SGU, "Seizure" (spoilers)

[arduinna]

So, for the record, I don't like this show, for a variety of reasons. I watched the first several episodes and largely gave up, and the random ep here and there that I tried to watch after that just confirmed that decision; I stopped even looking for SG-1 characters showing up in it, and it went completely off my radar.

Today, ladysorka put up a highly abridged version of the latest ep, with just the guest stars, and I couldn't resist.

Fair warning: My reaction to the show hasn't changed.

So I start watching, and there's Woolsey! And bonus surprise Victor Garber, which, wow. And then McKay, yay! So I'm watching happily along, all "yay McKay!" and "yay Woolsey!" (and "yay spydaddy!") and then halfway through, it manages to skeeve me out all over again, and so I stop to post about it.

After one three-minute attempt to convince the ambassador of another planet that his people should let the SGC try something on his world that has blown up two planets already -- which the ambassador very reasonably didn't want to risk! -- the SGC decides to sidestep the whole pesky "getting permission" thing by sending Woolsey over to the other planet with Ancient communicator stones so that people on board the Destiny can take over two key people and let the SGC in to do whatever they want.

This would be where I got the shudders and hit stop and sat here wondering why I'd even bothered to dl the video, because EW OMG EW.

Seriously, what is with this show and shoving people into other people's bodies? This is SO CREEPY.

I could almost, almost understand it if these people were the SGC's sworn enemies and they were infiltrating to stop an invasion or something, but they're not. It's Langara, which is Jonas's planet (which, hey, appears to have survived the Ori, sort of unexpectedly). And granted, Jack doesn't love the Langarans, but these people are not our enemies. There's no invasion plan here, no battle to win. Why is the SGC suborning their command structure, and turning its administrator into a traitor? He's never going to be able to explain that he had no part in this.

SO CREEPED OUT. God, I hate this show, and I hate what it does to the SG universe. Jack wouldn't do this. And jesus, neither would Woolsey! WTF, that man is made of honor and integrity! Not to mention, y'know, actual negotiating chops, and the ability to re-open talks with stubborn people after one solitary attempt had failed to produce results.

These people are vile. Ugh. How is this any different than the Goa'uld, taking people over and doing what they please? Except here, there's not even the slightest chance of fighting back.

*forces self to watch more*

Oh, hey, look - the Langarans turn out not to be our enemies, and in fact to be loyal friends holding firm in the face of our actual enemies, who simply choose to put their world's welfare a half-inch above the SGC's request to be allowed to potentially blow up their planet.

GO FIGURE.

At least that poor administrator isn't going to spend his life in jail for treason, since the SGC got caught out. Here's hoping he and the guard captain didn't have a complete freaking breakdown from suddenly being in a different body in a spaceship a bazillion light years from home with no way back, surrounded by strangers cheerily saying "oh don't worry, we just stole your body and are wreaking havoc (and probably treason) with it!"

And meanwhile, the SGC has given Langara every reason to ally with the Lucian Alliance against the SGC. Well done, there, all.

Gah.



More cheerily, I keep getting spam for "ReplicaCartier watches", and reading it as "RepliCarter watches". Heh.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

i don't think woolsey would do that either -- but unlike you, i'm not watching AT ALL. I gave up a while back.

what position does Woolsey have now? Do they say exactly? *hungry for canon tidbits*

[arduinna]

I'd also seen screencaps somewhere of McKay and Woolsey, and between that and Sorka describing it as "the McKay and Woolsey quarter hour", I just couldn't help myself. *g* I miss my SG, dammit.

But alas, this is not my SG - I wouldn't even watch any eps with Jack in them after the first one or two I saw, because that is not my Jack. Woe.

As far as I can remember, Woolsey was just being called "Mr. Woolsey"; no idea about his exact position. But weirdly, the meeting with the Langaran ambassador appears to have taken place in Washington, instead of at the SGC - idek.

[ithildin]

I think we watched maybe 6-8 episodes when it started, and gave up. Even for Robert Carlyle, I could not continue.

[arduinna]

I didn't even make it that far on a consistent-watching basis; I think I made it through 4 and then bailed, but I'm so conditioned to want to watch SG that I tried once or twice more at random. Lesson: learned.

