SGU

[elz]

I skipped the pre-game on this show and figured I'd watch it and see what I thought. So:

-They're clearly trying to take a different, more ambitious approach with the storytelling, the directing and the character dynamics (one suspects Wright and Cooper have been watching BSG), and on the one hand, that's not a bad idea, given that after 15 seasons of SG-1 and SGA, they'd kind of run through their stock of ideas of what to do with the standard SG formula. On the other hand, it'll be interesting to see if they can pull it off, and if they'll even keep on trying: SGA was initially a lot darker, but they backpedeled to a more familiar model after Season 1.

-So far, this series seems to be primarily about Dr. Rush and what a crazy motherfucker he is. And hey - Robert Carlyle. I'm willing to stick around and see where that's going for now.

-I found myself really liking the guy who played the colonel, despite the fact that he spent half the episode unconscious and I don't know what his name is. Also liked Scott, and liked Eli well enough. Have vaguely optimistic feelings about TJ(?) and Chloe.

-I feel like Brad Wright is the kind of guy who loves Star Trek and wants to make tv shows with the same (theoretical, at least) ethos of diversity, and creates shows with diverse casts... and then fails on the follow-through again and again and keeps giving the vast majority of the dialogue and action to the white guys. Ming-Na had, like, three lines! And she works for the IOA. *wince* And Greer - there's one black guy in the cast, and he's the one who gets anger management issues and a disciplinary problem? Eesh. Flipside: he already has more personality and backstory than poor Ford. Maybe they'll actually remember to give him a storyline going forward?

-I am somewhat confused as to how Lou Diamond Phillips is a regular on this show if he's not on the ship. I kept wondering if he'd died and I'd just missed it until I saw the preview.

-The Senator's death was too obviously inevitable to be all that moving, but I did at least like that a) these people aren't inured to death (yet) and b) most of the characters weren't actually eager to volunteer to be the one to die. And a noble, self-sacrificing US Senator - that's not something you see on tv (...or off) every day.

-The Ancient communicators were a good idea - you're able to have the characters interact with people back on Earth without undercutting the tension by allowing them to travel back and forth. Then again, sometimes "cut off from Earth" stories work best if you're actually totally cut off from Earth.

-SG-1 fangirl moments: Jack showing up on a random civilian's doorstep and scaring the crap out of him with a straight face was funny, but for some reason, the neverending 'Daniel Jackson Explains It All' videotape really cracked me up. And Sam fighting bad guys on the Hammond! And Dr. Lee!

-Someone on a Stargate show had sex onscreen! Golly.

-You're on an old, abandoned, damaged spaceship with failing life support and you think it's a good idea to force open sealed bulkheads? That's Darwin Award stupid right there.

-In some ways, this feels like the anti-Atlantis, like the writers are revisiting the same general premise and making different choices with it. The opening scene really struck me that way, like the darker, chaotic mirror of the orderly, wonder-filled entry to Atlantis in Rising. They don't have the right people, they don't have the right supplies, nobody's sure who's in charge, there's open fear and hostility between the characters. There's no Sam or Daniel or Rodney who can immediately figure out what's going on. And it could be really neat to see them figure things out, to find their own equilibrium. There's also no alien enemy, no threat to Earth, the galaxy or the universe. The enemy is themselves; the enemy is each other.

So, we'll see. If I like how the character dynamics play out, I'll keep watching, and if I don't, I probably won't.