General Discussion & Recap/Review Thread: SGU Episode 02 - "Aftermath"

[Overmind One]

Thats what I got.

The corridor outside the bridge looked different than the one he walked into when he left Dr Park. When I watched it I immediately thought that they skipped showing you the journey he took to get to the bridge. It even appeared that he entered some kind of code to get both doors leading to the bridge open.

Thats exactly what I got from watching it. They simply skipped him walking from Park to the Bridge. The place where the bridge is is far away from where Park was and where they usually are. The design of the corridors gave it away for me as well.

But what did you think of the episode itself?

 

[Tanith]

But what did you think of the episode itself?

Was a little slow at the start but I got into it later on. For the explanation given as to why the LA came to the Destiny I just went "Fair enough". There is no practical reason for them to go there so I sort of assumed it was some sort of religious reason, following up on the 'legend' of the 9th chevron.

About Rush seeing his wife it could be 1 of 3 things: Severe sleep deprivation causing hallucinations, Hes going completely bonkers or it is like he suggests the ship manifesting itself in that form in order to communicate with him. I found it a little ironic that he told someone who wasn't there that Young is mentally unstable. I like the fact that he finally has control of Destiny's systems and that he is even keeping it to himself for the time being.

On to the shuttle crash: brilliant visuals, the crash itself was done extremely well in my opinion. Riley was probably the most well known secondary character in the series so killing him off in that way was a little unexpected and certainly 'darker' than what we've seen before in the series. Some fans are annoyed that he was killed off but to me it shows that not everyone is safe. I kinda hope that they kill off a member of the main cast in the near future to truly get across that anyone can die.

Unburring the Gate fully by using a C4 blast was a little convenient but I didn't really mind that too much. I quite liked the little warning Eli gave about what could happen when you trigger an explosion next to a Stargate.

Overall I enjoyed the episode, but I personally still prefer 'Time' to this one.

 

[SexyDexy]

For me Time was better...

Okay I just watched it. I agree that this episode didn't suck as much as the others I've seen (except for Time, which I liked better), but imo this episode still sucked. I managed to avoid the fast-forward button, however, so that says something.

But as to parts that I actually "liked" of this episode - it was basically only 7 or 8 minutes. The part with the red-headed girl (although come on, legends, god-like powers? please…sounds a little familiar…), the shuttle crash (although the girly screams as it was on it's way down were very distracting), Telford telling Young to follow orders, Varro's scenes and I guess the Riley death part - but that part didn't really ellicit an emotional response for me, just because I don't give a crap about the characters. (Thought Ferreira did a good acting job tho.)

The characters are the real problem, and what I think is the unfixable one, or SGU's "fatal flaw" if you will. Even in the "okay" episodes I just don't care about the characters. At all. Except for Varro and the Ginn girl. I also don't feel a sense of mystery or interest to find out what the mission is. Rush's line: "This ship was named Destiny for a reason" fell very flat to me.

And then there were the parts w/ the "projections" of the wife and Franklin. Those parts were very prominent in the episode, and they stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I thought it was a sloppy writing device to show Rush's internal struggles - and not only that, but most of it was actually superfluous. Meaning, we could have gotten enough information from Rush just making worried expressions and seeing buzzing warnings on the consoles at appropriate times. That said, I get the impression that the writers may view those scenes as the KEY scenes - to introduce the "ship" as sentient or whatever it is they are doing - which just goes to show they plan on taking the show more and more towards what I find to be a pretentious "spiritual" direction.

They hit on the spirituality stuff in the scene w/ Riley and TJ - with the light coming through the window, and the baby-talk - I thought it was very cheesy. Now, I don't have anything against spiritual themes, per say, but the way they are handling the themes here just does not work for me - it feels like they are trying way too hard to be "deep," but they are missing the mark.

