Stargate Universe

SyFy Channel on Fridays from October 2, 2009



Stargate Galactica
Air Parts 1, 2 and 3

I have just had the modest pleasure of watching the three-part pilot of the third Stargate TV series, Stargate Universe. It shows great promise and is far more interesting than the later seasons of either earlier series, which seemed too stuck within formula and their clean, PC sci-fi world.

Entitled "Air" and set in the present day, it follows the story of a group of humans stranded far from Earth on the spaceship "Destiny", built eons ago by the Ancients. It a familiar but reliable conciet already exploited in shows such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Voyager.

As one may expect, aboard the newly discovered ship are a diverse array of military officers and civilians, a perfect setup for much of the tensions which will no doubt arise. Characters which make themselves notable are Robert Carlyle as the practical and not-entirely likable Dr. Nicholas Rush and the requisite geek character, Eli Wallace (David Blue), who finds his way into the Stargate world by solving a mathematics puzzle embedded in a MMO game. While perhaps sitting well within the world of SG-1, his presence is mostly a contrived distraction in Universe, which draws more than plot inspiration from the recent gritty, and brilliant, Battlestar Galactica.

If nothing else, creators and Stargate veterans, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper must be applauded for trying to create a show distinct from either of its forerunners. Still, at this early stage, much of the attempts for darkness seem as tepid as Susan Ivanova's lesbian dalliance in Babylon 5. There's a 20 second sex scene, for example, that seems included merely to say "look BSG! Stargate can be racy too!", and while the plot revolves around usual Stargate territory (the main problem facing the crew at the outset are the malfunctioning life-support systems), there are attempts to give major characters moral dilemmas. One particular moment late in Part 2, everyone's survival on the line, sees Dr. Rush intending to choose a sacrifical lamb. Later it is implied that it is instead through an act of noble sacrifice than the crew are saved, though the dialogue itself is somewhat ambiguious. It is possible the writers are planning something more subversive that is evidenced here, and I certainly hope they are willing to have faith in their characters rather than bending them to the whim of the plot.

Despite these quibbles, and the other leads which have yet to establish an obvious identity, there's plenty to enjoy: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping all make cameos, the mammoth ship clearly provides endless scope for storytelling and the use of flashbacks help ground the characters in real emotion. The heavy use of hand-held cameras also works suprisingly well in conjuction with the slightly darker tone.

Stargate Universe has little claim to originality solely by being part of a franchise, and especially in light of its borrowings from BSG and Voyager. Still, if there must be another Stargate TV series, this is probably the best one could have hoped for. Now it just depends on whether the writers continue to follow the more innovative (at least for Stargate) elements rather than falling back upon the less-interesting and formulaic tropes already established.