Stargate Universe S2E20 "Gauntlet" [spoilers]

[NecronLord]

Objective Interim Spoiler Policy: All prior episodes of Stargate up to and including this one may be discussed without spoilers. Recent EU publications and upcoming episodes must be spoiler tagged and labelled. Previews (as released on TV, website, etc) are not spoilers, nor is speculation derived from them.

So folks. The show is over. Here's hoping it goes out with a bang.

[TimothyC]

Young is getting to really trust Eli.

Other than Rush thinking the math isn't going to work, I wonder why he's so set against it.

[Themightytom]

I gave that a five EXCLUSIVELY because it actually works as a series finale and they did it without knowing it would have to.


I mean... that was a total cliffhanger, that doubles as an "end point".

Sure I want to know wtf happens to the blue men, the drones, the humans descended from the alternate crew, TJ's illness, park's blindness, I mean honestly the only things I DON'T give a shit about are Matt's kid, and Chloe.

So five, just because not only did they leave the hope for resolution, but they ALSO left a backdoor to continue the series at ANY TIME. Brad Wright can get funding in ten years and tell the story of Earth finally getting an Icarus type planet up and running and finding out Destiny's crew did whatever.

[Themightytom]

In fact, if that had been a season ender and not a series ender, i'd have generously given it a two and said WTF was that.

[TimothyC]

5/5. For a cliffhanger that was a good ending, and it was nice to see a positive one, as it's easy to say that Yes, Eli did make it. Obviously that may get changed if there are any books/comicbooks that contradict that, but for now, Eli made it.

Pacing was good, characters were good, and it was nice to see Park still being able to contribute to the ship, even if it was just a single idea.

[CaptJodan]

I was expecting, especially after the warning in the previous thread, that this episode would be painful, ending in some massive cliffhanger battle. Instead, it went out with much more of a temporary resolution than I was expecting.

It's a good ending. Not as good as Epilogue, perhaps, but still vastly superior to SGA and SG-1, especially given the situation. The fans who hated the show can pretend like no one ever woke up and the ship ran out of power. Those of us who like the show can run the gauntlet (pun intended) anywhere from "everything worked out" to "the ship arrives a thousand years later, powers up, and the adventure begins again". This episode is custom made for fan fiction.

I like the comments from PREDATOR, and this episode reinforces that. This does bring Earth full circle. In addition to being the ancestors for some new humans in another galaxy, they also are storing themselves in stasis to be discovered later by some other upstart race, if nothing else.

I gave it a 5. It deserves that just by allowing the possibility of an actual END, as opposed to the "endings" we got in the other series that both implied nothing of the sort (SG-1 was, after all, called "Unending").

[AndroAsc]

End of Stargate-verse. End of Science Fiction. For all my negative reactions to SGU, I felt that they got slightly better this season. Unfortunately, we will not see it grow.

[JME2]

It worked surprisingly well as a series finale, even though it wasn't intended. The final shutdown sequence was a nice bookend to the activation in "Air".

So ends Stargate's 14-year run on TV. It's been fun.

5/5

[Mlenk]

You know, I was one of those many fans that stopped watching SGU early in the 2nd season. I wonder if it would have made a difference if myself and many others had just stuck it out. Would it have made enough of a ratings difference that SGU would have been renewed for a 3rd season? We'll never know I guess. This was a bittersweet ending to me. Like others have said, it can really go either way. Either they make it (3 years as planned or a 1000 years but they make it nonetheless) or they never wake up again. That's what makes this ending infuriating (with so many possibilities) but still good. Anyways, this, it seems is an end of an era Stargate. A premature, but worthy send off.

[Alyeska]

That was a very good ending. It solved their current problem and put them on a path of the unknown. But thats what SGU was about. TNGs All Good Things told a comprehensive story, but ended on a note of the show just continuing, just without us watching. SGU has done much the same. The episode was well constructed. It gave a sense of closure to what they had endured and left a sense of wonder about what might be. A high point to end on. A cliff hanger is acceptable when well constructed. And thats exactly what they did.

[JME2]

Also for me, Young calling Rush the Crazy Uncle is the 2nd funniest moment in SGU after the Numa Numa song in "Hope".

[Alyeska]

I like how they used the supporting cast as real characters that we also got to see a glimpse of. Brody, Volker, Park, James Reilly. We got to see who these people were and get information about them. Park wasn't seen as much early on, but we got to see more about her in the last half of this season.

