Pathogen

Here I am again reviewing this days (space) of our life's sci-fi show that should and could have been a hit. I am still hanging in for it to pick up, to steer away from all the drama's, the romance, although I have been told this show was written that way to capture a particular group of viewers, but damn that leaves us real sci-fi lovers put in the cold. It still is an insult to all the previous Stargate series, I just want to see more space ships, aliens, adventures on never seen planets, but this series just seem to hang on the space of our life's theme. Sorry but to many love angles, kissing and hugging does not make for great sci-fi viewing. The first season was awful, with a few hints that it might pick up, but I was wrong, the second series has gone backwards even more. Please stop this tampon sci-fi rubbish, and give us what this show stood for for so many years.

A lot of things going on in this episode, and A, B, C and D storyline to keep track of, and all handled seamlessly. Two character arcs (Eli/hismother and Sharon/Wray) merged and resolved in one, plus three ongoing grander plots being expanded featuring Chloe and what happened to her, Rush and the bridge, and Simeon and the rest of the Lucian Alliance forces. The musical montage at the end was particularly classy, featuring music from Ludovico Einaudi. There were particular stand out performances from Glynis Davies (Maryann Wallace, Eli's mother) who had some emotional scene with Eli (David Blue) and Robert Knepper, who plays Simeon. This episode seems to have signalled the start of his arc, as he realises something disturbing about the rest of the Lucian Alliance forces. All in all a great episode, with the characteristic high quality we have come to expect from Stargate Universe!

Do you want to know why SGU was yanked after only two seasons? It's because of low budget, boring soap opera episodes like this one.

What were Wright and Cooper trying to do with SGU--make it a Grey's Anatomy in space? How stupid.

Most avid sci-fi fans are men. When you turn a great franchise like Stargate into a prime time soap opera, you lose even your most loyal viewers, and the demographic you're trying to reach aren't going to be interested because when it comes to a knockoff of Grey's Anatomy and the real thing, women will choose the real thing every single time.

Don't get me wrong--the acting in this episode is top notch. The music is good. It's just that this is not the genre for this kind of drama.

To the creators of the next nascent sci-fi franchise, here's a clue: Your target audience is men, who want to see alien encounters, space battles, evil villains, spectacular effects and heroes saving the universe.

Episodes like this one (and others that litter season 2) tank the ratings and kill the interest of the demographic you need most. Ugh.