According to Telus, my internet issue has been resolved. Yep, they’ve informed me they’ve fixed the problem and that, theoretically, I should be back online and surfing away. Of course, as any student of science will tell you, theory and practice are two very different things. Take early man for instance. He theorized that he could fly like a bird if he flapped his arms and leapt off a cliff. Alas, like many budding theorists to follow, early man quickly discovered that reality can be, well, a bit of a downer.
To those of you who may have come to this story late, allow me to recap what I shall hitherto refer to as The Telus Saga.
Last week, I called up Telus, my internet provider, to make a change to my billing information. I was informed that, as a result of my request, I would be offline for up to seven hours on Tuesday. I protested. It was a change to my billing information. Surely it shouldn’t affect my internet connection. But the Telus rep informed me that this was company policy (in keeping with what I imagine is the Telus company motto: “If it doesn’t inconvenience the client, why do it at all?”). So, Tuesday, I would be offline for up to seven hours. I didn’t like it but, hey, what could I do?
Come Monday, I went to get online and discovered I was unable to make a connection. I phoned up Telus and was informed that I’d be up and running by Tuesday morning. I was annoyed – after all, they had told me the work would be done Tuesday and I’d scheduled my work day on that assumption – but, what the hell. I’d have my internet back on Tuesday morning, right?
Come Tuesday morning, I still wasn’t online. WTF? I phoned up Telus and asked them what was going on. The customer service rep was suitably outraged on my behalf. Why, this shouldn’t be! She offered me a free month of Telus for my troubles. And promised I’d be online by Wednesday morning.
Come Wednesday morning, I sat down, turned on my laptop, went to check my email – and discovered I still wasn’t online. W-T-F?!!! I called up Telus tech support who transferred me over to customer service who transferred me back to tech support who transferred me over to customer service who transferred me back to tech support who transferred me over to customer service who checked my file and informed me that they had no record of anyone promising me that the issue would be resolved either Tuesday or Wednesday. Still, they felt really bad for me and, in addition to not charging me for the days I was without service (how nice of them) they would be giving me an additional month of free service. That’s two months of free internet service! Now, on the surface, that seems like a wonderful thing but imagine, if you will, that I offer you a lifetime of free soap. You sit by your mailbox, waiting for that first soap shipment and, when it doesn’t arrive, you give me a call. I’m mortified and, in a bid to make it up to you, also offer you a lifetime supply of free toothbrushes in addition to that lifetime of free soap. Great, huh? So you sit by your mailbox, waiting for the soap and toothbrushes to arrive. Unfortunately, they never do, but a quick call to my customer service center mollifies you because, in addition to a lifetime of free soap and toothbrushes, you have now been promised a lifetime supply of free cheese! How fantastic is that? Okay, true, you may not actually receive any soap or toothbrushes or cheese, but they are FREE! See how that works?
Anyway, the customer service rep reviewed my file and informed me that the last customer service rep indicated I had changed my mind and wanted to switch my billing information back to its original state. I told her that was incorrect. I simply wanted my internet back. Well, she assured me it would be back. By Friday morning.
At this point, I may have said something that caused them enough concern to transfer me to their customer retention center where I spoke with a woman named Jaye in Calgary who seemed genuinely sympathetic to my plight. I seemed to be finally getting somewhere – when, suddenly, we were disconnected. I’d apparently been on my phone so long that the battery had died.
So, fast-forward to today – Friday morning. I turn on my laptop, check my connection and, sure enough, I’m still not online. W – T – F?!!!!!!!!!!! I call up Telus. The guy at tech support informs me that the work order went out for today and that I should be back online. Sometime today. Okay, so when they told me I’d have my internet back by Friday morning, they didn’t specify Friday morning where. I mean, I assumed they meant Friday morning Vancouver time but, in all fairness, they could well have meant Hawaiian time.
But wait! A double-check of the situation revealed that the problem HAD been addressed and that I really should be back online. Theoretically. After running through the tech 101 rigmarole – unplugging my router, plugging it back in, unplugging my modem, plugging it back in – and it became clear it wasn’t working, the tech rep did some further digging and, FINALLY, figured out what was at issue, narrowing the source of the problem down to two possibilities: either it was on my end or theirs. He assured me they would get someone on its immediately.
First thing Monday morning.
I wasn’t mad. Or annoyed. Simply…amused. Sure, go ahead. Fix the problem. Don’t fix the problem. Stand on your fucking head and play the kazoo. I don’t care. I’ve had it. I’m switching to Shaw.
Hey, head on over to SF Signal for their latest mind meld where I list my top ten favorite SF/Fantasy covers (http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/11/mind-meld-the-most-memorable-sff-book-covers/). Give it look and then hop back here and offer up your list.
Hey, Michelle – Yep, consider it a Solutions exclusive. We’ll back the week of December 14th to discuss more stories.
A new episode of Stargate: Universe tonight and one of my very favorites. Check it out and report back.
I mean, I assumed they meant Friday morning Vancouver time but, in all fairness, they could well have meant Hawaiian time.
Don’t be silly. Hawaii is American time, so they can’t have meant that. Siberian time, or Japan, or Fiji possibly.
In all seriousness, you have obviously fallen victim to that great spreading plague: Customer Service Indifference (CSI). It ain’t just a crime lab in Las Vegas.
This really isn’t your month, is it?
I’d suggest you do a pre-emptive strike and change electricity, water and gas companies as well, before they have the chance to screw you over 😉
Hey Joe,
Like I commented before, if I’m forced to make a call to Bell because I can’t reconnect to the internet on my own, it’s always my fault before it’s there’s. It takes quite a while to get them to admit fault. Even after a storm when it’s likely a tree has fallen on, or lightning has struck something important, surely the reason I can’t connect is because I have been fiddling around with my internet settings or my modem has come unplugged. And god forbid I’m connected through a router, because then it sounds like a router issue and I should probably call Linksys.
Cheers,
-J
Joe, I am…disappointed. No Elric covers? 😡 At least Lou has good taste! 😀
But your choice of covers tells me something about you – you are a minimalist, and like things simple. You would never last five minutes in my overly-decorated house!
Gotta run – going out for I-talian tonight. 😀 It’s the last hurrah for a lot of the restaurants around here, now that the season is over. Then back for Universe and Sanctuary…and Monk. Better set the dvr now… 😛
Have a good evening, sir! Here’s hoping that your tech woes will soon be a thing of the past!
das
Found out these last few days that my dad has leukemia, And probably doesn’t have much chance of surviving chemo-therapy.
Luckily I can escape reality for an hour by watching SGU. Thanks for keeping my mind off of things with your awesome show. Keep up the good work. 🙂
Yes, I feel your pain. We have all been there. I would so love to switch from Comcast but my hubby needs high band width internet for his job. There are no other providers in “Hooterville” that have a comparable service.
I hope the other provider works out for you.
Das: My hubby has the food phobia with round small objects. Like grapes, beans, cherries and such. If I grind them up, he can eat those things with no problem. He says it’s like eating eyeballs, too.
Mr. M, go curl up with the wife and the kids and enjoy SGU tonight!
T
haha, all through this week, reading through your internet issues, i’ve been thinking ‘he should just switch to shaw’ and here you are, coming to that conclusion through the natural course of events.
my household also had bad service with telus and we switched to shaw as well. we haven’t had any problems with them!
That was Friday morning in Asgard time. They may have forgotten the fact that Fridays don’t exist on Asgard planets.
Too bad.
Oh dear… I hate it when customer service (or similar department) gives one the run around 🙁 Hope you get back online properly soon, Joe.
Anyway, I’m visiting the comments section because I just viewed ‘Time’… I enjoyed the episode once it got going. I did find the first ten minutes or so a bit slow, but when it got going I was really trying to follow. It’s one of those ‘my brain hurts’ episodes though 😀 Do I assume that Scott’s strategy at the end worked or is it continued next week?
Well, I’m hoping it’s the start of me getting into SGU more… I’m still not sure if I’m bothered if they make it back – well except for Eli, he’s sweet 🙂 More episodes like ‘Time’ and I think I’ll care. However, if they do get back can I get a front row seat when Young decks Telford? 😉
Joe, are you aware that every one of those calls into Telus was recorded? Regardless of which dept, tech support or customer service.
I have discovered companies in this service sector (with call centers) routinely use recorded calls in their learning courses. They are categorized, labeled and stripped of any private info, but your voice, angrily demanding service will undoubtedly be taught in a class. Followed by instruction to reps on how to reply, called rebuttals, those craftily designed questions or answers are meant to convince you to go their way, be subdued or mollified.
Thought you’d like to know…
How’s Max feeling? And the other kids?
Looking forward to tonight’s SGA eppy, “LIFE”.
2cats
Having been on the receiving end of many ISP problems I can sympathize with your situation.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is to ask the name of whoever is “assisting” me with either Tech support or customer service. That way I can always put them in the fire should they fail to do what they said.
I’ve heard horror stories of people with Shaw, and now with your story of Telus.. It seems no ISP in Canada is safe. I wish you the best of luck with Shaw.
