Hulu put this episode up and took it down within two or so days...Fuck you Hulu, I didn't get a chance to watch it yet!

 

The problem with Universe, IMO, is that it was too much of a half-way house.

They wanted to make a "gritty" show, but in the end it felt just as family-oriented as the others. They didn't give Stargate the "HBO treatment". Now that kind of grittiness would have been awesome.

They wanted to make it a "human drama" but the characters, relationships and plotlines were dull. If you want to have a human drama, they should have brought in writers who can actually write that sort of plot. This was a bunch of sci-fi writers trying to do drama and failing, because A) All of their drama was really simplistic and PG, B) it was still pretty sidelined. "The O.C. in space" sounds kinda lame, but it could have worked, if they had committed to it.

What they should have done:

Ended SG1 at the end of season 8, when everything was wrapped up well.

Let Atlantis run until a 7th season, wrapping things up with the Wraith.

Started a new SG1 continuation show, set in the near future on Earth, with a new team, oriented around the Ori conflict.

 

I would have fucking watched that show. Somebody would probably have had to convince me to get on board with a host of new characters, but I would have loved it so much that if it were a woman, I'd trap it in the basement and abuse it for sex.

 

Agree with everything there but the Ori.

As enemies they were really non-compelling at best. The plotholes involved (They don't attack Earth, why? They have such advanced technology, but it takes them a whole season to come to the galaxy?) in the story really made them seem cartoonish. Not to mention the supernatural bend the plot had to take was really laid on thick. I barely tolerated the concept of ascension in earlier SG1 and SGA, because it wasn't a gigantic part of the main plot (until late sg1 of course).

As to SGU: I'm really starting to hate Sy-Fy (or whatever they're called now). The show took damn near a season and a half to get good, and now it's getting better with every new episode-and they fucking canceled it.

 

It was starting to get better... until now.

Last episode was meh, this one was worse. Only scene worth watching was Dr. Dale hitting on Lisa and the consequences

The tracking was as unrealistic and silly as it could be - the creature was unrealistic; it's like the writers didn't even bother to google "hunting" or "predator animal traits" >_>

 

Meh, I let all of that slide just to see Rush manipulate people like a master.

 

I have never been more sad to know that SGU won't be continuing until after watching tonights episode. This is one of the strongest, most interesting plot developments I've seen in a long time in the stargate franchise.

Tonights episode should be its own TV show in and of itself.

 

Seriously, I can't believe they didn't give it a three season run after this.

 

Because the ratings for the first half of the season were what mattered, and the viewers didn't translate after the move in nights and the back half of the first season's slump.

But on a less logical viewpoint, fuck yeah great episode and I would've liked a season three very much given how things have been going.

EDIT: Also, for those who haven't heard, there will be no more Stargate continuation movies like they did for SG-1 years back. No SGA, SGU or even a crossover idea that was pitched.

 

Everything with this episode was win. I hate you Sy Fy for cancelling this series!

Stargate: Novus
I would totally watch that.

It could be like Caprica, but you know, good.

Also...

Old Man Brody:awesome

 

So, last episode of SGU was tonight. Not a balls-out cliffhanger, thank christ, but a solid way to end things, and we really should've gotten a season three. Dammit. ;_;

 

​

How can they cancel the series after that showing. That was an awesome episode.

Season 2 kicked ass.

Also it really brought a sense of growth for Eli's character.

Anyone else notice Volker staring across...

Hell be doing the creeper thousand yard stare for 3+ years in my mind.

 

A pity this had to end.

I disliked it quite a bit for the back half of season 1 and the first half or so of season 2, but it got rather good in the back half of s2.

 

Let's hope they change their mind - SG:U wasn't perfect, had a lot of flaws, but it had lots of potential as well. It's really a shame that this had to end now.

Though, in a way, I don't think it would have been much different with more seasons - the point of the show was the journey itself and in that regard it was petty well done, especially with the second half of the second season.

OH GOD WHY ISN'T THERE ANY MORE DECENT SCI-FI SHOWS!!1!!

 

And this show finally hit it's stride this season...

Fuck you MGM, for going broke and not financing any more SG:U. Fuck you, Siffy channel, for killing SG:U to make room for more ghost hunting shows and crap movies.

