General Discussion & Recap/Review Thread: SGU Episode 05 - "Cloverdale"

[Loheat]

I completely agree with everything you've said. The one thing that stands out amongst all the crap in the episode was the horrible use of CGI. It was beyond lame. And yes, TPTB seem to be doing everything they can to make sure they don't create even one semi-watchable episode.

Yeah, the CGI was bad, especially when the Kawoosh took out the alien. Plus, all we saw was Greer and co. waving their flamethrowers in the air. Wasn't very exciting at all, didnt seem like they were in any danger. Maybe if the plant vines actually got a hold of someone else, or even killed a red shirt I would think they would be in a lot more danger

 

[Bandit]

What I find really disturbing is that these guys are clearly out of ideas that they are just willing to throw almost anything out there, re-use concepts that do not appeal to any audience anymore and call it sci-fi or even drama. It's neither. It's just a huge mess of things, ideas that simply don't work together. Did I mention the clichι's ? Angry Greer. Right. That's new (or not). I'm not really sure if I should feel angry or sorry for them, it definitely hurts to see your favorite franchise devolve and sink to this level, though. Stargate deserved much more respect.

 

[Robbie_Rocket_Pants]

Thanks for the everso succinct review Pig matey. The SGU lovers have two schools of thought 1) If you don't like it don't watch it & 2) how can you form an opinion about an episode without watching it? I'm going for the "not watching it" part because what is the point? This will be the first SGU episode I haven't watched based on the fact it is pure dog wank which is a very telling sign!

This is the episode following on from the sub million episode & it is even worse - there is no point for me to watch anymore in the empty hope that this show will improve. TPTB cooked this shit, we tasted it, we spat it out & they told us we are commoners who have unsophisticated pallets, enjoy unoriginal stodge & are essentially clueless. If only they had had the balls to admit they were wrong & the humility to open their ears & listen none of this would be happening, we gave them enough clues & chances but hey, what do we know? We are only a minority group of fringe lunatics right?........... wrong!

There is only one place this show is going & it aint season three.

 

[MetalFoldingChair]

Yeah, the CGI was bad, especially when the Kawoosh took out the alien. Plus, all we saw was Greer and co. waving their flamethrowers in the air. Wasn't very exciting at all, didnt seem like they were in any danger. Maybe if the plant vines actually got a hold of someone else, or even killed a red shirt I would think they would be in a lot more danger

I simply can't believe that a show that touted having a bigger budget because it was going to be bigger than any other Stargate show before actually seems to be pinching pennies. I mean really, could they have been any cheaper with the use of CGI? And could they have maybe made a model or two of the aliens to show them grabbing someone? Even when Chloe gets bitten they don't show it. How cheap! The last thing I want to do is waste time watching a show that expects me to create all the special effects in my own head. Ugh!

I can't wait for this turd to die.

 

[MetalFoldingChair]

What I find really disturbing is that these guys are clearly out of ideas that they are just willing to throw almost anything out there, re-use concepts that do not appeal to any audience anymore and call it sci-fi or even drama. It's neither. It's just a huge mess of things, ideas that simply don't work together. Did I mention the clichι's ? Angry Greer. Right. That's new (or not). I'm not really sure if I should feel angry or sorry for them, it definitely hurts to see your favorite franchise devolve and sink to this level, though. Stargate deserved much more respect.

That's the scary thing about SGU, we're barely into Season 2 and they don't have any original ideas to work with. If you think about it they didn't have any original ideas when they created the show. Why is it that everyone can see this fact except for TPTB? It's mind blowing.

 

[Bandit]

And apparently there are actual, rational human beings over @ Gateworld that rated this episode 8+. Kinda makes you think that humanity deserves to perish :p

 

[Mia87]

Yep the CGI sucked big time. Oh and to make good special effects for movies huge amounts of money is unneccerary just take a look at this trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R79JuYdG5KY

 

[MetalFoldingChair]

And apparently there are actual, rational human beings over @ Gateworld that rated this episode 8+. Kinda makes you think that humanity deserves to perish :p

8 on a scale of 1 to 1000? (1 being the worst end of the spectrum of course)

 

[Loheat]

8 on a scale of 1 to 1000? (1 being the worst end of the spectrum of course)

Lol. They are all complaining that a lot of people gave it a 1 out of 10, which makes sense because the episode sucked. I gave it a three because of the ending, the Stargate actually being used, and for the parts not in Scotts head

 

[Gatefan1976]

Lol. They are all complaining that a lot of people gave it a 1 out of 10, which makes sense because the episode sucked. I gave it a three because of the ending, the Stargate actually being used, and for the parts not in Scotts head

What I find amusing is that they are complaining that alot of the peeps who gave the epi a 1 didn't post why. I'm sure that the thin skinned guys on GW could really handle some honest responses to that particular request....................

