SGU 105: Light (Spoilers)

[NecronLord]

Another notion for why Destiny didn't slow for the shuttle, did she perhaps expect them to do the slingshot manouver? Much like she expected them to be able to find lime in twelve hours. It might be that, expecting an ancient crew, the ship assumes the people on board are much brighter than they are.

And yeah, I can't believe the complaints about some people. They've clearly got negligable attention spans; demanding that the antagonists show up and start killing people already.

I also saw lots of whining that Eli didn't get laid but the Lt did. Chloe's such a whore for not thinking romantically about Math boy? Ffft. She wants to get rattled before they all die and she jumps into the arms of the well known lover instead of the geek, and this is unrealistic? No, sorry.

[Anguirus]

This was a very good episode IMO. Not that much happened, but that wasn't the point...we got to know everyone, including the ship, quite a bit better. I didn't have any realism problems either...in fact, I loved how Rush finally stopped being a spittle-flecked lunatic.

The one scene I didn't like was the confrontation between Young and Wray. It really sacrificed a lot of the potential strength of her character when she conceded a decent argument just because the colonel browbeat her with the threat of impending doom. I'm also SICK of the show's motif of "wrong people" constantly being thrown into our faces in dialogue. We can TELL they are the wrong people, but let's at least see them try to act professional in the next episode (they are all trusted with the "secret" of the Stargate program after all).

[Aeolus]

Yes because a significant percentage of the population isn't religious
Seriously it's a bunch of modern people about to die of course a bunch get together to pray..

A bunch of modern people on a million year old spaceship in a universe where virtually every major Earth deity has been proven to be aliens with buckets on their heads.
We saw people about to die all the time in SG-1 and Atlantis without resorting to this blatant pandering which is happening just so coincidentally after the success of nBSG and it's Bible-bashing.

The people on the Destiny are not SG teams. They are support personnel, garrison troops and a couple of specialists. Basically normal folks. Besides even on SG1 we know that several major characters have kept their faith despite the Gouald and Ori. The episode this week is showing what the characters do when they are facing certain death. It would be intensely dishonest to not show some of them praying.

[Aeolus]

Yeah, timer was time-to-ftl, nothing more. I enjoyed the episode, and I think its very reasonable for ordinary people (and for the most part they are) when faced with death to say 'oh fuck, are we supposed to pray or something? On September 12, 2001, my church was full of people praying for America, and most were folks that I hadn't seen in years or didn't see again after that day. Its a part of our culture, like it or not.

As for Rush, I think he suspected but didn't know for sure, and that suspicion made his decision to withdraw easier. I mean, he's a brilliant physicist and an antisocial prick, he's smart enough to know he'd go insane after a month stranded on a planet, even if Lieutenant Hooters is on that planet.

Also, I really expected Eli and Chloe to start making out.

Poor Eli is completely in the dreaded "just friends" category with Chloe.

[Gramzamber]

I for one don't feel the need for an antagonist yet, I just think that the show won't be interesting for very long without one. There's only so many "OMG we're trapped on this piece of shit ship" stories you can do.

As for the praying thing - taken *on it's own*, like that hallucination thing, it's fine.
My fear and I think the fear of a lot of others is this is going to lead down into some "lol Christianity is real" bullshit later on given the show is obviously aping nBSG for better or for worse.
Overreacting? Maybe. Hopefully it is just that.

I also saw lots of whining that Eli didn't get laid but the Lt did. Chloe's such a whore for not thinking romantically about Math boy? Ffft. She wants to get rattled before they all die and she jumps into the arms of the well known lover instead of the geek, and this is unrealistic? No, sorry.

It turns out fat computer nerds sympathise with fat computer nerds.
Not me though, I'm an entirely unempathetic fat computer nerd.

[Alyeska]

I for one don't feel the need for an antagonist yet, I just think that the show won't be interesting for very long without one. There's only so many "OMG we're trapped on this piece of shit ship" stories you can do.

As for the praying thing - taken *on it's own*, like that hallucination thing, it's fine.
My fear and I think the fear of a lot of others is this is going to lead down into some "lol Christianity is real" bullshit later on given the show is obviously aping nBSG for better or for worse.
Overreacting? Maybe. Hopefully it is just that.

Why? Seriously why? Why the fuck would that become an issue? Look at television today. How often does that honestly happen? This is not a show about religion. Seriously. There is no Plan. This isn't Johny Smith with his Dead Zone. Its about people on the other side of the universe.

