I would say that the focus wasn't there. Season one pretty much killed the entire show, because the attention was mainly on the drama of the characters (who for the most part are dull, uninteresting or some cases repulsive). The episode where they find that newly formed star system with the Eden world, perfect example, they have a great opportunity to explore and discover and all we get is literally 5 seconds of that, the rest might as well be set on Dawson's Creek when the group goes to summer camp. Season two tried to change up some aspects, but it was only skin deep as far as I'm concerned.
Also the show was incredibly boring, now I'm not some rapid 5 year old who demands explosions. I like Star Trek, most of that is people sat, standing, floating around talking. It was the situation and how they dealt that made the drama.
Speaking of the characters, the only decent one was Rush because he has an actual motive in the story that involves Destiny, everyone else is just there for the ride, no one else shows any kind of interest on the ship, the nature of the ship, purpose etc. Only Rush. I've said this a few times before but the whole 'we wanna go home' should of gone out of the window from episode 1, because any time you have an episode which involves them finding a way back home, and its only the first season, you know its going to fail, so why bother? The pining for home could of been done in little character moments when they remember back- funnily enough the episode Time did that and that was the best episode, but because it was a time loop in the past, it didn't happen so we don't actually see the characters grow naturally. It is so frustrating to see potential actually there only to be snuffed out, buried under the weight of melodrama.
The other characters were for the most part just boring and uninteresting. The problem for me was their function on the ship and/or group. They give so much attention time to characters who shouldn't be there, when there are perfectly capable ones just hanging around. Point in case. Lt Scott and Lt James. Scott is a pilot, one of two, so why send him out on ground deployments? Why would you trust in the judgement of a pilot who has little to no infantry skills outside of escape and evasion? Lt James on the other hand, well firstly she isn't a pilot so therefore is part of the ground defense team so has extended training in that manner. Greer would be my second choice mostly because he is USMC and a senior ranking NCO, so his judgement and experience in ground based operations puts him head and shoulders above any commissioned officer seen in SGU, however I would put him in fleet protection role/ship security.
I'm not trying to say we should give James a chance because she is a woman, but because she is by default the most logical choice for the current situation based on her rank and experience. Now keep in mind, James had been in the Icarus base for quite some time, and Scott is a new arrival, so by default of commission date he would be following her orders.