MovieChat Forums > Stargate Universe (2009) Discussion > Why did so many HATE HATE HATE the stone...

Why did so many HATE HATE HATE the stones?

posted 12 years ago by milamontagne
41 replies | jump to latest

First, to start this off: I never really became a big stargate fan until after everthing was said and done.

I very much enjoyed SG1 up untill the ORI story Arc (which was good, but not
as good as previous seasons. Stargate Atlantis had its momments, and the characters were the spotlight of the story which really brought it home for me.
Stargate: Universe totally blew my mind away, especially with the body-swapping
stones. Ive had it explained by a longtime fan on how it ruined the series because they could have brought in more specialized personnel.

Ok. I can accept that from a Executive producers position. Can't afford it.

I understand that it hurts the overall storyline if they actually had brought in
personnel. But in the short span of time we got to watch it, the more familiar faces could have been explained as on something extremely more important. The cold facts are: They are on what might very well turn out to be a suicide mission. Destiny was soo old and facing constant danger that it makes sense to
risk the lives of less important people. Remember that if someone died on eithor end, it was pretty much over. Heartless? Yes. Truth? Yes again. The more
skilled hands (such as Sam and Dr. McKay) had already endured soo much mental, emotional, and physical stress that it makes sense to leave them in advisory
positions (at least for the momment, the length of the momment to be determined
by how much budget the show could afford at any given season)

So thats my question here: Why the hatred of the stones? Why couldn't more people see it for what it was: An extremely unique or at least refreshing storytelling element. Yes, i know its been done before, but its one of those things that hardly sees the light of day that it pretty much well be. That said, I find such devices (tropes) hardly used in mainstream fiction and relegated to corny, dismal pieces or such formulaic plotlines that 10 seconds in i already have guessed the conclusion. Sadly, this is why it almost never comes up in anything anymore: Its seen as so cliché that writers avoid it like the plague. This is also the reason i thought so highly of the producers and writers: For daring to attempt it. If producers and writers arn't willing
(and at least supported in such an attempt) todo such things, we might as well
start watching nothing but horrible reality shows (cheap writers staying inside the safety zone)

While, yes, I am a bit biased towards such tropes, this was one of the few more mainstream attempts with it that didnt make it a one trick pony.

Sorry about the overlong rant.

[–] mihaicosmin2007 12 years ago

My problem with the stones were their over-usage in the first half of season 1. There were episodes built around the god forsaken stones that could have been wraped in 10-15 minutes.

They also used it right from episode 1. should have waited a bit.

[–] RedLightsaber 12 years ago

My problem with the stones were their over-usage in the first half of season 1. There were episodes built around the god forsaken stones that could have been wraped in 10-15 minutes.

They also used it right from episode 1. should have waited a bit.

Pretty much what was said here. The whole premise of the show was that they were cut off from Earth and had to rely on themselves to solve their problems. By relying on the stones so much, they sort of ruined that premise, imo.

It did get better by season 2 -- just like pretty much everything in the show. Unfortunately, it was already too late, as the show was already destined to be canceled by then from the viewers it had lost in season 1 due to various reasons.

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[–] m-bachand 12 years ago

Why the hate for the stones? They're cut off from home and hearth and yet, they can, at will, go back home and enjoy some good ol' homestyle lovin' and cookin'.

Completely ruined the entire premise of the show.

[–] fwbrown 11 years ago

I can agree that it interfered with the basic premise of the people being cut off from Earth. And it made little sense that they didn't use the stones more often for bringing specialists in from Earth to deal with problems.

But on the other hand, once the stones and their use had been introduced and explained so thoroughly in SG1, it would have made little sense NOT to use them in SGU. "We're going to send these people off to God knows where, with no idea if they'll ever get back, and we have these communication devices that will work no matter how far away they are. Should we let them take some stones with them? Well, DUH!"

In fact, I always thought it odd that the Atlantis expedition only took conventional weapons with them. Why didn't they have a couple of trunks full of zats also? And once they had established regular transportation to and from Earth, why didn't they send at least a couple of puddle-jumpers back to Earth? Those would have been incredibly useful on SG missions! Able to fit through a stargate, capable of flying in atmosphere, underwater or in space. equipped with weapons, an invisibility cloak and their own built-in DHDs, and able to carry a whole SG team comfortably with room to spare--why wouldn't Stargate Command have at least assigned one to SG1? And why wasn't one assigned to Icarus Base? Think how useful one of those would be for the Destiny crew! Although they might have had to cut a hole in the ship to get it out of the gate room. :-)

Þæs ofereode, ðisses swa mæg. -- Deor

[–] magnus166 11 years ago

While I understand why they may not have wanted to reuse the zats, there's no excuse for not using the wraith stunners more often. There are so many times it would have been useful to be able to knock somebody out. There were even handheld models later on and not just the huge ones.

[–] xxhelterskelterxx 11 years ago

Artistic license. They'd have wanted the show to stand on it's own as much as possible, rather than being a continuation of the other two, especially Atlantis.

[–] NorwoodWiccan 12 years ago

they write a show based on the fact that they can't talk to anyone on Earth, so they have these stones to talk to EVERYONE back home. Dumb idea.

