Overall, I found Part 2 to be less enjoyable than Part 1.
In my comment on part 1 I stated that the show started to feel too much like a BSG clone after the sex scene. Unfortunately, that only got worse as I started watching part 2.
PART 2 IMPRESSIONS
CHARACTERS - Eli and Dr. Rush are still the most interesting characters, although their diminished role left me less interested. The other characters continued to do nothing for me in part 2, in fact, I just started to notice that they were either bland or similar to other characters. The crippled colonel who wants to get them home reminded me too much of a bad impersonation of Commander Adama with his raspy voice. The main Lieutenant started to remind me too much of Apollo (partially because of the sex scene in part 1). The medic girl, the psycho guy, and the other characters just didn't interest me. Chole actually started to get on my nerves a bit as the story progressed.
STORY AND ESTABLISHMENT - The parts where they were exploring the ship were kind of interesting. The ship seemed unique and original and I REALLY liked the shield effect with the oxygen being partially sucked into space. I thought the introduction of the floating orbs was interesting because it caught me off guard that they would be the new series MALC's. However, this is dragged down by two things. The first is the character development, which is so mild that I couldn't tell the main cast from the extras and guest stars without looking it up. The second is a ten minute attempt at an emotional scene. MAJOR SPOILER - A little over midway through, Chole's father sacrifices himself. For some reason. This elicits a lot of weeping and crying from Chloe, who attacks Dr. Rush. After this, there's more crying. And more pity party for Chloe as she laments her father. And more crying. Really it's about 5 minutes where you can run and pee. I just Fast Forwarded it until I saw Eli again, and I didn't miss a thing. The problem is that I am expected to care about a character we just met's death, and I don't. Because I just met him. And I'm supposed to care about Chloe's loss, but I don't. Because we were just introduced to her. Then to have a 5-10 minute pity scene about it was just... grueling to sit through. The end is also a little disappointing and anti-climactic as the team steps through the stargate... and cuts to black. So nothing here really interested me that much. It just seems like establishment with no real story. Even the life support thing just seems like they're establishing a problem to me.
HUMOR - Although there is some humor in Eli and his interaction with others and the environment, it's so sparse and subdued I only got a mild chuckle at most out of it at most. I felt one of the greatest strengths of both "Atlantis" and "SG-1" was the humor. With "Atlantis", even if the story was weak, the humor usually made up for it. In SG-1, O'Neill and Teal'c usually provided some comic relief, and most of the episodes felt fairly light-hearted. In its attempt to be more serious and more like BSG, I feel like "Universe" has rid itself of one of Stargate's greatest strengths, which is the light-hearted nature of the series'. Yes, we had heavy and deep moments, which I liked as long as they weren't too heavy-handed or emotionally stunted. But Stargate was always more of a fun show for me and I feel like this series, in trying too hard to be BSG, has lost its fun factor, and I'm just not as interested without it. Even without the fun factor, it wouldn't be so bad, except that the drama seems forced. Compare this to BSG's miniseries, where Rosalyn makes a very human, and gut-wrenching decision to leave ships behind to save themselves, and the drama just seems flat.
OVERALL - I liked Part 1 a little, but Part 2 did nothing for me. It didn't really stand out to me as bad, just not interesting. I gave this a rating of 5 because it just didn't do anything for me.
IMPRESSION AFTER 1 AND 2 - I wouldn't really recommend it at this point, but this is one of those series where I'd probably tune in a few more times down the road to see if it's gotten more interesting. There is potential here... but they need time to find their footing and stop leaning on BSG like a crutch.
5/10 - Not bad, not good. Just there. Ideally the series just needs time to find itself.
In my comment on part 1 I stated that the show started to feel too much like a BSG clone after the sex scene. Unfortunately, that only got worse as I started watching part 2.
PART 2 IMPRESSIONS
CHARACTERS - Eli and Dr. Rush are still the most interesting characters, although their diminished role left me less interested. The other characters continued to do nothing for me in part 2, in fact, I just started to notice that they were either bland or similar to other characters. The crippled colonel who wants to get them home reminded me too much of a bad impersonation of Commander Adama with his raspy voice. The main Lieutenant started to remind me too much of Apollo (partially because of the sex scene in part 1). The medic girl, the psycho guy, and the other characters just didn't interest me. Chole actually started to get on my nerves a bit as the story progressed.
STORY AND ESTABLISHMENT - The parts where they were exploring the ship were kind of interesting. The ship seemed unique and original and I REALLY liked the shield effect with the oxygen being partially sucked into space. I thought the introduction of the floating orbs was interesting because it caught me off guard that they would be the new series MALC's. However, this is dragged down by two things. The first is the character development, which is so mild that I couldn't tell the main cast from the extras and guest stars without looking it up. The second is a ten minute attempt at an emotional scene. MAJOR SPOILER - A little over midway through, Chole's father sacrifices himself. For some reason. This elicits a lot of weeping and crying from Chloe, who attacks Dr. Rush. After this, there's more crying. And more pity party for Chloe as she laments her father. And more crying. Really it's about 5 minutes where you can run and pee. I just Fast Forwarded it until I saw Eli again, and I didn't miss a thing. The problem is that I am expected to care about a character we just met's death, and I don't. Because I just met him. And I'm supposed to care about Chloe's loss, but I don't. Because we were just introduced to her. Then to have a 5-10 minute pity scene about it was just... grueling to sit through. The end is also a little disappointing and anti-climactic as the team steps through the stargate... and cuts to black. So nothing here really interested me that much. It just seems like establishment with no real story. Even the life support thing just seems like they're establishing a problem to me.
HUMOR - Although there is some humor in Eli and his interaction with others and the environment, it's so sparse and subdued I only got a mild chuckle at most out of it at most. I felt one of the greatest strengths of both "Atlantis" and "SG-1" was the humor. With "Atlantis", even if the story was weak, the humor usually made up for it. In SG-1, O'Neill and Teal'c usually provided some comic relief, and most of the episodes felt fairly light-hearted. In its attempt to be more serious and more like BSG, I feel like "Universe" has rid itself of one of Stargate's greatest strengths, which is the light-hearted nature of the series'. Yes, we had heavy and deep moments, which I liked as long as they weren't too heavy-handed or emotionally stunted. But Stargate was always more of a fun show for me and I feel like this series, in trying too hard to be BSG, has lost its fun factor, and I'm just not as interested without it. Even without the fun factor, it wouldn't be so bad, except that the drama seems forced. Compare this to BSG's miniseries, where Rosalyn makes a very human, and gut-wrenching decision to leave ships behind to save themselves, and the drama just seems flat.
OVERALL - I liked Part 1 a little, but Part 2 did nothing for me. It didn't really stand out to me as bad, just not interesting. I gave this a rating of 5 because it just didn't do anything for me.
IMPRESSION AFTER 1 AND 2 - I wouldn't really recommend it at this point, but this is one of those series where I'd probably tune in a few more times down the road to see if it's gotten more interesting. There is potential here... but they need time to find their footing and stop leaning on BSG like a crutch.
5/10 - Not bad, not good. Just there. Ideally the series just needs time to find itself.