SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

SF: discuss futuristic sci-fi series, ideas, and crossovers.

Moderator: NecronLord

Rate SGU's "Divided"

5 - It's treason then.
10
25%
4 - We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.
19
48%
3 - I do perceive here a divided duty.
4
10%
2 - He loved the treason, but hated the traitor.
2
5%
1 - The world is divided into two categories: failures and unknowns.
5
13%
 
Total votes: 40

User avatar
Temujin
Jedi Master
Posts: 1300
Joined: 2010-03-28 07:08pm
Location: Occupying Wall Street (In Spirit)

SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Temujin »

Well, since no one posted a review thread, I thought I’d step up and do the honors (for shame, letting the newbie do it :P ). Rating titles inspired by NecronLord's.

So what did you all think?

I'm giving it a 4. I liked it, and I thought it was pretty good drama, especially since Spoiler
I didn't expect the blue men group to show up so soon.
But like most SGU episodes, it just seemed to fall short of a 5 somehow.


Of course I loved the part when Chloe admitted what we all already know: Spoiler
Well, I'm basically useless!
Image
Mr. Harley: Your impatience is quite understandable.
Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.
Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I'm very sorry... I wish it were otherwise.

"I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe.
If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." – Frankenstein's Creature on the glacier[/size]
User avatar
CaptJodan
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 2217
Joined: 2003-05-27 09:57pm
Location: Orlando, Florida

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by CaptJodan »

No need for spoilers in the topic itself. We assume if you're here, you saw it.

I'm convinced that the Destiny's engines aren't what they used to be. It's possibly functioning on one or two FTL engines, and that the ship originally had more. These frequent stops seem to be designed to give the ship a rest. As far as we know, the ship didn't even dial a new address with the last stop it had before the attack, so there was no reason it shouldn't have jumped back into hyperspace unless its engines need a cool down.

This week seems also to indicate that the ship's weapons indeed are under human control, and the ship won't return fire without the humans doing it.

I wasn't expecting the aliens to return so quickly in the next episode, but it was kind of nice that they did, and with three times the number. Again, I find issue with their tactics though. Had they used their fighters in addition to their larger ships, they probably would have punched through the shields sufficiently to...do whatever it was they were intending to do. What was that again? Capture the ship? Given that they can easily pass through the shields to board the ship (and after a while they should have realized the ship wasn't going to defend itself) they could have easily sent boarding parties over. It wasn't going to get much easier than that without causing major damage to what they claim they want to capture intact.

Camille seems second in uselessness only to Chloe. Her motives are unclear much of the time. She tried out command not two episodes ago and found herself somewhat lacking. So naturally she tries again with a mutiny, only to find out she was never in charge then either. She's not an effective leader in any sense, and it seems like she's there just to piss everyone off. The only time she seemed less like your typical IOA stooge was when she went home. If there was someone who could be punished for their role in the mutiny without affecting much of the work on the ship, she'd be a prime choice. They can't realistically lock up Rush.

If Scott decides that Chloe went too far, she'll basically lose any usefulness she had on the ship as Scott's bed toy. She really needs to actively pursue a job of some kind.

For those keeping track of the exploding consoles routine, last week the ship started exploding with shields down to about 50%. This week, things didn't start exploding until just before the shields were to fail.

Overall, it was one of the more active episodes in the show so far. We had both a (one sided) space battle and a mutiny at the same time, and for SGU, that's action packed. I give it a 4.
It's Jodan, not Jordan. If you can't quote it right, I will mock you.
User avatar
JME2
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12258
Joined: 2003-02-02 04:04pm

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by JME2 »

I'm immensely satisfied at how pissed Wray was that Rush played her; I said last week that allying with Rush was a dangerous game and it backfired beautifully. I'm also glad that the civilian/military conflict was not wrapped up neat and tight; the attack forced it back into cold war status, but it's going to explode again.

4/5
User avatar
adam_grif
Sith Devotee
Posts: 2755
Joined: 2009-12-19 08:27am
Location: Tasmania, Australia

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by adam_grif »

I want to punch Wray in her smug little fucking face. I was practically screaming at that airman to shoot her when she came in the room.
Of course I loved the part when Chloe admitted what we all already know:
Not a spoiler.
Camille seems second in uselessness only to Chloe.
She's worse than useless, she's actively sabotaging things and insisting that she be in charge instead of the people who know what the fuck is going on. Why is she still alive? I mean shit, Rush is at least extremely useful and we've already had an attempted murder on him. She's only going to give them more headaches in the long run, I think it's well within their rights to use a bit of 9mm aspirin.
I wasn't expecting the aliens to return so quickly in the next episode, but it was kind of nice that they did, and with three times the number.
I'm going to be thoroughly disappointed if this is the last we see of them, though. They seem like the sort to be recurring antagonists, but I still cry myself to sleep when I think about those one-shot aliens on SG-1 that had the mind-reading neural links, hologram tech so good they could make anybody look like anybody else and the ability to pass through the Iris unphased. They took over the SGC, got driven off, and were never seen again.
A scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.

