Tv Nibble: If I Had To…

Ok, before I get started I just wanted to point out the new gadget. The Blast from the Past generates 6 random posts from the yesteryear of this blog so make sure to check it out. At some point I’m hoping to change it so it displays a teaser for the articles. If anyone knows of a good gadget for this please comment on this post.

So, a couple of days ago I started watching the new Syfy series Stargate: Universe and if you read the post you’d know I was pretty much on the fence about it. Well, I think I’ve made my choice.

I’ve now watched “Air – Part 3” and “Darkness” and I have to be honest I’m enjoying it. It certainly has that SyFy channel feel to it, with its meta-storytelling style. Like Battlestar Galactica and Farscape before it, Stargate: Universe doesn’t bother closing its episodes with nice neat endings that wrap everything up, in fact their cliffhangers are pretty much just a cold open for the next episode. And I like that.

Still not keen on Robert Carlisle, he’s irritating, but that is certainly how he is supposed to come across and to be honest, if I know Syfy, how annoying he is now is really just a measure of how much we’ll like him later on.

I still have some issues to resolve with this show. For example I liked the idea that the stargate could only remain open for 12 hours, giving the exploration a really tense feel. However, the very episode that they set up this concept, they ruined it by holding the gate open over 12 hours. Now they have a solution for every time they need just a little longer and the tension is spoiled…

All that said I am really quite enjoying it. I really like the way consequences play out in the show. The way that one thing almost directly affects several others, generally in an adverse way. The cast is beginning to grow on me in general and although you can feel the presence of its predecessors, this show rarely asks you to have any specific knowledge drawn from the other Stargate franchises. This good because it means I don’t have to sit through them but the show feels like it is part of a greater mythology, rather than existing in isolation.

Anyway, as far as Sci Fi’s go, if I had to choose between this and Fringe I know which way my vote would swing. I’ll eventually get caught up to date and bring you an actual episode analysis. Until then, this has been My Two Cents.