SGU had potential. This season, especially the 2nd half, showed what the series could have been. It took them time to get on their feet. Sadly, they didn't have the support. SGU was not classic Stargate. SG1 was fun. SGA was a rehash of SG1, but mostly fun. SGU knew it had to be something different. For better or worse, it was what it was. One thing SGU did better than SGA or Star Trek Voyager was give a real sense of being cut off. Sure they could communicate home, but they were well and truly cut off. Frequently dealing with the circumstances surrounding that.

I did expect to see the Blue Man Group one last time. Thinking they might ask them for help to deal with the drones. The Drones have fairly powerful weapons on the fighters, but their command ships are like tissue paper. Not to surprising. They are intended for stand off combat.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Wouldn't it be funny if in a thousand years a group of crazy decendants of Novos managed to dial Destiny and found it drifting on the edge of another galaxy, just in time to revive it?

[NecronLord]

It'd be intriguing if Destiny turned out to have a simulated reality system in its stasis system like that the Lantean Warship Aurora had, that kicks in after a time. Ideally one featuring Ginn, Perry and Franklin.

Speaking of Ginn, one suggestion I've seen is that Eli had no intention of fixing the pod, but rather went to the chair and uploaded himself to be with her.

I liked the battles, especially the shuttle one, and it was pleasing to see the stargate one last time, doing the thing I really liked about season one; going to a rugged, inhospitable world in space suits.

[Adrian McNair]

So, it's come to this the very last episode of Universe and, probably, Stargate as a whole. Here are my thoughts:

- I'd like to take care of the other stuff first before I say my final piece.
- Message to Ronald D. Moore- This is how you end a series (I know it was never intended to slot into the role but it felt a hell of a lot more fulfilling in that capacity than BSG's denouement ever did).
- The creators of the drones must have been embroiled in quite the interstellar war, given how many command ships there are out there. Their builders probably went for a quantity over quality methodology, designed for mass-production and not durability. Maybe they introduced them in the twilight years of the war as a last-ditch, desperate strategy to stave off defeat.
- I expected that they'd come up with some other way to deal with the drones. I thought that perhaps Eli or Rush would have developed some sort of computer virus that would be transmitted through the subspace communication signals that the command ships use, causing them to self-destruct or become inactive. That probably would have been too contrived, though.
- Rush as the "crazy Uncle" is the exact category he slots into if you want to classify the Destiny crew as a family. It's also a hilarious line.
- I guess I don't hate Chloe anymore. Even Morrison of all people was actually helpful. His weaselly desire for self-preservation made him useful for a change.
- So Park's blindness is permanent. It's a shame but at least her mind is as sharp as ever. And she doesn't have to go through the ordeal alone.
- I'm not sure that I can find the sufficient words given the occasion but I'll take a stab at it. I've followed Stargate since the beginning (or at least since it first started airing on Australian TV). I've stuck with it through the decent, average and poor times. The conclusions of SG-1 and Atlantis left me feeling empty (and annoyed in Atlantis' case). Universe's ending left me feeling saddened but also, to a degree, satisfied. That speaks volumes to me, far more so than the most ardent purist's impassioned rant against the series.

Gauntlet was very far from being disappointingly anti-climactic like I expected it to be. Though Epilogue was excellent this was a worthy swansong in its own right. It was suspenseful as we saw the crew trying to circumvent the threat the drones posed. It was humourous in the low-key manner that Universe has excelled at. It was heartwarming without being cloyingly saccharine, thanks to Young's speech about family, the various goodbyes and Eli coming into his own. It was appropriate as the show came full circle, the lights turning off ship-wide as they had once come on in the beginning. An apt visual metaphor for the state of Stargate. Joel Goldsmith's score in that moment was wonderful. He is every bit the great composer that his late father was. Ultimately the episode came to a close on an ambiguous note. We have no idea if the Destiny expedition will even reach their destination within the optimistic timeframe. They could drift for a thousand years or more through space. All we can do is speculate about what could come next. I'd like to think that even if Eli didn't succeed in fixing the stasis pod that as an alternative he took the program for Ginn's consciousness out of quarantine and uploaded his mind into a virtual life with her. The tone at the very end was that the journey continues. Life goes on.

Universe has had a patchy history. It struggled to find its feet but like "crazy Uncle Rush" it came through in the end. I wish that more people had tuned in. I wish the purists hadn't been so dead-set against it. I wish. I can at least be thankful that it ended in a way that all shows aspire to- on a high note. I'll miss it.

Five out of five. Farewell, Stargate.

