SG-U: 2.20 - Gauntlet

[Dr.Jackson]

Park, who was blinded while refueling in the blue super giant, has still not regained her sight while Tamara struggles with the knowledge, gleaned from the archives on Novus, that she has ALS, an incurable degenerative disease. Rush and Eli discover that drones are positioned at every star between Destiny and the edge of the galaxy. They devise a plan that enables them to defeat a Command Ship and secure supplies, but not without a fierce battle that leaves Destiny badly damaged.

Eli convinces Young that Destiny’s only option for survival is to head for the next galaxy in one continuous FTL jump that will take three years. This will require all of the ship’s remaining energy, so they must act quickly as recharging is no longer an option. Crewmembers return to Earth to say what may be their final farewells, before entering the ship’s stasis pods and the long sleep that will take them to the next galaxy. But when it turns out that some of the stasis pods are in need of repairs, a risky stop at a planet for materials may put the entire plan in jeopardy.

 

[Pjodor]

It was a good episode and a good ending for a season, too bad it was probobly the last one

 

[Dr.Jackson]

It was a good episode and a good ending for a season, too bad it was probobly the last one

Unfortunately that was not only the last episode of SGU, but of the Stargate franchise itself, at least for now.


There's not much to say about this episode, although I loved it. I think knowing it was the end of an era made it that more emotional. I have no problem in admitting that I actually cried during the last scene with Eli left alone on the darkened Destiny, knowing that he would have to die to ensure the others survived.
The music during those final minutes meant the ending was beautiful and heartbreaking. I know that a number of other people cried at the end, as I posted a little something on Tumblr which had several comments made to that effect.

Not only was Eli the character I identified with most in this series, but he seemed to symbolise the franchise in that final scene. He'd seen and done amazing things in his (short) time with the Stargate program, now he was the last one left and although he knew he was sacrificing himself, he'd accepted his fate and had no regrets.

 

[Pjodor]

Yes, it felt that way now knowing that it will not be any more SG(U), but if they would have done a season 3 I think that they would have come up with some way of saving Eli. That he manage do fix the last stacispod or something else.

 

[ctg]

I feel extreamly sad that syfy decided to shut the operation at the end of this season. The season that had proven the concept not only workable, but also highly interesting. The cast, the plot, the settings were all working in perfect unison.

So, let's hope that in three years time, we get third season or even an movie that would continue their stories. Although I just feel that at that point "Crazy Old Uncle Rush" is too old and too bitter to appear at the screen.

11+ out of 10 for this second and the last season.

I loved it.

 

[Pjodor]

Yes I think the first season was good, abit slow sometimes, but the second season just got better and better and in the end it was really good. The first season felt like it was more about the crew and getting to know them and the second season was more about the journey and the adventure.

 

[Dave]

Yes I think the first season was good, abit slow sometimes, but the second season just got better and better and in the end it was really good.

I agree with that. My only problem at all is the lack of closure.

 

[ralphkern]

It's very rare I read licenced works. I tend to find them pretty awful, but if a cannon conclusion was written I'd make an exception for SGU as I would love some closure.

 

[Moonbat]

I've watched both seasons in the last month and have just finished season 2. I thought the ending was kind of a sign that we never know what happens to destiny, they might have made it, they might not, but we haven't heard from them

I really enjoyed SGU, my most favouritest of the franchise, the most adult I felt and had decent Sci fi elements with a human touch. Such a shame they cancelled this, I could have watched many more.

 

[JagLover]

Caught up with these on Netflix and it was probably the best of the three Stargate franchises.

Just perhaps lacking a certain quality for the writing at times.

Perhaps they would have been better off not being a stargate franchise at all as it was too different to the normal stargate pattern while not being able to attract sufficient new fans.

In terms of the ending this illustrated the poor writing at times I'm afraid. Yes Eli faced certain death...if he was a complete idiot. The reason they put everyone in stasis is that they only had food for one month for the ENTIRE crew. All Eli would need to do is stay in FTL for a few weeks, recharge at another star(are you seriously trying to tell me that a drone ship would be at every one of the BILLIONS of stars in a galaxy) and they would be enough power for life support and plenty of food for him alone.

 

[Atum Hadu]

Reading some of the posts here, on IMDB, and other places, it seems a lot of people got into SGU after it was cancelled, when both seasons were available on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It was the same for me -- I didn't start watching SGU until 2012 when it was on Netflix.

It's a good show. A really, really good show, bordering on great at points. So what went wrong?

I think SyFy did an awful job marketing SGU, and honestly I think SGU was hurt by having Stargate in its name, and by being on SyFy. I mean, this is the channel that gives us Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, WWE, and an entire lineup of dumb ghost-hunting shows. How the hell are we supposed to know that suddenly they've financed and developed this awesome space opera with an exceptional cast, and it's not dripping with cheese like the rest of the channel's programming?

Likewise, the other shows in the Stargate franchise are all earnest, cheesy, family-friendly shows starring McGuyver. That's cool if you're into that, but Rush and Young were most definitely not your typical Stargate heroes, and I loved that. But again, fans had no way of knowing that because SyFy didn't market it for what it was.

The sad thing is, if the show had been available for streaming online while it was in production, the audience would have been enough to keep it afloat.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I agree on the clash. When O'Neill appeared in Universe, it jarred because his character was so at odds with the deadly serious approach SGU was taking.