At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: 'What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.

The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, 'What is the tortoise standing on?'

'You're very clever, young man, very clever,' said the old lady. 'But it's turtles all the way down.'
User avatar
Revy
Jedi Knight
Posts: 581
Joined: 2008-06-24 05:46pm

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Revy »

adam_grif wrote:They seem like the sort to be recurring antagonists, but I still cry myself to sleep when I think about those one-shot aliens on SG-1 that had the mind-reading neural links, hologram tech so good they could make anybody look like anybody else and the ability to pass through the Iris unphased. They took over the SGC, got driven off, and were never seen again.
The Foothold aliens? They didn't exactly pass through the Iris, if I remember correctly they abducted an SG team, disguised themselves as said team and infiltrated the base that way. It wasn't like they were able to simply walk through the Iris like the Tollans did. And yes, it was a shame they never returned. Neither did the Ree'tou, or the Crystal Skull aliens, or ... hell that list could go on for quite a while. Kinda a waste.

You know what would have been a nice plot twist? If one of Ba'als goa'uld/trust underlings managed to body-snatch one of the team prior to the series beginning, in order to learn what the project was all about, and ended up stuck on the ship. They could even hint at it by having said goa'uld avoid using the stones for fear of how they would work on him/her. And they never did track down Athena, did they?
User avatar
Temujin
Jedi Master
Posts: 1300
Joined: 2010-03-28 07:08pm
Location: Occupying Wall Street (In Spirit)

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Temujin »

CaptJodan wrote:No need for spoilers in the topic itself. We assume if you're here, you saw it.
Thanks, I was just erring on the side of caution. I know that the 'to spoiler' or 'not to spoiler' issue has sometimes been a bit fuzzy.
CaptJodan wrote:I wasn't expecting the aliens to return so quickly in the next episode, but it was kind of nice that they did, and with three times the number. Again, I find issue with their tactics though. Had they used their fighters in addition to their larger ships, they probably would have punched through the shields sufficiently to...do whatever it was they were intending to do. What was that again? Capture the ship? Given that they can easily pass through the shields to board the ship (and after a while they should have realized the ship wasn't going to defend itself) they could have easily sent boarding parties over. It wasn't going to get much easier than that without causing major damage to what they claim they want to capture intact.
I though it added a nice twist to the tension, especially since they correctly didn't hint at them being back in the previews. If the writers/producers stick with what they original claimed (i.e., hopping to a new galaxy every season, and hence having new antagonists), then I would assume that they will work them in as much as possible for the remaining S1 episodes. However, Rush seems to indicate that they've been interested in, and thus trying to get hold of Destiny for quite a while. So that could indicate that they're either advanced enough to easily travel between galaxies, or possibly that they're following Destiny around with a small fleet.
CaptJodan wrote:Camille seems second in uselessness only to Chloe. Her motives are unclear much of the time. She tried out command not two episodes ago and found herself somewhat lacking. So naturally she tries again with a mutiny, only to find out she was never in charge then either. She's not an effective leader in any sense, and it seems like she's there just to piss everyone off. The only time she seemed less like your typical IOA stooge was when she went home. If there was someone who could be punished for their role in the mutiny without affecting much of the work on the ship, she'd be a prime choice.
Gawd yes, she's become a royal cunt. I originally thought she was just playing IAO bitch as she's probably expected to; it seems to be their SOP. But when she went back home and we actually got to see her as more of a human being, I was actually starting to like her. While I wasn't surprised by her initial stepping up to take command, I figured we'd at least see a little more depth and indecisiveness to her character's actions, a little more: "I really want to get home, but I'm in over my head. what do I do? Who do I side with?"
CaptJodan wrote:They can't realistically lock up Rush.
Well they could lock him up in the lab, but short of having Rodney McKay there to keep tabs on what he's doing (Eli sure isn't up to it), it would only make him harder to deal with. :lol:
CaptJodan wrote:If Scott decides that Chloe went too far, she'll basically lose any usefulness she had on the ship as Scott's bed toy. She really needs to actively pursue a job of some kind.
They certainly didn't have time to show all of the fallout from the mutiny, but I was hoping for a kind of reversal from last weeks ending, with Chloe sitting alone in bed crying.
Image
Mr. Harley: Your impatience is quite understandable.
Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.
Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I'm very sorry... I wish it were otherwise.

