STARGATE UNIVERSE # 12: Divided (2)Season 1/2010

[Quantum]

I really don't think there's going to be any attempt to reconcile their differences so they can work together any time soon. Even though Young was the earliest to realize that they did need to all work together.

I'm coining a new meaning for the term "art of the draw".

The meaning is that the writers want to keep conflict alive as long as they can (hence drawing it out) in order to keep people watching the show. While conflict is interesting, there's only so much you can do before it starts becoming redundant and people will start saying "oh, it's just another angst for the sake of angst episode" and lose interest and stop watching.

That's the sort of thing that hurt "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" in the long run, in that there was always a reason for angst for the sake of angst and nobody was allowed to be happy for any reason what so ever.

For an example of this sort of thing, people are already getting annoyed at Chloe because the only purpose she is there for is to cause Eli some grief. And that's it. And now, because of her grievance against Young, she may be causing some grief for the Lt. by not seeing him any more. This is also the same reason people are getting annoyed at Kate over in the show "Lost" because Kate was going back and forth between Saywer and Jack.

What would really throw things for a loop though is if the Lt (the one who was seeing the other Lt before he dropper her stone cold dead for Chloe) get with Eli. Although fans would probably balk at that because it's the pairing of a good looking woman who is very physically active with an overweight genius. That's not a very likely pairing. But at least for it's what I'd like to see happening. Wierder couples have happened.

 

[lin_fusan]

Part of the problem I have with the show is that I don't know the why for the conflicts. Why does Telford think Young is incompetent? Right from the start, he demanded Young's reassignment, but we haven't even seen him mess up yet.

Why does Rush get all pissy about Young? I know that we believe he's obsessed with Destiny and has problems with authority, but that's on the level of attitude problem, not mutiny.

Why does Wray want to oust Young from control? Just because the civilian commission said so?

I think the show's major problem is that they took personal conflicts between the characters and elevated them to political conflicts. I have no problem with Rush being pissed off at Young for being an authority figure, but I can't for the life of me believe that people would follow Rush, being the jerk that he is, to resist Young.

 

[Dire Bare]

Part of the problem I have with the show is that I don't know the why for the conflicts. Why does Telford think Young is incompetent? Right from the start, he demanded Young's reassignment, but we haven't even seen him mess up yet.

I think the show has given us plenty of "why" behind the actions of various characters. It's true we haven't learned the entirety of each character's backstory, and issues have been hinted at that have not yet been explained . . . but to me that is a strength of the show.

Another example of why SG:U is not SG:1 or SG:A. And I like it!

 

[wolff96]

Yeah, I also had another thought -- what is the goal in getting humans was to implant the tracking device (like they did to Rush) to keep track on the ship (pulling back to the idea that the ship is more important, and the people are just tools to get the ship). But then why not implant a device in Chloe ? maybe they realized how expendable she was to the crew or (more seriously) they didn't have time...

The implantation leading them back to Destiny feels more like dumb luck to me. It's a pretty simple way to track a captive if he escapes -- I'm thinking of hiding somewhere on the ship. Rush getting back to Destiny isn't something you're likely to include in your plans...

And Chloe was abducted for all of 20 minutes. They didn't have a ton of time to interrogate or operate on her.

And Lt. James falling for Eli? I think that would stretch my suspension of disbelief. ESPECIALLY since he was caught using the Kinos to try and peep on her in the showers...

 

[Mark]

And Lt. James falling for Eli? I think that would stretch my suspension of disbelief. ESPECIALLY since he was caught using the Kinos to try and peep on her in the showers...

Can anyone blame him?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some thoughts...

Young
-- Get the ship to 100% and then look for a way home. He is being careful with his resourses but does not know how to work with the civillians. His problems lie with the frame and lack of trust being generated by Rush & Wray.

That, and now his sense that he has failed his own personal standards by marooning Rush.

And I think that his priority is home first: repairing the ship is just a way to achieve that goal.

Wray
-- Get control of the ship and then go home, her priority is being in charge not the well being of the ship or crew, she cares but has yet to see a big picture. She is a high-level project manager that has not even stuctured a team under her yet! Her problem, she has yet to say, lets work together. Remember it was TJ that got them to start the hydroponics!

Agreed.

She somewhat reminds me of another gov't functionary on another current sci-fi show: Samantha Willis from Survivors. Or perhaps Jack from Lord of the Flies.*

She thinks she knows a lot more than she actually does, and this hubris- especially in this survival situation- could prove life-threatening. Its as if she's never studied Lifeboat Ethics. Or if she did, she got an "F."

Rush
-- Learn as much about alien tech as he can, does not care about going home. He see the crew as tools. He MAY be a bit mad, large ego.