Wow…sounds like a great week. One of my co-workers said to me, “This entire week has felt like I’m a hamster running on a wheel.” I have to say that fits perfectly.
I completely agree with you about ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies’. Amazing cover. Really grabbed my interest.
That’s how I ended up severing my phone relationship with Telus and just went to Shaw. Had my phone number with Telus for years, and then one day … no phone service. Sent an email (since my internet was through Shaw), corresponded with Telus tech … and after a week of no phone service, I decided to just switch over to Shaw as I’d never in years of cable/internet had a problem with Shaw customer service. Ended up with no phone at all for a total of three weeks because I wanted to keep my phone number and Shaw recommended that I just let them handle everything as Telus had developed a reputation that if they lost a customer, they made it nearly impossible for that customer to keep their phone number. Everything worked out in the end. And any time I’ve had a problem, Shaw was right on it.
About a month after the switch, Telus called one day as a follow-up to what happened. I explained to the customer rep everything and he completely agreed with what I did. LOL … He even refunded me the week I didn’t have phone service with Telus.
I also learned that there’s apparantly some obscure government rule that if you don’t have phone service for a specified number of days (5 or something like that) or longer, that company can be penalized up to $10,000.00.
That’s fucking ridiculous.
I’m gonna link as many Canadians as I can to your blog so they can see how bad Telus are..
Amazing.
I’ve never ever had a problem with connection here in WA and if there was, it had something to do with an errant camel up north eating cables and was immediately fixed (and the camel leather used for wallets).
Enjoying SGU… thanks for something a bit ‘meatier’ …(oh and Rush is a bit of a looker for us more ‘mature’ ladies)
Joe, I hope you don’t mind if I let the fans know that Amazon is having a sale on all sorts of Sci-Fi TV and movies (genre, not just the channel) at about 50% off.
For example, the entire SG1 series is currently 105 USD, sale ending November 23rd. Fell swoops are the best, I always say. I don’t know about individual seasons, but I’m reckoning they’re equal steals.
Standing on their heads playing a fucking kazoo, great mental image, and thankfully, a good laugh just when I needed one. I’ve just spent 2 hours driving 12 miles (I shit you not) with Elway whining and tooting in the car.
So, looking forward to SGU and Sanctuary and some dinner. Hope everybody has a great weekend!
CONGRATS on changing ISP Joe, i’m not sure the cost of Telus vs Shaw, but I sure as hell know the customer service is alot better, or should I say customer disservice? I always thought their motto was “We’re not happy until your not happy”.
I’ve been getting free Telus service for years. They don’t provide service in my area, but, from your description, it works out the same.
I know dealing with Telus couldn’t have been fun, but reading the saga in your blog was pretty funny. Thanks, Joe.
And I’m glad you could switch. Me? Living out in the sticks I could be stuck with Hughesnet forever. And EVER. AIEEEEEE!
Wow, I thought Comcrap, oops sorry, I meant Comcast was bad. My alternative would be DSL, which, well, I’d rather have a cable connection. All it takes is for a squirrel to pee on a wire at the hospital and not only do we lose or internet we lose power.
I have been blocked again and can’t read the blog at work. This work thing… it really gets in my way sometimes.
@ Angelus – We have a friend (older person) who was just treated for leukemia, and she’s doing great. All different types, of course…but sometimes people surprise us. Sending good vibes your way!
@ Tammy Dixon – What I wanna know is this: When did our husbands ever eat eyeballs to know what it feels like?? 😮 Makes you wonder what they were up to before meeting us, eh?
@ Joey – Hi! 😀 Hey…we all know you like Japanese food, but what is your absolute favorite ethnic cuisine?
My favorites are Mexican-American, Italian-American and Middle Eastern/Greek (Mediterranean). For those first two I added the ‘American’ because I realize what we tend to eat here in the States doesn’t quite resemble that which is eaten in their respective countries of origin. My folks used to vacation in Mexico, and they’ve eaten everything BUT a taco…lol. Armadillo and Iguana were mom’s favorites. She’s a bit adventurous when it comes to food – I should tell you sometime about the Chinese soup she had with little bird legs in it… 😛
And I really love the whole Greek and Middle Eastern thing – from falafel to kofta to hummus to anything with feta to…oh, just about all of it. I think what I like best about Middle Eastern food is that much of it is vegetarian, and VERY flavorful. (I realize there is often a big diff between food in Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, etc…but there’s very little I’ve tried that I haven’t liked, no matter what country in that general region it comes from). I think my love for food from that area is because when I was a kid, mom’s best friend was Armenian, and had lived for a while in Jerusalem. Every time she had us for dinner, she would make these wonderful dishes, and I loved them, even though I was a picky eater at the time. I guess it just stuck with me.
I might have asked you this question before – my memory is sucky. If I did, my apologies…
das
@Gilder – I worked in a call centre for one of our major banks. Two years of trying to explain credit card interest and missed payment fees to idiots who don’t read what they sign up for. God, I hated that job. Unfortunately, it was in a small town, with few other jobs going. And I had to endure 4 hours of psychological testing to get the job – ridiculous, because after one hour they should have been able to tell how unsuited I was to working there. Still, it paid for my trip to Europe, after which I promptly gave notice and moved interstate. Now I work for the union which looks after bank employees, fighting for decent conditions for my old colleagues. A much better job! I like working for a company whose motto is People First.
Wanna give me some tips on how I can get rogers to let me upgrade to an iPhone without charging me ridiculous upgrade fees and ‘current contract cancellation’ fees and whatnot? I’ve only given them 6 years worth of money for wireless service… IN fact, would you like to cal for me? haha!
Good luck solving your internets!
Telus has no idea of how badly they fornicated themselves by providing you blog fodder.
On the best covers thing. I find my tastes line up almost exactly behind Lou Anders, though in every case I could agree on one or two I liked. No way I’d ever be able to pick a top ten. Top 100, maybe. Any Frazetta or Michael Whelan makes the list almost automatically. At least half of the old Shadow paperback covers also would be in consideration. Not so much the Doc Savage covers, though I enjoy them. I’d also be hard put to choose among the English paperback editions of the Diskworld novels. I actually have made it a point to purchase the paperbacks when travelling over there. The American versions just pale in comparison. David Gemmel’s Sword in the Storn cover is also outstanding. I also like the cover to his book Legend, never mind that book is one of my top ten favorites. And I’ll add the cover to Alien Pregnant by Elvis anthology, edited by Esther Friesner and Martin Greenberg. Put a gun to my head and I might be able to narrow down the dozens these choices cover to 2 score or so. Interesting question though. When are you going to list your choices?
Just reading up a bit… is it true Telus uses DSL while Shaw uses cable-based internet? If so, I think you’ll see far higher speed with Shaw anyway. One thing to consider is, if you use any Telus email addresses, you’ll lose those. No great loss I suppose! I’d suggest getting a gmail account so your email address is independent of your service… Hang in there!
(((Angelus))). Been there, done that. Suggest you do what I didn’t; take advantage of counseling for yourself and family. May save you debilitating grief or depression later.
Glad to hear it!
Now… Could we get a post about the new episode?
I have an itching need to be witty, and I should probably be on topic when I try.
matt has a child things maybe complicated on destiny now. Like this episode. has Joe said these episodes are very good and the development of the characters (sp) does help. Its funny Failsafe (s5 epi 18) was watching the part when genl Hammond tell Fraser to get ready to go to the Off-world base and that only a select few can go, where was the drama of leaving family members behind. Now that I think about it I do like SGU.
dear joe: though shaw’s service is actually pretty good, but I find that there are a lot of outages, so beware…
I believe Spencer will sit in the chair
I am sorry the Saga is continuing. I have been keeping my hubby updated on the issue you are having. He has had similar problems with our company.
I look forward to watching the SGU ep for today.
How is the puppy?
So that’s how Park stays even kneel.
Reminds me of the time I repeatedly had to call my Interent provider, Freenet, here in Germany because my voice over IP phone wasn’t working.
They have a number you can call for free. They also have a number that costs serious money. The free number could ONLY be called from a Freenet landline.
Try calling them to tell them that your landline isn’t working, using your landline.
I was on hold for 30 to 45 minutes several days in a row. Then on the 4th day I complained that I really should not have to pay for the VOIP service I wasn’t using since it wasn’t working and also raised the question how one was supposed to call the free number if the landline was down.
They wouldn’t have any of that.
They went under earlier this year.
Man, Joe, Life was awesome. I loved the drama with Emily and the Telford vs Young conflicts. Mini-Matt’s existence was surprising and Rush is reaching new levels of “why did he do that?!” You guys have been putting together perfect episodes and I’m really loving the new series.
I think one of the best things about SGU is the music. You made me grin when you had Flogging Molly as the opening/closing music in this episode. I was wondering, since every episode has such great music, are there any plans floating around for a soundtrack? It seems such a waste to just have the music only on the series.
I really enjoyed ‘Life’. Best character exposition to date. Really a talented bunch of people. Loved the music by one of my favorites, Flogging Molly. I can’t believe we’re at midseason break next week.