"I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe.
If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." – Frankenstein's Creature on the glacier[/size]
User avatar
Zac Naloen
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 5488
Joined: 2003-07-24 04:32pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Zac Naloen »

I've only just started watching this, I'm shocked to find a song from one of my favourite artists right at the intro
Image
Member of the Unremarkables
Just because you're god, it doesn't mean you can treat people that way : - My girlfriend
Evil Brit Conspiracy - Insignificant guy
User avatar
JME2
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12258
Joined: 2003-02-02 04:04pm

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by JME2 »

Revy wrote:
adam_grif wrote:You know what would have been a nice plot twist? If one of Ba'als goa'uld/trust underlings managed to body-snatch one of the team prior to the series beginning, in order to learn what the project was all about, and ended up stuck on the ship. They could even hint at it by having said goa'uld avoid using the stones for fear of how they would work on him/her. And they never did track down Athena, did they?
The fate of the Trust is still a dangling thread from SG-1; I doubt even Ba'al's final death crippled the organization, so it could work.

Also....
Spoiler
We know we haven't seen the last of the aliens because the Season 1.5 Preview showed a group of them storming the ship via Stargate
User avatar
NecronLord
Harbinger of Doom
Harbinger of Doom
Posts: 27384
Joined: 2002-07-07 06:30am
Location: The Lost City

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by NecronLord »

Apologies for not putting up a thread. I was otherwise engaged last night!
adam_grif wrote:You know what would have been a nice plot twist? If one of Ba'als goa'uld/trust underlings managed to body-snatch one of the team prior to the series beginning, in order to learn what the project was all about, and ended up stuck on the ship. They could even hint at it by having said goa'uld avoid using the stones for fear of how they would work on him/her. And they never did track down Athena, did they?
I'd think that's unlikely. Too much like Atlantis' snake-episode Critical Mass.

I've quite enjoyed the notion of some goa'uld remnant dialling into Destiny and depositing a fully armed jaffa warrior (of the less cannon fodder sort) on there, with hawk helmet at such, chasing people around the ship's dark interior like something from Alien.

JME2 wrote:Spoiler
We know we haven't seen the last of the aliens because the Season 1.5 Preview showed a group of them storming the ship via Stargate
Spoiler
Technically, they were walking through, rather than storming. Could be that they make peace with them for all we know.
__ __ __

Onto the episode itself; relations are getting a little strained lately. Last episode, Scott and Greer were willing to disobey the Colonel. This time, Chloe is willing to work against the Col. and more importantly Scott... I'd not be surprised if we're going to see the Colonel become increasingly isolated. Wray and Rush seem to be fallen out too.

Mind you, when I saw her, Rush and Wray taking over, I was wondering if they didn't plan to fire on the shuttle.

The rebels have a point, mind. Destiny does need a different style of governance, it's not a warship, and they're not it's crew. They were on Icarus, certainly, but this particular situation is far beyond what they signed on for. And of course, the Colonel is not qualified for command (no one here is, short of bringing someone like Col Caldwell in via comms stone, which seems unlikely) he has never commanded a starship, and has no specialist experience or training. Here we see Rush do a better job than him in that respect - admittedly Rush basically does what Destiny did, but that seems to be a sensible thing to do. The correct course of action would be to get the IOA to lean on the Col to submit to election for day-to-day non-military operational command.

The real problem is the poor options. Wray's name may begin with a W, but she's not Dr Weir.

I'm not getting the Wray hate, mind. The Colonel's running the ship isn't working. Witness how almost anyone not in a uniform seemed happy to try and depose him. Yeah.

Rush remains untrustworthy, though in his situation, what else would one do? I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they did maroon him, given Col. Young's previous attempt, and upon discovering Rush alive, immediately switching to Bring the main weapon online!

On a technical note, Destiny jumped away the moment the shields were about to fail. Circumstantial evidence for her being programmed to do so?

The aliens' technology appears to be somewhat less developed in this area than the Wraith's; it was easy to remove. It was of similar overall size to the wraith tracker pendant. If that had been like a runner implant, then they'd have had plenty of trouble getting it out.
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
User avatar
CaptJodan
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 2217
Joined: 2003-05-27 09:57pm
Location: Orlando, Florida

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by CaptJodan »

NecronLord wrote:I'm not getting the Wray hate, mind. The Colonel's running the ship isn't working. Witness how almost anyone not in a uniform seemed happy to try and depose him. Yeah.
Wray came out of the gate on day one trying to not only boss people around when she had no real authority, but made good progress on not trying to work with the military people. At each stage of the process, she's put the finger to the military, up to and including taking Greer off of assignments because she doesn't trust him, even though he's shown up to this point to be fairly reliable man.

