Stargate Universe: A Goodbye With Thoughts on the Last Few Episodes
Mark O. Estes 12 years ago
Stargate Universe airs its final episode tonight on SyFy and I felt that it was a good time to stop and sum up the last few episodes before giving the show the goodbye that it deserves.
If you've been living under a rock since December, SyFy canceled the latest Stargate spinoff due to low ratings after it was moved from its Friday time slot to Tuesdays where ratings were not favorable. When the show returned this spring, the cable network then moved it to Monday nights where ratings fluctuated, but it was too late since the show had already been given its walking papers. In the aftermath, the entire Stargate franchise was put on an indefinite hold, snuffing out fans' hope of ever seeing their favorite characters from the Stargate franchise ever again. So tonight marks the end of not just one series, but the future of the franchise as a whole.
The last few episodes of SGU exemplified some pretty good storytelling, namely with the two-parter featuring the descendants of the alternate Destiny crew and how they settled on the planet of Novus and started a whole new civilization. Everyone knows that since the show came on, I've been wanting for Icarus Survivors to find their way back home whether it was in the middle of the series or in the last frame of the series finale. However, after viewing both "Common Descent" and "Epilogue," I would have been content on the crew settling down and forming a new civilization amongst themselves. If you take away the time travel and duplicate crew members, "Epilogue" could have served as a fitting series finale and ending for the journey of the Destiny crew. I say this because by watching the episode, I felt that the crew truly achieved the one thing they couldn't do while they were on the Destiny. They successfully coexisted and managed to find "home." I know that's sappy and all, but wouldn't you agree that "Epilogue" would have served as a better conclusion than what could possibly be a cliffhanger with tonight's episode? Anyone?
To me, "Epilogue" was the best episode of the series, but that might change in a viewing of the entire series as a whole. The final image of Camile Wray as the sole survivor of the Destiny crew was very ironic and yet it fitted for me. Watching Camile speak to the descendants of her friends and colleagues in the final moments of "Epilogue" clinched the series for me to the point that I'm scared to see how the show will actually end tonight. Again, it would have been an apposite way to close the series and, in some respects, the entire franchise with some tweaking in terms of the plot and storyline, because the crew of the Destiny had a decent ending and maybe a scene or two could have showed what happened to the Lucian Alliance attack back home. Who knows? All I do know is that I have a serious aversion to abrupt endings to certain TV shows and, again, I feel that we will be left dangling on the edge of space when the final frame of SGU airs later tonight with no one to help us up in the fall. It's a shame, but even space can't survive the harsh realities of show business.
Which brings me to the goodbye portion of this post. I remember being young when Stargate SG-1 premiered on Showtime and watching the first few episodes on TV. I wasn't an avid Stargate fan at the time and am not claiming to be one now, but that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the franchise and everything it offered while it lasted. I really dug the concept of all three shows, but I enjoyed Atlantis and SGU more, with early SG-1 thrown in for good measure. In short, it's sad to see a franchise die out so young and hope that whoever takes the reigns of Stargate in the future connect the dots back to the original three series as they take the franchise in a new direction. It will be tough not knowing what happened to General Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter, Dr. Rodney McKay, Daniel Jackson, Eli Wallace, and Dr. Nicholas Rush to name a few, but at least we got to know them, right?
The journey through space has reached its course for now, but will you be willing to jump back on board if and when the gate reopens?
It's been real, folks. Until next time!
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theanti-critic
TV, movies, and writing are my life and I will combine the trinity till the day I die. I also am a budding filmmaker as well.
The Daugherty's
We can hardly wait to see what kind of reality show they replace a really good syfy with! It was just really getting good. :(
sgu was the worst stargate ever. the end of last season and some of this season had good episodes. they should have stuck with the old formulas for producing stargate episodes. they were wrong to try this new concept. both sg-1 and Atlantis ended abruptly too. but they were good shows.
Pity that you cannot see the forest for the trees.
Just finished watching the finale. Damn the powers that be that killed this show. SGU had just matured past it's crawling stage and had begun to walk. Pity that it was never given it's chance. I loved this show. I gave it it's chances through the first season and was rewarded in the second. We will probably never know what this could have been or rather…now we know what would have happened of Babylon 5 had if it was abandoned. I'd love to say "faith manages", but I don't know. B5 occurred when fans had a say so.
I've seen episodes of SG1 over the years and aside from a few rare exceptions, that series never managed to get me hooked. It suffered from a strangely schizophrenic desire for both self-contained episodes and a deep mythological base; hearing Daniel Jackson explain that the Ancients built the Stargates every single episode got old fast, but not as fast as the Asgard (who actually interact with the plot) left unexplained for most episodes. Watching it in syndication, I could not understand why hyperadvanced aliens *alive and in person* were less interesting than dead hyperadvanced aliens. (And tbh, I'm still a bit lost on the chronology surrounding the Replicators :.) For all that, however, SG1 was still probably the second best sci-fi show of its era (second only to Star Trek) and unquestioned leagues ahead of its competitors (Andromeda, Farscape).
