Daniel's TV Blog

The new Stargate premiered last week and I really love it. The premise is similar to the other Stargate shows, teams of military and civilians go through the stargate to different planets to get things and battle evil. While Atlantis had a similar premise to to SG1 with a big common evil group to battle with. But there doesn't seem to be a specific evil alien group yet and even if there were it would be had to fight them and rather easy to avoid them. It also seems to be also a lot darker than the other shows. Here are some other bullets points why I love the show and you should watch it.

• They are lost in space with a hotline to Earth. Even though they are several if not dozens of galaxies away, the ancient communication stones allow for real time communication with Stargate command on Earth and the primary contact Colonel Lou Diamond Phillips.
• They have the classic SciFi device of the outside man. The guy who played Mark's boyfriend on Ugly Betty is the new guy on the team who only got through one of the orientation videos before the incident sent them across the universe. He asks the questions the audience may not know.
• The driving force at least in this season is the struggle to survive. It kind of has the urgency of the first season of Battlestar Galactica where they are making due with what they escaped with. But the ancient ship holds lots of promise if they can fix the broken parts. First they needed air. Now they have to figure out the water, food, and power issues. I like struggling to survive shows like elements of LOST and BSG.
• I think one of the characters is a lesbian. A first for this franchise.
• The characters are great. As I always say the characters make the show. The lead scientist is kinda crazy and most people don't trust him. The outsider is a slacker who makes pop culture jokes. The three military people all have very distinct personality and their own issues. The Senator's daughter has great potential.
  
• There are still some mysteries. What was the dust devil? Who took the shuttle? Why are some planets locked out of the dialing device? What happened to the other team members who went to the other planet? What wonders does the Destiny hold? Are there other aliens in these other galaxies?
• You don't had to have watched the first 15 seasons to enjoy it. It's really good SciFi.
  

You can watch the first episodes on Hulu and the first two are free on iTunes.

Labels: Stargate: Universe