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Just a quickie – pretty tired tonight.
Tonight’s ep was pretty good – I LOVED the bits about Scott and Young/Telford. My favorites. Interesting that there’s a real whore aboard ship, and it’s not Chloe! I liked Chloe more in this one, too. As a diehard heterosexual, I wasn’t impressed with the romantic bits between the two…whose names I don’t know (I am horrible with remembering names! 😛 ). I must admit if it was two guys I probably wouldn’t have been as uncomfortable – but as a woman who even hates a female doctor touching her…well…that all was a bit too ‘ewwy’ for me, and I fast-forwarded through the kissy parts. My husband, however, enjoyed those bits…the pervert that he is. 😉
Anyway – good ep, not as good as last week’s simply because I preferred the action over the ‘Peyton Place’, but things such as Rush’s deception, Young punching out Telford, and Scott’s reaction to learning he has a son made up for the rest. Oh, and the crazy guy…whose name I also don’t know…he helped keep things interesting, too.
Gotta run! Havea good evening, sir!
das
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“Life” best espisode of the series to date. Young’s bad day, Eli’s trying yoga, Rush still minipulating and playing with peoples emotions, Wray’s background unfolds, Matt’s Backstory thickens,
Do we get to see Spencer Lose it before the Mid-season brake? Is he Bi-polar or skitzephrenic? I think BP.
Telus episode is more funnier than stargate SGU.
Just watched Time! I’m always a little nervous about earth-based episodes, because I’m just not sure how much I care about the Telford/Young’s Wife/Young/(I’m guessing)T.J. square, but I really liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
This was one of those eps where SGU really earns its reputation as an entirely different animal from SG1/SGA. Because yeah, not a whole lot happened action-wise but emotionally? Hoo boy, where to start?
I wish I could get the haters out of my head. Is there a bleach for that? Because I found myself occupied with the thought of how many people were going to complain that Matt’s ex wasn’t the perfect shining example of a wonderful woman (because the world doesn’t need “more examples of drunk, dropout faily women” on its TV landscape, don’t you know?) and that Wray and Sharon didn’t get as much straight-up sex time as the het couples on the show.
But both of those complaints are bogus, I think. I loved Wray’s trip home and I’m excited to see what Matt will do with his new knowledge. Big booooooo on Chloe spilling that to Eli, though. Might there be troubled waters in the Matt/Chloe universe? I noticed some interesting perspective in that Eli and Chloe yoga shot…(but even though I like SGU’s character/emotion-driven self, I’m still hoping it doesn’t turn into the Love Polygon Show.)
You should find a way of making Telus aliens – then the crew could gun them down? *g*
You were way too patient with them. I think I would have switched sooner. Glad you have some choices in the matter.
How’s Bubba? Hope he’s getting better.
Lovely montages. The Pogues no? Nice ep. TY
“..worst day since yesterday..”
Great Episode,loved it,first class story telling and a bunch of emotions.
Mid-Season Break…..WHYYYY?
One Episode to go,i will stay tuned for “Justice”.
Cheers
Not impressed by the comments on Life so far, Das. is not saying anything that encourages me!!!. Like Young said to Greer on Time, …. ( not exact wording) …. we just avoid the issue. I will till next week’s episode.
thanks for those posting spoilers- I buzzed right by them for tonight. We went out to the rodeo held every year this time, It was great fun and much warmer than last year..so I will watch the episode tomorrow and get back on what I am thinking about it, although I bet it will be great.
Joe I hope your internet crap is not catching, I am sitting here watching my online light blink off and then on and oh yeah off again, so maybe this post will get thru when its on, not even gonna go there tonight, getting sleepy. so maybe it will be better tomorrow, I think I pay for the 24 hour internet provider, maybe I should check, sleep well..!
No spoilers here, just a brief comment on Life: I’ve got to confess that I nearly didn’t watch tonight’s episode. From the preview last week, I thought it would be another “relationship episode” and I just couldn’t bear the thought of it. But you talked me into it. I did watch and I’m glad I did. It managed to provide character background and depth and at the same time advance the story! Kudos to Carl. Well done!
What was the music at the end, Joe? Hayloh said The Pogues – was it them? If so, I didn’t recognize which song it was.
I hope your new internet service actually provides service.
Interesting book cover choices, Joe, but my taste runs closer to Lou Anders and John Coulthart. I particularly love the Michael Whelan covers for the Elric series. Another favorite of mine was from LeGuin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness” which can be seen here, (sorry but I’m bad at links so you’ll have to cut and paste) – http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n0/n779.jpg; you seem to prefer the more modern covers and I go for the classics.
Huzzah! The link worked.
Just thinking – I know you don’t use Facebook, Joe, but for those bloggers that do I’ll pass along something I just discovered. Try changing the “language” for your account to Pirate. Very entertaining!
I wanted to post on this episode and the series in general. I wasn’t a big fan of SGA’s 4th and 5th seasons. I thought the writing got really sloppy and routine. But with SGU, I like how they are trying to give us complex storytelling, away from the Shepherd always saves the day and everyone is healed in the infirmary at the end of the episode.
That being said the show has moved a little slow from what were used to. Darkness and The Light could have been combined into one episode (I know it started out this way but expanded into two which I think hurt both) for example. But I have yet to feel as much anger about a bad SGU episode, as I have about a bad SGA episode. SGA just became formulaic and old. With SGU I can at least say there trying something new, willing to push the limits. Sometimes it works, and sometimes the writers fall on their faces. But at least their trying!
On tonights episode: I really enjoyed it overall. People are complex, and its hard for people to understand. Real people aren’t like our SG1 heroes. I love Sam, I love Daniel, I love Jack….but no one is that perfect in real life. Tonight the writers gave us real people. The one girl at the beginning is coping with the stress though sex, first with the man at the beginning, and then with Greer at the end. That’s a real emotional person to me. We aren’t always perfect, and we don’t always make the right decision. Also, Camille Wray. Yes it was a lesbian relationship. Were they graphic, were they crude or immature about how they presented it? No! They presented the relationship just like any other relationship, because that’s how gay and straight relationships are.
So from a former person who thrived in the SGA anti thread, I’m happy to say I’m jumping on the Pro SGU thread, and I can’t wait for what the writers have in store.
Oh my, if my mother ever figures out how to find this blog and this post I may be mortified. She actually continuously encourages me to post something here but I never have, Im slightly uncomfortable posting on a blog Im unused to. She’s a huge scifi fan and is so proud her daughter loves something she loves.
I think theres a saying somewhere and if not well there should be about haters scream the loudest. Im pretty used to the inner workings of big fandoms, being part of several before and if theres even one slight change from the original then the internet explodes. Makes you feel kind of inadequate when you actually like said change, you may not be the minority but it certainly looks cooler over the internet to hate something then to love it.
I love this show and I loved this episode. Im not a huge scifi person, I never watched the scifi channel willingly up until recently because of warehouse 13 and now this show. I can like scifi, sometimes it may take me a large kick in the butt to do so, but Im usually not so proud of the cheese that comes on top of anything scifi related.
SGU is my type of scifi for sure. Its everything I personally ever wanted in this type of show from its pace to its storytelling and Im not ashamed to say in public “this show is wonderful” not that theres anything wrong with campy scifi…Im sure theres plenty of reasons to love the previous stargates, it obviously has the fandom..it just wasnt something that drew me in. This drew me in and I know how unwelcoming older members of a fandom can be to newer members. I think this show has attracted a new audience and I hope its keeping its old one. Some of us do actually like the long stories as opposed to the short squashed ones.
Life was wonderful. I love Reiko Aylesworth, loved her since 24 and I was so happy to see her again. Young is my favorite character thus far even though it seems Rush is in the lead for most fans. I loved the character development, love the scenes that depict more of ship life, I love the stones, I especially love Young vs Telford scenes. I have been looking forward to those punches since Earth.
I hope you all continue what you’re doing. This show makes my week, which used to be a title I held for Dexter.
Man, your plight is terribly appalling. Why not tell them exactly who you are? Eh, well works in the states when you’re the Vice President of a Time Warner Company. Well switching to shaw would do it for you I am def. sure. Man sucks I work till ten at night here in central time and that is the second showing of SGU, I have to wait until 1 am or 2am on saturday to get to see it. on hulu
its hard getting up for school at 8am on saturday.
For the most part, I didn’t like this one. The ship stuff was interesting, but it was way over powered by the stones stuff. I’m hoping that the stones are just being used for the first season to give us more information on the characters & after this first season, you guys will drop that. The ship/other planets stuff is much more exciting. Even the drama on the ship & other planets is interesting. The drama on earth, imo, is too soap opera-like. Hope we see all ship & planets not named earth stuff in season 2 and beyond.
OH and I also have to say: Rush & Eli are my favorite characters on the show. Not sure which one I like bettter. Maybe Rush, but Eli is really funny, so…lol. Great characters.
Loved loved loved the episode. Loved, just in case you didn’t catch that. Earth is still probably my favorite but Life has claimed the number two position.
I love (I fear I’m going to overuse that word) how even the minor characters have story-lines we can follow. Park and Spencer in this episode especially.
