Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Fan Letter: On Stargate Universe Space

It's fun to read a good fan letter.

We've spent a good deal of time defending Stargate Universe and the direction Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper took the third arm of their mythology.



Here's a letter from a fan to SciFiNow following the airing of the second half of Stargate Universe Season One, and I suspect Space. This Brit was none too pleased with the tinkering of his new series suspecting that Wright and Cooper were kowtowing to the negative reaction of fans out on the webisphere.

"I was a bit disappointed with the return of Stargate Universe and the reveal of its aliens. I know that it had to do it at some point, but it seems to me like the writers simply knee-jerked to the criticism of the show's pacing. I loved the slower take on the franchise, personally, and I was exhausted by the collective gunplay of SG-1 and Atlantis that it was nice to see a more subtle and nuanced exploration of the galaxy, with fascinating characters. A real shame, in my eyes." (SciFiNow #41, p.6)



The truth is Stargate Universe was mostly in the can and completed for Season One upon airing. But, like this fan, I put myself firmly in his camp with an appreciation for the nuanced approach SGU has taken over the other arms of the franchise. A little to my surprise, it has become my favorite of the three.

SciFiNow noted in its rebuttal to the letter that the series "could do with a bit of energy to it now and again." Point taken, but SGU has plenty of mysterious and fascinating energy running through its journey. No amount of gunplay is ultimately required for this writer given the level of quality established in each episode's writing. Aliens or not, the writers were handling this series' monsters aboard and within the Destiny and external to it flawlessly.

But damn these writers could not win for trying regardless of their direction.

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