Score:
Episode 1: Air Part 1
Original Air Date: 10-02-09
I come to this new television series with a storied trunk of Stargate (SG) history in tow. I came a little late to the party to SG-1, and then got hooked and watched all 10 seasons in about a year, with my peak flow rate being a season a week for a while towards the end. This came after I was about two seasons into SG-A, which I liked more at first, only to realize later on, that no, SG-A is not better than SG-1. I was still quite saddened when I heard SG-A was cancelled, and wasn’t sure if/when I’d be able to get my new SG fix. The news that SG-U would be darker and more Battlestar-esque left me very nervous that it could be really good or really bad. That first season of the third show is now upon us, and I’ve decided that I need to review the season to determine how it stands up to its predecessors.
. 
So i want to review each episode of SG-U after it airs. I'd like to do it as a positive and negative assessment of different moments in the episode, similar to how io9.com handled the True Blood reviews.
Here’s what I think was good and bad about the first episode:
+ Let’s start out with the official send off tribute linking SG-U to the SG-Came Befores. We get to see the classics: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, and Amanda Tapping give their blessing to this new show, though Christopher Judge was notably absent.
- This first episode starts with a dark walk through of the empty Ship Destiny. Hey! Did you hear? This show is dark! Thanks, I got it. Sets up the isolation that’s coming pretty well though.
+ Created and written by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper. Good to see the guys behind the other shows are still on board. Gives me hope.
- Why did this show take so long showing people and bits of garbage being flung through the gate? On a second viewing, it wasn’t quite as long as I thought, but at first I was like whoa, alright, we don’t need 10 min of this crap.
+ I really liked the sense of confusion there when people arrive through the gate though. Where are we? What is this place? I can’t wait to find out!
- Random weird full screen effect. Jumping to FTL? Some sort of time manipulation? Whatever it was for, it looked kind of low budget.
+ Discovery and procurement of Eli. Though a bit corny that the government would embed their secrets in an online game waiting for some lonely genius to crack it, that’s kind of the thing that makes SG so great. It doesn’t take itself as seriously as a lot of sci-fi series tend to.
+ Richard Dean Anderson during the acquiring of Eli. “We’ll beam you up to our spaceship,” and “By lawyer, I assume you mean mother.” Oh how I miss RDA. All those military promotions have not been good to him.
+ The ship was named The Hammond. Sniff. I miss him. Having the Daedalus class Phoenix renamed the Hammond
+ Eli having to watch all those tapes with Daniel Jackson explaining everything to him.
- Colonel Young and the issues he is having with his wife. Here’s a setup for a story that better not drag on too long. The whole, I love you Everett, but I can’t wait anymore nonsense is dragging me down a bit. I’m all for some personal troubles and turmoil in this show, but I was kind of sick of this marriage as soon as I saw it. Get rid of her, Young. You’ll be better off.
+ Eli taking pictures of the gun with his iphone when he arrives at Icharus Base. Who wouldn’t do that if you were there?
+ While Lieutenant Scott was showing Eli the SG, he says that it’s weird how you can take something like this for granted. I think this is an important message that I hope is not glossed over in this show. Despite how many seasons of SG there have been, this is a new show. There should be some awe and amazement that you can travel through space using an SG. This is crazy stuff and should not be glossed over as if they were hopping in a jeep to drive down the road.
+ I like the dichotomy of the stoic by-the-books Young with the reckless disregard from Dr. Rush. It’s clear from the beginning that these two are tentpole characters.
+ Scott trying to lead and get people organized in the absence of Young. Clearly inexperienced. It was great when he told the senator to just shut up. Kind of a bland character I think in Scott, but we’ll see where it goes.
- Eli saying “It’s true, I’m math boy.” Clearly meant to be funny, I thought it fell a bit flat.
- Rush walking into his bedroom and crying instantly. You can be torn up over whatever happened in your past, but to just walk into a room, turn on some music, and begin crying right away? Just weird. Seemed a bit forced.
- Eli arguing with Rush over life support. Hold on a sec! All you know about Ancient, Eli, is what you heard in some introduction videos and whatever you figured out playing Prometheus. You really can’t possibly know enough to argue with someone who’s studied this for who knows how long, MIT or not.
+ Life support fix not working. Too bad Rodney isn’t around. And of course by too bad, I mean thank god. It’s much better for this show to not be able to instantly figure everything out.
+ Attack scene on Icharus base. The new feel of the show, it’s dark and gritty change, is maybe most evident during this attack. So much different than those from SG-1 and SG-A.
- Eli, when talking about the gate to who-knows-where, saying “It can’t be worse than here, can it?” Ummm, yes Eli. It can. Let me count the ways…
+ Eli holding his breath as he goes through the gate. I’ve always thought I’d do that.
+ Young grabbing the metal case. Hmmm, what’s in there?
+ Through the gate, Icharaus Base is destroyed and we get to see SG command. SG was open for a full 6 min. Where did they go? Where indeed.
So that's what i think of part 1 of the double length premiere episode of SG-U. I like the premise of the show. I'm ok with the darker tone and the stranded group of survivors instead of a planet hopping adventure of the week, where bleakness and despair have replaced some of the campy flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants wild rides of yesteryear. Most of the characters are still unknowns at this point, and some of the characters shown so far either might get annoying (Rush, Eli) or seem to lack a little personality (Scott). I'm interested to see how these characters develop because some of my favorite stories focus on groups of people in high stress situations and how they react differently. There's potential for that type of story here, but SG has never really been what i would call character driven. I'm cautiously optomistic, and eagerly looking to see more.