She takes charge, then backs off. Takes charge again, only to realize she never really was in charge. She's shown very little desire to work with the military except by her own decree, and while I wouldn't say Young is any better in this area than she is, he's been right more often than wrong in most cases. Where he was wrong, he admitted fault.

I'm not saying Young is perfect, and if there were other options I wouldn't consider them. But from the standpoint of the three possible options we have so far....the power hungry incompetent bitch, the guy who has no interest in returning home, and the military officer who was framed by a guy who promised he'd never stop trying to betray him and left him to die because of it, I think I'd pick the latter.
On a technical note, Destiny jumped away the moment the shields were about to fail. Circumstantial evidence for her being programmed to do so?
Are you fucking kidding me? The damned clock was counting down till it could jump again, and even had Eli calling out time till jumping, which corresponded to when the shields were about to fail. He said they'd jump in a little over a minute, and sure enough, that's when they jumped by episode time. Are you saying that the ship was just counting down, from the moment it jumped into the system, how long until it's shields failed by time? That's ridiculous.

Face it, if Destiny could jump at any time, then it WAITED until it took damage this week. It was stated that they sustained damage. There was NO reason for the ship to stand there and take a pounding. No gate was activated. No one left the ship (and we can see how much the ship cares about that too, given that it was going to jump without the shuttle's clamps being engaged). It did not run when it's shields were about to fail, it ran because, according to its clock, it was time to go.

On an actual technical note, it appears as if the shields need to be working in some way for FTL to be safe, which is interesting because the Asgard and other ships cannot run shields in hyperspace. Thus, hyperspace must be far less turbulent or destructive to ships than whatever Destiny uses.
It's Jodan, not Jordan. If you can't quote it right, I will mock you.
User avatar
NecronLord
Harbinger of Doom
Harbinger of Doom
Posts: 27384
Joined: 2002-07-07 06:30am
Location: The Lost City

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by NecronLord »

CaptJodan wrote:Wray came out of the gate on day one trying to not only boss people around when she had no real authority, but made good progress on not trying to work with the military people. At each stage of the process, she's put the finger to the military, up to and including taking Greer off of assignments because she doesn't trust him, even though he's shown up to this point to be fairly reliable man.

She takes charge, then backs off. Takes charge again, only to realize she never really was in charge. She's shown very little desire to work with the military except by her own decree, and while I wouldn't say Young is any better in this area than she is, he's been right more often than wrong in most cases. Where he was wrong, he admitted fault.

I'm not saying Young is perfect, and if there were other options I wouldn't consider them. But from the standpoint of the three possible options we have so far....the power hungry incompetent bitch, the guy who has no interest in returning home, and the military officer who was framed by a guy who promised he'd never stop trying to betray him and left him to die because of it, I think I'd pick the latter.
Yes, the leadership fucking fails on Destiny. Young is shown here to be about as effective as a chocolate teapot. We know the enemy have access to stargates (one of their pods ditched near one, and there was no mention of a survivor or bodies, and of course, they've been probing Rush's mind) and yet he's posted no standing guard on the ship's gate, or if he has it's one guy with a sidearm.
Spoiler
Of course, the second half of the season's trailer shows the aliens just plain ambling through Destiny's stargate in some future episode, which may be bad news.
Are you fucking kidding me? The damned clock was counting down till it could jump again, and even had Eli calling out time till jumping, which corresponded to when the shields were about to fail. He said they'd jump in a little over a minute, and sure enough, that's when they jumped by episode time. Are you saying that the ship was just counting down, from the moment it jumped into the system, how long until it's shields failed by time? That's ridiculous.
Really? I thought Eli was pretty vague on when it'd jump. The clock was going, but there's no actual shots of it around that time. Perhaps that is an unwarranted assumption, I'll grant, but it does seem convenient.

Nah, mostly I just put that one in there to tweak you. In reality, Destiny seems to need to build up power before jumping or something. Spoilers suggest we'll get a much better idea how her FTL works in a future episode though.
Face it, if Destiny could jump at any time, then it WAITED until it took damage this week. It was stated that they sustained damage. There was NO reason for the ship to stand there and take a pounding. No gate was activated. No one left the ship (and we can see how much the ship cares about that too, given that it was going to jump without the shuttle's clamps being engaged).
We do, sort of. See the calcs I ran for her acceleration in Light. If she wasn't slowing down to dock with the shuttle in that episode, then her standard acceleration is truly piteous, on the order of forty gravities, though that is a low end figure. It seems much more likely she picked that particular speed so the shuttle could dock.