[devildoll]

I felt like I needed a shower after I watched that ep. But in thinking about it hours later, it was closure. I miss so many things about SGA...but I'm also glad to be rid of so many of the infuriating things about it. Many of which were evident in SGU last night.

[arduinna]

Seriously, so freaking creepy and awful. *shudder*

My love for SG runs so deep, and has done for so long -- I spent 12 solid years watching Stargate, man -- that it's a part of me, warts and all. But SGU is just no part of that; there's nothing that redeems it or makes me want to love it, at all.

It's literally a completely different show to me, like an alternate timeline in my head; it's not part of our SGC, it's some other SGC, over there, where things went wrong somewhere along the line.

Very, very wrong.

[klia]

OMG, they did WHAT?!

You know, the more I think about it, the more I hate Cooper and Wright and everyone else who contributed to making SGU so skeezy, because in doing their "dark, edgy, young" version of the universe I loved so much, they deliberately trashed a bunch of what endeared it to me.

And, once again, I'm glad it's been cancelled. SO FUCKING GLAD.

[arduinna]

It was awful, and so beyond the pale I didn't even see it coming; they were talking (specifically, Telford was talking, and wow how much do I hate that Lou Diamond Philips is playing a character I hate so much) meaningfully about "sending gifts" or something, so I knew it was going to be something that I wouldn't like, but I had no clue until Woolsey, all bright-eyed and chipper and "we come as friends" opened a box and got a guard to touch a stone, and then prompted the Destiny lieutenant guy through the next bit to get him access to the administrator.

And even then, I was thinking (with faint hope), okay, that's it, one guy, and Woolsey's going to go talk to the administrator directly -- and then instead of talking directly, Woolsey convinced him to touch the other stone, and then they took over the facility in a bloodless, skeevy-ass coup.

HORRIBLE.

I mentioned to devildoll above, I've realized that for me, SGU is so totally alien to the SG universe (and why did they have to fuck up that phrase argh!) that in my head, it's basically an alternate timeline where things went very, very wrong somewhere along the line.

My SGC is overseen by the Jack I know and love, and runs the way it's supposed to, dammit. And is NOT SKEEVY. No one gets to take that away from me.

(This is where due South is coming in handy; I'm totally capable of just cutting canon off where I want to, and letting the universe build in my head from the point that makes me happy. *g*)

[klia]

okay, that's it, one guy, and Woolsey's going to go talk to the administrator directly -- and then instead of talking directly, Woolsey convinced him to touch the other stone, and then they took over the facility in a bloodless, skeevy-ass coup.

What. I just... WHAT. That's not Woolsey; that's so far from being Woolsey it's freaking pod!Woolsey. WTF?

The irony is, I actually liked Telford in the few eps I watched. It was Scott I couldn't stomach and wanted to die in some horrible way due to his own incompetence. So, awesome, they totally fucked up one of the two characters I actually liked (the other being Rush). ARGH.

My SGC is overseen by the Jack I know and love, and runs the way it's supposed to, dammit. And is NOT SKEEVY. No one gets to take that away from me.

Well, one SGU ep did show the Jack and Daniel I know and love, and that tiny crumb was nice, but soon brushed off the show. I don't think even McKay and Victor Garber are enough incentive for me to watch that ep. Unless maybe I got totally trashed on grog first. *g*

I'm trying really hard to just la-la-la-la-la my way past this whole SGU debacle, but it's hard not to be pissed, and I suspect I'm permanently soured on Wright and Cooper. I think I need to rewatch some of my favorite SG1 and SGA eps.

[arduinna]

eta:
What. I just... WHAT. That's not Woolsey; that's so far from being Woolsey it's freaking pod!Woolsey. WTF?

I know! It caught me completely flat-footed, and made it all so much worse. Woolsey of all people is utterly internally consistent, and this was just bizarro world.
/eta

As near as I can tell from the scraps I've picked up, Telford is doing everything he can to make himself commander of the Destiny; that seems to have been a big chunk of his reason for pushing this awfulness, as well. I liked him okay until he started being manipulative.

