Final SGU – Gauntlet - (2x20) - (Discuss – Grade | SPOILERS)

[firehawk12]

Despite how everything was out of character and the whole three episode arc about the humans was rather pointless (aren't they fucked now that the automated ships know about them?), I suppose there are worse ways to end a franchise. Hopefully they'll just blow out their plans for the franchise soon and then we can all move on.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I do like the tour of the darkening ship. It really mirrors the tour in the pilot well.

My thoughts exactly. I thought that was a nice touch and whether intentional or not when they wrote it, it makes a perfect bookend to the series.

I really see no complaints about this finale. It was great. It didn't end in a big suspenseful way that's going to piss me off. Even though it left them in stasis and not home, it oddly felt like a conclusive ending to the series. They all said their goodbyes to loved ones almost as if finally letting go of Earth, even if only temporarily. We had Eli stepping up, which wasn't at all out of place after his talk with his mother. And the episode didn't end in the middle of the action. It actually started with the action, and then left the rest of the episode for the characters. The drone ships doing kamikaze runs was a nice twist.
My only small complaint is how contrived it was that they happened to be exactly one pod too short for everyone. Too much of a coincidence, especially with the repair work. But that was pretty minor compared to how good the rest was.

9/10 from me.

 

[steveman]

I was a little bummed when this episode ended before the jump in time. I was debating with my friend while watching it whether or not SGU would have the stones to throw up a "Three Years Later" type of chyron, a la BSG.

Also, before the pod complication at the end of the episode, I would've bet money that the episode ended with Park opening up her eyes shortly after exiting stasis and that, somewhat miraculously, her eyesight had improved... and the first thing she saw would be the brand new galaxy they traveled to. Could've sworn that's how the episode was going to end, bookending that beat with her and TJ at the beginning.

Anyway, I was drawn into the finale by curiousity. I watched a bit of Season One and even less of Season Two, but still kind of wanted to see how they were going to end things. It's remarkable to me that this episode was in the can after TPTB got word of the show's cancellation, because it really is a pretty effective finale.

 

[watermelony2k]

I was pleasantly surprised by this season finale, which was never meant to be a series finale. It looks like the writers did sense that the writing was on the wall, and opted to make a season finale that could both serve as a season or series finale in some sense whether it was renewed or not.

The characters came to terms with their situation, said their goodbyes, and came to terms with each other. Bittersweet episode.

BUT! This cast and crew deserve at least a wrap-up movie to deal with the ultimate fate of Destiny's mission and a successful return of the crew to Earth.

 

[FreezeC77]

Despite how everything was out of character and the whole three episode arc about the humans was rather pointless (aren't they fucked now that the automated ships know about them?), I suppose there are worse ways to end a franchise. Hopefully they'll just blow out their plans for the franchise soon and then we can all move on.

I actually wondered that too about what would happen to their descendants since the drone ships are spread throughout that galaxy and are going after any of the stargates in it. I had thought that because of the black hole the stargate on Novus stopped working, but prior to that they had used the gate to start little colonies on other worlds and that one of the worlds they presumably evacuated to in their ships was one such colony.

Wouldn't that gate have attracted the drones like the 'Pittsburgh' planet? So basically they can never use a gate in that galaxy ever again and should they happen to stumble on a solar system with habitable planets they're likely to find a drone ship that's been waiting for Destiny and get themselves blown up.

 

[dru]

Lame but considering it was 'in the can' before cancellation the final episode could've been worse. This was the only SG series I've seen. It certainly improved but they wasted far too much time on soap opera in season one.

 

[O'Dib]

Loved this. It wasn't a perilous cliff-hanger, I would've hated that. We're just left with "They keep going", which is wonderful. Had there been a season 3, I predict they would've come out of stasis to find that Eli had died. On the other hand, the ship would've done some magical healing type stuff to Park & TJ.

 

[Gatekeeper]

"Gauntlet" provided a degree of closure to the SGU series, and I enjoyed it far more than the more soap opera-type of episodes that dominated early episodes of SGU.