So Telford wasn’t AS big of an ass as I thought he was previously. But he’s still pretty douchey.
And Scott ….I will just WOW. That’s a big life changer.
It was great to see Ming-Na have a chance to shine and shine she did. Wonderful performance by her.
*spoiler-ish*
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I guess the only thing that shocked me character-wise is I would have figured Rush would be gung-ho to sit in the chair. All that knowledge, even if it would kill him. I could see it being worth it to him. But, of course, for the series I don’t WANT him dead so I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way.
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And, I guess that’s all.
A few thoughts…….
– Considering the ‘rushed’ nature of their evacuation from Icarus to Destiny…i thought it was a bit of a stretch that of all the ‘essential’ items they brought with them…that one of those bags/cases included enough sports attire for that many people to do physical training with…
– Its nice to see there appears to be some negative side effects from using the stones from the ‘science’ side in addition to the ‘social’ side.
– On a side note…does “don’t ask/don’t tell” exist in the stargate universe? just thinking of all the possible problems Camille’s host body could get into with what Camille was doing…
– I thought Rush’s re-programming was a bit predictable. It was my first thought when it happened. But having said that…he can reprogram sections of the computer…but can’t get this master code? unless maybe he’s intentionally stalling…
– Could you give us some kinda hint as to why Rush considers the discovery of Destiny to be the single greatest find since the Stargate itself? Considering that :
– Atlantis is much more advanced..
– Earth got a huge tech. leap from the Asgard
I guess I just am having trouble understanding ‘why’ Destiny is important in the face of this? Its a very old..falling apart ship it seems.
Ok life. Meh.
Wasn’t as bad or graphic or controversial as I thought but didn’t love it as a whole.
Had some moments that I either loved or didn’t like. Few inbetween scenes.
Wray stuff was blown out of proportion. Glad That’s behind us. Looking forward to justice.
Life was my 3rd to least fav. Air 3 and earth are the other two. Liked Spencer in this ep. Liked young to here. Still ok ep. 6/10.
Gee Joe,
The music in Life is reflective of your recent woes. Today is the worse day of your IT/Internet life since yesterday.
The complexities unfold even more. Loved the episode.
“Life” was awesome. You really had to feel for Scott, to find out you have a son that you had no idea about and cannot even let know you are his dad…wow, emotional. On top of that Wray and her relationship with her partner and the disapproval you felt from her parents.
The Young/Telford knock out, that was sooo perfect, even had my husband going FINALLY. LOL
You could see the jealousy from Chloe over Annie, and for Chloe to tell Eli wasn’t very cool. I can kind of see Chloe’s not having a problem with it considering it will come out at some point, but still. I would have liked to see her more supportive of Scott, but maybe that will come later. Who knows that he didn’t tell her he needed some time alone.
Huge kudos and a job well done to everyone. My husband doesn’t necessarily like the character depth ones, but even he said this was a really good episode.
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Have to admit, after your hype I was a bit disappointed in this one. Thinking on it,my main complaint was the Earth vs. Destiny time,,so to speak. While I enjoyed Young’s travails, neither that one nor Scott’s discoveries really did much for me. On the other hand, TJ trying hard (but very badly) to be a shrink, Rush’s games, the reactions to those on board, and the other glimpses we got were far more interesting to me. This is what I had hoped and expected from the show’s premise; people in a pressure steamer envirement reacting to stimuli. While the Earth scenes flesh out the characters a bit, they tend to remind me uncomfortably of the soap opera complaints from before the show’s airings. Of course, I did cheer when Young smashed in Telford’s face. Perhaps not the most professional behavior, but then, neither is Telford’s.
Oh, and the music. Thanks, but I can get the messages without audio cues on to what I am supposed to pick up on. The idea worked great in Vegas. But the more it’s used the less effective I’m finding it, whether or not I happen to enjoy the particular song. On the plus side, next week looks to turn the pressure steamer to maximum; I will actually be counting the days for that one. So, overall,….not too bad, but you as a group are suffering from being too good at your jobs. My expectations are just higher than might be reasonable, and so I’m not quite ready to embrace this show as one of my all time favorites. But the shows are trending in the right direction(from my viewpoint anyways) so I’ll stick around for the back half of the season. Some horses like to break slow and pick up the pace in the backstretch. Looks like SGU will be one of those.
Hey Joe – took a break from Shipsgiving (yes, we are that crazy) to give you my opinion on tonight episode (which you said you wanted feedback on)…
I officially love Colonel Young. I kind of see him as the “anti-O’Neill” (did you guys think of him that way or am I making this up?) – but I loved him beating the crap out of Telford. It was so satisfying. I would have liked more on the Young/TJ story but I love the way the actors play off of each other and I’m sure we’ll get more as the season goes on – I’m just impatient.
Love seeing Aylesworth (did I spell that right). She’s such a great actress. Unfortunately I like Sharon better than Camile, but that’s because I’m not really sure how to take Camile. She doesn’t seem to have a lot of conviction. Her and Chloe are currently my two least favorite characters at the moment. But to be fair it probably has more to do with their personalities than anything else. It’s sort of how I felt about Weir. She was a good character in the sense that she was well-acted, well written, but in real life I probably would have kicked out an open air lock. Or at least thought about it.
Felt the baby thing was a little cliche. I figured that would be the Scott thing and cringed the whole time I had to sit through his home visit (I like his character better in action like on the ice planet).
Eli was great as ever and Rush’s character continues to intrigue me (he makes me think of a not funny House)
Overall – I liked it better than other episodes. Light still wins as my favorite so far, although this one moves up points in my brain because of Colonel Young.
Hi Joe,
Welcome new Shaw customer! Sorry to tell you they are just as bad. Let me tell you our story. =D
Our internet kept cutting out so we called them, was on hold for 2hrs the moment the rep picked up the cordless phone died! 1.5 hrs on hold again a promised service call for the next day. Guy comes, internet works for 6hrs then nothing, nada, zlich. We call again, on hold for 1hr, another service call promised. Guy comes, claims the first guy didn’t diagnose the problem correctly, undoes the work the first guy did, tinkers around some more then declares it operational and we will not have anymore problems. It worked for all of 2hrs!! This cycle repeated another 3 times. I have never seen so many Shaw employees in the span of two weeks ever in my life. As for compensation for our troubles? A $7 credit because our outage only amounted (according to their records) to 4hrs, not the two and a half weeks we went with either spotty internet or no internet. I guess customers never win.
I hope you have a better experience with Shaw
-K
Joe,
Great episode sir, my favorite so far!!! I loved the scene when Young decks the hell out of Telford, waited for it for a long time, and also when he reprimands Spencer in the hallway ( I hate that character.. I would have shot his ass by now)… I think Young is becoming my favorite character replacing Lt Scott.
I was wondering why the networks wont show the eppy Space before the mid season break? I found that rather stupid on behalf of the networks since it really defeats that special Stargate suspence that usually happens in the mid-season break like in the SG1 and SGA series. Can you please explain their logic?
I had Telus once too, they had me switch over to them from Shaw promising me lower prices, I must have missed the murmer of “for two months then were going to rip you off for the remainder of your one year contract”.
I was told that I would have everything within 3 weeks of that first phone call with them.It took them 3 months and 4 calls to confirm that I wanted the phone and internet from them, then a nice guy comes along and sets up my phone.
A month later I recieve a nice follow up call asking if I’d managed to get my internet modem working…. I know, how nice right, but the problem is that I didn’t have a Telus modem. They said that they had already charged me a months internet on the bill that had just been sent out, and they werent sure why I hadn’t recieved the modem yet.
A bunch of checks and they finally noticed that OOPS!!!! They hadn’t mailed my modem to me yet…..idiots. So they credited my internet to me for a couple months for the inconvenience.. and get this, they still call me trying to get me to switch back to them from Shaw again….
Hey Joe,
Life was a great episode. It was interesting to see how people relieve stress differently, especially Young. That was a loooong time coming.
Why the two week gap until Justice? Is it a Thanksgiving thing?
Cheers,
-J
I plan on posting more about “Life” later, a character-depth-rich episode. I’ve watched it twice and need to watch it a few more times.
Let me say this, Joe, about your customer service problems: Digital Voice Recorder.
Just hold that thing up to the phone when you are having conversations like these.
I had to resort to doing it with my son’s school because things started getting ugly back in 2006. Who knew I would get on a recording the principal of the school trying to use extortion to get me to comply with what the school district’s agenda was? If I didn’t do XYZ (and give up my legal right to the meeting I called), they would take away something of value. I even repeated it back to her, saying, “Let me make sure I understand…you are saying if I don’t give up my legal right for this meeting to yield to the school district’s agenda, you are going to take something of great value away from my son. She said, “Yep, take it or leave it.” That is the legal definition of extortion/blackmail. So when she decided to play dirty at this meeting after I refused to give up my right and yield to their agenda, I let it be known that I had a certain conversation on tape and the little spy I shared this with went scampering over to let her know. She came back into the meeting asking me if I had recorded this conversation, I told her, “You better believe I did because I knew with you this offer wasn’t going to come without a price and now we know what that price was.” She looked like she wanted to come across the table and punch the crap out of me. My son got what they said they would give him and that was all I wanted. Of course after I walked out of the meeting I wanted to throw up after having had to stoop to their level to even the playing field for my kid.