We've seen a safety protocol delay the ship in the past, mind you, given the amount of shaking and groaning, it's possible it is dangerous or damaging to delay a jump.

Given the other safety protocol, I imagine she wouldn't just run the shuttle over, but would rather thrust away from it and then go into FTL. Eli did say that was a worst case scenario in his estimation, after all.
It did not run when it's shields were about to fail, it ran because, according to its clock, it was time to go.

On an actual technical note, it appears as if the shields need to be working in some way for FTL to be safe, which is interesting because the Asgard and other ships cannot run shields in hyperspace. Thus, hyperspace must be far less turbulent or destructive to ships than whatever Destiny uses.
Destiny's stardrive appears to be realspace, like ST's warp. Presumably it needs shields to prevent impacts (like navigational deflectors, in fact).
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
User avatar
CaptJodan
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 2217
Joined: 2003-05-27 09:57pm
Location: Orlando, Florida

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by CaptJodan »

NecronLord wrote:We know the enemy have access to stargates (one of their pods ditched near one, and there was no mention of a survivor or bodies, and of course, they've been probing Rush's mind) and yet he's posted no standing guard on the ship's gate, or if he has it's one guy with a sidearm.
I'm not sure that's completely fair. Somewhat fair, but not completely. The seeded gates don't come equipped with a DHD, so gaining access to them at least wouldn't be TOO trivial (though yes, it can be done). But we really can't say they have actual access, as in all the requirements to use the gates. Just because there were no bodies in the very limited area that they walked to and from the gate doesn't mean that they went though said gate.

Then you have to consider how would the aliens know the proper address for the Destiny? Said reading of minds might be the best way, yes.

Clearly, they will pay for their lack of vision. But given all of the other pressures Young is under right now, I can overlook the fact that he didn't think 6 steps ahead of these aliens who have thus far only attacked via ship and who Young has no reason to suspect can easily dial into Destiny. The mutiny, the personnel problems, the ship's poor state, and what the home front wants from him are distractions that hinder thinking ahead like that.
Really? I thought Eli was pretty vague on when it'd jump. The clock was going, but there's no actual shots of it around that time.
Let me ask, have you taken the time to learn what those symbols mean so as to be able to read the clock? It wouldn't surprise me if you had, but if not, a shot of the clock isn't likely to help.
Nah, mostly I just put that one in there to tweak you. In reality, Destiny seems to need to build up power before jumping or something. Spoilers suggest we'll get a much better idea how her FTL works in a future episode though.
You take way too much joy in this.
We do, sort of. See the calcs I ran for her acceleration in Light. If she wasn't slowing down to dock with the shuttle in that episode, then her standard acceleration is truly piteous, on the order of forty gravities, though that is a low end figure. It seems much more likely she picked that particular speed so the shuttle could dock.
I have not seen these calcs, but why would the ship assume the crew would have the foresight to call for a slingshot around a planet to gain acceleration the shuttle didn't have? Then, even after that, why would the ship then not slow it's acceleration just a little bit more so that they could have more than an almost suicidal landing? What was the harm in slowing down another 5 m/s to ensure a more controlled touchdown?

More likely, Destiny wasn't accelerating away at maximum speed, but at a fairly leisurely pace, which the shuttle still couldn't match. The question is, do your calcs prove the shuttle has pitiful acceleration?

Given the other safety protocol, I imagine she wouldn't just run the shuttle over, but would rather thrust away from it and then go into FTL. Eli did say that was a worst case scenario in his estimation, after all.
Still leaves people and equipment behind. The ship is pretty fanatical when it comes to keeping to its schedule.
It's Jodan, not Jordan. If you can't quote it right, I will mock you.
User avatar
adam_grif
Sith Devotee
Posts: 2755
Joined: 2009-12-19 08:27am
Location: Tasmania, Australia

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by adam_grif »

Who are the douchebags who keep rating all the SGU episodes as 1 star? Show yourselves!
I'd think that's unlikely. Too much like Atlantis' snake-episode Critical Mass.
Uhh, I didn't make that statement. JME2 just rooted up his quote tags.
I'm not getting the Wray hate, mind. The Colonel's running the ship isn't working. Witness how almost anyone not in a uniform seemed happy to try and depose him. Yeah.
The implication was that she was spreading discontent and mistrust off-screen, it's obvious that they've been planning this for a while. But I hate her so much because she's already had a go at command and she fucking failed. She's not cut out for that shit, but she insists that she is. She claims she's just "putting civilians in charge", when really she just wants to trade a dictatorship lead by Col. Young for a dictatorship lead by Megabitch Wray.
The rebels have a point, mind. Destiny does need a different style of governance, it's not a warship, and they're not it's crew.
There's no reason they can't compromise and have the civilians decide on civilian issues and when they come under attack from aliens, the Colonel takes charge until the immediate threat is over. It may not be a military vessel, but it's got a large number of military personnel, and more importantly, they've started facing real military threats.
A scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.