And Young losing it and almost killing that LA guy? Hmmm…I wonder why Telford didn't just tell the SGC about that and then take command after that. Wasn't Telford supposed to be in charge anyway? I can't remember now…

 

[MetalFoldingChair]

Maybe it's just me but the impression I got was that Rush had found the bridge at an earlier time and in "Aftermath" he was just getting back to it to check it out more. I don't think that he found it in that brief moment they showed us.

They're rushing points that should be clarified more and really slowing down on trivial, "heart wrenching" moments like killing off a minor cast member. Their attempt to get me to empathize with the guy they killed off was too contrived for my tastes. Such heavy handed emotional manipulation is to me, a turn off. It would have been more impactful had they just had the guy die in the crash upon impact. Having deep, spiritual discussions with other crew members is boring as was having Young mercy kill the guy. Oh, I get it, Young has all this weight on his shoulders and has to make the hard decisions. Yawn.

Also, they should have shown more of how they ditched the Maquis -- sorry, the LA crew. It's all too rushed and forced. It's like they're saying, 'Okay, we have to hurry up and add some regulars to the cast so now all the extras can leave for the day. Pick up your checks on your way out, fellas.' I know we don't want them to slow down the "action" anymore than they have, but seriously, it's like the writers focus on all the stuff that we don't care about at all.

I know when someone is attempting to spoon feed me and I especially know when someone is trying to shove a funnel into my gullet and force feed me crap. This show is pretty much the latter.

 

[ChromeToasterX]

Well, this episode was certainly a major step up from the dullness that was Intervention, but it still had some problems. I'm not sure whether the screenwriter and director were talking to each other when it came to the Rush scenes, because while the initial reveal implied that Rush had going there for a while, the dialogue seemed to do the opposite. The crash was just poorly executed in terms of the exterior visuals, especially the part where the shuttle clips the mountain. Young killing Riley was a mistake in terms of the overall course of the show, because the secondary characters are far more interesting than most of the main cast. There were some pretty major problems with the pacing, with the Alliance stuff being horrifically rushed in order to fit in the episode along with the other moderately paced plots.

 

[Loheat]

I agree with the review, this episode had a lot of promise but ended up squandering some of it. The main problem I had was how quickly they got the Stargate uncovered. They seemed to gloss over the whole "oh shit we're stranded" part with how quickly they uncovered the gate. They could have played that part out a little better, added some more desperation, maybe give Eli a brilliant idea on how to get the gate out faster. It was obvious that the point of it all was Riley's death, and not the fact that they were stranded and they were all at risk with being left behind.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the cop-out with the Lucian Alliance crew. So they pretty much are going to keep all the interesting Lucian Alliance members on board (Like those played by Mike Dopud and Robert Knepper) while dumping all the no-names. Just like the big cop-out in the premiere with TJ's baby.

Still, this was one of the best SGU episodes and a step in the right direction

 

[ChromeToasterX]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the cop-out with the Lucian Alliance crew. So they pretty much are going to keep all the interesting Lucian Alliance members on board (Like those played by Mike Dopud and Robert Knepper) while dumping all the no-names. Just like the big cop-out in the premiere with TJ's baby.

Knepper got kicked off the ship IIRC. I saw someone with his haircut get sent through the gate at the end.

 

[sp23]

So... they finally killed off Riley. I figured he was doomed because he was one of the minor characters I actually kind of liked.

I didn't hate the episode, but I didn't think it great either. I'm so over Rush's machinations. Why hide the goddamn bridge from everyone? Are you really that afraid that someone will find out how to gate everyone home, and you'll miss your chance to die millions of light years from home? As for avatar wife, to be honest, I hated the Baltar/Six crap in BSG, and I don't like it any better here. At least Rush hasn't bent Gloria over a table to have at. Yet. :puke:

Clearing the completely buried Stargate with a pack of C4 and the brute strength of five people without heavy equipment in a couple of hours? Yeah, I call bullshit

And this group just really suck at rescue missions. They couldn't have brought some kind of equipment and some burly men and at least attempted free Riley? He might of died, but just maybe they could have saved him. Of course, then we wouldn't have had the touching scene of Young smothering a man to death.