 

[Starman]

I'm new here...

I'll start out by saying I actually like some of SGU.

However, last night's episode pushed me over the edge bad enough to sign up (I've been a reader here for a while, and I enjoy reading the opinions!)

This cast recasting concept has been done by other shows in the past, and done a billion times better than here (the show that comes to mind is JAG, and they did it two or three times). Last night just made me yawn, and if I had to rank the 25 shows from best to worst, I'd need to add 10 slots to the list because this piece of crap deserves more than one.

The whole Chloe/Matt storyline has bored me since their first or second fuck. That's why I usually watch the show on DVR so I can click by her laying on his chest.

What's been fun is watching the twitter feeds. All the actors have been patting themselves on the back because it was such a different and fun episode! They love each other so much!

This episode was filler, just like cardboard or the non-nutritious stuff in my cat's food.

 

[Gatefan1976]

I'll start out by saying I actually like some of SGU.

However, last night's episode pushed me over the edge bad enough to sign up (I've been a reader here for a while, and I enjoy reading the opinions!)

This cast recasting concept has been done by other shows in the past, and done a billion times better than here (the show that comes to mind is JAG, and they did it two or three times). Last night just made me yawn, and if I had to rank the 25 shows from best to worst, I'd need to add 10 slots to the list because this piece of crap deserves more than one.

The whole Chloe/Matt storyline has bored me since their first or second fuck. That's why I usually watch the show on DVR so I can click by her laying on his chest.

What's been fun is watching the twitter feeds. All the actors have been patting themselves on the back because it was such a different and fun episode! They love each other so much!

This episode was filler, just like cardboard or the non-nutritious stuff in my cat's food.

Welcome aboard Mate:beckettu:


(at this rate i'll be up to 3 wagons within the next 2 weeks )

Oh, and don't worry that you like some of SGU, most of us won't hold it against you.

 

[Loheat]

This episode was filler, just like cardboard or the non-nutritious stuff in my cat's food.

Funny you should say that, my girlfriend just said that most of the episodes were filler after watching season 1 with her stepdad.
I agree that the whole dream sequence thing was just boring filler that had nothing to do with the main plot point of the giant plant alien on the planet. Its a shame when something that could be cool like that is thrown to the back-burner

 

[MetalFoldingChair]

I'll start out by saying I actually like some of SGU.

However, last night's episode pushed me over the edge bad enough to sign up (I've been a reader here for a while, and I enjoy reading the opinions!)

This cast recasting concept has been done by other shows in the past, and done a billion times better than here (the show that comes to mind is JAG, and they did it two or three times). Last night just made me yawn, and if I had to rank the 25 shows from best to worst, I'd need to add 10 slots to the list because this piece of crap deserves more than one.

The whole Chloe/Matt storyline has bored me since their first or second fuck. That's why I usually watch the show on DVR so I can click by her laying on his chest.

What's been fun is watching the twitter feeds. All the actors have been patting themselves on the back because it was such a different and fun episode! They love each other so much!

This episode was filler, just like cardboard or the non-nutritious stuff in my cat's food.

Hey Starman, welcome! (Is "Starman" a Bowie reference or a movie reference?)

I don't know what's worse when it comes to commenting on the episodes, the squee fan delusions or the actors delusions. I can only assume that the SGU actors in question don't actually watch the episodes when they air and are just squeeing about how cool it was to be on location for filming whatever episode and how they got to run around in some British Columbian forest and eat free donuts between takes. Surely their positive comments can't be in reference to the dreck that we, the humble viewers, actually see as the end result.