I’ve found that becomes very handy with stuff like phone calls to customer service. I always make sure the person with whom I speak gives me a name and I have it on tape should anything ever becomes of it. You would have had your proof they promised you something and they probably would have jumped through hoops faster.
Of course, make sure it is legal to do it wherever you are before doing so. In Texas, it is what is known as a one-party state where only 1 person in the parties being taped has to know they are being taped (and in my case, that 1 person was me, I knew I was being taped so it was legal).
If you think “Life” is one of SGU’s best, you’re sorely mistaken, in my opinion.
That episode was easily the biggest waste of an hour I’ve ever put into Stargate. I was shocked at how much I did not enjoy this episode. As I posted elsewhere: the crew finds a chair it won’t be using (yet, I guess? but cheers for not having anyone sit in it and making something actually *happen* for a change!!), a few people go back to Earth and get upset (nothing new there) and Young/Telford continue to act like 8th graders.
Best part of the episode: Previews for Justice. That one looks interesting. “Life” was boring, plain and simple.
I could sit here and critique the writers for how episodes seem to move so slow and it feels like nothing actually happens, but to this point I’ve really enjoyed the scope being placed on the character interaction. But now it’s just getting repetitive. People go to Earth, we learn something that we don’t really care about because in a few episodes it won’t even matter; they then get upset and/or cry, and if we’re really unlucky, we as viewers will be forced to continue to sit and watch the characters whine over and over about how unfortunate they are. Works for one or two episodes. Then it doesn’t.
I find myself growing more and more bored watching the repetitive nature of what happens on this show instead of being intrigued about what will happen next. I guess in SGU, we would find a chair and watch our characters talk about it and use it as a device to further the character relationships, and in SG-1 we would find a chair and watch our characters interact with it. There seems to lie the fundamental difference between the shows. I enjoy it to an extent but there has to be a common ground here, because sitting and watching characters yack and yack about this and that and hearing the same old stories about how Rush just isn’t trustworthy and how he implemented a plan to fool everyone is getting old.
I’m not one to normally look at spoilers but I looked at the synopses for future episodes and it seems to look a bit more promising after the hiatus, so I’ll stick around for awhile. However, before “Earth”, I never thought I’d end up having so much criticism for a show I thought I would continue to enjoy.
Hope that you get better service with Shaw. That’s what we have.
Loved Life, best part. Young ki8cking Telford’s butt!!!
Babylon 5 was greatest sci fi show ever. Because it has mythology of sort.
Galactica was greatest sci fi drama mainly the end is setup that people are curious who was cylon 5. It was even called greatest show but once cylon exposed show hit the rock bottom as there is nothing to watch , drama was not as interesting as before.
I can even forgive for you and brad right ego of making something new and trash stargate.
You can change and fix. Create hooks , Create a background story line that never told why they have chosen and set that first up.
People like larger than life character in scifi not the normal dude who see everyday. There is nothing interesting. Make them flawed is fine but you have to make every character with some special ability otherwise this shows is down the drain.
Create a storyline like ancients chosen this people live in destiny as it has different role and establish that first and why ancients wanted them in destiny…
scifi is a fantasy , when you remove fantasy there is no need to watch scifi show.
if you want to make drama , please remove stargate from show title and write any crap you want.
I’m not quite sure why everyone in that post is hating on Robert Jordan covers. Maybe it’s because I grew up with fantasy as my first love so I’m used to the style? I’m pretty sure the artist is that same as the new(ish) Piers Anthony books which I love (even when they don’t always mesh exactly with the characters described within).
Book covers. Not normally something I think about. But here goes:
1. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: Harlan Ellison.
I only recently heard about this story and it was this art: http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/946510059-00.jpg that caught my eye. Sadly, the current edition on Amazon has an entirely different cover so I didn’t get that one.
2. Out of Phaze: Piers Anthony
This was the first book of the series I read and it was partly because of the author and partly because of the cover art. All the books from Out of Phaze through Phaze Doubt are very detailed and striking. http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/946510059-00.jpg
3. Dragon Prince: Melanie Rawn
This cover and its immediate sequel are very striking. I picked up Dragon Prince because of its cover in a used bookstore. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n1/n6671.jpg
4. Unwelcome Bodies: Jennifer Pelland
I was just struck by the simple image when you first posted it for the BOTM.
5. Centaur Aisle: Piers Anthony
The original artist for the Xanth books before Piers changed publishers. Once he joined TOR, as I said, I’m pretty sure he and Jordan have the same artist now. http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/ebooks/product/400/000/000/000/000/038/480/400000000000000038480_s4.jpg
6. The Lost Years of Merlin: TA Barron
Looking on google images, there have apparently been so many versions of this cover I can’t even find the one I have. So that doesn’t really help, but I love my copy.
7. The White Dragon: Anne McCaffrey
This was the first Dragonriders of Pern cover I ever saw and I fell in love right away. The blue and white just shone. http://www.michaelwhelan.com/catalog/images/large_weyrworld.jpg
8. Dealing with Dragons: Patricia C Wrede
I loved these books as a kid and the cover is what caught my eye. http://a0.vox.com/6a00c225258c918fdb011018074788860f-500pi
There’s probably more. And all but two are fantasy. Hmm.
I keep hoping your internet gets fixed!
Coucou Joseph!! ça va bien?
Moi oui =) cette midi je regarde ‘Life’ et je vous en dit des nouvelles, il a l’air hot en tout cas^^!
Gros bisou, a plus tard!
Okay, I’ve been patiently waiting for the “good episodes” to come, and last week’s “Time” was certainly that. But the ending! A cop-out! After all that, we don’t get to see how the situation was resolved? At least with that Groundhog Day-esque episode in S4 of SG-1 (with Teal’c and Jack repeating the same 10 hours over and over for weeks), we saw how the loop finally ended, and we got some sense of how many times it had repeated. But to end on a cliffhanger and to have this week’s episode not even acknowledge that the events in last week’s episode took place is just bizarre. How many kinos did they find on that planet in the end?
Another thing I’m finding very odd is Wray’s lack of presence in some episodes. When the shit was hitting the fan (twice) in “Time,” she was nowhere to be seen. Surely a lethal outbreak and torso-drilling creature death on the planet would have been compelling enough to draw her into the action. Was she off somewhere reading a really absorbing novel, and just couldn’t be bothered to weigh in on the most life-threatening situation the residents of Destiny have faced since “Darkness”? It’s not like you can explain her absence the way you could a character like Daniel’s occasional absence in SG-1 (“he’s off-world researching X, Y and Z”). Wray’s stuck on that ship. It defies belief that she wouldn’t be right in the middle of that crisis, giving her opinions.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
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As for tonight’s ep, I felt it was more of a return to the same-old, same-old of the pre-“Time” episodes. All character-based, no action. Since I don’t really dig the characters that much (especially since many of the more humanizing developments in their personalities got completely erased by the events in “Time”), this episode was kind of a dud for me. I don’t find Scott compelling as a person, so I don’t care whether he discovers a son he never knew about.
Although I liked Young beating the shit out of Telford, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that Telford wasn’t being as nefarious as I thought he was at the end of “Earth.” That last shot of Telford at Mrs Young’s door conjured up an act of deception soooooooo evil and shocking, that the idea of it haunted me for days after watching. That’s a GOOD thing. TV should shock you every now and then. Only to find out he wasn’t being as nasty as we’d been led to believe…. kind of a let-down. I’m surprised that I feel this way, given how appalled I was at the end of “Earth,” but there you go. I guess I just relished the idea of having a character I detest for justifiable reasons, rather than those I hate purely for their blandness or utter uselessness.
Why would Young ask TJ to do psych evals, when that’s Wray’s specialty? (Isn’t it? Am I misremembering Wray’s role on the Icarus base?) How could any conclusions TJ reaches be of the remotest use, when the most she’s had is the Psych 101 class we all took as undergrads? That’s just strange. Strange, too, was Wray’s total lack of surprise and/or outrage when TJ told her what she (TJ) had been assigned to do.
Joe, why this new, obnoxious trend in TV scheduling known as the “mid-season hiatus”? Maybe I’m showing my age, but time was, you only had to put up with a few reruns around Christmastime and New Year’s, and maybe a few other odd weeks here and there throughout a season, and other than that, you got fairly steady first-run programming of 22 episodes from September to May. What’s the logic behind the months-long hiatus in the middle of the season? I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve stopped watching, simply because I “lost” them in a hiatus. I’d get out of the habit of watching, wouldn’t know when they were coming back, and would forget most of the plot they left off on anyway. (I have a life, after all; I can’t be expected to remember, for example, what happened on “Alias” when the last new episode was 8 months before the next one.) I know you don’t control when or how a show’s season airs. I’m just asking your opinion.
