU was no exception.

So color me surprised, I actually liked what I saw, despite it's inherent problems. You see, a show can survive a fucking stupid premise if done right. And from what I was seeing, SGU was doing it right 90% of the time. Sure there were problems, but SGU succeeded by NOT trying to be SG1 or Atlantis. (If anything, that is why Atlantis was just so bad of a show, it tried to be nothing more than SG1 with slicker technology). Star Trek TNG could get away with that, because it was mimicing a show that had been off the air for years; but Atlantis was mimicing a show still on the air for it's first season. It was already state before it even got it's legs out from under it.

SGU succeeds by placing the characters in a difficult situation, and then playing that. There is no McCoy there to provide instant answers. In fact, very few answers are presented in the show so far. And the challenges presented in the first few episodes are all realistic, serious, and very much play off the concept of surviving only to delay the inevitable. The SGU group are not in charge, and they are not in any position to deal with the problem.

Which gets to my 1 specific problem with the premise that I can't look over. These people are supposed to be the 'wrong people for the job'. Civilians, scientistis, etc, shifting factions and all that. Which to me, is 100% BS. These people were all sent to a remote planet 22 light years from Earth, on a military base studying ancient technology; and they act like 2 year olds? Give me a break, these people would be the best and the brightest.

If the pilot had been an episode of SG Atlantis, by the end of the pilot; they would have completely taken over the ship; repaired it completely, used the stargate for some random reason (just because Stargate is in the name of the show); and gotten into shooting war with a mysterious new dominant race bent on destroying/enslaving/eating humanity. Instead, by the end of the SGU pilot; they know very little of about the ship (other than that it is very old and badly damaged). They are running out of air, and they have no obvious way of fixing it; and one of them had to die just to give them some time to find a solution.

By concentrating on the internal threats and character dynamics, leaving the external threats elemental and insolvable; SGU manages to become something more than the sum of it's parts. And that these characters, many of which really aren't that likable, become so fascinating to watch and they duck, weave, and try to survive, really shows that SGU is trying to be less action oriented, and more cerebral.

I still think that eventually the flavor of the show will turn more SG1ish later, once a lot of these problems begin to be resolved, but for now I intend to watch more of it and see where this show goes.