At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: 'What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.

The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, 'What is the tortoise standing on?'

'You're very clever, young man, very clever,' said the old lady. 'But it's turtles all the way down.'
User avatar
NecronLord
Harbinger of Doom
Harbinger of Doom
Posts: 27384
Joined: 2002-07-07 06:30am
Location: The Lost City

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by NecronLord »

CaptJodan wrote:Let me ask, have you taken the time to learn what those symbols mean so as to be able to read the clock? It wouldn't surprise me if you had, but if not, a shot of the clock isn't likely to help.
Actually... I have. The clock is impressively consistent.
You take way too much joy in this.
Mwhahaha.
I have not seen these calcs, but why would the ship assume the crew would have the foresight to call for a slingshot around a planet to gain acceleration the shuttle didn't have?
The Ancients have been star-faring for millions of years by the time they built Destiny Literally millions of years. I'm pretty sure that'd be a routine manoeuvre for them.

Link below.
Then, even after that, why would the ship then not slow it's acceleration just a little bit more so that they could have more than an almost suicidal landing? What was the harm in slowing down another 5 m/s to ensure a more controlled touchdown?
To quote a friend of mine:

<Destiny> Ow. That pilot flies like a... human.

As you say, Scott doesn't have any prior experience flying these things. And he still landed it undamaged.
More likely, Destiny wasn't accelerating away at maximum speed, but at a fairly leisurely pace, which the shuttle still couldn't match. The question is, do your calcs prove the shuttle has pitiful acceleration?
No. They suggest that Destiny wasn't flooring it, but aiming to allow the shuttle a chance to dock.
Still leaves people and equipment behind. The ship is pretty fanatical when it comes to keeping to its schedule.
Indeed.

Thread link by the way.
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
User avatar
Alyeska
Federation Ambassador
Posts: 17496
Joined: 2002-08-11 07:28pm
Location: Montana, USA

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Alyeska »

Enough with the fucking spoiler warnings. The thread is about the episode we watched. Anyone in this thread who hasn't seen it yet and doesn't want spoilers is an idiot.
"If the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. If the law is on your side, pound on the law. If neither is on your side, pound on the table."

"The captain claimed our people violated a 4,000 year old treaty forbidding us to develop hyperspace technology. Extermination of our planet was the consequence. The subject did not survive interrogation."
User avatar
Covenant
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4451
Joined: 2006-04-11 07:43am

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Covenant »

Argh, this episode just made me frustrated beyond reason. I don't know exactly why, but I don't like anybody on the ship, and I just don't feel any real tension when they're acting like children. Rush framing Young, Young leaving him behind, Wray and Rush seizing control, the military choosing to storm the civilian side of the ship, and all of this continuing petty nonsense just has made me feel that none of them deserve any command authority whatsoever and that this is a ship of C-Team incompetents lead by a bunch of raging egomaniacs. I'm sure they were all on that base because none of them were SG-Team material.

And that may be part of the issue, but it's a combination of failure and bad attitude that really peeves me. I want to see them doing a Robinson Crusoe In Space thing on this ship, jury-rigging shit to make it work, not squabbling about who gets to command the ship. Command it to do what? Nobody seems to have any idea what this 'leadership' would entail, since Young barely seems to do anything non-military except set vague work priorities that have worked out fine, to all appearances, so far.

I'm pretty anti-authoritarian but having a clear chain of command in a crisis beats catty backstabbing, which everyone seems guilty of so far. Hell, these people are less likeable than Voyager's crew at the moment, and I don't really care if they get killed or taken over yet. What's the worst that happens? These pathetic aliens come to Earth and get their blue asses shot off by our Asgard-upgunned Death Machine and Jaffa allies? I really need them to make these characters more likeable. I hated Chloe until this season, where she's no better, but everyone else is worse by comparison. Shiiiiit.
User avatar
CaptainChewbacca
Browncoat Wookiee
Posts: 15746
Joined: 2003-05-06 02:36am
Location: Deep beneath Boatmurdered.

