Stargate Universe Season 2 Premiere (9/28/2010)

Cafe Society
1

So, has anybody else watched this? I was surprised to see an episode of SGU recorded on my DVR, and at first I thought it must have recorded a season 1 repeat because I haven’t seen a single commercial or any kind of promotion of season 2 starting up again. But it was, indeed, the season premiere of season 2! It airs on Tuesday nights, now. I know Stargate fans are divided on this iteration, but I like the darker tone this series has compared to the cartoonish SG: McKay… I mean, SG: Atlantis.

So we pick up where the season 1 cliffhanger left us, with Scott and Greer on the exterior of the ship, running for their lives toward an airlock before the next wave of deadly radiation from the nearby pulsar hits, TJ has been shot, and the Lucian Alliance invaders are in control of the ship, mostly.

Scott and Greer, of course, survive. Keva (or whatever), the Lucian leader played by Rhona Mitra last season, dies from her gunshot wounds inflicted by Colonel Lou Diamond Telford. He was shot, too, but survives. Eli and the hot girl join up with Scott, Greer, Rush, and other-scientist dude in a control room that the Lucians haven’t found yet.

Rush devises a plan to get back control of the ship and, long story short, it works! But not before the Lucians have put most of Destiny’s passengers through the gate to some barren, stormy planet where Major Boobs–I mean, Lt. James (Oh, how I have missed Lt. Boobs!)–gets knocked on her tuckus by some nearby lightning. A few of the Lucians who disagreed with the new commander are stranded on the planet, too. But once Rush’s plan works, everyone is brought back on board Destiny.

During all this, TJ has some kind of weird dream-like out-of-body experience where she visits the planet that some of the people decided to remain on in season 1. Her baby is there with her, already born. That one dude, Cane, tells her that her baby can stay, but she made her choice and has to leave. The aliens who made the planet are making these decisions. In the end, TJ wakes up on Destiny, recovering from her wounds, but they tell her that her unborn baby didn’t make it. When the Destiny jumps to a new location, she sees a nebula-like formation that is exactly like the light Cane showed her in the sky during her dream-visit to the planet. So it was all real? I’m not sure what to make of this subplot. Was it just a contrived way of explaining away her baby so that they don’t have to write a child into the script each week? They didn’t want to just have the baby die, so they concocted this mystical alien abduction? In any event, I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of the planet-builders, and I fear the sci-fi cliche in which the child will return one day as some sort of savior.

Also, hot girl (Chloe) seems to be healing from her gunshot wound to the leg unnaturally quickly. What does this mean? Some sort of aftereffect from her abduction by the aliens in season 1?

Is the move to Tuesday nights a good thing for this show? I actually kind of looked forward to watching it on the weekends, but it doesn’t matter that much to me. There’s not much else I watch on Tuesdays besides Glee, and I’m giving the new show *No Ordinary Family *a shot.

2

I just caught it. I wonder if the move to Tuesdays is a death sentence or something?

Very strange sub-story with TJ. I agree, they needed to get rid of the kid. Odd way to get rid of it. That and what’s her face’s leg healing were deus ex machina-ish. Are these solar system building aliens just going to pop in and fix things here and there as needed? Where’s the tension when they have guardian angels?

I like the new bad guy turned good guy. He’s good as anyone on this show can be, that is.

3

I don’t know why getting rid of the kid was necessary. I think it would add to the element of them being stuck there. It’s tough to get childeren being capable of carrying a role though, soi anticipated accelerated aging. I still think that may be what is happening here,

4

I watched it, and will continue to, but the show has no kick, no real suspense. You know everything is going to work out.

Even with those negatives, the producers can make it interesting. Give us a truly unexpected twist to sink our teeth into. Turn Chloe into a machine. Put the actor who plays Eli on a 1000 calorie a day diet IRL, and show Eli getting thinner right before our eyes as a result of his interaction with an element of alien technology. Something.

5

I have a feeling that Chloe’s healing is going to turn into something worse, but I’m tired of the whole “reset everything back to normal after two episodes” thing this show has. They need to take a page from Lost and raise the stakes. Kill off someone important to show that no one is safe.