Come the fuck on. Fucking deal with it. The show seems to involve real people in a situation and it shows how they are reacting. One fucking prayer that took maybe 60 seconds screen time. Thats it. Seriously, BSG had speeches with Six that lasted longer.

[Gramzamber]

Because it's not something I think should be part of Stargate really.
It feels only slightly less tacked on than Teal'cs bible line in SG-1 "Demons" and at least that was obvious pandering to shut some fundie critics up.

Yeah yeah "lolrealpeople", if Stargate were about "real people" then we wouldn't have the entire planet still oblivious to the fact that the major countries are sending people to other galaxies and mass producing space battlecruisers with alien pew pew lasers.

[NecronLord]

Because it's not something I think should be part of Stargate really.

And I think it's entirely something that should be part of stargate, provided it's handled correctly. As this has been, so far.

Yeah yeah "lolrealpeople", if Stargate were about "real people" then we wouldn't have the entire planet still oblivious to the fact that the major countries are sending people to other galaxies and mass producing space battlecruisers with alien pew pew lasers.

Ho ho ho! Stupid cover-up stories invalidate any future effort at realism!

[Alyeska]

Because it's not something I think should be part of Stargate really.

Why? Because most people are Atheist?

Yeah yeah "lolrealpeople", if Stargate were about "real people" then we wouldn't have the entire planet still oblivious to the fact that the major countries are sending people to other galaxies and mass producing space battlecruisers with alien pew pew lasers.

SGU is not SG1 or SGA.

[Burak Gazan]

Saw it again on replay this afternoon --- did anyone else notice what looked like structural damage to Destiny`s starboard 'wing' leading edge in the shot where she was boosting clear of the star? (Beyond the wear n tear look, this kind of looked like ragged beams and structural members exposed)

[Bilbo]

The one scene I didn't like was the confrontation between Young and Wray. It really sacrificed a lot of the potential strength of her character when she conceded a decent argument just because the colonel browbeat her with the threat of impending doom. .

Her "decent" arguement was nothing but an attempt to guaruntee her going on the shuttle. In fact in a survival situation the pencil pushing HR bimbo ranks decidly below everyone else except maybe MathBoy for being chosen.

Overall I liked the scene, it reminds us that just like every other IOC member we have ever seen on Stargate she is a self-serving piece of shit.

[NecronLord]

I didn't think her 'argument' was purely about getting her on the shuttle at all. I think you're being a little unkind to her.

[Bilbo]

I didn't think her 'argument' was purely about getting her on the shuttle at all. I think you're being a little unkind to her.

I look at it this way. Her arguement made sense except for the part where she tried to pander to the injured colonel to include himself and her blatant arguement for her own inclusion. Which means her arguement was not really a logical arguement at all but instead just a cover to try and guaruntee her own inclusion. Maybe I am being too harsh, but basically 100% of the history of the IOC and the type of people (other than Woolsey when he commanded Atlantis) supports the theory of giving their members no benefit of the doubt.

The colonel was entirely right to not include himself. No one who has beyond the smallest injury should be on the list. To do so would be an extra risk on something we could already guess would be a 2% chance of sucess at best.

Its like when the Senator died. I would have liked just one line from the Senator where someone argues with him and he clearly says "Shut the fuck up! I am badly injured and I need daily heart medication. I am a fucking dead man walking and I want to walk out in a useful way!"

[Themightytom]

I cannot believe the complaints I am seeing people make against this new series.

Its boring, not enough explosions

The team is idiots because they weren't 100% prepared for the expedition

They are all religious fucktards because they prayed when faced with certain death.


Come the fuck on people.

I agree with everythingg you said but its understandable criticism, its a different kind of show. To be fair, it is a departure from traditional stargate which INTENTIONALLY ramped up the explosions and what not more and more to make it accessible. Were this SG-1 or SGA these episodes WOULD have been boring. Its an unfamiliar dynamic for the audience. This was obvious when Col. Everett told O'neill they needed food, water, and O'Neill just said "Sos get some!" These things were never so complex in the other series so we have to recalibrate expectations.

Regarding religion, i feel like that is mostly personal transferrance. SG:U handles religion very differently than again, we are used to.; it ISN'T a central theme nor plot device, its jsut character background, but we EXPECT it to BECOME plot device because thats how it was in SG-1. Religion usually lead to an immediate scavenger hunt for the real roots of the religion.