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by CaptainChewbacca »

I loved that the civilians' plan to sieze control of the ship lasted for all of about 40 minutes before they were surrounded by armed troops.
Stuart: The only problem is, I'm losing track of which universe I'm in.
You kinda look like Jesus. With a lightsaber.- Peregrin Toker
ImageImage
User avatar
Covenant
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4451
Joined: 2006-04-11 07:43am

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Covenant »

CaptainChewbacca wrote:I loved that the civilians' plan to sieze control of the ship lasted for all of about 40 minutes before they were surrounded by armed troops.
It makes them look incredibly pathetic that they can't even do a door lock properly. And seriously, what was the plan? Civilian authority in command? So, when they order a military thing, what happens? Do they call in Young to have him decide how to do it? How would this change anything for anybody? It's not like the Military is getting the best rations and bunks and so forth.

I understand that they wanted to make it seem like the scientists felt threatened by the military guys, but we haven't seen any of that yet. What's Young done? What would the civilians do if they were in charge? Spend less time fixing the weapons and more time fixing the... something else? I find it hilarious that Young, who should be the competent military leader, was willing to drop the shields and use the tiny bit of remaining energy to squirt out a few shots at one of the THREE motherships attacking them. When it was one on one with more power and full weapon access they weren't able to do all that much. I think they're just writing these characters wrong.
User avatar
adam_grif
Sith Devotee
Posts: 2755
Joined: 2009-12-19 08:27am
Location: Tasmania, Australia

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by adam_grif »

Covenant wrote: I want to see them doing a Robinson Crusoe In Space thing on this ship, jury-rigging shit to make it work, not squabbling about who gets to command the ship.
If they could get Carter and McKay to fucking body swap with some people, they'll have it in working order in like four hours. They really don't have an excuse for not having professionals on the ship at all times, swapping with the bodies of useless fucking idiots like Wray and Chloe.
A scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.

At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: 'What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.

The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, 'What is the tortoise standing on?'

'You're very clever, young man, very clever,' said the old lady. 'But it's turtles all the way down.'
User avatar
Covenant
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4451
Joined: 2006-04-11 07:43am

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Covenant »

adam_grif wrote:If they could get Carter and McKay to fucking body swap with some people, they'll have it in working order in like four hours. They really don't have an excuse for not having professionals on the ship at all times, swapping with the bodies of useless fucking idiots like Wray and Chloe.
They could even benefit by swapping Mitchell in, silly as that sounds, or Picardo's guy. I feel that Young is simply not fit for a leadership position. He's barely shown any serious discipline, especially self-discipline, and I do not get the feeling he's very smart either. Especially considering how bad any of his technical commands are--like diverting power from shields to weapons despite having to know how pointless that would be. He seems nearly passionless and creatively bankrupt except when it comes to ego-driven macho behavior like punching Telford or punching Rush.

Know who (and what) this reminds me of? And frankly, if they did this, I would consider it a reasonable and safe way to redeem the situation. He reminds me of Captain Queeg from The Caine Muntiny. When I heard about them having Strawberries from the hydroponics soon I had images of Young walking around the ship, rolling ball bearings in his hand and muttering about Strawberries as he makes Eli search the Kinos to find the guy who took them.
User avatar
Netko
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1925
Joined: 2005-03-30 06:14am

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Netko »

Covenant wrote:They could even benefit by swapping Mitchell in, silly as that sounds, or Picardo's guy. I feel that Young is simply not fit for a leadership position. He's barely shown any serious discipline, especially self-discipline, and I do not get the feeling he's very smart either. Especially considering how bad any of his technical commands are--like diverting power from shields to weapons despite having to know how pointless that would be. He seems nearly passionless and creatively bankrupt except when it comes to ego-driven macho behavior like punching Telford or punching Rush.
I think the past two episodes prove conclusively why you can't have "swapped in" people being in charge and running critical positions. Having them come in to advise and do specialist repairs and whatnot, sure, but them being permanently swapped in would cause problems if the link fails at an inopportune moment - and we've just seen that that situation is very much possible during a crisis.

That said, count me in with the crowd that thinks there are no good options presented - which I think is kind of a point; these people are not the brilliant exceptional mentally stable and social experts we've seen on the other shows - this is a rag-tag bunch of middling people put in exceptional circumstances. Sure, the options - an inflexible military officer, an egoistical, isolationist brilliant scientist or an incompetent political hack - aren't great, but I like that actually. Still, it wouldn't be bad if they had a few episodes right about now about solving long-term problems and not about political infighting being the focus.
User avatar
Soontir C'boath
SG-14: Fuck the Medic!
Posts: 6853
Joined: 2002-07-06 12:15am
Location: Queens, NYC I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF MANHATTEN IS CONSIDERED NYC!! I'M IN IT ASSHOLE!!!
Contact:

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Soontir C'boath »