You're right, total filler episode last night, but much of the show itself is filler and the rest seems to be made up of derivative (read: stolen) characters and story lines. Much of what happens (when anything happens) on SGU has been done before -- and done much better. I don't think it's necessarily bad for a show to be influenced by other shows and even borrow stories that have been done before, but the onus is then on that new shows producers to make that old, used story/character different and new in some way. SGU doesn't seem to be doing that, in fact, they seem to be making those old, used stories/characters only worse. They've even managed to make the stolen, dark, "gritty" style of the show worse than its predecessors (BSG).

I'm sure SGU will die long before anyone could even think of doing a recast -- and even if they recast the actors that wouldn't change anything if the same writers/producers were still churning out boring, uninteresting crap. There would have to be a recast from the front office on down.

 

[ParagonPie]

SGU Song:

'Cause this is filler, filler night!'
'And no one is gonna save from the boredom about to strike!'
'Cause this is filler, filler night!'
'You're fighting for life inside a filler, shiller tonight!'

Yeah I've only done the chorus. I should work on this

 

[Red Mage]

This is probably the worst episode in the series to date. I don't think I have seen the entire episode since fell asleep watching it twice. The first showing I made it until about the movie theater scene before passing out from boredom and woke up around the time Scott was talking to Rush who's apparently a priest or something in the dream world. The second showing I zonked out around the bachelor party when they were getting a ride home from Telford.

BJS was absolutely terrible in this episode. This was his episode to shine much like Pathogen was David Blue's big episode. However, BJS not a good film actor at all. His acting is so vapid that I get the impression he's simply just regurgitating his lines instead of actually acting them out. I can't see anyone giving him a lead role anytime soon with episodes like this on his resume.

The bachelor party scene was absolutely bizarre for me. The crew who usually is arguing and backstabbing each other is shown laughing and getting along. It shows that it's not necessarily the chemistry of the actors that makes these characters not mesh well together, it's the shitty writing.

Chloe is an absolute moron. I can't imagine that Elyse Levesque hasn't gone to the TPTB about having her character written out of the show with the way they have horribly handled her character. She purposed got herself infected by the deadly plant monsters. That is right up there with walking towards the light in the ceiling moment in Space. Ridiculous.

Did they actually ever show the monsters in full detail? From what I saw they were mostly off screen.

 

[Bandit]

To be perfectly honest, it's not uncommon or particularly bad to do "Changeling" style episodes in a sci-fi series. However, you simply don't do these episodes early on in a series, say the first couple of seasons or so. The audience must have spent some time with the characters and actually be able to relate to them on some level, in order for something like this to work, meaning people actually caring about the "what if" situation. Early on, people expect, at the very least some plot advancement, they expect to see characters reacting in a generally positive or believable manner, side-stories and drama aside. BSG made a good job at this, it wasn't perfect, but quite acceptable in my book. Universe on the other hand picked 2 of the worse characters to re-create a "Changeling" situation. It doesn't take rocket science to realize what the end result would be.

 

[iratecaller]

I can't take it anymore...
I fell into the SG Franchise two seasons before SG1 was put to bed. I have never posted to this blog or even read it before but I can remain silent no more.
I started out with SGA and loved it so much that I had to have more, I created a HULU account and watched every single SG1 episode over a period of a year or so, and then every SGA and loved them both. I followed SGA right up to the end. I was sad and disappointed to see it end. It wasn’t perfect but it was entertaining, it wasn’t smutty, it was funny at times, and the franchise and actors didn’t seem to take themselves too seriously. I fell in love with the characters, I was routing for them… with some exceptions. Yes sometimes the acting was bad, and the formula was predictable but I was always hoping for some new and interesting episodes and every now and again we would get some real winners that would make it all worthwhile.
Then SGU came out....
Now... I'm just so, so, so disappointed.
I can barely watch an episode, last night I fast forwarded almost every part of the flash back scenes, it was so obvious and transparent and fake and ... frankly uninteresting.
I don't want to watch a soap, I don't want to watch angry people every week fighting with each other... I want to see us explore the galaxy, find some cool technology, find a civilization in a virtual world and move in for a while. There is not a single character I care about... I mean seriously you could kill anyone off and I wouldn't even notice... I'm just disappointed. Please do something to save the franchise; I want to see it turn around... I don't want to be embarrassed anymore when my wife sits down to watch with me... this is just so bad.
Dump the sex scenes, and love interests… stop already with the constant fighting and back biting and malicious behavior on the ship… let us believe in these people, instead of hating everyone. I want someone with integrity to believe in…. I want to pull for these people and hope they make it…. Right now I’m hoping that they all die, and someone else comes up with an interesting show that can replace this.
What if we had a better alternate reality that we could jump ship to… could we have one character survive a cataclysmic event that results in the destruction of the destiny and everyone on board. One person could live long enough to this new reality where everyone is nice, gets along and believes in something and then have that character die and let us just pick up with this new crew from this other dimension and continue as if we were just having a bad dream for season 1 and 2 of SGU.