All those people are standing there praying in a starship that predates the invention of religion, to get there first they found out there was a massive government cover up of alien life, and all kinds of unheard of technology being used by the SGC, they may not ahve neccesarily travelled through the stargate but they definitely took a cruise on a Daedalous class spaceship to an alien world.

If anything their depiction of spirituality in the face of immenent doom trivializes religion significantly as simply a heritage or fear- response. I don't se why its such a cental topic of discussion though theres other things going on with the characters which is far more interesting, but I suspect your average fan doesn't want to get into Ship talk.

Chloe has her cake AND eats it in terms of male companions. Eli is playing the fool in my opinion, he's got better things to do and think about than hit on Chloe in her present state. let Scott take the rebound and Eli can work on establishing himself as an important influential Important person. In truth Chloe recieves residual prestige because of her father, but in terms of practical contribution she is pretty far down on the totem pole.

The relationship between Rush and Everett is intriguing. Everett needs him but is not sure he can trust him, though he seems to want to, and to some extent Rush seems to respect Everett at least enough to seem offended when Everett accused him of playing them all.
I'm already bored with Everett's angst over his wife. Sorry dude you didn't get to retire, she's kiind of a bitch for not understanding but it is what it is.

No comments on Sgt Greer being a fricking nutcase? " I want to go out in a ball of glory?" he had a plan worked out people, if he has a family history of suicide we have to be concerned...


Does that shuttle seem practical? I suppose Destiny has some kind of processing plant on board to make fuel for it, but I still would ahve expected it to be capable of catching up to Destiny on its own OR having more independent features. Admittedly for all we know theres a tractor beam up on the bridge and the team has just been using the gateroom out of necessity. Now that the powers up i hope they do some exploring and identify some more of Destiny's capabilities.

[Imperial Overlord]

[
No comments on Sgt Greer being a fricking nutcase? " I want to go out in a ball of glory?" he had a plan worked out people, if he has a family history of suicide we have to be concerned...

Greer said if he had to die then going out by smashing into a sun is an awesome way to go. I happen to agree with him. I don't want to die, but its certainly not a mundane way to go. It's sort of like a Viking funeral turned up to eleven.

[Bilbo]

One thing I wasnt so sure on was the after the whole incident attack on Rush. Did he know or didnt he know. Best case Ruch could assume the ship that survived for millions of years isnt going to kamikazee into a star. But since he doesnt have computer access he cannot know this for sure. So he keeps his mouth shut and hopes the whole shuttle thing keeps people from freaking out and potentially causing damage to the Destiny in some fit is despair.

But since we want a dark angsty Stargate show we need to throw these lines in because we dont dare want to let people start to like Rush. Kind of annoying. This show isnt supposed to be episodic where everything cleans up and resets like a STNG episode. But instead of having real development we are what? Going to throw in end of show comments like this so that Rush doesnt really change and have people starting to like him.

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What is a bit interesting is the whole "rig the lottery" comment by Rush. Logically the well trained military personel, most of which probably have survival training would be the best choices for the shuttle. Greer is a perfect example of this. If shit hits the fan I fully expect Greer to be alive and kicking when everyone else is down for good. So lets say Rush did know the Destiny would survive. Was he hoping in some small way that Young would load the shuttle with a large percentage of the military people? Then if the Destiny does survive and say the shuttle is lost Rush jumps much more to the top of the command chain.

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Finally, I hope something happens over the whole last minute mutiney attempt by the one military guy that Greer knocked out. Young figured they were all dead so nothing needed to be done at the time. Now that they are going to live I sure hope that incident isnt forgotten. Whats his name needs to have his rank stripped, weapons taken away, and locked in his room when not needed, just to let everyone know mutiny is not tolerated. A better solution would be summary execution but that would be dark even for the "dark and sexy" Stargate show.

[Burak Gazan]

Does that shuttle seem practical? I suppose Destiny has some kind of processing plant on board to make fuel for it, but I still would ahve expected it to be capable of catching up to Destiny on its own OR having more independent features. Admittedly for all we know theres a tractor beam up on the bridge and the team has just been using the gateroom out of necessity. Now that the powers up i hope they do some exploring and identify some more of Destiny's capabilities.

It's a shuttlecraft; I dont think it is designed to do more than go down somewhere and come back up, and certainly not rendezvous with a starship accelerating out-system preparing to jump to lightspeed. It aint the Falcon

[ThomasP]

Yeah, they actually mentioned delta-v and thrust:weight ratio, so they seem to be at least trying to incorporate a real-science angle to it (if you just ignore the giant FTL ship, of course). I thought that was pretty neat, honestly.

