I think the first thing I should do is commend the Stargate team for making one of the better series finales I've ever seen. Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie really knocked this one out of the park in the writing department, and the acting was superb, mainly for David Blue in his portrayal of Eli Wallace. However everyone was at 100% for this one and considering all of this was done before the news of cancellation came through (though Mullie was half expecting it according to Mallozzi's blog) just shows how conscientious the writers and producers where in finding closure to the story, and considering the show was only in it's second season makes this ending even more pleasing than say... Lost's series finale, and they had a fair amount of time to wrap up everything, six years to be exact. The fact that SGU's writers brought as much to a close as possible with only a select few loose ends just shows how talented they are.
And this show had so little closure it practically bled plot holes... perhaps the above image is symbolic?
It saddens me to think that we will never find out what Destiny's mission would result in. That we will never know what the pattern was, whether it be a signature from the creators of the universe to the number forty two is anyone's guess. And it pains me to think that we will never see our heroes find their way home. Would TJ find a cure for her ALS? What about Dr. Park and her blindness? And then there is Eli's fate, if there's one thing that I kinda wish the show would've done is at least ensure Eli's safety. I mean I agree that him being the last person on the ship, being the window for the audience, was kinda poetic. I particularly loved how the series bookended with Destiny flying away like a reverse version of the intro, very brilliant and once again, better than the bookending theme in Lost.
Of all the ways to show that eye close, perhaps death wasn't the best one. Besides, it's physically impossible.All of these loose ends are ultimately meaningless because, considering the situation of the series, it's better than forever leaving the show on a cliffhanger like: the drones are about to kill them and all hope seems lost. So I can't complain too much. In a way this finale reminds me of The Sci-Fi Channel (not Siffy) series The Invisible Man. This show ran for 2 seasons as well, being cancelled well before it's time, but the finale wasn't one that left you pondering the fate of the hero in order to ensure you'd be back next season. Instead, Darien "The Invisible Man" Fawkes (Played by Vincent Ventresca) finds a cure for his "Quicksilver Madness" and returns to The Agency with the promise of a better working environment, and a pay raise (if you saw the show you'd know what I'm talking about, and I suggest you do. It's a good show). Again as far as series enders go, not that bad. Its the fact that these shows have the balls to make a more hopeful cliffhanger that makes me want to see what happens next. After years of watching shows that have us hanging on a low point, it's a breath of fresh air to see cliffhangers that are more like: "cliffwalkers." And if there is anything that could be learned from this supposed season finale turned series finale is that not every season finale has to end on a ridiculous cliffhanger.
So for SGU, this season finale managed to be both one of the best episodes of the show but also a good series finale and I give it 9 Chevrons out of 9 for it's powerful performances and story.
So now it's onto the status of the Stargate franchise as a whole. Where does that leave us fellow gaters? Well it leaves us with no new Stargate shows for a long time. I quote my previous entry on the potential future of Stargate: "We're up shit creek without a paddle." It's a pessimistic approach, but so far it's been my pessimism and not my optimism that has proven far more competent when it comes to predicting the future (he's always right when I play the lotto anyhow, plus he was right that perhaps SGU wouldn't make it to another season). When Brad Wright himself says he's cleaning out his desk you know it's bad. It's even worse when all we have to look forward to is the inevitable reboot of the franchise, and I know that in the state that Hollywood is in that reboot will be soon and it won't be pretty.
Let's face it, any possibility of coming back to the story of Destiny is far fetched in the eyes of Hollywood Executives. To their eyes they don't see a good story that was cut short, they see what NOT to do when they reboot the franchise. Their thinking will be: "This show didn't do so well and wasn't well received. However, there were two other shows that were well received that could be used to line our pockets with more money."
Lets face it, they won't choose Atlantis over SG-1, because SG-1 ran for far longer and is, because of it's long running, probably the show everyone is at least aware of. So the next time we see a Stargate it will be on earth and a bunch of Calvin Cline supermodels in combat fatigues will be stepping through it. And one of them will be called Jack O'Neil (with one L because the hack writer they'll have hired won't give two shits in an L and one less L means less money he has to spend printing up the 20 page script where half of the words are explosion and the other half are tits, because boobs is longer).
And if I'm wrong, it'll be a goddamn miracle.
Now some of you might be thinking: "But what you just described is basically the Star Trek reboot. And you said you liked it." And I'll admit, I really liked it. It was a good summer action movie, and if they did go the Star Trek route I'd be relatively pleased with the result. But the odds of a Star Trek level reboot are just as impossible as an honest to god SGU movie. Which brings us back to: it'll be a goddamned miracle.
My pessimistic side has yet to be wrong... I hope he's wrong... God I hope he's wrong...
To make this entry a little less glum I've added a picture of a kitten to make you smile.
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