Stargate SG1 series finale, “Unending” Review
Obviously this review for the Stargate SG1 series finale, “Unending” is kind of late. Well, nearly a week late, actually, but nevermind that. It took me a while to get the blog back up and running, so this will just have to do. And anyways, it’s not like anyone has been clamoring for it… But where was I? Oh, right, my review of the Stargate SG1 series finale. Where to start? Here will do: The series finale ended the way the show went about business for the last 10 years: without fanfare.
That’s always been one of the things about Stargate SG1 episodes that kind of irked me. Even when the episode featured awe-inspiring space battles or something major having taken place, the ending always came so abruptly, so “one moment things are happening, and the next it’s closing credits”, that it always seem to find a way to leave me unsatisfied. I’m not saying every Stargate SG1 episode needs to have a stellar ending complete with grand codas, but come on, anyone who has watched SG1 for a while has to admit that the episodes just seems to end without any warning.
Back to “Unending”.
It ended … simply. Abruptly. And without fanfare.
That pretty much describes Stargate SG1 the show. The product of a movie spin-off, the show started life under the radar, and ended under the radar. No fanfare anywhere except from the show’s core fans, something it had somehow created in its long, 10-year run. (SG1 is the longest running syndicated sci-fi show, in case you don’t know. Beyond that, I think it’s also the longest running syndicated shows, PERIOD, but don’t hold me to that.)
I don’t think a lot of people had very high expectations for SG1 when it was first created. It sure proved them wrong. Ten years later, and minus the show’s central leading man, “Unending” closes the series out with an episode that I don’t think has very much impact on the rest of the series, or the last few seasons’ Ori storyline, although the episode did introduce the demise of the Asgard. A demise that was much too quick and impromptu, I might add. In any case, knowing that their demise as a species was coming very soon, the Asgards have imparted their entire wisdom and technology over to SG1 — just in time, too, as Ori motherships appear and attack.
Fleeing the Ori attack, SG1 finds that they cannot outrun the dogged pursuit, and after a series of events, finds themselves trapped inside a time bubble created by Sam Carter as a way to avoid their ship’s imminent destruction. The good news is that SG1 is saved; the bad news is that Sam can’t turn off the time bubble.
Days inside the time bubble turns into weeks. Weeks turn into months. Months into years.
Fifty years later…
Well, I won’t spoil the episode in case some of you haven’t seen it. There are some nice moments, but minus Richard Dean Anderson’s Jack O’Neill, the episode doesn’t quite have the impact that it should have. I suspect that had RDA came back for the series finale, the storyline with Daniel Jackson and Vala might have been intended for Jack and Carter. Of course I could be wrong, but a consummation (of sorts) of Jack and Carter’s relationship made more sense.
“Unending” does prove one thing: THIS IS WHY I LOVE SCIENCE FICTION.
Time travel stories. I just can’t get enough of them. Sure, “Unending” wasn’t REALLY a time travel story, but it was, of sorts. And as I hear, this won’t be the last time SG1 time travels, as I believe one of the two upcoming SG1 movies will also involve time travel.
Conclusion: If you’re used to SG1, you’re not surprised by how the series finale ended. This is SG1. I’m used to it.
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