Stargate Universe, week 3, Darkness
There are some out there who would call this “weak 3″ of the show. This is definitely the slowest pacing of a Stargate series yet. The premiere was good, but mostly consisted of people freaking out (understandably) about the situation they were in. By the end of the premiere they at least had a plan to survive for a little while longer, with the help of the ship’s guidance and Rush’s ability to interpret what the ship is doing. Week 2 had them following up on the ship’s help by walking around a desert planet looking for better sand (to use in the air filter), while having some character moments. Now in week 3, we get to the exhaustion of the power reserves (the second huge survival issue introduced in the pilot), along with more character moments.
Let’s face it, at this point, almost any single episode of SG-1 or SGA had more action than these last three weeks combined.
This kind of slow pacing is a risk. A huge risk, I think. They can get away with it for maybe another week or two before the audience expecting the zat guns and space battles give up, but only because they’re into the franchise already and are hoping it starts to remind them of the SG-1 and SGA shows.
On the other hand, they’re setting up a starting point with a couple of basic premises:
- They’re alone. The universe is a big place and they can’t just stop at the local Qwiki-Mart for some roadside assistance. This is alluded to in the the other SGs, but it’s more palpable here.
- They’re in over their heads. Even the smartest guy in the room doesn’t get to miraculously intuit the solution to every problem. There is no Rodney/Sam super-smart quick-fix in the last 10 minutes.
I actually like that they’re setting the mood this way, and there really aren’t any shortcuts for this. They have to feel like they are really out of control and not a single one of them, even the brainiac, can do anything about it, and no one is going to swoop in to save them.
(FYI – minor spoilers ahead)
That said, they’re not doing quite enough character work in this “down time” – or maybe more accurately, they’re not doing it the way I’d like to see it. Take Young, for example. It was mildly interesting that he went back to his wife and they tried to touch on how his (and her) choices have ruined his marriage, but unless they’re really going to use that in the future, that time should have been spent on other characters or on more characters working the problem (and continuing to come up empty).
And that points out the biggest plot hole in this show thus far: the communication stones. Unlike some comments I’ve read, I really like that the communication stones give us some connection back to Earth and more dramatic potential. The problem is that during this moment of crisis, they’re using it for nothing more than reporting back and crying. Why are they not switching in some experts? Why not bring in a Sam, or a Rodney, or a team of smart people, and have them try to help? You could still have the crying parts where the regulars continue to go say goodbye to their friends on Earth while the useful people do some work on the ship. It’s just an extension of what Young says when he berates the engineers on the ship… they’ve just given up, leaving only Rush and Eli to “work the problem.”
After the pilot, I made some predictions. One of them came true this week (faster than I expected):
Somebody will use a Keno to spy on someone else in the shower or some other compromising location.
There you go. The most obvious childish situation. Glad we got it out of the way.
The other stupid thing? The group that wants to use Eli as a mole. Give me a break. Just get over yourselves and ask questions in the meetings.
Some people really have a problem with Rush. While he is annoying, I actually think he’s a really well written and acted character. He’s the guy who always knows the answer, and has prepared for this, but is STILL out of his depth. He’s scared and feels the responsibility to keep everyone safe, but knows he can’t – and he also can’t admit it, even to himself. Still, that leaves him as an annoying jerk, which can be grating to watch for an extended period. They’ll have to soften him up a bit over time.
The one who bothers me is Greer. Can’t stand that guy, or the way the actor is portraying him.
Now, my prediction for next week. And if nothing else was spoilerish enough for you, this gives away the ending to the Darkness episode, so be warned.
The ship is low on power, yes. It has skimmed a planet to slingshot it into the heart of the solar system, yes. Everyone thinks the ship has done that to give them some way to help themselves, and that the plan has failed because they ship screwed up the slingshot and it heading directly into the sun. So they’re all going to die… NO! The ship’s not that stupid. It’s deliberately heading directly for the sun because that’s how it recharges itself! The entire episode will consist of everyone freaking out and figuring out how to abandon ship, and in the end it’ll be impossible and they’ll be crying and screaming again – but then the ship will head right through the sun and be recharged, and everyone will be safe, thus proving that the puny humans know nothing. They are there as tools for the ship, not the other way around.
After they fix these first basic survival issues, they’ll begin to start encountering aliens with bodies (as opposed to the whirlwind alien they don’t realize they met last week). By the end of the season, the pace will have increased, and it will feel more important and dramatic because they’ve started at such a slow speed. I can’t say that Darkness stands out to me as a great episode, but I do think it contributes well to the series, which I still think will pay off in the end.
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Tags: QYDJ, spoilers, Stargate, stargate universe
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October 18th, 2009 at 11:44 am
came here through QYDJ.
They do have to change Rush to keep him being a believable character. That he’s irritating isn’t too bad, but the fact he’s not listening to even the smallest notion of rationality at any point in time became a bit too much for me.
I think you’re spot on with the sun-recharging bit. That should finish up the ‘oh noes our ship is going to break down’ storyline for a while, because they can’t seriously expect to make that last a season.
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Jeff says:
October 18th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I don’t get that he’s not listening to rationality (except, perhaps, right before he collapsed). The problem really seems to be that no one is listening to him (though he doesn’t make it easy for them). He’s right that the power consumption was a huge problem and people were turning things on anyway – not just to do it, in many cases, but under orders. He’s working himself beyond his own limits to try to solve this problem and is frantic about it. He’s got the problems identified, but no one really believes him. You’re not going to work very hard at a solution if you don’t believe there’s a problem, and it would take too long for him to convince them. Young does seem to be getting it now. And Young’s approach is correct. Rush needs to confide in him (and vice-versa, at least for a time).
He was a bit of a baby on the desert planet, though.
Yeah, this next episode will take care of the immediate survival issues, I think. Then they’ll move on to “how do I control this ship?” at which point they’ll begin to create some problems accidentally. Then they’ll start meeting other races.
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October 18th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
My main dislike of the communication stones is that it takes away slightly from the situation that they find themselves in, I would have loved to see a scenario where they are literally on their own. I really want to see the highly trained military types go into proper survival mode and take over the situation. I mean they are trained for survival situations yet the only one apart from the commander, who seems to be adapting to the predicament is the chef (which I think is awesome btw).
I’m sure that Rush is being brilliantly performed and all of the justifications for his behaviour are completely valid but if your main character is a nasty jerk all of the time it’s not going to work, even House has his moments where you feel for the character, mind you I stopped watching that show a while back purely because I only have a little time for various shows and the House character grates on me too much.
I like Young, I think he is going to be a really cool character as long as that young officer doesn’t over shadow him.
I’ll give you my exclusive prediction: When the ship powers back up from its sun bake the Destiny will have an AI system like Andromeda or the Doctor on Voyager. Something to relate to.
Lee Sargent´s last blog ..So it has now been three years – blog anniversary
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Jeff says:
October 18th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Nice prediction. That never occurred to me. I kind of hope they don’t go that way, but I gotta agree that it’s a good possibility.
Agreed about Rush and Young. I also think that “recipes…” line was one of the best in the episode.
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Lee Sargent says:
October 18th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Actually there should be double point awarded if the avatar for the ship is indeed female in appearance.
I too hope they don’t go down this path. I really don’t want that intelligent a ship
Lee Sargent´s last blog ..So it has now been three years – blog anniversary
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October 27th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
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