SGU is the latest show to come out of the Stargate mythos and it looks like change is on the horizon. With the popularity of space travil/sci-fi shows on the rise (at least in terms of networks willingness to make pilots) Virtuality, Caperica, Defying Gravity the Stargate franchise being as it is (huge) should propel SGU to the top of the food chain leaving these other shows near cancellation. But what should we expect from the latest offering from the duo that brought us SG1 and Stargate Atlantis? First off, a new shooting style, in the former shows most of the shots were done in a standard manner with big clunky cameras, whereas SGU is going to be shot with handheld steady cameras, is anyone else thinking Firefly. The premise of this new series as it stands is (and there are a lot of assumptions being made here) a new expedition not unlike the Atlantis one has been launched for an off world site, know as Icarus. Since nothing like an expedition's mission name is without meaning we can assume that a Stargate team has located a facility which utilizes the power of the a sun to power some ancient device. Now assuming (you can tell I love that word) this power source is great enough to power galaxy to galaxy stargate travel (as we have seen one needs a powerful energy source to enact the eighth chevron on the stargate thereby connecting to another galaxy… a fine example of the Tao of geek). In an interview with one of the cast there is mention of a ninth chevron, possibly the key to connecting to a previously unknown network of stargates residing on ancient space ships. After something goes terribly wrong on the Icarus expedition the mission members must for some reason retreat through the stargate (presumably powered by an overloading solar powered energy source).
Theory: during a test of this nine chevron gate address the solar power source undergoes some type of overload forcing the expedition through the already active stargate onto the awaiting and mind you unexplored ancient spaceship. That is the prediction surrounding the circumstances leading up to the evacuation of the Icarus expedition, and we will have to wait until October to see if it comes true. The ancient ship that they find themselves on is falling apart and has an unknown use, it is unlike anything we have seen out of all of the ancient ships, its big and looks more like something out of the Star Trek universe than Stargate. The location of this ship is not clear to its new passengers, but they do know that they are more than one galaxy away from the Milky Way making any hope for return to Earth unlikely. The crew is a mix of military civilians and scientists, and it seems that there will be some Lost like flashbacks filling in the blanks of the main characters back stories. Lost meets BSG meets Star Trek Voyager, (shiver) lets hope the Stargate people can make better use of the Voyager premise than its original executors. As for the rest of the show it is supposed to be darker than other stargates with an anyone can go at any time sort of style not unlike the anyone can be a Cylon thing they did on BSG. If the first Stargate show was about adventure and the second one was about conservation of power (and it was about the protectionism and conservation of energy and technological power) then SGU is about survival… BSG anyone. Look, if there was ever a sci-fi show to emulate they could not have picked a better one, and if SGU can bring a darker tone to the franchise then so be it.
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