[Zac Naloen]

Nice bit of psychology from Young in order to get Eli to stay, he knew he couldn't tell him to stay. He has too much respect for him, but maybe just maybe with the right words he'd volunteer.

[dragon]

For an ending it was pretty good, granted I am a bit disappointed that not once did they mention that the earth scientists were coming the Asgard database looking for clues to help them.

Since we know they can exist in statis for a long tim, who knows maybe they wake up staring at the face of earth descendents.

[CaptJodan]

For an ending it was pretty good, granted I am a bit disappointed that not once did they mention that the earth scientists were coming the Asgard database looking for clues to help them.

I find this a strange request on several fronts. First, and perhaps most importantly, the SG writers vastly underused the Asgard core after it was brought on. They didn't refer to it throughout Atlantis to get them out of a bind. In fact, they didn't refer to it at all. They only used it once more in one SG movie, and that was to build a replicator. If they had been underusing it all this time (probably because it was a massive mistake on their part, and they knew it), why bring it in as a deux ex machina for SGU, which has had a much lower incidence of DEMs than previous Stargate incarnations?

Second, what the fuck is the Asgard core going to do to help, exactly? This is an ancient ship. If Earth wants to help, they should be combing Atlantis' database on anything related to Destiny. They may find plans on its construction, references to its technology, methods to improve the ship's systems based on what they have (Apollo 13 meets Destiny). The Asgard core has no chance of having data to help. I assume what you're looking for is some kind of hyperdrive enhancement that could help an Earth ship reach them, but I'm still not convinced that the Asgard perfected a fuel that could reach Destiny, even if they did have the speed.

Nice bit of psychology from Young in order to get Eli to stay, he knew he couldn't tell him to stay. He has too much respect for him, but maybe just maybe with the right words he'd volunteer.

I didn't get that impression myself. But, I will say that there was a nice use of psychology by Chloe on Rush to convince him to go with Eli's plan. When it doubt, threaten Rush with the destruction of his beloved ship, and suddenly he's on board. And nothing Chloe said was deceptive or wrong.

Which reminds me. Chloe is finally not the waste of flesh that she was in the beginning of the show. I think this is partly due to the fans' reaction to her, and how the writers seemed to change her for the better in response. The Blue Man Group's tinkering with her annoyed me because I was sure the writers were going to go with Chloe being useful only through her new found abilities. However, in the final 10 episodes or so, I've seen the Chloe that I've been looking for throughout the show. She's not just useful because of her new found abilities anymore, she's useful because she's finally chosen to be there to help when needed. She's in sickbay to comfort those stuck there. She helps tend the garden. She does the little odds and ends that need doing but that the big scientists and "command staff" can't or won't do. Sure, she also solves or helps to solve problems occasionally, but I think her character finally ended up not being someone who just solved math problems.

SGU's ending works because many of the character arcs that started the show did change, and some of them actually feel like they were tied up at the end.

Eli-Annoying kid eventually finally sees his potential and embraces it. Obvious.

Young-Finally takes true command. Last week's episode was the final nail in the coffin on whether or not Young had finally stepped up to the plate when he told Telford that he wasn't asking permission, he was telling them that they were going with Eli's plan. Young finally asserted himself as the man in charge, which was a long way from where we began as an inept, mopey CO.

Wray-Started out as your typical IOA bitch, but ended up being an empathetic member of the crew, often times functioning as councilor, ensuring the mental health of the crew. Her goodbye to Sharon was a particularly sad one.

Rush-As Eli notes, not much change here. Yet there was some. Despite everything, I think Rush did come to realize that he needed these people. He also was forced to realize, via Volker's comment, that they didn't need him, which seemed to sober him a bit. He came to accept that Eli had talents he didn't have, even if it was begrudging acceptance. He was always an ass, but in the context of that he still changed.

Chloe-Covered above.

Scott-Remarkably, I don't think he changed much. These last 10 episodes weren't very kind for his character's growth as a whole, I feel. This episode highlights how little he has changed, really. He still feels the same as he did with his old girlfriend, and about how she is raising his child.

Greer-Despite being perhaps the best and most interesting character on the show, I don't think Greer changed too much either. The one exception to that was his experiences with the kidney transplant. I'm not sure if any of that carried over, though, as he seemed to at least consider being one of the 8 who was left unfrozen. So he's still badass Greer.