Atlantis had its own problems, but was at its heart a fun ride. The radical changes to the cast (hello Jewel Statie!) made chronology important, but I got as many as five or six episodes into a story arc before dropping out. Still, despite recognizing its appeal, I simply wasn't hooked.
It wasn't until SGU came out that I made time in my day for Stargate. There was a lot of hate online for the new direction, but we've already had a decade of monster of the week episodes, interspersed with many longing looks between Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping. The balance was different, but not the content. I didn't miss a single episode and am sorry to see SGU go. I hope that numbers will be good for the finale and we'll see the crew again on the other side.
I thoroughly enjoyed SG1 and SGA. A little sugary but it as "fun". I preferred SGU simply because of it's longer story arcs. The foundation took time to lay down but it was good…this was a good story. In short, it had more shades of grey that the one off and done stories of its predecessors. Hmm………….what to do now?
Not sure why the SyFy folks are so brain dead, they ruled Friday nights not so long ago, a line up that covered the entire prime time, couldn't be touched. As a couple of stated, "Who are the suits listening to? Can't be the audience, this group is all for more SGU, SG-1, SG-Atlantas, even Babylon 5." Not sure who does the ratings game but they NEVER seem to have the heart beat or pulse of the rest of the world. As to tonights ending, I didn't see an ending, they just put us all in deep sleep and as with the other SG's no real conclusion a fade to black watching the back side of a ship. Could take this a step further with other topics as I stated, Star Trak, Babylon 5 as Paul mentioned.
Suits need to wake up get their collective heads back out of the dark hole of stupid and listen to the people watching the shows. Bill I can't agree with you that this was the worst, it did have a slow grinding start, but as Paul puts it, it had finally come of it's own, just as the rest of SG series had when someone pulled their plugs as well.
Thank you, Ron! Someone gets the point, after all. Now I can say, "have Faith!"
well it started for me in 1994 with the movie, now 17 years later it ends.
i liked SGU, tho it wasnt as great as SG-1/SGA was to me personaly. SGU was enjoyable tho, and it saddens me that now that the show had finaly gotten exciting and more like a Stargate series, its been droped.
in truth i just dont know what im going to watch on tv without the excitement of wat will happen next in the Stargate Saga..
R.I.P Stargate. 1994 – 2011.
Gary470
I too have been watching since 94 . What SyFy needs to do is get rid of the wrestling . How can that fit in ?
EDNYC
I have been an avaid fan thru the goos and shaky spinoffs. I don't belive I missed an episode.
But as mentioned above the suits just go by numbers. I am sure that would the Friday scheduled not changed this series would have emerged a triumphant contender for at least another 3-5 years.
I believe change is good, but change does not have to be equivalent to discontinuation.
I truly hope the network guru's take of the blinders, grow some"Cojones" and go against the grain with taking some risk on shows like this.
dragonbayne
SGU had the most indepth character evolutions in the entire franchise, it was a true drama that left you with cliff hangers and a strong desire to want to see what happens next. It is a sad day that the franchise has been put on an indefinate hiatus. However, there are rumors circulating that the writer that created the original star gate movie that starred Kurt Russel and David Spader is seriously considering making a sequel of the 1994 film Stargate, he has stated that he will ignore everything since SG-1 since all that was a spinoff of his film and not what he had intended should he decide to make Stargate 2.
Goodbye Stargate, maybe we will see you in another 20 years after SYFY gets tired of selling out to TNA wrestling and WWE smackdown which neither has anything to do with science or science fiction to begin with. if you want to see stargate continued, vote with your wallet and boycott SYFY by canceling them from your Direct TV or cable package, maybe they will get the message to stop it with the wrestling and cooking shows and get back on task with real sci-fi.
This was the only show I looked forward too. I kept saying to myself that its not true that this isn't the end…
Yes the series started slow, but come on having the crew meet their descendants was the single most interesting thing I have ever seen on tv. Each episode kept getting better and better than the last, furthermore each episode built on the last. I loved the idea that the cast had to survive, there was no home to just go back to. I really liked Sg-1, but in that show there where less "important" characters, I liked how in sgu it seemed everyone had a role and everyone did something. Now starting to see the show have more action, I'm fine with the slow start.
Man, I hate how having a fan base of a million people is not enough to keep something on the air.
SGU was the best show on tv for me. Looked forward to it every week. To bad, not always so sure about how they get there tv ratings??? Infact just took SFY channel off my quick 9. Long time fan of all the stargate series, sad to seem the go.