Kathode
Semi-Spoiler 4 those SG1 fans ……..
nice to see the Honduras guide from SG1 Evolution aka DJ Zak Santiago got more than just gum form Jack but the opportunity to go to the Icarus Base then launched through the Stargate onto the peachy Destiny to end up in bed with the beautiful Lisa aka Jennifer
Awesome episode!
Kudos to Carl and the SGU cast & team
P.S. I wonder if Carl was under the influence of Dragon’s Blood (4 those of you who didn’t read it’s hot sauce made from Naga Bhut Jolokia) because that episode was Hot!
Just watched Life, really great episode, definitely loved some of the focus on the secondary characters.
Also, are you guys trying to hire the entire cast of Robson Arms for SGU? Something which by the way, I wholly support. First Haig Sutherlad, and now Zak Santiago? Keep it up!
Life was great. It had a goliath of a challenge to be in the middle of the spectacular Time, and the always-fun mid-season two weeks from now. But it shone through – well acted, well written and generally immersive and engaging. Kudos to Carl Binder and everybody else.
SGU is amazing show. And Life was imho. even better than Air. I really love this new Stargate.
Good man! Shaw is pretty good.
At least, I think it’s good. Frankly I have no idea what Internet provider I’m using right now so, yeah.
Hey Joe, have you ever noticed that, if you say “cheese” enough times, it doesn’t sound like a word anymore?
Cheese cheese cheese cheese cheese chee-what is this? It’s not a word!
See? See?!
Anyway, did you get a load of the big storm tonight? There was lightning and thunder and everything inbetween! In fact, it was so Awesome (and I mean it in the non-hipster way) that it blew out the power grid of my neighbourhood! Yes, we were without power! For, like, a few minutes!
Luckily, by the time I got home, power has been restored…to the first floor. My room, on the 2nd floor, had GONE DARK. AN-AND COLD!
God, I loved that scene.
Anyways, this meant that I was not able to watch Life in the comfort of my room. Luckily, there were a few TVs downstairs and I managed to watch the show in my mom’s room.
Life. Was. AWESOME. And I do mean it in the hipster way this time!
Ever since Earth and Time, I’ve felt like the series have reached an early “critical mass”, like the way you guys describe the 3rd or 4th seasons of SGA and SG1. Even at this early point, you guys have done so much with the characters that their developments now are feeling so natural and…established, I guess. It feels like they’ve had years of development. For instance, seeing Young yell at Spencer would’ve seemed out of character, as he’s very VERY seldomly revealed his emotions like that; and yet, because of what we already knew (i.e. he can be passionate at times, and before shouting at Spencer, a LOAD of shit had hit the fan), I felt it was *perfect*. In fact, that whole last act or two with Young just felt like he was spiraling out of control into rage territory. Fascinating.
I also loved the little things, i.e. Rush and his repaired glasses (which we last saw in the first 5 minutes of the pilot! Wow!); Franklin and his grudge about being shot; Wray and her painting being the trigger for her breakdown (I honestly said “Woah!” when I realized what role her sketching in the teaser plays); Chloe and her Yoga (and then later with Eli – oh Eli, always trying to get close to the pretty lady, but never quite getting the courage to say anything – I’ve been there, brother!); Volker and his good natured descent into madness; Eli and his “I’ve sprang a thing”; Park and her…reading (;)) – honestly, this last one hit me by surprise, and I gotta say…that’s pretty hot. Heh.
By the way, that “latent memory” thing with the stones definitely surprised me, and I think it opens up a wide array of possibilities in terms of future episodes.
I think it might be cool to have Telford go insane eventually because his memories start to get mixed up with the latent memories of all those people he possessed as he obsessively tried to get onto Destiny over and over again. IMHO, it’s a pretty terrifying concept, unable to be sure which memories are yours, and which aren’t.
Oh, and I should mention the Chloe scenes where she talked about Scott. I think this was a great episode for that relationship; it finally gave us solid indication for why she’s that close to him. It’s fairly simple, as you’ve indicated in the past, Joe: she wishes for a real human connection, and Scott was there for her at the right time.
And how can I forget that song! Such an upbeat song for such a dire situation. It was surreal, and made it feel like those situations where you go “ok, this really sucks…so I’m just gonna start laughing about it because…why the fuck not?” You know what I mean? In fact, I relate this to how Volker acted in his psych evaluation; he laughs as he says “I don’t think I can take much more of this” or something. It’s not stereotypically mopey stuff, and I liked that a lot.
One of my favorite aspect of the episode is the Wray/Sharon relationship. My GAWD, they are so adorable! 😀 Those actresses were incredible together; I felt they had great chemistry. For instance, in the short scene about the ugly chair, all they did was hmmm and smile and it was clear that Wray wasn’t accepting any excuse from Sharon about why that chair is still in the general area of the living room. So much meaning in so little action – it definitely felt like they’ve been together for 12 years. Also loved the short clips of them gossiping and cooking. SO ADORABLE.
The Scott story was slightly less impactful, but it felt like it was more of a setup. Throughout the exchange, it felt like Scott was attempting to comprehend the developments, but not quite getting it. It felt like he was blindside by it, to be honest. I would be too. However, by the end, I think he’s gotten it. I found the scenes of Scott sitting in the shuttle and just thinking to be very powerful, and it was a clear indication to me that a metamorphosis may be coming for the young Lieutenant.
As I mentioned earlier, those last few acts were great! I loved the twists and turns that kept coming; Young goes up to Telford to punch his lights out and BAM, the stones get disconnected. Rush tells them all of an Icarus-like planet then BAM, “Rush lied!” Loved those.
It’s 2:51am and I gotta go to bed. There are so many things left unsaid (hey, that rhymes!). Loved the references to SG1; loved TJ’s composure as she did the evaluations; LOOOOOOVED the Telford punch-out (kinda felt sorry for him for a bit there though; it’s tough to get angry at a guy lying on the ground with his face bloodied-up); loved every scene Robert Carlyle was in, as usual; loved Greer’s evaluation (that guy can deliver a line like nobody’s business!).
Frankly, I just think this was a great episode that started tying all those plot threads from the first 7 episodes together, slowly but surely, and setting up the rest of the season. I can’t wait to see where this goes!
Oh hey, I just found out that Carl Binder actually notices my comments! That’s sooooooo cool! Hey Carl! Loved your work on the episode! 😀
Really didn’t like Life… Sorry. Has any of the feedback from fans and other reviews been taken into account while you’ve been spinning season 2?
Ah j’ai l’ai enfin regardé!
Episode trés intéressant, ont en apprend plus sur les personnages et leurs passés.
Mais ce que j’ai aimé le plus c’est la musique du début et de fin ainsi que les scénes qui vont avec.
petit point négatif…il y’a encore eu du vomi -_-‘!
Donc j’ai une question!
Quel est le titre de la musique du début et de fin de l’épisode “Life”?
Bisou=)
Life was great. The song was great. The way that the episode ended the way it began, very good. Rush’s lie, very good (picked it right away, but I don’t think it was ever meant to be a mystery). Seeing Telford finally get his ass kicked. The Camile/Sharon relationship made sense. The Matt/Mini-Matt thing was a big shock and he reacted as I would expect. The revelation that Dr. Park’s coping mechanism is to sleep with anything with a pulse was amusing.
And Spencer? What’s with Spencer?
He’s either going to be the first person to take a gun to his own head, or someone else’s, or sit in the chair. My guess is he has AIDS/HIV and those pills were boosting his immune system, so once they’re gone (and they are gone), he’s going to just get worse. I’m probably completely off, but it would explain his higher-than-usual need to get off the ship and why he’s so angry with everyone.
Anyway, it was great fun. Really wish we didn’t have such a huge break between the next one and the back half of the season. That station that’s scared of vowels has a funny way of keeping people interested in their new series, that’s for sure…
Well, back to the stones this week. I think I remember when SGU was in development that much was made of the fact that this group of folks would be well and truly cut off from Earth. Yet, they aren’t thanks to the magical stones. Not only aren’t they cut off but they have conjugal visits thanks to the generosity of people on Earth who evidently don’t mind letting their body’s be used for physical intimacy even though, evidently, they have no idea what physical intimacy is being foisted off on their poor, unsuspecting bodies. I can imagine when the rightful owner of the body returns he or she might wonder, “Now, why does that part of my body hurt?” Or worse.
On the other side of the coin are the earthbound partners, who after a few minutes of being briefed (always in front of their homes for some reason), readily accept the idea that this strange person is truly their missing love. In the case of Wray, what convinced her partner were a few whispered words of Chinese about an ugly chair. Voila!! This stranger indeed must be her life partner. Then ensues hugging, kissing, bedding, cuddling, and lecturing about being strong. I wonder, would Wray’s partner have been so accepting if Wray had shown up in the body of an old woman or an ugly woman, or a man? Would Young’s wife have accepted him in the body of a an old man, an ugly man, or a woman?
In my opinion, the stones don’t work logically or ethically and and the stories you tell with them are cringeworthy. Please find an airlock and blast them into space so that the “crew” of the Destiny can be well and truly cut off from Earth and get on with their lives.
hello Joe Life is good, will there be alien races in first season?
