STARGATE UNIVERSE #8:Malice/Season 2/2010

[LightPhoenix]

While I agree with you that it (SERIOUSLY) stretched credibility, I had enough suspension of disbelief lying around to give them a pass on this one...

1) Simeon was moving *very* slowly from the gunshot wound.
2) Rush, on the other hand, can run.
3) He deliberately fired at Simeon and let him approach after getting his attention... drawing him back into the path of the stampede.
4) If Simeon had stolen even a simple watch, he would have known that Destiny should be gone by then and probably wasn't expecting company -- there's a countdown clock right in the Gate Room.

Fair enough. Also, to the fourth point, Simeon had a Remote so he definitely would have known.

 

[Mark CMG]

The ship refuels off of stars. I don't think fuel is a real issue.

Fair enough IF they have that part of how to run the ship worked out.

The real problem is that it took Destiny millions of years to get so far out. No way can they take a casual jaunt back to the Milky Way.

Another fair point though it does raise the question of, "Just how fast is FTL?"

I liked this episode, despite my complaints. Now if only we could actually get the sense that the crew is DWINDLING from all these deaths they keep having -- and preferably Chloe gets added to the list -- I'd be really happy with the way they're going.

I figured the point behind the attack from the others was to address replenishing the crew in a roundabout way but apparently not.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Fixed...

I liked the episode.

But they KILLED GINN & Amada!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

"Just how fast is FTL?"

Its ludicrous speed!

 

[Hand of Evil]

Its ludicrous speed!

= JMS answer to B5's hyperspace works here; as fast as plot

Star Trek (they have a chart and the math)
Warp 1 = Speed of Light
Warp 5 = 125 x the Speed of Light
Warp 9 = 729 x the Speed of Light

 

[wolff96]

Fair enough IF they have that part of how to run the ship worked out.

To me, it really depends on whether they have to fully override the auto-pilot or not. Remember that the last time Destiny started to get low, it automatically found the right kind of star, dropped out, and refueled. If they had to turn the auto-pilot completely OFF, rather than just giving it new destination coordinates, then I agree that it would be a BIG problem.

Another fair point though it does raise the question of, "Just how fast is FTL?"

My memory is a little shaky, but... The Hammond (newest and bestest human ship, IIRC) could make the run from the Milky Way to Pegasus in something like four days, using a ZPM for power. There was mention in that episode of a HUGE speed/power trade-off, with the implication that getting all that extra speed (over the more leisurely three-four weeks of the older ships) cost an exorbitant amount.

So they really do move at the speed of plot... and of how urgent the need might be at a given time. Which, much like kicking in the afterburner in a modern jet, makes a lot of sense to the engineer in me.

The flip-side of that coin is that we've seen Destiny jaunt between galaxies before... but weren't given any frame of reference on how long it took other than 'about one episode'. Making it even more difficult to even come up with a good guess is the fact that in two seasons, they've covered about 1.5 galaxies (as far as the audience knows)... with lots and lots of stops.

Hand of Evil has the right of it for sure -- it's Speed of Plot for the Destiny.

I figured the point behind the attack from the others was to address replenishing the crew in a roundabout way but apparently not.

Yeah, when that arc started I figured:
1) The leader would die -- WAY too aggressive.
2) Most of the rest of her crew would (reluctantly) be integrated out of necessity on both sides.
3) We'd get several episodes complicated by the tension between the two groups.

It also would have added an interesting new faction to the mix -- Scientists/Civilians, Military, and the even more aggressive Lucian Alliance members.

Instead, a bunch of them were marrooned, the two most interesting were killed off, and only one 'face-level' SG actor remains under lock-and-key along with an unspecified number of henchmen. I really think they handled it poorly and squandered a LOT of opportunities there, especially to the potential distrust on BOTH sides with an Eli/Ginn romance.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I really think they handled it poorly and squandered a LOT of opportunities there, especially to the potential distrust on BOTH sides with an Eli/Ginn romance.

When that started up, I thought it was going to be a twist on Romeo & Juliet with REAL star-crossed lovers...

Now, no such luck.

 

[Mark CMG]

Maybe they thought that keeping Ginn around was making it even more difficult to convince people to like Chloe. I've always been on the fence about Chloe and what the writers might do with her to make her fit into the show better. Since SG (the "1") has set the precedent of turning characters into deus ex machina vehicles, I am not surprised that they her using Chloe in this manner but it would help if she had some other role.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

That's like 2 women in refrigerators for the price of one...

Anyways it's good to see Rush actually be the one that killed Simeon, he's hardly a likable character, but at least he's a complex one.

 

[wolff96]

Maybe they thought that keeping Ginn around was making it even more difficult to convince people to like Chloe. I've always been on the fence about Chloe and what the writers might do with her to make her fit into the show better.

I had a really long rant typed up here, with character analysis and development strategies, but realized I was even boring MYSELF with it.

Long story short: Killing off likeable characters to focus on a writer's pet that the audience is either on-the-fence about or flat-out doesn't like is NOT the way to build up the second character. Let Chloe simmer in the background for a while and then develop her as a character, don't stuff two women into a refrigerator because they threaten an oh-so-precious love triangle.