TJ-This is a character that definitely was just starting to change, due to her illness, and sadly we won't see how that illness will affect how she goes from here on out. She's certainly one of the more tortured souls on Destiny, first losing her baby, then thinking the baby may have survived on the alien planet only to discover it was probably a Destiny hallucination, so she felt the loss of her baby again. Then she realizes she has Lou Gehrig's Disease. We see a character in the beginning that is probably one of the most focused and least "down" about their situation, and through these events, we see her morale plummet. She ends as someone who, while not pessimistic about everything, still wears the scars of what is coming for her. I would have liked to have seen where this was going to go.

That, along with the good book-end of Destiny shutting down as she started up in the beginning, helped to make this episode feel like a decent end, given the circumstances. At least some of the characters did change and most had established an equilibrium on who they were. It left the audience feeling satisfied that issues we saw in the beginning of the show were finally resolved.

[Ahriman238]

Ah, bittersweet.

I like the finales that end by implying continuing off-screen adventures. The only downside is that it opens the way for crappy sequels.

More than a week ago I chose an avatar based on my resentment of this show ending, but I'm pleased to see it go out on a high note.

You realize when they get to the next galaxy they'll be right back at square one? No power, no food beyond the cans Greer found, no water, at least they'll have C02 scrubbers. I doubt the seeds cuttings and cultures they went to so much trouble to save will survive several years without life support or human care.

Do you know, I'd nearly forgotten about Scott's brat? Kid should be ten or eleven by the time they can use the stones again.

CaptJordan: Greer has character growth, but it's small and subtle. When the series starts he's more of a stereotypical 'tough-guy' driven by his abusive past. He gradually becomes a lot more connected to the others, a lot more open and trusting. Except for when Wray is trying to thrust personal growth on him, there are limits to all things.

The surgery was likely part of it, having to trust Varro was part of it, but some of it was just being out there, alone except for these people. You think Shackleton's bunch didn't stay in touch long after they were rescued?

5/5
I'll miss this show almost much as Firefly and SG-1.

[NecronLord]

You realize when they get to the next galaxy they'll be right back at square one? No power, no food beyond the cans Greer found, no water, at least they'll have C02 scrubbers. I doubt the seeds cuttings and cultures they went to so much trouble to save will survive several years without life support or human care.

With luck, by the time three years have passed, Earth will have swallowed its pride, patched up relations and let the Langaran scientists go through McKay's numbers enough to convince them, allowing supplies to be sent from the Milky Way.

They said it'd take years - they now have years.

[Ahriman238]

With luck, by the time three years have passed, Earth will have swallowed its pride, patched up relations and let the Langaran scientists go through McKay's numbers enough to convince them, allowing supplies to be sent from the Milky Way.

Maybe. Probably the way I'll prefer to imagine it.

It was never a issue of refusing to make McKay show his work. It's more that they were in a hurry, so decided to skip a few weeks of debate and just prove it works.

Confessedly, the issue has just become a bit less time-sensitive. Unless the LA finds another planet, dials in and commandeers the Destiny while the crew are all sleeping. Then everyone is screwed.

EDIT: and who gave it a one?

[PREDATOR490]

3 On its own

5 If this remains a permanant end to SGU.

It works as a good series ender but as an actual episode it is still slow and plodding much like the rest of the series.
Taking two years (Seasons) to account for ONE year with an exceptionally low amount of anything happening except melodrama is not impressive.

Even if 0.5 is golden it dosent really justify nor change the fact the other 1.5 was really poor. With a decline following on from SG-1 > SGU.


Rush - Never liked him and wanted to see him spaced from day 1. Still want to see him spaced although I would actually like to see WHAT he actually wants from Destiny. I kept expecting a revelation where some scrap of information about Destiny revealed it would DO something specific. "Finding God" Is a woefully unacceptable answer.

Eli - Boy wonder genius, he has the intellect to outshine the entire SGC complete with their Asgard enhanced cores, Thor holograms, Atlantian cities and alien allies. Fine whatever. Was it really required to treat him like a love sick puppy around Chloe for so long or play the stupid almost got a girl HA-HA-ELI-DOSENT-GET-THE-GIRL-IDOTS card ?

Greer - Consistently decent character. My only annoyance is the slide towards becoming another Teal'c / Ronan wannabe badass. "Ha I can feel no pain, show no weakness blah blah"

Chloe - Seriously, your not dead yet. Why the hell not ?
Ok, you might be getting a BIT better with your writer gifted super-ability and slide to the backburner with vaguely useful contributions but her 'role' could easily be replaced. Does the flyboy really need a bed warmer that badly for the series to continue ?

