bipedI'd say you were a lot nicer to this new show than I would be. But then, you're a newcomer to the whole Stargate thing so the overall feeling of betrayal isn't there. This is Battlestargate SGalactica. All I felt after the first episode was porrly-paced melodrama and a severe lack of truly likable characters. I'm not saying anyone from SG-1 or Atlantis was a great actor, but they all made their characters feel fun. Universe is an example of "overdoing it", especially when it comes to the drama. On SG-1 you'd have some 6 or 7 episodes of action, suspense and some awesome pseudoscience with a few sprinkles of humor and even some slight drama. Then once in a while you'd get an episode where someone important dies, a huge event that makes everyone sad happens, or even a hideous two-parter in season enders. One major difference between Universe and SG-1, especially the early seasons of the latter, is that SG-1 was episodic and clever. The whole problem for the writers was coming up with something new every episode. Universe absolves the writers of such things by making something that would last, at most, 3 episodes on SG-1 into an entire series. Instead of focusing on bad guys and conflict, it focuses on how people feel. Personal relationships and hardship brought on by being on this big awesome ship. Oh, and of course, every episode they have to figure out how to fix something or solve some problem on the ship.
I'm not saying this is a bad format. It's not one I like, but it's the kind of format shows like BSG and Lost thrive on. Sure, there are little twists and all but in the end, it's a drawn-out attempt at telling a very long story. This is effectively what fiction on TV has become in general. Again, not necessarily a bad thing. There's a deep plot, good acting, deep story but in the end, it all feels like a hollow attempt to cash in on some of that sweet Battlestar money while completely alienating the only people who aren't confused about the background of the show.
I told myself I'd watch a few episodes, let the show take off. I figured after half a season the writers would get the ratings in and find out that a huge chunk of the audience was tuning out. It's not that I expect an SG-1 or even Atlantis clone. I didn't get into Atlantis at first either, but after some bumps, it finally took off. I'm really hoping SGU starts leaning more into the "action-adventure" kind of show I watched for 15 seasons (10 of SG-1 and 5 of Atlantis) instead of sticking with this boring, exposition-filled melodrama.
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Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants.
