Stargate Universe, which premiered Oct. 2 on Syfy channel, deviates from the established formula of the franchise. Instead of each episode containing its own adventure through a Stargate, Universe is more serialized. It has a story that continues from episode to episode, resolving minor plot points.

The series begins in the present day with a dark room, quickly filling up with people coming through a stargate from an unknown destination, many injured. The gate closes after a final person is thrown through the stargate and across the room.

Over the course of the pilot episode, it is revealed that Eli (David Blue), a 25-year-old M.I.T. dropout, has solved a complicated riddle in an online game, planted by the military. It is, in fact, the final piece of a nine-part code to open a stargate to where the Ancients intended. The Ancients, a race of aliens that created the stargates and placed them about the universe, have been gone for millennia, meaning this could be the biggest discovery in the history of mankind, above only the stargate itself. Eli is recruited by Gen. O’Neal (Richard Dean Anderson, from Stargate: SG-1 in a cameo appearance) and Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle). Eli represents viewers new to the show, who knows nothing of the secrets the military has been keeping from the public the past decade. As he learns of the stargates, so do new viewers. Dr. Rush is meant for those that have experience with the franchise, be it SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

The tale is slowly pieced together that as the stargate was opened with the final “chevron,” the alien race of the Goa’uld attacked the planet being used to power the gate. Eli, already in over his head on a planet that is not Earth, is hurried through the gate, along with Rush, a state senator and his daughter, and military and base personnel.

They find themselves on a spaceship, millions of light years from Earth, going faster than light, but with many power systems off. The new crew must deal with technology that they have never encountered, a spaceship eons old that is losing power, and still manage to get back home. By dropping out of FTL and dialing in to other stargates, the crew slowly begins to fix systems, including life support and power.

Stargate Universe is definitely different from previous shows in the series. Having watched SG-1, but finding Atlantis not to my taste, I can say that it is unlike either show, but still in the same universe (pun intended). Its storylines have so far been interesting, if not quite as action-packed as SG-1. There have been no fights with alien forces, except in the first episode. The show is also filled with more drama than SG1, with a love triangle with Eli, the senator’s daughter, Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque), and second-in-command Lt. Matt Scott (Brian J. Smith).

Fans of the old series will like the new series, which is just getting on its feet. Viewers new to the series will be sucked in by the mythology of the franchise, with its storylines of intrigue (is Rush really working in the interest of the crew?) and interpersonal relationships. It promises to be an excellent show that will evolve as the season goes on. Will the crew eventually get back to Earth?

Stargate Universe airs on Syfy every Friday at 9 p.m.

Cole Mayer can be reached at [email protected]