Terran77
Captain Tightpants
LINK to front page article HERE
"Gauntlet" marked the end of Stargate: Universe's second and final season, leaving some fans pleased, others irritated, and everyone wondering what, if anything, will be the next step for the Stargate franchise. For the first time in 17 years there will be no new weekly episodes of any Stargate series. Given SGU's very low ratings, particularly in season two which resulted in its cancellation, it seems an appropriate time to ask what kinds of things went wrong for the series as a whole, and what things went right.
In many ways, the producers and writers took a big risk with Stargate: Universe (SGU), pushing for more "serious" drama and altering many of the elements that made Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis (SGA) appealing. They definitely wanted a darker tone and more interpersonal conflict. This was perhaps an obvious attempt to lure in the audience that loved the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, which was definitely moodier and darker than the original; but it also reflected the writers' desire to do something new and different than what they had accomplished before. They wanted characters that were combative, who all had serious problems and interpersonal issues. In short, they wanted "the wrong people" pulled through the stargate, who would then fight through those problems. At the same time, they did want to retain some of the core elements that made SG-1 and SGA successful: the stargate itself, the background canon, the communication stones, and the science fiction backdrop of a crew trapped on a starship far from home.
In contrast to both of its parent series, which had very clear character leads and themes rooted in heroic fiction, the writers chose an ensemble cast of "misfits" and focused on interpersonal drama between the characters. The initial episodes in season one show us these characters flaws in stark detail. Young, the commander, has committed adultery with someone under his command and his marriage has disintegrated. Rush, the lead scientist, is an extreme pragmatist driven by his obsession with the Ancients and finding the key to the ninth chevron. Eli, our "everyman" for the series, is a mathematical genius but also a college dropout slacker engrossed in video games. Lt. Scott, we learn quickly, is sex-obsessed and has recently left his girlfriend to raise their son by herself. Camille Wray, a personnel expert and IOA member, fights the military on nearly every decision. T.J., our young medic, is secretly pregnant with Col. Young's child and has the constant stress of being the solitary provider of medical services despite her limited training. MSgt. Greer is the classic "angry young marine" who came from poverty and has a checkered past. Chloe Armstrong is the young daughter of a senator who joined her father on the trip to Icaraus Base.
These characters, along with a few more scientists and a smattering of civilians, are evacuated through the stargate during an attack by the Lucian Alliance. Although they believe they are relocating to Earth, Dr. Rush has instead successfully dialed the ninth chevron address and the Destiny: a starship of the Ancients which has been traveling through galaxy after galaxy for millenia. Knowledge of the ship's mission and purpose has been lost over the distant reaches of time, but these evacuees are definitely not the "right people" for the job: they were not the intended team that has prepared and trained heavily to discover the Destiny's secrets.
At the outset, a darker series with more interpersonal drama and outright conflict did sound appealing. After all, BSG was critically acclaimed for reimagining the original family-oriented series into one loaded with sex, infighting, mistrust, backstabbing, and real fear of their enemies. BSG had its detractors, as dark-themed shows aren't for everyone; but it benefited from tight plotting and clever writing that kept audiences watching. Also and often unfavorably, SGU has also been compared to Star Trek: Voyager. Similarly, the starship Voyager was lost in unfamiliar territory thousands of light years away from the Federation, and forced to mix their crew with combative non-military personnel. On Voyager however, they fixed this interpersonal conflict rather quickly; on the Destiny this interpersonal conflict persisted until the latter half of season two. Still, obtaining supplies for survival and avoiding aggressive aliens were ongoing themes for both series.
After an initial spike of interest, audience appeal for SGU dropped rather quickly despite being shown on Fridays in the classic SG-1 and SGA timeslot. Although some loved the darker and more dramatic changes, many viewers and professional critics found the ongoing interpersonal conflict to be distracting and distasteful, and too much of a shift away from the teamwork and adventure-exploration. Why this sort of conflict worked on BSG and not on SGU may have had a lot to do with a primary plot element in BSG: that the humans were united against the Cylons despite any interpersonal struggles they may have had. Although that changed somewhat over the course of BSG, it was this unifying element that held the BSG crew together and working for mutual survival. The opposite was true for SGU: conflict was paramount, and the only unifying thread was the need to get clean air, water, and food.