Young - Fairly consistent character but the show tried to lump far too much on him.
Boo Hoo, I feel guilty for stranding people, boo hoo, I feel guilty for performing an assisted suicide, boo hoo I cant get any sleep, boo hoo I will valiently give speeches about sticking together and noone will listen to me.

Scott - Was this even a character ?
In theory he is meant to be a pilot / team leader but his role really sunk fast after they dropped the Chloe / Eli / Scott drama. I sense an irony in here somewhere but cant figure out what it could be.

TJ - Decent character who has played a rather consistant support role. Easily liked her but I really dont like the melodrama that was starting to build here.
Another potential 'triangle' forming to replace the Chloe / Eli / Scott thing PLUS the baby angst etc. Now throw in the super-awful disease thats gonna mess her up.

James - Heh, background character that was decently played. Despite the issue with the horrific start to the series.

Perry / Ginn - My personal favourites for simply being the most consistently useful people on-screen. Naturally they got whacked in short order which is both frustrating and a relief. They cant massively fuck them up or turn them into stupid wastes of space now.
Even if they were writting out in the most insanely stupid way possible.

"I locked them away to keep us safe" - You were only in danger if someone tried to go into a simulation that was broken to begin with. As long as people are aware that using the chair is bad then they dont need to be locked away. Oh wait, people already knew the chair was bad since everyone that sits in it basically gets messed up.

Translation: We locked them up because we only brought them back due to fan demand / need to stir the drama pot. We dont want characters that could potentially tell the crew how to operate the damn ship or logically reveal everything. Cant have that now.

Sorry, but fuck you very much.

Everyone else: Some good, some bad but on the whole utterly worthless. Cameos, LA folks that get randomly wacked and people that just appear back and forth. I cant really remember much about specific characters and the ones that come to mind are still trivial.

Drones: Boring
Blue Man Group: What were they wanting again. Ah, nevermind
Lucian Alliance / Earth War: Who knows thats happening
SGC's interested in Destiny: We want it because... we dont really know why and if we do know we arent saying.
Lucian Alliance's interest in Destiny: It could make us gods... cause we all know how the Ori, Goa'uld, Asgard and fuck knows who else make a strong case for searching for 'super beings'

Destiny itself: I was sent out by the Ancients from (Fuck Knows) to do (Fuck Knows. "Find God") while following the path laid out by Seedships which seed gates on worlds for (Fuck Knows) along a path that is heading towards (Fuck Knows) in the search of finding (Fuck Knows "God"). The Ancients abandoned me because (Fuck Knows) and I have been traveling around since then gradually falling to bits. Somehow I managed to do all this without getting destroyed, mauled or otherwise derailed until a bunch of clueless idiots found their way onboard.
Although, based on present performance it seems rather likely Destiny would have been destroyed or lost to space within months given the Blue Man group intrest, the Drones and the ship becoming unstable due to age.

Hopefully 'God' dosent need a ship or he will be in a lot of trouble picking Destiny.
Assuming 'God' isnt a malevolent entity that you DONT want to poke in the eye.

[kaeneth]

I gave it a 4 since it is the permanent end for the foreseeable future. SGU is on a bus, SGU has closure (everyone dies in stasis) if it never continues.

[Alyeska]

I just realized something. The Novus Civilization was probably wiped out. The Command Ships figured out the gates. First they figured out the gates represented a signal by the Destiny. Then they put two and two together and figured out the subspace communication signal between the gates. How else could they identify every single gate location? So they camp the gates ahead of Destiny. These ships have shown adaptability. Bet you they also camped out gates in the opposite direction. Novus civilization settled on planets with gates. Gates became a target for the drone command ships.

The sole remaining component of the Novus civilization is the colony ships still in space. They better hope they are never detected and the drone ships leave the colony they are headed to.

[JME2]

The sole remaining component of the Novus civilization is the colony ships still in space. They better hope they are never detected and the drone ships leave the colony they are headed to.

This is one factor that would need to be addressed if Season 3 had happened. Would the Drones have remained by the Stargates indefinitely or would they pursued Destiny into another galaxy?

That brings up multiple possibilities. What if there are peaceful, space-faring civilizations? Destiny has indirectly put them in harm's way. Are they going to leave them to their fate or help try to stop another Tau'ri mess?

And what if the Blue Man Group had kept up the pursuit?

So much storytelling potential that we won't get now...

On a side note, I just found out why Corporal Barnes' actress has seemed familiar for a while -- she played a Rebel Aide in SG-1's "Icon" and Lia in SGA's "Ghost in the Machine". Good old Canadian casting pool.