Music = The Worst Day Since Yesterday by Flogging Molly?
Another Great ep. Make my bad day not seem so bad after all. ; ) Love the music. It just fits so perfectly.
The Young/Telford confrontation was priceless.
Makes me sad to think the mid season break is almost here. Any idea when SGU will be back for the second half in 2010?
Me revoila!! OUblier ma question sur la musique car je l’ai trouvé tout de seul 🙂
J’ai une autre question que moi et beaucoup de personnes se posont:
Il y’aura un générique dans cette saison de sgu?
ça me manque un peu le générique, quand on présenté les acteurs avec une musique entrainente, c’est un peu l’hymne de la serie mais pour sgu, il n y’en à pas.
No spoilers here 🙂 Actually was able to sit through this episode (although I’m still finding it slow, maybe because I’m used to SG1 and SGA?) and didn’t hate it. Almost didn’t watch, but hell, it’s Stargate. Liked the ending 🙂
I loved Life! (not to be confused with “I love life” because I do, present tense)
So much to process… needs a second viewing stat!
Browsing the book covers, I keep finding new covers on “my” old books. Interesting. I’m partial to Jeff Jones, who did a series of covers for Fritz Leiber’s Fafhd and Gray Mouser books (Ace, early 70s). As a teenage girl, I wanted to be Gray Mouser; I even got mom to sew a gray cape for me. She thought it was because I liked Tolkien (I did, obsessively), but no, I wanted to be a clever thief who drank lavender wine and cheated Death.
Leave it to Carl to write a densely packed, character driven episode that blows everything out of the water that we have seen so far. I’m just stunned. Never have 43 minutes felt so long – in a good way, of course.
Outstanding performances by many regulars as well as guest actors and I sure can see why you have been praising Ming-Na several times on the blog.
JOE! man! awesome ep!
SGU has now arrived! 😀
Give Carl a big high five for that one.
-> hates that it’s going to be a while after next week before more SGU
People have been talking about the mid-season hiatus… I thought this was standard?? All the shows I remember watching had this break (okay okay, I watched a lot of Star Trek) – of course, I’m only 27… so maybe I’m remember wrong? How did it used to be??
Joe – it shows my other comment still awaiting moderation. Glitch or just in the queue still?
Spoilers!
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Life was confusing for me. I had little to no problems understanding Time but Life… I just didn’t see through the characters the way “I’m used to”.
Additionally, I’m not even sure, if Young actually punched Telford or if it was his dream o.O”
Not really points not to like the episode but it bothers me… I like to at least pretend I understand what’s going on.
I felt sorry for TJ, she has to ask everyone how they are dealing with the situation and nobody seems to care about how she deals … and then she’s left alone by Young in the already deserted room… (if I had to choose a ship it most probably would be TJ/Young 😉 )
I even liked her more than Rush in this episode, I was okay with his fake-planet, it was already clear that he’s manipulative and selfish but he disappointed me with the chair.
I don’t like him as a coward.
Well, I can generally understand people not wanting to throw their lives away and certainly people aren’t lining up to volunteer for such things.
But he was talking all the time about how important the chair was, the information needed etc. and I would have expected him to use it. He would gain an immense knowledge of the ancients by using it, knowledge about Destiny and perhaps even about ascension.
To the image of Rush that I got so far using the chair would have fitted perfectly in the line with “for the greater good” or “The end justifies the means.”.
So I’m really disappointed that he seems to make exceptions when it comes to himself even though I knew he had no problems with lies and I was even aware of his selfishness. But I thought this selfishness had “scientific background”, it was not really for himself, but to gain greater knowledge or the “greater good” or to help the woman in the picture.
I didn’t imagine him as a misunderstood hero but I didn’t expect this hypocrisy from him.
So this episode destroyed my “Rush isn’t nice but he’s got the majority’s well-being at heart”-illusion, instead it’s now more like “it’s okay if everybody else suffers/dies as long as I don’t”.
Still, this doesn’t really fit to previous episodes from my point of view. The way he exhausted himself to understand the ship etc.. I didn’t think he cared that much about his own health etc., so I’m really confused now.
I would really like if you could shed some light on Rush (without being spoilery): do you see him as a coward?
Switching to Shaw seems like a really good idea – but don’t expect miracles from them. I don’t know anything about Canadian telecommunication companies but I don’t think they are much different from the companies I had to deal with. They are ALL evil.
At first (if you’re the typical 0815-customer, no problems with your lines/cables or the area you’re living in or whatever else they might get problems with) everything seems fine, they even stick to appointments (roughly, at least) and as long as you don’t want to change anything and nothing ever stops working things can be fine till the end of days (the only interaction you have is limited to bills and paying for them).
But you’re in for trouble the moment even a minimal problem arises…
I’ve never managed to be the 0815-customer and getting online access took me nearly HALF A YEAR when I moved here -.-”
I talked with various telecommunication companies – there were problems with the lines in the house (they were fine but somehow “too modern” for the normal highspeed, one company advised me to come back in 2012 and it was 06 back then) and when the first company said “sorry, we can’t because of the lines in your house” I mentioned that problem at the beginning when talking to a new company and it was always the same “Sure, we can do that, no problem. You’ll be online in no time.” Weeks to pass. “Ah, sorry, we just figured out, there’s a problem with the lines in your house.” …
Finally, I managed to find one company able to get me highspeed internet access (it took several talks to the company and the house’s owner).
It’s not that much highspeed, but there’s a flatrate and it’s affordable for me… still, sometimes it just doesn’t work for hours to days or it’s extremely slow but sadly, I can’t switch… so, I’ll just deal with it untill I’ll move out in about a year…
I hope Bubba’s leg is fine and as far as I recall, you didn’t mention your mum again – I hope that means she’s fine?
(and sorry for typos, I found quite a lot reading it again – really stupid ones – and I’m not sure I did get them all)
Missed it, sorry, will have to check VCR. Once a month, we host a friend who drives in on Fri. night for military reserve duty.
LOVED the ep. Bit disappointed it still seems easier for writers to make a lesbian couple than a male gay one, but very glad to see it recognized on my favourite franchise!
I heard a rumor that the design was clearly Ancient.
Saying a prayer for flooding victims in England’s Lake Country.
Is it me or all the people who is posting here (except me ofcourse) are dumbed down. Anyone with sane mind would like this SGU show. I know people say if you do not like it , go away and stop being negative.
Unless brad wright and mallozi intend on creating bad show , i do not thing they have the intention to do bad show. They just wanted to write like ron moore did battlestar galactica.
Ron moore was very good until Five cylons exposed. After that he do not know what to do. he was running like headless chicken to find a ending for BSG and messed it up completely. So ron moore is good until last 12 episode. May be bring ron moore to write SGU.
I think it is combination of acting and writing make SGU real bad. It will never improve as long as same actors in it.
I think writers run out ideas with respect to scifi. So basically this is their ‘relax’ mode story line where they can make up ton money for the drama garbage. easy money.
SGU bring BSG writers was bad idea unless they whole idea is writing bsg drama in stargate. we all know now it is a big failure.
syfy lack good scifi series, i have to stay with V and fringe as of now.
Hope syfy cancel this show , i can see robert carlyle wants out.
Just wanted to add a congratulations to the staff and cast of SGU for “Life” … a wonderful character episode.
Although I really don’t get the hate-on a lot of people seem to have for character-based episodes (to a point I get if they don’t like a particular set of characters, but really … sheesh).
And to the above poster who commented that sci-fi is fantasy … sci-fi isn’t fantasy. It’s science and fiction. Fictional science, science and fiction … melded, mixed, shaken, stirred, baked. Can it have fantastical elements? Sure! But it’s not fantasy. I don’t mean to sound elitist at all, but I really wish more people had an open mind about things … which is really odd saying that about a group of people who say they like sci-fi …
Life was character-issue overload for me. Then again, I AM heartless.
When I heard “rowboat”, I perked up. Was it a clue as to how they could use the shuttle? Nope. A charcoal sketch. See what I mean? Heartless.
What episode has the next explosion?
When will we see what that leech shuttle at the end of Air was up to?
Mr. Mallozzi: Saw ‘Life’ last night. Was very impressed. Excellent storytelling, good character development, intriguing drama, and while specific science-fictional developments were lacking the foundation was set for future events in that direction. Quite nice.
Perhaps not most importantly, but most satisfyingly, Chloe finally got to do something other than be weak. Still waiting for her to have a moment of awesome, but she’s quite palatable in this episode. Looking forward to further developments in her character.
Hi Joe — Hope your internet troubles are cleared up.
Observations about “Earth”:
The “Worst Day Since Yesterday” song — very cool.
Loved Young decking Telford, and being sneaky about it by telling them he was someone else (Volker, wasn’t it?).
Park’s coping mechanism — funny and sad. What are they going to run out of first, bullets or condoms?
Eli’s “Dogs and Cats living together” comment — nice Ghostbuster’s reference.