Additionally, none of the characters were presented in a positive light. Even the math-whiz slacker "everyman" Eli, who was meant to be the audience's touchstone, had a mix of truly annoying and juvenile character flaws, such as missing his mother, whining at the other scientists, and not having enough dating experience. Further, there was no one clearly in charge, as highlighted in episodes where the civilians attempted to assert dominance over the military. The audience didn't quite know who to "root for" because there were no clear leaders, no one even close to the honorable heroes seen in SG-1 and SGA. These characters were all depressed and angry about their situation, and the high levels of tension were always negative. Compare this to what the audience might have expected, given that SG-1 and SGA both had teams with clear and morally upright leaders, always with the heroic thread of "do the right thing" running through their stories. It was extremely different.
Despite the continuing decline in ratings, the writers promised that it would develop into really intelligent drama and asked viewers to keep watching and give it a chance, that we would ultimately appreciate and understand what they were weaving into the story. Unfortunately for many of us, "smart drama" never really seemed to appear. Everything concentrated on relationship drama and personal loss. Constant use of the soul-switching communication stones often focused on stories such as Young's incomprehensible use of Telford's body to have sex with his ex-wife, visits to nightclubs for the younger characters, and a lesbian love story. Other dramatic stories just seemed alien to the franchise: one marine committed suicide early on, and Dr. Rush used this in an attempt to frame commander Young for "murder". Later in her pregnancy, T.J. is shot and as a result loses her baby. People who chose to remain behind on a planet with seemingly friendly aliens were eventually returned to the Destiny in a repaired shuttle, but we learn that they had all died horribly on the planet... and we get to see them go through their deaths again.
In addition to the depressing drama, the science fiction elements seemed to get more watered down or mystical each week. Some seemed pointless. Rush scrawled mathematical equations on the walls of the ship, but these were never apparently used for anything specific. The other scientists were kept busy with "diagnostics" despite the fact that the ship had been fine on autopilot for thousands of years. Very little exploration of the ship occurred, even to review what technologies or items were potentially available to them. At one point the Destiny's AI telepathically infiltrated their minds and tore them apart emotionally, only to go silent and never be heard from again. Dr. Franklin vanished while using the command interface chair to save their lives, yet was never mentioned again. The alien race that infected Chloe "agreed" to cure and then release her with no explanation or comment; and beyond that, she is left with incredible mathematical abilities. T.J. the medic manages to complete a kidney removal and transplant, and both men survive with minimal after-effects despite the lack of equipment or even a sterile field. Having lost their bodies but not their souls, both Amanda and Ginn are downloaded into the computer. Even the Destiny's primary mission was never made clear, and was explained obtusely in three different ways: it was searching for the intelligent creator of a complex signal found in the universe's background cosmic radiation, that somehow the journey it was taking would lead to "answers" and great power, or that the Ancients were researching ascension.
Changes were made during the early and middle parts of season two, and many viewers responded favorably, although ratings were still poor. The shift included more planetary exploration through the stargate, the discovery and use of a repair robot, more human-alien conflict, and better use of the communication stones: finally to bring specialists in who could repair the ship and to "send" captured enemies to Earth for military debriefing. Unfortunately, even through the final episode, the writers chose to retain a good portion of the depressing drama (we discover that T.J. will develop ALS), interpersonal conflict (Rush's inability to truly love Amanda forces Eli to "box" both Amanda and Ginn), and syrupy melodrama (Eli still deeply misses his mom and visits her to say goodbye). By the end of season two, things are better in terms of science fiction themes, but the original problems were still there. The final episode quite literally has the B story (which is sci fi) fighting for dominance with the A story (the drama of fear, loss and uncertainty).
Perhaps many viewers would have been more forgiving if the writers had made good on their promise of real character development. After all, that is what really well-scripted drama is supposed to do: through loss and conflict a character should grow and act differently, and become a better person. But by the end of season two, none of the characters have emerged as a clear leader, none have shown any truly significant character growth, and for the most part they all act the same. For Rush and Young, their mutual distrust and lack of respect lasted to the very end; although the open conflict between characters was gone, Rush was still incredibly manipulative and Young was still a weak leader. Eli was still the "math boy" genius. Somehow in the space of one year aboard ship, he developed amazing skills in Ancient, astrophysics, computer programming, and other sciences with no on-screen training from the other scientists; his "stepping up like a man" sacrifice in the final episode is less seen that way and more as a "I'm smarter than Rush and everyone knows it" juvenile response.