CaptainChewbacca wrote:I loved that the civilians' plan to sieze control of the ship lasted for all of about 40 minutes before they were surrounded by armed troops.
I found it amazingly shortsighted of Rush and co for not accounting the hole the aliens made on their end of the ship and that there were space suits on Young's end. I was tempted on giving the episode a three for this stupidity.
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."
User avatar
Temujin
Jedi Master
Posts: 1300
Joined: 2010-03-28 07:08pm
Location: Occupying Wall Street (In Spirit)

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Temujin »

adam_grif wrote:
Covenant wrote: I want to see them doing a Robinson Crusoe In Space thing on this ship, jury-rigging shit to make it work, not squabbling about who gets to command the ship.
If they could get Carter and McKay to fucking body swap with some people, they'll have it in working order in like four hours. They really don't have an excuse for not having professionals on the ship at all times, swapping with the bodies of useless fucking idiots like Wray and Chloe.
That's something that has seriously surprised me. I can understand them not having guest stars, or even different extras showing up as specialists every episode; obviously there are time and budgetary constraints. But at least allude to the fact that specialists are coming aboard to help out on a semi-regular basis.

When people go home to see their loved ones, or for example when Young/Wray give their respective briefings, I would expect them to make the most of the swapping to get more useful people on board, albeit temporarily. And it's not like it has to be Carter or McKay, I'm sure there are plenty of mundane occupational specialties that aren't covered by those on board.

Granted there's no proof that their not doing it, we just haven't really seen much of it.
Image
Mr. Harley: Your impatience is quite understandable.
Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.
Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I'm very sorry... I wish it were otherwise.

"I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe.
If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." – Frankenstein's Creature on the glacier[/size]
User avatar
PREDATOR490
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1790
Joined: 2006-03-13 08:04am
Location: Scotland

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by PREDATOR490 »

Rather unimpressed but its obviously the pre-cursor to an change in command which was evident from the trailer they released. I'm going to guess it will be the medic if they were being smart about it but I suspect this will end up in more melodrama if it was Rush / IOA bitch. I'm still bracing myself for it being Chloe though for the simple fact is it would be a perfect 'surprise' angle and it gives her something to do.

As for the rest, waste of time really. Aliens have been hunting down the Destiny since before the humans arrived and even had tracers on the goddamn thing. Uhm... unless this race are a bunch of retards they must only have three ships. I presume from Rush's comments the aliens have tried to brute force their way through before and been defeated by the Destinys 'AUTOMATED DEFENCES'

Incidentally, I'm not impressed with the lack of attempts to explore / secure the rest of the ship. Afterall, this is the ship they are going to be spending the next X amount of years on and the folks at the SGC would be eager to inform the stupid dumbasses that securing the place would be a REALLY good idea given how Atlantis personnel randomly got killed because they were clueless about the city they were occupying. At the very least, I would have expected the folks on Destiny to try and find the Bridge since that would logically be a source for getting access to more systems etc.

The operation on Rush was typical. I was expecting the ship to go to FTL and have the stones be cut off but now the aliens weapons apparantly cause the same effect. Thus we cant have any stone wielders taking command in a firefight. Of course, that dosent rule out swapping with engineers and the like to get Destiny more functional. I presume Chloe wont mind swapping with Carter so she can bring her Ancient expertise onboard.
User avatar
Covenant
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4451
Joined: 2006-04-11 07:43am

Re: SGU "Divided" [season 1 episode 12]

Post by Covenant »

Temujin wrote:Granted there's no proof that their not doing it, we just haven't really seen much of it.
Well, not a ton of proof, but if Young had killed Rush and left him on that planet his first order of business shoulda' been swapping home to request McKay and Zolenka swap in to help get Eli get the systems running, not yelling at the fat nerd for not knowing how to run an ancient ship written in a language he can't understand that well.

The fact that they treat Eli and Rush as the only ones who can operate any of the ship's systems assumes that they cannot or will not swap in any of the other experts. Given the amazing feats we've seen in SGA and SG1 we can presume that even the brilliant Rush knows less about Ancient technology than dozens and dozens of more specialized SG personnel, but we don't see them being brought on either.

I'm just chalking this up to shoddy writing, and not judge the show by it, beyond the statement that the writing is poor. They want the stones, but don't want to use them for anything except family drama? Even if this wasn't set in the Stargate universe (and the show had just been called Destiny) this would be bad writing for a lot of reasons. Honestly, making this a non-ancient vessel woulda' solved nearly all of their problems. They leap into the gate, appear on an alien ship of unknown make and manufacture, in a strange portion of the galaxy and surrounded by tech they have no understanding of. McKay and Carter and Jackson would be as useless as Rush in that situation.
Post Reply