The more I think about it, the more this episode really warmed me up to both Rush and Greer. I actually was disappointed at the final scene where Young accused him of knowing in advance that they'd survive, but it was disappointment because I felt it wasn't actually out of character for what we know of Rush so far.

Greer, despite being something of an ass his first few episodes, is really striking me as a good guy with a temper problem. I'm hoping that they keep exploring him, because he seems to have a lot of potential.

[Bilbo]

Greer, despite being something of an ass his first few episodes, is really striking me as a good guy with a temper problem. I'm hoping that they keep exploring him, because he seems to have a lot of potential.

Yeah, Greer definitely appears to be someone who is trouble when not under pressure. Give him a problem or a mission and he kicks ass, give him downtime and he is likely to start a fight or get roaring drunk.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I don't think the shuttle not being able to catch Destiny is unrealistic. You have to remember we have people not fully trained in this stuff trying to operate the equipment. If a real Lantean had been at the controls, he would have stopped Destiny's engines so the shuttle could catch up. Unfortunately, Rush is a lowly earthling and has no clue how to do that.

[TheLostVikings]

Finally, I hope something happens over the whole last minute mutiney attempt by the one military guy that Greer knocked out. Young figured they were all dead so nothing needed to be done at the time. Now that they are going to live I sure hope that incident isnt forgotten. Whats his name needs to have his rank stripped, weapons taken away, and locked in his room when not needed, just to let everyone know mutiny is not tolerated. A better solution would be summary execution but that would be dark even for the "dark and sexy" Stargate show.

Heh, it's worth noting that he's the guy who stole food during the first episode. I have a feeling this won't be the last time he makes trouble.

[PREDATOR490]

Another 3 from me.

Blatantly predictable and really no suspense at all.

It was ultimately predictable that Rush was going to be accused of knowing and I figured he knew something when he reacted at the outside view of the Kino.
I'm leaning towards Rush definetly knowing or at least assuming the ship was not deliberately commiting suicide. Cant be bothered with the stuipd romance shit, they tried this in Atlantis and SG-1 and in the end they ultimately went nowhere productive and got dropped.

Next episode I expect to see those stones used to bring in Carter / Rodney etc. to help figure out the ship's systems. They are directly out of the woods now they have power and air so if they want to get home the first step is to contact Atlantis and have them use the Ancient database to find out about the Destiny. Afterall, SG-1 demonstrated Atlantis has access to databanks with holographic ancient 'guides' like Morgan to instruct them on Ancient history.
It would seem extremely odd for Atlantis not to have data relevant to the Destiny in its databanks and even if that is the case. Atlantis personnel are the most skilled people capable of operating with Ancient technology so it stands to reason their specialists should be able to help solve the Destiny's crew problem of being a bunch of misfit unknowns out of their element.

The reality however will more likely show us more silent hissing from Eli about Chloe, Rush being a dick as usual and generally having the crew ranting and raving about wanting to go home but not using the ONE vital piece of technology they have that could potentially allow them to do so. If this bunch of personnel DONT trust Rush then clearly they need someone who CAN be trusted to work with the Ancient systems and the stones clearly provide that capability.

[Johonebesus]

I wonder if anyone is going to start worshipping the ascended Alterrans. Yes, they have said they have no interest in interfering with mortals or helping them to ascend, but by the same rule they wouldn't punish anyone for worshipping them. It would be pointless, but scarred humans might feel there's nothing to lose. At least we know they exist and can grant immortality. It would be slightly more rational than worshipping YHWH.

[Old Plympto]

For some reason I had the urge to cheer when Becker the cook's name came up first in the lottery. Then I remembered the shuttle hadn't that great a chance of a happy ending anyway.

[Xon]

Destiny was odd in not waiting to retrieve her shuttle; perhaps they need to be manually logged out from one of the control rooms before she knows they've left?

Alternatively Destiny might have been smart enough to know it was still posible for the shuttle to make it back. It is a little suspicious that a gravity slingshot gave the shuttle just enough velocity to get back.


:edit: Bah, you pointed the same point out just a little later before I read the rest of the thread.

But honestly, Destiny has demonstrated vastly more complex AI than anything we have seen walking around the the Ancients which wasn't the Replicators. Obviously the Ancients had precursor tech w.r.t to AI, so maybe this is an example?