Welcome tthomasol. Feels good letting it out and talking about it doesn't it?
It's the first step to recovery.

I gather you're rather angry right now.
Pretty soon you'll let go of the promise of SG-1 and Atlantis movies.

You'll be thankfull for the Stargate we had.
You may hold on to the promise of great Stargate in the future, and in more capable hands.
Your hatred and distrust for TPTB probably won't fade however. LOL.

Welcome to your new home for all things sci-fi, and uncensored!!!

 

[Rac80]

I'll start out by saying I actually like some of SGU.

However, last night's episode pushed me over the edge bad enough to sign up (I've been a reader here for a while, and I enjoy reading the opinions!)

This cast recasting concept has been done by other shows in the past, and done a billion times better than here (the show that comes to mind is JAG, and they did it two or three times). Last night just made me yawn, and if I had to rank the 25 shows from best to worst, I'd need to add 10 slots to the list because this piece of crap deserves more than one.

The whole Chloe/Matt storyline has bored me since their first or second fuck. That's why I usually watch the show on DVR so I can click by her laying on his chest.

What's been fun is watching the twitter feeds. All the actors have been patting themselves on the back because it was such a different and fun episode! They love each other so much!

This episode was filler, just like cardboard or the non-nutritious stuff in my cat's food.

welcome to the neighborhood!

I loved sg1's the changeling...Chris Judge did a fabulous job both writing and acting in that one. naturally sgpoo's version sucked.

SGU Song:

'Cause this is filler, filler night!'
'And no one is gonna save from the boredom about to strike!'
'Cause this is filler, filler night!'
'You're fighting for life inside a filler, shiller tonight!'

Yeah I've only done the chorus. I should work on this

to the tune of "Ladies' Night" right? that is what I had going through my head as I read it!

This is probably the worst episode in the series to date. I don't think I have seen the entire episode since fell asleep watching it twice. The first showing I made it until about the movie theater scene before passing out from boredom and woke up around the time Scott was talking to Rush who's apparently a priest or something in the dream world. The second showing I zonked out around the bachelor party when they were getting a ride home from Telford.

BJS was absolutely terrible in this episode. This was his episode to shine much like Pathogen was David Blue's big episode. However, BJS not a good film actor at all. His acting is so vapid that I get the impression he's simply just regurgitating his lines instead of actually acting them out. I can't see anyone giving him a lead role anytime soon with episodes like this on his resume.

The bachelor party scene was absolutely bizarre for me. The crew who usually is arguing and backstabbing each other is shown laughing and getting along. It shows that it's not necessarily the chemistry of the actors that makes these characters not mesh well together, it's the shitty writing.

Chloe is an absolute moron. I can't imagine that Elyse Levesque hasn't gone to the TPTB about having her character written out of the show with the way they have horribly handled her character. She purposed got herself infected by the deadly plant monsters. That is right up there with walking towards the light in the ceiling moment in Space. Ridiculous.

Did they actually ever show the monsters in full detail? From what I saw they were mostly off screen.

"SGPoo- the newest non-addictive sleep-aid...guaranteed to bore you to sleep in 10 minutes. Warning: watching too much can cause coma or even death!"

 

[PegDIG2004]

OK, I haven't seen the episode and don't need to thanks to Pig's excellent review.
But I have a question. Why all of a sudden is the crew able to perform emergency surgery to save a crewman off world when a few episodes ago they actually let Riley die rather than cut him free from the wreckage? Did the writers forget about that? I'm sure that's a stupid question. Of course they did.