But Rush, yes, ugh. *hands*

I did hear that Jack and Daniel had a moment, but I can't bring myself to go looking for it. If you do decide to go for this one, go with teh link up there; Sorka says the plot she picked up from ff'ing for the McKay and Woolsey bit seemed to be about someone trying to have sex with a hologram, so. Yeah.

A rewatch can only be good!

[klia]

Woolsey of all people is utterly internally consistent, and this was just bizarro world.

Srsly. This is where I ask if the ep's writers had ever seen the show? I had a look, and the writer came from Caprica, so I'm guessing... no.

They came really close to making Jack OOC; he actually called Scott out for being incompetent, but then agreed to some harebrained scheme he'd cooked up.

Telford is doing everything he can to make himself commander of the Destiny; that seems to have been a big chunk of his reason for pushing this awfulness, as well.

Oh, FFS. It's almost like their goal was to make EVERY character unlikeable, not just most of them. As if all the rampant incompetence wasn't enough in itself to put me off. BLEARGH.

Sorka says the plot she picked up from ff'ing for the McKay and Woolsey bit seemed to be about someone trying to have sex with a hologram, so. Yeah.

Gee, ripping off BSG and Caprica much, writer? *headdesk*

[arduinna]

It's almost like their goal was to make EVERY character unlikeable, not just most of them.

I seriously think that was their goal. And I'm boggled, because Wright and Cooper could always make characters I liked, no matter what else was going on; it was the one thing I was completely confident about, going into the show. Even if the premise sucked, at least there'd be characters to latch onto!

Except not so much, really.

[klia]

That why I'm boggled, too. Cooper and Wright totally changed my mind about McKay and Jonas, and after those first eps, I never thought I'd end up liking either of them! I still call it "doing a McKay" whenever I end up liking a character I hate initially.

[klia]

I just realized I got my most-hated character's name wrong. It's Young I loathe the most, not Scott. I think I've just been trying to erase all the ickiness from my brain. *g*

[arduinna]

Hee! 's okay - I just figured I'd remembered the names wrong! *g*

Yes Yes Yes

[sherrold]

I really was happy it was canceled -- I can't remember the last time I was this happy for someone else's misfortune, and you've nailed why.

Re: Yes Yes Yes

[arduinna]

I know someone who really likes the show, so ordinarily I just give the whole thing a wide berth, and I sympathize with her disappointment at the cancellation on a purely fellow-fan level -- but I'm so glad it's not coming back. *shudder*

[ladysorka]

It was honestly the first episode of SGU I've watched, and... yeah. It's so completely and totally out of touch from the rest of the Stargates, even the really uncomfortable skeevy parts of them, that I was just kind of massively boggling at the whole thing. It was nice to see people again, but at the same time it wasn't, because those were completely new people.

In my head, I've now sort of decided SGU takes place in a universe a lot closer to that of The Road Not Taken than that of SG-1 and SGA canon. Even out of all the possible canon AUs, that's the only one that makes even the slightest bit of sense.

[arduinna]

Yeah, exactly - there's just something so badly off about it, it pretty much has to be an AU. Road Not Taken makes more sense than any others I can think of.

And it really is a skeevy one; hopefully not in every episode (dear god, I hope not), but they are all over the body-swap thing. In one utterly horrifying ep, the mission commander (the guy who took over the administrator's body) transferred into Telford's body (Lou Diamond Philips) to report in to Jack, and while in Telford's body went to see his own (ex-?) wife, told her what was going on, and started having sex with her -- and as they were hot and heavy, the switch reversed and it was Telford back in his own body, having sex with a stranger. And instead of realizing how unbelievably awful and creepy (and hello, rapey) this was, the writers went for having Telford show up at this woman's door with flowers (hopeful flowers, not apology flowers) at the end of the ep.

Which is to say, I advise against watching the show, pretty much.