6

I had no idea SGU was back! :eek: Granted it and Caprica are the only things I watch on SyFy so I haven’t tuned into that channel for months. Apparently Caprica is coming back this Tuesday, after SGU. Why the hell did they both move to Tuesday? :confused:

7

i’m trying to decide how significant the subplot with the nebula and planet builders is. It feels a little like the worm hole aliens from deep shit 9 (I mean that affectionately). That worked out pretty well for the show I think. It was an interesting perspective certainly - the idea of time being like a dimensionless point.

I don’t really see them as being guardian angels. The idea that TJ had to be responsible for her decision to leave, even if it was forced, implies that they aren’t going to interfere just to avoid the consequences of choices that are made.

Regardless, I’m not sure I like the idea of getting dragged back to that planet a couple of times over the course of the season. I guess it will depend on how broad an interest these aliens have in the SG crew. Are they like a stray cat that gets adopted as a pet and given a brand new solar system to call their own, or is there something more important going on. A new nebula could imply they are dropping solar systems along the way just like Destiny is dropping stargates. That would be pretty bizarre, but I don’t think the nebula is going to remain a nebula for long.

It could be very hackneyed and trite or it could be really interesting. I hope we’re not disappointed.

8

I really hope they don’t do this. I hate shows with thousands of non-cohesive twists twists that end up as loose ends never to be mentioned again. It’s lazy writing. The only reason I saw the end of BSG is because I happened to see an episode neer the end and decided to watch it through the last half of season four. That show was tedious even then.

9

I liked it. I still don’t get why the Lucians wanted the ship. They should be going after targets in their own galaxy. The ship is pretty useless strategically. It’s only interesting as a scientific exploration vehicle. I hope they don’t try and make it even more Voyager by having the leftover Lucians join the crew. Although red headed techie chick would be a nice addition.

Also didn’t quite get the baby thing. The aliens stole the baby. Except it was all a dream. Except it wasn’t because the pretty space lights are in the sky. So is there a dead baby in the sickbay or not? If there is, and the aliens also have the baby, did they do some sort of transporter duplication?

I wonder if Telford will take over as new commander. And if he’ll stop being a dick now that he isn’t brainwashed.

It’s still better than the ‘reset by the end of the same episode’ that the other Stargates had. When the Dr got left behind, that was a pretty surprising moment. Although since he found his way back, they can’t really do something like that again without making it stick.

They already had Warehouse 13 on Tuesdays. So it’s not a new thing. Instead of everything on Friday now they are having some on Friday and some on Tuesday.

10

Did I miss something? I must have. How did the real Telford get on the ship? Did he gate in with the Lucien Alliance?

11

Would WWE Smackdown have been a good lead in at the original day, Friday?

12

Yes. They kidnapped Rush (in Telford’s body via the stones) and made him do the math or whatever to open the 2nd gate to Destiny, then they brought him with them.

13

Ah, that’s right. Thanks.

14

I hope they handle the integration/tension between the surviving Lucians and the crew better than Star Trek: Voyager did with Federation and Maquis.

I saw it telegraphed that the female Lucian operator would turn on the crazed Lucian leader with the smack-to-the-seemingly-incompetent-subordinate scene earlier on.

15

Speaking of her, where have I seen her before? She’s definitely familiar, but I can’t quite place her.

16

Supernatural, most recently. She was the rogue angel.

Yeah, it was bugging me, too.

17

Also she’s done 20 episodes on Mad Men as Hildy.

18

I got curious and went ahead and looked her up: Julie McNiven. She was Pete Campbell’s secretary on Mad Men.

19

Bugging me too, now that you mention it. I like her, and hope she and the other good/bay guy can stir things up around the ship. Maybe they could be a bit more proactive about their situation instead of mostly sitting around, having sex, trying to kill each other and then reacting to everything.

Speaking of the ship, I was thinking today that for a ship which has managed to survive for a million years Destiny sure has had a string of bad luck. What did she used to do, when she flew into solar systems that aren’t supposed to be there and pulsars that surely are detectable from a ways away?

20

The former didn’t cause any issues, and the latter was caused by the Lucians activating the gate.