Slice of SciFi Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
The good news for fans who were enjoying the first season of “Stargate: Universe” is that when the series returns Friday to SyFy nothing has changed. That bad news for fans who didn’t like the series is that nothing has changed.
Picking up where the mid-season cliffhanger left off, “Space” and “Divided” find the crew of the Destiny splintered over Colonel Young’s decision to leave Dr. Rush behind on the alien planet at the end of “Justice.” Tensions from the previous episode and the season long story arc come into greater focus, with some thinly veiled threats by Camile and a lot of debate among the crew on whether or not leaving Rush behind was a good idea.
Things get a lot more dicey for the crew when the communications stone malfunction and Young finds himself aboard an alien space ship. The ship quickly finds Destiny and launches in an attack on the ship, leaving Young and the crew scrambling to communicate with the alien crew and find a way to launch a counter offensive.
Continuing the movement we saw in the first half of season one, “Space” follows a dark and compelling storyline with the crew of Destiny desperately missing Rush and struggling to survive without him. The show throws in some nice character moments, including one where recurring character Vanessa James makes some comments about her attraction to a fellow crew-member over an open comm channel. The moment is played for an awkward laugh, but has an impact and a nice reveal later in the storyline. It’s a nice character moment for all those involved and it helps underline some of the mind sets by the people aboard Destiny.
As for the main storyline, things are beginning to pay off here in these first two episodes. Again, fans who liked the first half of the season will eat up what’s happening here. Those detractors who don’t like “SGU” will probably find the same things to complain about that they did in the first half of the year.
Visually the episodes are stunning, especially “Space.” The stories find a solid balance between the alien threat (which doesn’t go away at the end of the episode) and character development. As I said in my first review, this ain’t your daddy’s “Stargate” and the franchise is making some great strides forward into darker territory and greater character depth.
The biggest criticism of the episodes is that they hit the reset button a bit too quickly in terms of returning certain things to the status quo. But while the circumstances are the same, it’s that tensions surrounding the decisions made and that status quo that will keep fans interested as the rest of the season unfolds.
“The good news for fans who were enjoying the first season of “Stargate: Universe” is that when the series returns Friday to SyFy nothing has changed.”
Yipee!
This is awesome news. Anything that pisses of the teabag-uh, I mean SG*U haters is fine by me. 😉
Wrong forum Arkle! 🙂
I agree with Arkle- I bet most of the posts will be negative
*clapping* Love this show.
Me too, it’s the best new genre show of the 2009/10 season and by the end of season 2 I could see it becoming the best entry into the Stargate franchise.
No negative from me. Glad to see the show returning. Dark, but worth watching (wish they would “find” some white paint for the corridors….). Miss the other two SGU shows. Stupid to kill end them.
I’m thrilled it’s back, and it sounds like the plot is deepening. I for one will be watching.
Glad to see it finally return. Wish there was a spoiler about Rush…dying to see what happens to him.
@Mic7. SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!
By the end of “Space” the entire regular cast will be back aboard Destiny.
WTF We The Faithful Sci Fi followers can be some of our worst critics But That’s why our stuff can be so good.
That said Stargate Universe is a great show I love it and glad to have more but……..
it could use a little humor. Its drama drama drama they need some (few) one liners cracks normal people would do under stress we had seen a lot with Atantis and SG1. Drama is Drama but lets lighten up just a little.
One more thing Camera shake is not a special effect buy a tripod
VERY happy with the Space episode. Was a little worried about what it might become when they added action but it was more of what I love about the show plus good action, tension and suspense!
I am loving the show. It is just so different than the other stargate shows. I love the fact that the show deals with “real” problems. I also like the fact there is a divide between the crew, it makes it more real.
If they aired Stargate Atlanis and Stargate Universe at the same time I would be watching Stargate Atlantis every time.
If you put your TV on MUTE, you’ll experience a strange feeling of watching Battlestar Galactica.
Too many close up and camera isn’t stable.
I understand people who like the serie, and that’s ok. But it shouldn’t be named “Stargate”.
Almost no humor at all.
Sex. (as someone said before me on another site: I love sex, but not in SG)
The visual is crap.
The music doesn’t event give you the feeling of the previous SG.
What the hell they did ?
Ps.: I love SG and I’m not the kind of person who try to find something to criticise about. If it was good, I’ll be so happy. ( I consider that Atlantis was really good, event if different from SG-1, it still fun.)
Just think about it:
If character from SG-1 would appear in SGU, we would be like: hey, an intruder ! It would almost be as weird as if Mr. Bean would do a cameo.