And to anyone who as yet doesn't think that Young is totally batshit insane, I point to the riot scene when he continued to bash the LA soldier's head into the floor until Telford pulled him off. Perhaps the casting sheet should have named him Everett "Psycho" Young. Bug. Fuck. Crazy.

Knepper got kicked off the ship IIRC. I saw someone with his haircut get sent through the gate at the end.

No, he's there with about eight others including Varro & Ginn.

 

[Loheat]

Knepper got kicked off the ship IIRC. I saw someone with his haircut get sent through the gate at the end.

I think you're wrong, Knepper is slated to do a few more episodes in Season 2. I know they showed a shot of a few of the people left behind, and the consensus on Gayteworld is that Simeon, Varro, and Ginn were all there.

In response to people wondering why the Lucian Alliance want the ship, and why the Destiny would be of use if predates Atlantis, I don't think the Destiny itself is necessarily the answer, but it could be where it is going. We know the Destiny has gone farther than any other ship seen in Stargate, and Rush theorizes that the Destiny was designed to be manned and the gates used as stops to replenish supplies, so it is possible that Destiny is important because it is going somewhere, and not for what it is.

Just my 2 cents on that bit

 

[Tanith]

Knepper got kicked off the ship IIRC. I saw someone with his haircut get sent through the gate at the end.

No offence but how could you miss that he was one of the LA who got to stay? they even zoomed in on Varro and him.

 

[PegDIG2004]

What the hell was that?

So... they finally killed off Riley. I figured he was doomed because he was one of the minor characters I actually kind of liked.

I didn't hate the episode, but I didn't think it great either. I'm so over Rush's machinations. Why hide the goddamn bridge from everyone? Are you really that afraid that someone will find out how to gate everyone home, and you'll miss your chance to die millions of light years from home? As for avatar wife, to be honest, I hated the Baltar/Six crap in BSG, and I don't like it any better here. At least Rush hasn't bent Gloria over a table to have at. Yet. :puke:

Clearing the completely buried Stargate with a pack of C4 and the brute strength of five people without heavy equipment in a couple of hours? Yeah, I call bullshit

And this group just really suck at rescue missions. They couldn't have brought some kind of equipment and some burly men and at least attempted free Riley? He might of died, but just maybe they could have saved him. Of course, then we wouldn't have had the touching scene of Young smothering a man to death.

And to anyone who as yet doesn't think that Young is totally batshit insane, I point to the riot scene when he continued to bash the LA soldier's head into the floor until Telford pulled him off. Perhaps the casting sheet should have named him Everett "Psycho" Young. Bug. Fuck. Crazy.



No, he's there with about eight others including Varro & Ginn.

They couldn't even try to rescue him, bring him back to the ship and use the stones (which they are in love with) to bring in a doctor to save his life?
If they had to kill someone off, couldn't they have made us all happy and killed one of the main characters?

 

[Mr. A]

So somebody died on the show...?

 

[PegDIG2004]

So somebody died on the show...?

Good point. What was I thinking?

 

[Yllek]

So, ahum. I once read an article about this guy who got trapped underneath a tree out in the wilderness somewhere, amputed his own leg with a pocketknife, and crawled back to civilization.

Oh look! Here it is: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19099572/39349633

I don't know how trapped Riley was (dammit, I liked his awesome toy making skills), but seriously. There are seven burly guys on that planet and one woman who took a walk within five minutes of her miscarriage, and choking Riley to death is their only solution?

If I were Ferreira I would demand a rewrite of Young at this point. Young is supposed to be "like O'Neill ten years ago". I don't know if any of these writers ever watched SG-1, but that's not O'Neill.

 

[Loheat]

So, ahum. I once read an article about this guy who got trapped underneath a tree out in the wilderness somewhere, amputed his own leg with a pocketknife, and crawled back to civilization.