After 15 years, is this really the end of the Stargate franchise? :sadface:

 

First of all, the finale was fucking awesome and a curse upon sifi for getting rid of SG:U.


Blah, honestly after considering it, I think the writers/creators went about the whole show all wrong.

They tried to start the show with tons of characterization. Tons of internal conflict. There was very little to the show besides "he said she said" & "We need X to survive, gate down to planet Y to retrieve" in the first ten hours of the show or so.

Ten hours is a lot to ask out of anyone, much less for a genre show that is just trying to start out.

They fucked up the formula essentially. You need to carefully mix in characterization & action to create a good show, you can't just force all of it at once, otherwise you get a total bore-fest.
In the last ten episodes of season one, as well as all of season two, they starting adding external conflict to the characterization.

 

SPOILERS - for those who haven't seen the last episode.

Spoiler

If you haven’t seen the final episode of Stargate Universe yet, beware of big SPOILERS below!

​

Fans of Stargate Universe tuned in for the show’s final moments this week, and saw Eli Wallace risk — or perhaps sacrifice — his life for his friends, volunteering to stay behind and try to repair Destiny‘s last statis pod while the rest of the crew went into stasis. But the ending was originally very different.

Executive producer and “Gauntlet” co-writer Joseph Mallozzi revealed on his blog that in the story’s original pitch, the identity of the person who stayed outside of the pods came down to a coin-flip … and was to be left ambiguous at the season’s end, setting up a fascinating character study for the start of Season Three.

“The original pitch had Young and Rush as the last two men standing,” Mallozzi said. “With one, lone serviceable pod remaining, they argue, then make the decision to let fate decide. They flip a coin. Winner makes the sacrifice and stays out; loser goes into stasis. The coin flip is made and, as it descends, we FADE OUT, not knowing the results.

“One of the possibilities this particular ending set up was a Season Three opener which finds Rush, three years later, a little loopy from his time alone. As he goes through his daily maintenance of the ship’s systems, he converses with members of the crew who, it turns out, are hallucinations. Suddenly, the gate activates. A bewildered Rush hurries to the gate room in time to see Telford lead a rescue op through. Turns out, after several years, Earth finally acquired a means to dialing Destiny. Of course, the rescue turns out to be short-lived as it ends up being a hallucination as well when, in the episode’s final turn, we discover Rush in stasis (he was the one who lost the coin toss), evidently dreaming, while Young maintains the solitary existence as Destiny‘s caretaker.”

Mallozzi said that, while it was a cool idea, it suffered from a number of problems that eventually prompted the show’s producers to rule it out. In addition to the fact that the antisocial Rush would be quite happy to live by himself on the ship, it suggested a season opener that was low on action.

Making Eli the one who sacrifices himself in the end brought the fan-favorite character to a new point of maturity, bringing his journey full circle.

In the full post, Mallozzi also discusses possible solutions to the conclusion that they ended up writing and filming. Though the writers hadn’t settled on how to resolve the fate of Eli and the rest of the crew, or how much time would have passed when they woke up, they brainstormed a lot of different scenarios, including:

• Eli fixes a pod
• Eli taps some hitherto unexploited power reserve which allows him to extend life support for three years
• Eli manages to survive the three-year trip by routing sufficient power to keep life support active in the shuttle
• Eli fails to fix the pods or extend life support, so he survives by sitting in the chair and uploading his consciousness to Destiny‘s computer
• Rescue comes in the form of some outside force, such as a new portable power supply from Earth (which has figured out how to dial Destiny in the intervening three years) or an advanced military contingent of the crew’s descendants (from “Common Descent” and “Epilogue”)

Sauce here. And FULL STORY here.

 

So I ended up being busy and stopped watching SGU after episode 15, but today I finally got around to watching 16-20. A few thoughts:

• Eli is a boss
• I would love to watch a Season 3
• fuck Syfy

SGU had its ups and downs, but I think it was starting to get really good. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll see of it.

Edit: Apparently the SGU set is already being dismantled. (see Jon's "full story" link)

 

Thanks for the links, now I know that it's completely dead I can move onto the other great scifi shows that are air.....oh wait

 

List of current programming. Look at the "Genre" column and give up on life.