Rush’s continuing manipulative behavior is fascinating to watch. He is like House in that he gets away with his bad behavior because of his brillance. It’s also interesting to watch his “mentoring” of Eli, since Eli has the same inate intellingence but is lacking in the Machiavellian deviousness that makes Rush such an intriguing character.
It seemed like a stretch (no pun intended) that they would have all that exercise clothing, especially the running shoes.
I CAN’T STAND the use of the stones for people to go home for conjugal visits. The thought of someone using another person’s body for sex is abhorrent to me and I just can’t get past it. How could anyone EVER allow their body to be used that way? Aside from the ethical and moral dilemma, think of the health risks to the body swappers and their partners. It also doesn’t make sense that the “stateside” person in the relationship would accept it either.
I discovered that SGU is available through Charter On Demand, funnily enough, under the “Cutting Edge” Category 🙂 When I was rewatching “Water” I noticed that they left out about 10 minutes early in the episode. It wouldn’t have made much sense if I hadn’t already seen it.
2/10
Next week on Stargate Melrose Space (SMS!): After having visited Tatooine , Hoth and Dagobah the crew finally get to Coruscant – and Eli and Chloe realize they are really brother and sister.
Ohh. Sounds exciting.
Tbh, I was really worried to be disappointed in “Life”. But as Rush once said – I’ve never been more pleased to be wrong in all my life.
😀
All I can say – wtg, Lisa!
@Kevin
On PC’s, there’s a possibility to manage accounts where users with administrator properties have full access to the computer to install programmes and make all sorts of adjustments to the system, where as users with only common user accounts can only use what is already installed and running, and save some data to a disk, but not install anything, nor make deep changes to the system.
Same thing with the Destiny. They need access to the “administrator” account, as it were.
@Angelus
So sorry to hear about your father. Mine has advanced prostate cancer, but after treatment is doing quite well. I’ll be praying for your family. Cancer sucks.
Actually I was quite waiting for ‘Life’ to disappoint me after all the hype around it, but it didn’t. Rather, I think it’s the best episode so far – slowly developing the several plots, exploring the characters, and some nice dynamics.
The Wray storyline was of course the biggest plus. I feared it would be the focus of the entire episode and too much ‘in your face’, but was pleasantly surprised how it was subtly handled instead. Scott’s story was quite sad but also fitting for the character, though it was quite weird how he got a letter after several years not seeing her. Young/Telford was again classic. Rush’s plan was simple yet brilliant, though I wonder if it was rather a way for him to know if Eli was on his side or not. And Spencer – I think I know who’s going to be the suicide.
Just watched “Time” and “Life” today. Two uniquely different and great episodes. I loved the ending of “Time” (completely caught me off guard). The character moments in “Life” are phenomenal. I have to say Greer is becoming one of my favorites.
And kudos for the Flogging Molly song!
“Life” was great! Really enjoyed “Time” as well! I like that they didn’t show the resolution in “Time”, and you just sort of knew that they did what Scott told them to do. Or, if you’re a lot of my friends, you didn’t know that and expected it to be addressed this week.
I’m really loving SGU. I liked SG1 and SGA, but not nearly to the level that I now look forward to Friday nights and SGU. The only thing that bugs me is that it isn’t really clear how long it’s been for the characters between episodes. How long have they now been aboard Destiny now after 9 episodes?
Hi Joe,
Well I’m having a bad day. First a basketball game that was scheduled for this evening, and me and my team were playing, was canceled due to bird flu. Now my girlfriend got drunk and I had to take her home very early (for a party, 2:00 in the morning) and she puked in my room. And as I wait, to get sleepy, I’m watching SGU Time and Life for the second time. I’m really enjoying Sgu so far so keep up the good work.
I’m just wondering are we going to meet some sentient alien beings in season 1. I mean like Asgard, Unas or Gadmeer.
Bye from Slovenia.
Your case, remember me a short history about a error in the billing data on a book club computer. At the end the poor customer paid with her life in prision. By a serial of wrong informations and misunderstandings.
I pray for you& i promise send you oranges to jail. At least until the execution.
Cheers Paul
Life was the best and worse Universe episode yet. Best in that it actually had a slightly faster pace and showed them actually searching out the ship and finding something. Worst because of all of the personal drama. I certainly understand giving background on characters for an episode or two, but a whole season?!?!
The sex is a bit over the top for a show that stemmed from a family friendly franchise. The serious character and personality flaws are just unbelievable. I could see one nut job getting by the psych reviews and vetting process, but a whole crew of people that would be booted out of the service? No way that the US Military would be that stupid and anyone selected to be involved in such a sensative “secret” would be made of better stuff than the yahoos (personality wise) that are being depicted. If the military does one thing well it is breaking people down and teaching them to work as a team.
I can understand that the stress of being “billions of light years from home on a strange ship, no comforts of home… No way to get home…” could be a problem, but not much more than 18 and 19 year old kids being put through basic training (stripped of their individuality and built up to follow orders and work as a team) with a gun slapped into their hands and being thrown into a far away jungle with people trying to kill them on an almost daily basis, friends dying around them and alien surroundings that might as well be billions of light years away.
PLEASE- lose the soap opera dynamic and get back to real Science Fiction.
Alfred
I think you are being too hard on Telus. I just saw an episode of the X-Files from 1996. The Telus technician was hard at work when he was stung by a bee. He fell and died. I think no one informed Telus, and their work order have been backing up ever since.
@Ravenfur
“Rush is reaching new levels of “why did he do that?!””
Really? He told you, and it makes perfect sense.
@dasndanger
“My husband, however, enjoyed those bits…the pervert that he is.”
So what are you saying, you prefer him to look at men and women kissing? 😉
@alex
“Anyone with sane mind would like this SGU show.”
Not if they wanted science fiction.
Firstly, I loved Life!!! Stargate hasn’t had too many characters that I really disliked (because the characters are good bad bad guys). But Telford is a great character because he’s so unlikable! The relationship between Wray and her partner is touching! I liked the turn of events with Matt. Poor guy.
When Eli said that Chloe told him that Matt was a dad, I thought, “That was kinda rude.” Then I remembered how gossipy my friends are and realized it was realistic.
Sorry — had the wrong episode name — I meant Life.
Quite enjoyed Life but was wondering where the folks found the t-shirts and shorts plus matching sneakers. Didn’t think they would have thought to toss those through the gate…
As for Telus woes, try reverse billing them for your hours wasted. I did it a couple of years ago with another provider and they actually complied by giving me a gift certificate to something else. They had offered free service, but I declined stating that their definition of “service” was different than mine.
@ Shadow Step – Actually, I’d prefer him just looking at me, while I’m kissing him…and visa versa. 😉 I did get his attention today, though…when I was fitted for a maille bra… 😈 NOT that I’m going to buy the thing, but…ya know…it’s just fun putting that image in his head for future reference. 😀
das
where the hell come from this people who liked life? its the worst thing that have ever been made, where is the sci fi fans? where are the action and adventure fans? a bet that they are so disgusted that quit sgu, and left it just for the drama loving girls, real stargate fans want to see the heroes of the sg teams kicking alien asses and firing drones from their ships! you are kicking out the old fans and bringing normal people who likes relationships! they already have their series, a lot of boring craps, and what we nerds and eternal kids have? we had atlantis, now, nothing left, just the stargate name over this disgusting drama, who do it, and like it, is a shol’va!
I just noticed the title of this entry, and riotously laughed out loud.
@HBMC
The pills Spencer was shown taking are probably psychoactive medication. Back in the day (you know the 1980’s, when Reagan was president and cute girls kissing on TV was an event) people who had to take such medications were excluded from military service. Nowadays, those people are accepted for military duty.
I miss Stargate 8-(
I so looked forward to this series. Been a fan of everything Stargate in the past.
With such a simple concept, walk through gate to other planet, explore planet, meet aliens, win, how could you screw that up? It would talk some real effort.
You guys figured out how to do it though.
You had the chance to take the franchise anywhere you wanted. You could have set the show in the past when the ancients were just learning how to build the stargates. Meeting up with the asgards for the first time. The coalition of the races.
Could have set it in the future. The planet is failing. The world is told about the stargate finally. The reaction of the people who have been kept in the dark this whole time. What to do with billions of people.
Instead we got this. General Hospital in space.
Enough with the stones! The drama about being billions of light years away from ones family isnt very dramatic when that person is spending every other episode with their family!!
Enough with the music! Its stargate not Joan of Arcadia.
If you start a story, FINISH IT! ‘O i guess they figured out how to fix the water problem and there was no reason to show how or why even though people waited a whole week to tune in and watch the crew solve one of the most difficult obstacles to their survival they’ve faced yet. Yeah I am fine with using my imagination and just picturing it in my head. No need to even mention it, lets just move on.’
So yeah If this is the direction the show is going to continue to take, good luck finishing out this season let alone getting approval for another.
Fans of SG-1 are just not going to stick around for this crap. You are going to have to rely on the Melrose place 90210 Days of our lives audience to carry this show.
Stargate the original show should sue you guys for defamation of character or destruction of their image, something. Whatever it takes to get you guys to cease and desist.
Good job guys.