Oh look! Here it is: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19099572/39349633

I don't know how trapped Riley was (dammit, I liked his awesome toy making skills), but seriously. There are seven burly guys on that planet and one woman who took a walk within five minutes of her miscarriage, and choking Riley to death is their only solution?

If I were Ferreira I would demand a rewrite of Young at this point. Young is supposed to be "like O'Neill ten years ago". I don't know if any of these writers ever watched SG-1, but that's not O'Neill.

The problem wasn't that they couldn't lift it, it was shown that they were able to lift it so TJ could feel, and when she did she felt a lot of blood. If they would have lifted it and pulled Riley free, he would have bled out, that was TJ's diagnosis. Riley wasn't as lucky as that hiker.

I think O'Neill would mercy kill someone if they were in pain, not sure if he ever actually did it in the 10 seasons of SG-1, but I know Sheperd did a similar thing when he killed Colonel Sumner in the pilot episode of Atlantis, so what he did isn't that unreasonable in my book.

 

[Yllek]

The problem wasn't that they couldn't lift it, it was shown that they were able to lift it so TJ could feel, and when she did she felt a lot of blood. If they would have lifted it and pulled Riley free, he would have bled out, that was TJ's diagnosis. Riley wasn't as lucky as that hiker.

I think O'Neill would mercy kill someone if they were in pain, not sure if he ever actually did it in the 10 seasons of SG-1, but I know Sheperd did a similar thing when he killed Colonel Sumner in the pilot episode of Atlantis, so what he did isn't that unreasonable in my book.

I don't think what Young did was unreasonable. Let's just say I think Sumner's mercy killing in the pilot and Abraham's death in The Defiant One were handled better.

And personally I'd rather have a shot at perhaps not bleeding to death after all, than definite death by chokehold. Plus bleeding out is a lot less traumatic than strangulation (unless you're bleeding into your lungs, in which case not so much).

 

[JohnSN7]

This episode bothered me for another reason...

I actually liked this episode much better than the previous ones. I did have one MAJOR issue with it. It clearly conflicts with Stargate canon established in Stargate SG-1. Ginn referred to the Lucian Alliance being a bunc h of warlord who joined together "10 or 12 years ago." The Lucian Alliance was formed after the downfall of the Goa'uld. NOT 10 to 12 YEARS AGO. And the Lucian Alliance attacking Earth (according to Wray)? WTF. When did they get that kind of power? Maybe we could find out if we weren't watching drama all the time and actually had some Stargate lore thrown in there. Otherwise, I thought the episode was pretty good.

 

[Tanith]

I actually liked this episode much better than the previous ones. I did have one MAJOR issue with it. It clearly conflicts with Stargate canon established in Stargate SG-1. Ginn referred to the Lucian Alliance being a bunc h of warlord who joined together "10 or 12 years ago." The Lucian Alliance was formed after the downfall of the Goa'uld. NOT 10 to 12 YEARS AGO. And the Lucian Alliance attacking Earth (according to Wray)? WTF. When did they get that kind of power? Maybe we could find out if we weren't watching drama all the time and actually had some Stargate lore thrown in there. Otherwise, I thought the episode was pretty good.

They may have been around longer but got a lot more powerful after the downfall of the Goa'uld. Weren't they around when Vala hijacked the Prometheus in season 8?

 

[Rac80]

They may have been around longer but got a lot more powerful after the downfall of the goa'uld. Weren't they around when Vala hijacked the Prometheus in season 8?

that was 4 or 5 years ago...NOT ten or twelve. I STILL can't see how they became as powerful/knowledgable as they are...never met any drug dealers yet who were able to change into a legit group that fast. but then these are the ENGLISH SPEAKING ALIENS TPTB swore we'd never see right?

 

[Mr. A]

that was 4 or 5 years ago...NOT ten or twelve. I STILL can't see how they became as powerful/knowledgable as they are...never met any drug dealers yet who were able to change into a legit group that fast. but then these are the ENGLISH SPEAKING ALIENS TPTB swore we'd never see right?

Yes, they should at the very least be speaking Goa'uld.