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[–] xxhelterskelterxx 11 years ago

In one of the webisodes they pretty much confirm that the waivers they sign are essentially consent forms for things like that.

[–] GracieValenti 11 years ago

I really didn't watch much of the show but have read the opinions expressed above - that for a show that was supposed to be about the Destiny being cut off from Earth, they made it too easy to connect.

Also, I've read that quite a few people had problems because of things like having sex using other people's bodies and would that be equivalent to rape.

[–] xxhelterskelterxx 11 years ago

If that's an equivalent to rape, then a DNR request being carried out is equivalent to murder.

[–] aniar298 11 years ago

As a hard core fan of Stargate, and one being fairly (at least) well versed into the series, I watched the movie several times, the 10 series also many times, as well as SGA a decent amount of times, and I saw the movies.
When I first saw SGU, I hated it because it was absolutely nothing like the Stargate I grew up watching.
My heroes (Main characters) were not morality subjected to doing the right thing. As it stands in SGU, they (the survivors) were ordinary people who lacked the character development that my heroes had.
Needless to say I stopped watching it. Until recently I gained a new perspective of the show.

I can understand why so many people would consider the sex part to being highly offensive. Never mind what the morality is behind it, we can argue all we want about that part.
The point is that it was Colonel Young who made the choice to use the stones in this manner. The writers just simply said it happened. They merely said "they did it!".
We shouldn't be cutting points on the entire show because of what two characters did, whom the writers made up.
Because let's face it, we probably wouldn't ever consider doing it ourselves, unless we thought it was okay (which is completely debatable and besides the point here).

Now I personally have no wish to see anymore of that, and I have not seen anymore. The point is to cause drama, and seeing how everyone is reacting to it, yes I say the writers succeeded in doing that, and maybe more so than they intended.

[–] Lopsided55 11 years ago

If they'd just had a conversation about agreeing to that when they signed up to use them, I'd have been less creeped out. But everyone just thought it was fine to *beep* around while in other people's bodies?

[–] xxhelterskelterxx 11 years ago

If they'd just had a conversation about agreeing to that when they signed up to use them, I'd have been less creeped out.

They did. It's referenced casually in the series, and elaborated on somewhat in one of the webisodes.

[–] There_Is_No_Sayid 11 years ago

I think some people saw the stones as violating the basic premise of the show. The idea was that we have this rag tag group of heroes who are stuck on the other side of the universe with no way home and have to fend for themselves. But the stones pretty quickly allowed them to make contact with Earth and even see loved ones and bring other people to Destiny. This, to many, seemed to violate the basic premise.

I actually thought the stones were well done. They allowed some contact with Earth but weren't actually a way home. Not permanently at least. I think they actually highlighted the position the Destiny crew were in because they allowed people temporary visits with loved ones but always with the idea that they'd have to return.

Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything.

[–] aniar298 11 years ago

And there is nothing wrong with that whatsoever. I always saw the stones as just a means for everybody's sanity, while simultaneously making it clear that they can't stay for long because of how risky it is.

And given the chain of events, it's clear that the stones are not completely safe.
But it's in to way violating the basic premise of the show, they were introduced well before SGU, and we hardly knew anything about them at the time, of what more that they could do, or how they could be used.
To me, SGU tells us all the pros and cons that come with their usage.

[–] sita_chez 11 years ago

yeah they were introduced in Stargate and Atlantic, but they made it very clear that once someone used a stone it was locked to those two people and no one else could use it to swap, so why can they now all of a sudden?? that was my real issue with the stones, don't make a rule for their use and then change it, annoying or what. I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it.

*beep* me gently with a chainsaw" Heathers

[–] xxhelterskelterxx 11 years ago

At no point did they ever establish that a stone could only be used between two specific people.

[–] fwbrown 11 years ago

The very first time the stones were introduced in SG1 they established that they were "imprinted" by their users. Jack O'Neil and a small-town barber were linked in this way by two of the stones. The barber bought his stone at a yard sale and kept it with him most of the time, but O'Neil only handled his stone once and then it was placed in storage with a lot of other alien artifacts. Yet the stones kept them mentally connected and seeing each others' life experiences over a period of years. Of course, the stones weren't being used with a power source like in later episodes of SG1 or in SGU, so they didn't do any actual body-swapping. Maybe using them with a power source "resets" them so they lose their association with previous users. But that was never explicitly addressed in the show, so it remains a guess and a loose end.

OK, so it's not a loose end after all. I'm currently rewatching the show from the beginning for the first time since it originally aired. In episode 16 "Sabotage" from the first season an alien uses a captured communications stone to take control of Lt. James and overload one of the ship's FTL engine modules so it explodes. Col. Young says that the alien was able to switch minds with Lt. James because she didn't "wipe her imprint" from one of the stones the last time she used it to visit Earth. So removing a person's imprint is a manual process that has to be done every time the stones are used or else they remain connected to their most recent users.

Þæs ofereode, ðisses swa mæg. -- Deor

[–] Thats_A_Print 11 years ago

I love the STONES! They are a great vehicle to give us a glimpse of what life was like for all the characters lost in space as well as introduce new characters into the show. The tensions and conflict with Young and Telford is awesome and without the stones we wouldn't have any of that.

... End of line.