(Also, they use vocals on the sound track. Like, regular songs. It's wrong. ...*kof* /petty)

[klia]

And it didn't end there, either! In one of the eps I watched because Jack and Daniel made appearances, Young beat the living shit out of Telford (in Rush's body) supposedly because he suspected Telford had been compromised, but he was really furious because Telford and his ex-wife had continued seeing each other and shtupping; Young's rant about that while he was beating Telford was how the relationship was revealed to viewers. And, of course, Young was being a total hypocrite because it wasn't like he'd been faithful to his ex: he'd been shtupping TJ and had gotten her pregnant, so it was all very narcissistic and obsessive and sleazy.

Oh, and he ended up torturing Telford later in the ep, with Jack's consent (which was the thing I mentioned in another comment).

[arduinna]

I have been staring at this off and on all day, just completely speechless.

Vile, vile, VILE people, ugh!

(not my Jack, not my Jack, not my Jack...)

[klia]

I know, right? Like the Jack who was tortured to death by Ba'al, over and over, is going to make THAT decision, especially when, in effect, TWO people would be tortured, thanks to that stupid device? Sorry, not my Jack.

[arduinna]

Right, exactly, and on top of that, he got tortured to death over and over because someone took over his body and did things with it without Jack's knowledge or permission. The way these people are using those damn stones should be utterly anathema to Jack, dammit. Argh.

[klia]

YES! I just... IDEK what those SGU writers were thinking! ARGH!

[sakana17]

How is this any different than the Goa'uld, taking people over and doing what they please?

Yes, THIS! This is why I couldn't stick with the show after a handful of episodes. And klia watched after I gave up, so I got reports on how it got even skeevier. (The other reason I couldn't stick with it is, no lie, I kept falling asleep in the middle... even when I prepped myself with caffeine and watched it at midday. I guess it was something about the gloomy lighting and not caring about the characters (except to hate on them, sadly) and an overall leaden pace. But the SGC-is-as-bad-as-the-Goa'uld factor was by far the main reason I bailed.)

I really like your "SGU is an AU where something went horribly wrong" idea -- works for me!

I generically feel bad for my friends who liked SGU; I feel bad that something they liked was cancelled. But that's as far as I can take it. For myself, I'm relieved and glad it's cancelled.

And they messed up Woolsey?! ARGH.

[arduinna]

And klia watched after I gave up, so I got reports on how it got even skeevier.

Yeah, having read what she's said here, I'm now so skeeved out I can't really believe it.

I kept falling asleep in the middle... even when I prepped myself with caffeine and watched it at midday.

Yes, omg. It somehow manages to be both completely skeevy and completely boring, at the same time. Which is not an easy thing to do, so, you know... props for that? I guess?

I don't think I've ever seen a show with such wretchedly bad pacing, and once again, it just boggles me. It's not like it was their first show and they didn't know how to structure an episode! And yet entire episodes would go by with absolutely nothing happening. At all. To anyone. (Although really, not that I would have cared, so.)

And they messed up Woolsey?! ARGH.

Seriously, still so pissed off about that. If I wasn't sure it was an AU before, I am now, because that really is pod!Woolsey.

[beck_liz]

I have friends who really like SGU, and even one or two who like it better than SG-1 or SGA, so in general I keep my mouth shut about it especially since I haven't watched it in ages, but OMG. I DON'T GET IT. This whole show is practically antithetical to the entire Stargate universe. Heck, it's practically a mirrorverse, and the folks from SG-1 or SGA who show up should be wearing, like, goatees or something. I tried to like it, I really did, but when it went to hiatus the first time I never came back. I liked no one, and in SG-1 and SGA I liked almost everyone. It didn't take me any time at all to get to know them before I liked them, either. *throws up hands* I don't even know.

[arduinna]

I have friends who really like SGU, and even one or two who like it better than SG-1 or SGA, so in general I keep my mouth shut about it especially since I haven't

Yeah, this is where I'm at -- I have at least one friend who definitely likes it far more than she liked SGA and possibly SG1, so I usually just stay away from the subject entirely.

Heck, it's practically a mirrorverse, and the folks from SG-1 or SGA who show up should be wearing, like, goatees or something.

YES! I am totally going to picture the goatees now.

Like I was saying to klia, above, the fact that I don't like any of these characters is just boggling to me. I always like SG characters! But the more I watched, the less I liked these people. It's baffling.