Stunningly, the women on the cast were written either as weak and damaged eye candy or obnoxious and angry harpies. For something ostensibly sci-fi with modern values, it played as 1950s parody. Initially, Camille Wray was little more than an angry lesbian stereotype trying to take control; thankfully that diminished over time, but she ended up simply backing the strongest male in the room. T.J. was written almost like a stereotypically demure but deeply depressed "housewife done wrong" despite being a full lieutenant in the Stargate program. And both Chloe and Lt. James were used purely as eye candy for the entire first season. It was astonishing to watch, knowing that these writers were the same who gave us Dr. Samantha Carter and Dr. Janet Frasier in the two earlier series. Given that the writers specifically wanted to draw in more female viewers, where were the strong, realistic female characters that women could appreciate and identify with?
There were some great, even truly outstanding moments. Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) was simply the best Machiavellian character I have ever seen in any sci-fi program, without sinking into true villany; the scenes when Rush starts to question his own sanity but retains his obsessive drive and reasoning, those were magic. Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque), having to watch her father sacrifice himself early in season one, gave us an incredibly powerful and heartfelt scene. MSgt. Greer (Jamil Smith) brought depth and real emotion to a stereotype which made his character understandable. The overall storyline and speech by Camille Wray (Ming Na) describing the hard work and sacrifices of the early Novan colonists, the Destiny crew's alternate selves thrust backward in time, was charmingly reminiscent of the warmth and humor in SG-1 and SGA; it's just too bad the real crew could only read about that history and experienced none of it themselves.
At the end of two years, I'm probably like a lot of Stargate fans: just plain disappointed that SGU wasn't better. Obviously I cannot speak for all fans, but I think most of us would have been fine with a darker, moodier show and a bigger injection of drama had it been better written. We could have appreciated if it had the themes of unity and clear goals that were in BSG, or the likeable characters in Star Trek: Voyager. But without any strong character lead to root for, without any stand-out cool sci-fi moments, without any positive qualities of humanity starting to develop in these flawed characters, it became really difficult to watch the constant bickering, loneliness, and desperation. It just wasn't entertaining, and I desperately wanted it to be because I love Stargate. In the final episode when Young reflects on how they have grown as a family, it all lands completely flat. It did have a few moments of potential, but they were too few, and too far between.
"Gauntlet" marked the end of Stargate: Universe's second and final season, leaving some fans pleased, others irritated, and everyone wondering what, if anything, will be the next step for the Stargate franchise. For the first time in 17 years there will be no new weekly episodes of any Stargate series. Given SGU's very low ratings, particularly in season two which resulted in its cancellation, it seems an appropriate time to ask what kinds of things went wrong for the series as a whole, and what things went right.
In many ways, the producers and writers took a big risk with Stargate: Universe (SGU), pushing for more "serious" drama and altering many of the elements that made Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis (SGA) appealing. They definitely wanted a darker tone and more interpersonal conflict. This was perhaps an obvious attempt to lure in the audience that loved the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, which was definitely moodier and darker than the original; but it also reflected the writers' desire to do something new and different than what they had accomplished before. They wanted characters that were combative, who all had serious problems and interpersonal issues. In short, they wanted "the wrong people" pulled through the stargate, who would then fight through those problems. At the same time, they did want to retain some of the core elements that made SG-1 and SGA successful: the stargate itself, the background canon, the communication stones, and the science fiction backdrop of a crew trapped on a starship far from home.
In contrast to both of its parent series, which had very clear character leads and themes rooted in heroic fiction, the writers chose an ensemble cast of "misfits" and focused on interpersonal drama between the characters. The initial episodes in season one show us these characters flaws in stark detail. Young, the commander, has committed adultery with someone under his command and his marriage has disintegrated. Rush, the lead scientist, is an extreme pragmatist driven by his obsession with the Ancients and finding the key to the ninth chevron. Eli, our "everyman" for the series, is a mathematical genius but also a college dropout slacker engrossed in video games. Lt. Scott, we learn quickly, is sex-obsessed and has recently left his girlfriend to raise their son by herself. Camille Wray, a personnel expert and IOA member, fights the military on nearly every decision. T.J., our young medic, is secretly pregnant with Col. Young's child and has the constant stress of being the solitary provider of medical services despite her limited training. MSgt. Greer is the classic "angry young marine" who came from poverty and has a checkered past. Chloe Armstrong is the young daughter of a senator who joined her father on the trip to Icaraus Base.