Agreed. Eli may be the only person he respects or values in any way similar to himself.

The thing that's starting to bug me about the show is that everybody knows there are major problems with everyone getting along and working together on the ship- it's is starting to strain credibility that the various leaders (Young, Rush, and Wray) haven't just sat down together and figured out a way to make things work! And if they're to pig-headed to do it themselves, then at least TJ and Eli should lock them up together and MAKE them work it out.

The idea that they HAVEN'T tried to work things out yet is really starting to feel a bit unbelievable. Especially since all of them know they NEED each other to survive. If this conflict continues to be the main plot of the show, I don't know if I'll be able to keep watching.

I'm not that surprised- humans are a pig-headed lot. And TJ & Eli don't exactly have much power or rhetorical leverage to get them to sit down and talk...at least, not individually.




* My first take on this series was that it was an updated & tweaked version of Lost in Space. Having looked at Wray more closely, I think that the tweak in question is that it is Lord of the Flies Lost in Space.

Unfortunately, this would make Eli into Piggy.

 

[Jack7]

Personally, I would have killed Rush early on. As soon as I realized what a danger he was to the ship.

I agree with this for the most part.

The thing that's starting to bug me about the show is that everybody knows there are major problems with everyone getting along and working together on the ship- it's is starting to strain credibility that the various leaders (Young, Rush, and Wray) haven't just sat down together and figured out a way to make things work! And if they're to pig-headed to do it themselves, then at least TJ and Eli should lock them up together and MAKE them work it out.

The idea that they HAVEN'T tried to work things out yet is really starting to feel a bit unbelievable. Especially since all of them know they NEED each other to survive. If this conflict continues to be the main plot of the show, I don't know if I'll be able to keep watching.

The situation they are in now demands cooperation and the working out of a power sharing or at least a definite chain of command agreement.

I will continue to watch because there are many unanswered questions which I think lie at the background of most of the conflicts. Such as who was the original traitor and what were their motives, what is Rush's real agenda and what is he looking to actually achieve, what is the agenda of the aliens (and it is hard for me to believe these are the only aliens interested in the ship and it's crew), etc.

But to me they need to start better flushing out the relationships and backgrounds of how the conflicts relate to their overall situation, and stop resolving long term problems immediately. Rush should have been absent a long time. Sometimes the series seems far too rushed and not patient enough, sometimes it seems too patient and not interested enough in real problem solving. (Not being able to develop a consistent and coherent power sharing agreement and chain of command is a threat to everyone aboard. Mutinies don't have to end amicably, and no mutiny aboard my ship would have ended the way that one did - unresolved and open to future manipulation. Someone would either be dead, or everyone would understand their exact place in the chain of command and the future consequences of endangering the ship through stupid and unauthorized action. So everyone would either agree that what happened was unacceptable and better governing and decision making practices would exist for the future on everyone's part in order to ensure the safety of the ship, or the mutineers would be dead or imprisoned and that would help ensure the future safety of the ship.)

I like the show, a lot, but it is uneven so far.
And far more often than not the crew creates their own peril when they would do far better (and be far wiser) to avoid it.
In survival situations the point is not to create problems through discontent, recklessness, and stupidity, but to solve, or better yet avoid them altogether, through prudent preparation, action, and wisdom.

The crew acts like they are fighting a political battle.
They are not. They are fighting a war for survival.

You don't win a war for survival on mutineer's pay.

 

[coyote6]

I'm not sure how committed Wray is to the idea of taking over; she's an accountant, not a political appointee. It seemed like it was her SOA IOA superior on Earth that seemed to push her into this whole scheming thing, along with a (fairly understandable) unease over how Young is doing some things. It seems like she might just be out of her depth, rather than virulently malevolent.

At least so far. There's time for to develop skillz still.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm not sure how committed Wray is to the idea of taking over; she's an accountant, not a political appointee. It seemed like it was her SOA superior on Earth that seemed to push her into this whole scheming thing, along with a (fairly understandable) unease over how Young is doing some things. It seems like she might just be out of her depth, rather than virulently malevolent.

At least so far. There's time for to develop skillz still.

Are you familiar with The Peter Principle?

The problem is that instead of recognizing that Young is probably best suited to handling leading the mission overall and Rush has skill set for getting them home, she's been convinced by her SOA superior that she should take control...and in a hands-on rather than hands-off manner.

Let's be honest- that's part & parcel of SOA's attitude towards SG command. And every SOA official who has tried to flex has screwed things up.

 

[Wycen]

It is the IOA, not SOA. International Oversight Advisory, though apparently on the show they have referred to it as the International Oversight Committee.

According to the Stargate wiki, the NID and Trust are precursor organizations of the IOA which explains to me why we see so many members of the IOA as wankers.