Stargate SG-1 Series Finale

[Mage of Spellford]

***spoilers maybe ****




















Hi,

Just wanted to drop in and mention that the series finale for SG-1 was on last night here in Canada, on Space. It was a fairly entertaining story, however, I found it very dated.

THe concept would have made a good *typical* episode but as a finale it was very bleh. I've watched the series from the beginning and it has been an enjoyable ride with many surprises along the way, unfortunately it has become increasingly obvious that for SF series with largely static casts (think Star Trek, SG-1, X-Files) ten seasons or even nine seasons is too much. After about seven seasons (max) the well has run dry.

The writers of these long running series seem to have forgotten one of the most basic tenents of story telling, there has to be some change -- either the character's universe or the character's themselves have to evolve or else what's the point?

An entire episode (such as Unending) that is devoid of suspense or any hint that changes might be in the offing -- All the characters grow old, some die, except for Tealc, who is virtually unaffected by the passage of 50 years -- then push the reset button -- yawn indeed. Especially when the Aurai are still out there, and their leader has been ascended!


Also fifty years with the entire wealth of Asgard technology and knowledge and Carter and Daniel can't fix the shields so the ship doesn't get blown up or at least find a cure for what ails the little grey guys.

The best part of the episode was the final scene with them stepping through the gate ...

M

 

[Viking Bastard]

I, on the other hand, liked it plenty. Especially considering the circumstances. Unending - as well as the previous episode Dominion - were a last minute save. The season was supposed to end on a two-parter cliffhanger (presumably a different and expanded version of Dominion). With the news of cancellation coming so late the producers were faced with the dilemma of giving us rushed closure, while also keeping things open enough for another season on another network or (as is happening) follow-up DVD movies.

So with Domion we got (although rather open-ended) endings to the Ba'al clone and Adria storylines and with Unending they tried to give us emotional closure - basically showing us where the character arcs end in this possible future, while at the same time keeping the status quo for future installments - and tie up the Asgard/Fifth Race plots.


So, yeah, I would have liked to see the series end with a bigger bang, but as an episode I thought it was stellar.

Now, when are those DVD movies coming out?

 

[Angel Tarragon]

The best part of the episode was the final scene with them stepping through the gate ...

Great, just frakking great. They've reused the Sliders series finale concept.

 

[DM_Matt]

I, on the other hand, liked it plenty. Especially considering the circumstances. Unending - as well as the previous episode Dominion - were a last minute save. The season was supposed to end on a two-parter cliffhanger (presumably a different and expanded version of Dominion). With the news of cancellation coming so late the producers were faced with the dilemma of giving us rushed closure, while also keeping things open enough for another season on another network or (as is happening) follow-up DVD movies.

So with Domion we got (although rather open-ended) endings to the Ba'al clone and Adria storylines and with Unending they tried to give us emotional closure - basically showing us where the character arcs end in this possible future, while at the same time keeping the status quo for future installments - and tie up the Asgard/Fifth Race plots.


So, yeah, I would have liked to see the series end with a bigger bang, but as an episode I thought it was stellar.

Now, when are those DVD movies coming out?

The movies will come out starting in Fall IIRC, and will deal with finishing the Baal and Adria storylines.

The 50 years was meh, but I like that they finish the Asgard and Fifth Race storylines. Even though they totally screwed the pooch long ago in eliminating Earth's special status as the original human homeworld, humanity/earth graduating to Fifth Race status was the culmination of much of the series. It also went with the first example of an Earth ship destroying an enemy capital ship of any sort without resorting to that silly beam-nuke thing.

It was interesting to see the Asgard fully fulfill their destiny as Tolkienian Elves in Space. They did the mentor race with cool magical/technological tricks thing, had a naturally declining population, had the belief that they were the past and humans were the future, and after a dramatic event, decided that humanity was ready for their era to begin, and left voluntarily.

 

[DonTadow]

Very star trek TNG ending, it was a goodepisode, but not reading anything before hand, I couldn't tell it was the series finale. I really didnt know how this would end or how i wanted it to end. But I was hoping for some more action, a serious blow to the ori in our galaxy and a cameo by colonel Oniel and some of the other past stars.

 

[DM_Matt]

I suppose that for the rest of the franchise, they will be continuously developing bad excuses for the Asgards' gifts to not get used, so as to keep earth from becoming too powerful and too different from the real world. In fact, as I watch the Atlantis finale, as they talk about the need to develop a satellite weapon that can destroy every replicator on a planet, like the one the Asgard had made, I can't help but wonder how the writers will choose to get around it.

 

[DonTadow]

I suppose that for the rest of the franchise, they will be continuously developing bad excuses for the Asgards' gifts to not get used, so as to keep earth from becoming too powerful and too different from the real world. In fact, as I watch the Atlantis finale, as they talk about the need to develop a satellite weapon that can destroy every replicator on a planet, like the one the Asgard had made, I can't help but wonder how the writers will choose to get around it.

I'm betting that the asgard techno ship shows up to save the day.

 

[DM_Matt]

I'm betting that the asgard techno ship shows up to save the day.

Perhaps. The flaw in their current excuse is of course that it doesnt preclude the use of Asgard tech in stationary installations (earth, maybe atlantis), against anyone other than the Ori (who will probably be finished off in one of the movies anyway), and it seems like those ships could be built to switch it on in tactical combat situations where their location is obvious but they need better weapons and shields.

 

[DMH]

Did anyone else catch the Farscape joke?

Highlight:The comment of Cam going insane because he was aboard a ship too long?

 

[Hatchling Dragon]

I'd like to point out somethig that at least a few of us seem to have missed or forgotten. The SGC has the sum-total of the Asgard technology. This is not the end-all and be-all "Earth p0\/\/ns j00!" magic solution. The Asgard were quite a bit more advanced than Earth is, but they're definately not the Ancients! They've stated that they've tried studying the Ancient Database (a-la face-sucky-thing), but had only managed to understand a tiny fraction of it. I think the same would hold true, perhaps to a lesser extent, with Earth gaining the Asgard Datacore.

As to the 'saving Atlantis', they could fly there and give them the 2nd ZPM, mabye even using 'advanced Asgard sensors' to find the lost city. They've never given any hint that they'd had ZPM technology, so there's not going to be any "They fly up, beam-replicate a room full of ZPM's and Atlantis wins!" happening.

Basicaly, the eppisode looked like what it was, a slap-dash attempt at tieing off a few of the various storylines. The Earth now has some means of defending themselfs off planet, but the '50 years in a bubble' was meant to show us that just being handed a "Big Book of Knowledge" doesn't mean only having to ask the database how to do X and being handed all the answers.