These characters, along with a few more scientists and a smattering of civilians, are evacuated through the stargate during an attack by the Lucian Alliance. Although they believe they are relocating to Earth, Dr. Rush has instead successfully dialed the ninth chevron address and the Destiny: a starship of the Ancients which has been traveling through galaxy after galaxy for millenia. Knowledge of the ship's mission and purpose has been lost over the distant reaches of time, but these evacuees are definitely not the "right people" for the job: they were not the intended team that has prepared and trained heavily to discover the Destiny's secrets.
At the outset, a darker series with more interpersonal drama and outright conflict did sound appealing. After all, BSG was critically acclaimed for reimagining the original family-oriented series into one loaded with sex, infighting, mistrust, backstabbing, and real fear of their enemies. BSG had its detractors, as dark-themed shows aren't for everyone; but it benefited from tight plotting and clever writing that kept audiences watching. Also and often unfavorably, SGU has also been compared to Star Trek: Voyager. Similarly, the starship Voyager was lost in unfamiliar territory thousands of light years away from the Federation, and forced to mix their crew with combative non-military personnel. On Voyager however, they fixed this interpersonal conflict rather quickly; on the Destiny this interpersonal conflict persisted until the latter half of season two. Still, obtaining supplies for survival and avoiding aggressive aliens were ongoing themes for both series.
After an initial spike of interest, audience appeal for SGU dropped rather quickly despite being shown on Fridays in the classic SG-1 and SGA timeslot. Although some loved the darker and more dramatic changes, many viewers and professional critics found the ongoing interpersonal conflict to be distracting and distasteful, and too much of a shift away from the teamwork and adventure-exploration. Why this sort of conflict worked on BSG and not on SGU may have had a lot to do with a primary plot element in BSG: that the humans were united against the Cylons despite any interpersonal struggles they may have had. Although that changed somewhat over the course of BSG, it was this unifying element that held the BSG crew together and working for mutual survival. The opposite was true for SGU: conflict was paramount, and the only unifying thread was the need to get clean air, water, and food.
Additionally, none of the characters were presented in a positive light. Even the math-whiz slacker "everyman" Eli, who was meant to be the audience's touchstone, had a mix of truly annoying and juvenile character flaws, such as missing his mother, whining at the other scientists, and not having enough dating experience. Further, there was no one clearly in charge, as highlighted in episodes where the civilians attempted to assert dominance over the military. The audience didn't quite know who to "root for" because there were no clear leaders, no one even close to the honorable heroes seen in SG-1 and SGA. These characters were all depressed and angry about their situation, and the high levels of tension were always negative. Compare this to what the audience might have expected, given that SG-1 and SGA both had teams with clear and morally upright leaders, always with the heroic thread of "do the right thing" running through their stories. It was extremely different.
Despite the continuing decline in ratings, the writers promised that it would develop into really intelligent drama and asked viewers to keep watching and give it a chance, that we would ultimately appreciate and understand what they were weaving into the story. Unfortunately for many of us, "smart drama" never really seemed to appear. Everything concentrated on relationship drama and personal loss. Constant use of the soul-switching communication stones often focused on stories such as Young's incomprehensible use of Telford's body to have sex with his ex-wife, visits to nightclubs for the younger characters, and a lesbian love story. Other dramatic stories just seemed alien to the franchise: one marine committed suicide early on, and Dr. Rush used this in an attempt to frame commander Young for "murder". Later in her pregnancy, T.J. is shot and as a result loses her baby. People who chose to remain behind on a planet with seemingly friendly aliens were eventually returned to the Destiny in a repaired shuttle, but we learn that they had all died horribly on the planet... and we get to see them go through their deaths again.
In addition to the depressing drama, the science fiction elements seemed to get more watered down or mystical each week. Some seemed pointless. Rush scrawled mathematical equations on the walls of the ship, but these were never apparently used for anything specific. The other scientists were kept busy with "diagnostics" despite the fact that the ship had been fine on autopilot for thousands of years. Very little exploration of the ship occurred, even to review what technologies or items were potentially available to them. At one point the Destiny's AI telepathically infiltrated their minds and tore them apart emotionally, only to go silent and never be heard from again. Dr. Franklin vanished while using the command interface chair to save their lives, yet was never mentioned again. The alien race that infected Chloe "agreed" to cure and then release her with no explanation or comment; and beyond that, she is left with incredible mathematical abilities. T.J. the medic manages to complete a kidney removal and transplant, and both men survive with minimal after-effects despite the lack of equipment or even a sterile field. Having lost their bodies but not their souls, both Amanda and Ginn are downloaded into the computer. Even the Destiny's primary mission was never made clear, and was explained obtusely in three different ways: it was searching for the intelligent creator of a complex signal found in the universe's background cosmic radiation, that somehow the journey it was taking would lead to "answers" and great power, or that the Ancients were researching ascension.