The show dropped in ratings, not because the fans didnt like it or there wasnt enough viewers, but because there was internal struggle going on inside sci-fi with the creators, a power play by the people at the top. Then they moved the show from Friday night which was the doom of it since more people can watch it on friday nights than any other since its prime time and the end of the week. It might have started off slow, but that had to be because it was an all new cast and crew of characters that no one knew anything about. If they had hired Joe Flannigan as Shepherd to command the Destiny and maybe brought in Dr. Mckay the sho would have had alot more viewers because SGA had ALOT of viewers.
There were alot of factors that played into the demise of this show, new actors,internal politics at SYFY, changing he day from friday etc were the major key factors.
SGU was one of my favorite shows on tv, never misseda an episode. It built slowly to the creshendo of an ending by really letting us get to know the people we were travelling with. we cared about these people and their journey because we knew them, every character was fleshed out. I was very interested in where this series was going and am very disappointed in the short sightedness of the SYFY channel
SGU WAS just coming into it own…. it takes time for the story to develop, i for one will miss the show!!!i thought it was great
Personally I loved SGU, i would come home and rush to the TV and watch it. I found it to be quite realistic taking into accounts our knowledge of the known universe like when they refuel in the "blue hypergiant" which is the biggest star known to humans.
I must admit before the boycotting many people were complaining about SGU and even comparing it to SGA. It was suppose to be something different…something refreshing. Stargate is not dead….right now it has gone into a deep sleep and hopefully it will emerge in 10 years time. It is also possible for SGU to be renewed like many other shows before although the chance of that is unlikely since everyone has signed new deals. Till then we sleep!!
What a great show, absolutely loved it and will really miss it. I know it got big critisim from fans of the previous stargates, and i guess everyone tastes is different. But i recently acquired the old stargate franchises as i enjoyed this one so much, and i couldn't watch them(i watched for episodes). I found very cheesy, predictable and in no way did i feel at anytime moved. Where as in Universe i actually sometimes wished i could be on the destiny with them, which is what real sci-fi should be like, and for that you need real characters who you can believe in. Having said that, if you were used to the original format and enjoyed is so, it is a big change in direction so i can see why original fans might not like it. Without trying to be condescending, i think universe was far more of a thinkers si-fi and the old ones more light entertainment, so i gues its a bit of "horses for courses". I really hope that it gets picked up again some day. But they need robert carlyse as he plays a huge part in making the show what it is.
waitingtogate
I'll admit I didn't really think much of SG-U during the first season. I struggled with the lack of story lines available to a cast of 15 that existed in 4 rooms. They seemed to be pushing the idea there was no way to survive too far and having "0" control of the ship was getting really old.
On the other hand, I was getting tired of SG-1 ending episodes with conversations about checking back in with people on planets and knowing full well the story thread was never to be seen again. SG-U at least had a consistent story arc going.
I think the everything being suspended and the ship going on as usual was a very nice touch. If they had suddenly beat all the drones, found a way to Earth and kept control of the ship I would have screamed. Sam's endless ability to immediately master tech 5000 years ahead of us was getting annoying and Daniel's seeming masterly control of every language every spoken anywhere was tiring too.
All the shows had their good points but its time to let them rest.
When the logo for the Science Fiction Channel (SciFi) became SyFy I knew we were in trouble. 50 years of film in the library and we get wrestling and home shopping…
I approve of the way it ended. I was ready to be disapointed, because I'm angry it got cancelled, but they did a good job saying goodbye. That final scene brought tears to my eyes. And maybe, just maybe in three years… At the very least, Eli would download himself into the computer. I liked this series. My main complaint was that the plots were all over the place, with the writers getting themselves into corners they couldn't get out of in a believable way. But that was improving. The character development was good, the premise was great, and the show had infinite potential. Every character was real and believable, which means imperfect, conflicted, and idiosyncratic. I'm truly disapointed to see this show go.
@Jason, I agree that Rush is the Spock of the series: unmistakable and not acceptable played by any other actor. But I feel almost as strongly about Eli. Remember, the series began with Eli, and ended with him. And though he was clumsy, and immature at times, Destiny couldn't have survived without him. Seeing him in the last episode, manipulated by Rush and Young into sacrificing himself in the end was hard to watch, but it was absolutely consistent with the progression of the series. I'd love to see the series come back with Eli firmly ensconced into Destiny's computer. Eli AS the ship. Yeah. Take that you cantankerous old meat-bags. Lol, seriously though the door is open if someone wants to bring the series back. That was well done.
Mark O. Estes
You thought Dr. Rush and Col. Young manipulated Eli into sacrificing himself? I never thought about that… Wow.
great now, I know what happens in the end. can't you at least give a spoilers warning?!
I didn't say that, Bear did…
Rush knew Young couldn't allow him to be the last one awake. And Young knew that he was the only person on the crew who could at least partially reign Rush in. He couldn't leave the ship and crew at Rush's mercy. There was only one solution. Two old men at loggerheads with each other, and Eli had to take the fall. That's why I'd love to see him make the transition into full interface with the Ship. That'd be justice.
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