Sci-fi Friday is Back!

Albeit it's a bit jumbled. So, if you're on the East Coast of the US then that means that tonight at eight was the season premier of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and then an hour later at nine was the series premier of Stargate: Universe. Two science fiction shows on the same night. So, how did you like them, did you prefer one over the other, did you watch them at all?

Personally, I found the new SW episode to be a vast improvement to how they started out season 1 -- even if they still haven't fixed the weapon animations. Cad Bane was a fantastic villain, and it's really refreshing to see the Jedi get their butts kicked around a bit, as I'm sure a lot of you would agree with me on. They really seem to have also stepped up the animation for this season, looks great. Though I am happy about them not fixing up the animation too much for that scene where they electrocute the guy to death on screen. I liked it, and I can't wait to see the continuation next Friday.

Stargate: Universe, you know I was initially pretty sceptical about this show due to the characters' ages (i.e. not old geezers), but after seeing it in action I'd have to say that it's a pretty good show. It draws maybe a little bit too much inspiration from BSG, but it's still got a noticeably Stargate feel to it. Besides, this is just the first episode, there's still plenty of time to establish the characters, even if they did kill one of them off in the second hour. (I won't tell for those who haven't seen it, but it's big.)

Though this does bring an interesting concept to the forefront. How come there haven't been any sci-fi shows about a ship during war-time? And I'm not talking about a Star Trek kind of ship either, I mean an honest to God warship fighting in a war. Like what was going on back in WWII in the Pacific, but in a sci-fi setting.

Any thoughts on this?

At 8pm last night I settled onto my couch to watch the double-premiere of the Clone Wars only to have my cable freeze up ten minutes in. Thoroughly upset, I waited until 9 (when they did the re-airing) and turned on my television again, only to find that it was still frozen. Deciding that I might as well leave it on, to my luck it returned to its normal function at almost the exact spot I had left off, so I managed to see the rest of the show.

Mishap over, I enjoyed the introduction, though it still felt as if it was lacking something. I suspect that feeling came from the fact that it is a kid's show and they can only go so far with things. At the same time, I did like the darker feel to the series this time around, even if they can't expand upon it. The fact that they dropped that Rodian like it was nothing sort of set the stage for me.

Of course, the other thing missing is the Mandos, but I know they'll come around later in the series. If you watched the little clip at the end of the premiere, in ONE FRAME you can see a Mando mid-flight (heading towards the camera) and shooting. That was the extent of the Mando footage this time around.

As for the characters, I agree that Cad Bane is pretty damn cool. From his outfit to his fighting style to his jet-boots, he kicks ass and is smart about what he's doing when dealing with Jedi. Let's just hope some of the Mandos can pull that off too (at least for a little while, since we all know they're going to get owned). Ahosoka seems to be growing up a little more, but she's still the same whiny sidekick to Whiny-kin himself, so there hasn't been that much change. At least she got zapped! Haha.

I don't watch Stargate, so I can't comment on that, but I can say that I will continue to watch the Clone Wars episodes when I can (and have my friend record them when I can't). ^_^ Overall, really looking forward to seeing the rest of this series. Kiddie show or not. ;P