Changes were made during the early and middle parts of season two, and many viewers responded favorably, although ratings were still poor. The shift included more planetary exploration through the stargate, the discovery and use of a repair robot, more human-alien conflict, and better use of the communication stones: finally to bring specialists in who could repair the ship and to "send" captured enemies to Earth for military debriefing. Unfortunately, even through the final episode, the writers chose to retain a good portion of the depressing drama (we discover that T.J. will develop ALS), interpersonal conflict (Rush's inability to truly love Amanda forces Eli to "box" both Amanda and Ginn), and syrupy melodrama (Eli still deeply misses his mom and visits her to say goodbye). By the end of season two, things are better in terms of science fiction themes, but the original problems were still there. The final episode quite literally has the B story (which is sci fi) fighting for dominance with the A story (the drama of fear, loss and uncertainty).
Perhaps many viewers would have been more forgiving if the writers had made good on their promise of real character development. After all, that is what really well-scripted drama is supposed to do: through loss and conflict a character should grow and act differently, and become a better person. But by the end of season two, none of the characters have emerged as a clear leader, none have shown any truly significant character growth, and for the most part they all act the same. For Rush and Young, their mutual distrust and lack of respect lasted to the very end; although the open conflict between characters was gone, Rush was still incredibly manipulative and Young was still a weak leader. Eli was still the "math boy" genius. Somehow in the space of one year aboard ship, he developed amazing skills in Ancient, astrophysics, computer programming, and other sciences with no on-screen training from the other scientists; his "stepping up like a man" sacrifice in the final episode is less seen that way and more as a "I'm smarter than Rush and everyone knows it" juvenile response.
Stunningly, the women on the cast were written either as weak and damaged eye candy or obnoxious and angry harpies. For something ostensibly sci-fi with modern values, it played as 1950s parody. Initially, Camille Wray was little more than an angry lesbian stereotype trying to take control; thankfully that diminished over time, but she ended up simply backing the strongest male in the room. T.J. was written almost like a stereotypically demure but deeply depressed "housewife done wrong" despite being a full lieutenant in the Stargate program. And both Chloe and Lt. James were used purely as eye candy for the entire first season. It was astonishing to watch, knowing that these writers were the same who gave us Dr. Samantha Carter and Dr. Janet Frasier in the two earlier series. Given that the writers specifically wanted to draw in more female viewers, where were the strong, realistic female characters that women could appreciate and identify with?
There were some great, even truly outstanding moments. Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) was simply the best Machiavellian character I have ever seen in any sci-fi program, without sinking into true villany; the scenes when Rush starts to question his own sanity but retains his obsessive drive and reasoning, those were magic. Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque), having to watch her father sacrifice himself early in season one, gave us an incredibly powerful and heartfelt scene. MSgt. Greer (Jamil Smith) brought depth and real emotion to a stereotype which made his character understandable. The overall storyline and speech by Camille Wray (Ming Na) describing the hard work and sacrifices of the early Novan colonists, the Destiny crew's alternate selves thrust backward in time, was charmingly reminiscent of the warmth and humor in SG-1 and SGA; it's just too bad the real crew could only read about that history and experienced none of it themselves.
At the end of two years, I'm probably like a lot of Stargate fans: just plain disappointed that SGU wasn't better. Obviously I cannot speak for all fans, but I think most of us would have been fine with a darker, moodier show and a bigger injection of drama had it been better written. We could have appreciated if it had the themes of unity and clear goals that were in BSG, or the likeable characters in Star Trek: Voyager. But without any strong character lead to root for, without any stand-out cool sci-fi moments, without any positive qualities of humanity starting to develop in these flawed characters, it became really difficult to watch the constant bickering, loneliness, and desperation. It just wasn't entertaining, and I desperately wanted it to be because I love Stargate. In the final episode when Young reflects on how they have grown as a family, it all lands completely flat. It did have a few moments of potential, but they were too few, and too far between.