Well, it's time to move on ... been a pleasure, folks, and I'm sure we'll "see" each other again elsewhere on Trek BBS and other fora!

Gatekeeper

 

[watermelony2k]

It was a nice coincidence how like the Destiny crew has been put into stasis, so has the stargate franchise for the time being... Turning the lights out, indeed.

 

[watermelony2k]

Loved this. It wasn't a perilous cliff-hanger, I would've hated that. We're just left with "They keep going", which is wonderful. Had there been a season 3, I predict they would've come out of stasis to find that Eli had died. On the other hand, the ship would've done some magical healing type stuff to Park & TJ.

or Oh! What if they come out to find Eli missing, only to later find out that he used the chair to put his mind and soul into the computer mainframe?

 

[Gepard]

^That's probably what they would have done.

It was an appropriately bittersweet ending, I guess. Leaving Eli out like that feels like a loose end so it's not really satisfying as a series finale, but the music and the tour of the Destiny powering down before flying off into the sunset (as it were) felt right. It's just a shame the show didn't get this good until it was too late.

On a related note, I really want that piano track that played over the ending as a download. I don't even care about the rest of the SGU soundtrack, but I liked that one a lot.

 

[Bob Morton]

No more live-action space opera on TV.

 

[AJ86]

It broke Gateworld's record for most ever users online.

Most users ever online was 2,770, Today at 03:46 AM.

 

[Tom]

So in three years another network will bring SGU back on the air and it will match with the hybernation plot..lol

 

[bullethead]

So in three years another network will bring SGU back on the air and it will match with the hybernation plot..lol

That'll be the day.

 

[Dac]

I loved it. And i'm not afraid to admit that ending made me a tad emotional. That was a fantastic way to close the series out with a degree of resolution while keeping a thread open for continuation.

The closing shot with Eli looking out to the Universe and just smiling was brilliant. That's me. That's how I see myself and that's exactly what i'd do in his shoes. The odds are against you, the chances of surviving are slim, but at the end of it all...your across the universe. You've done something no one else has. That was a thread SGU only vaguely touched upon throughout its run, but I'm over the moon it decided to close on that. As dark as space is, it's full of wonder. And that's exactly what I want out of my Science Fiction.

As per the story, if, by some miracle we got a continuation 3 years from now, I now how the writers are gonna keep Eli alive. He's going to go into the neural interface chair and download his consciousness into the computer so he can get it on with virtual Gynn, and also so he can carry on trying to figure out how to keep everyone else alive without using vital resources like air, food and water. The neural interface chair also has some degree of cryogenics involved (thanks to scientist guy from s1 who I can't remember) so I could buy his body being preserved.

But that aside, I'm going to say again how great a finale this was. It beat the hell out of LOST for me, and I'm going to say its near enough the same level as BSG was for me.

 

[Tom]

Eli could still stone with Earth, maybe he can can get Rodney to help him figure out how to fix the last pod. He is very smart i know but he also has Earth resourses to help. Also wondering how long the shuttles life support is, could he stay in there for a week or so to extend his time?

 

[BlobVanDam]

Eli could still stone with Earth, maybe he can can get Rodney to help him figure out how to fix the last pod. He is very smart i know but he also has Earth resourses to help. Also wondering how long the shuttles life support is, could he stay in there for a week or so to extend his time?

Since they didn't go into detail about the problem with that last pod, I'm not sure what's possible, but maybe he could have done his research from the shuttle, and then only come back in when he needed to physically work on it? I'm not sure if the shuttle syphons power off of Destiny while docked to recharge though (gotta get the power from somewhere, and I don't see any sun scoops on it), so maybe he's not gaining all that much from it. And if he's really desperate, he's got a couple of hours of oxygen in the space suits too.

 

[daddymouse]

Do I have this right? Seems like I read that Comcast is going to spend $200 million more on programming than previous owner NBC Universal did. Maybe they could find a few bucks for a mini series or movie to wrap up the SGU story. Wishful thinking I know.......

 

[Captain Shaw]

Loved it, this has to be one of my favourite SG episodes ever.
And yes I got a lump in my throat at the end.
Here's to a wonderful 14 years