Beware of SPOILERS for all episodes of Stargate Atlantis in the report below.
Now that Stargate Atlantis has come to an end (at least in the United States, where SCI FI Channel broadcast the final episode on Friday), many fans are left wondering what might have been. Had the network decided to give the show a sixth year, what stories from the Atlantis mythology might have been revisited?
Executive producer and Atlantis co-runner Joseph Mallozzi, fortunately, has given wistful fans their answer. In a post at his blog last fall, he gave a complete run-down of those episodes that were on the drawing board when the cancellation news arrived. The premiere of the final episode sheds additional light on where the show would have gone in 2009.
Here’s a sampling:
NOW WHAT? (PARTS 1 & 2) – The sixth season would have kicked off with a two-parter (as SG-1’s sixth season did), picking up “after the shocking events of our fifth season finale,” Mallozzi said — namely, the fact that the city of Atlantis now sits on Earth, off the coast of California. Instead, “the idea originally conceived for the opening two-parter will now be the basis of the first Stargate Atlantis movie, the difference being that we’ll be able to tell our story on a much bigger, visual effects-laden, character-centered canvas.”
The plan was to bring the city of Atlantis (which was originally on Earth millions of years ago) full circle for the show’s 100th episode. “It was also intended to be the launching point for a very interesting early Season Six scenario: With Atlantis back on Earth, why the hell would the I.O.A. ever let it go?” Mallozzi revealed yesterday. “And if it remained, which, by all indications seemed likely, what would become of its occupants, especially Ronon and Teyla? Also, with a permanent station in the Milky Way, wouldn‘t Atlantis, logically, cease to be a launch point for gate travel and, instead, become a research center for Ancient technology?”
This idea will instead serve as the set-up for the Atlantis movie, currently being scripted by Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.
CARL’S REPLICATOR STORY – Writer Carl Binder wasn’t done with the Replicators after this season’s “Ghost In the Machine” — not necessarily because there were big plans for that arc, but because “if there are two subjects that Carl Binder embraces more than any others, it’s ghosts and Replicators … so we simply assumed that when he returned from winter hiatus, he’d have a script for us that focused either one or the other.” Whether or not that would have seen another return for the Replicator-ized Elizabeth Weir (now played by Michelle Morgan), left floating in space with the other surviving Replicators, is not known.
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well i thought there would be a sixth season and that would be the final season. as a fan of the show i would have been fine with that. and thats why the stargate fans are having problems with. they ended it pre-maturely! and MGM needs to wake up and figure out that SCI FI is the cause of lower ratings not the show. every website ive gone to has this show as one of the top 5 shows, please explain that one!! i have to admit i didnt watch the show on SCI FI i downloaded the episodes from itunes for a fee. when you have to put wrestling on a network thats SCI FI base you know there has to be problem
ricko30 | January 11 @ 2:00 pmi agree with ricko30. :) im gonna miss the show soo much. nearly everyone in my family watch it so it was a good convo starter. now what are we gonna talk about? life? how boring! LOL. There better be a whole lot of good movies coming, with all the cast. can’t wait to see ‘em
flyboyfan23 | January 11 @ 2:12 pmHope they have more than one movie with all the cast involved. They deserve it and so do all the viewers who have supported it.
carrollwoman | January 11 @ 2:14 pmthey should have put some of the stories into season 5, instead of making half of the season about keller
lucasbuzek | January 11 @ 2:45 pmwow Yesterday, today and tomorrow sounded amazing. season 6 would have been great.
gameguy23 | January 11 @ 2:47 pmI love the sound of “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. It would’ve rocked. Actually, I think that it was originally supposed to have been made as an “SG-1″ episode during Season Ten.
GusF | January 11 @ 2:49 pmUsually when ratings go back up and rebound shows tend to be renewed. oh well.
ScoobyDoo | January 11 @ 2:50 pmIt is just so obvious the show was supposed to be renewed.
ScoobyDoo | January 11 @ 2:52 pmPersonally, with how badly written season five was I don’t know how great season six would have been. I thought the finale was bad enough but now we find out they were planning this story all along? Wormhole drive? Move the Ancient chair to Area 51, completely unprotected? A Wraith ship that is virtually impenetrable to Ancient drones and Asgard beams? Even the fact that McKay, Teyla, Ronon and Lorne went through the gate onto the Wraith ship is horrible. Why would they not have just sent a nuke through? Face it, these writer’s are all out of good ideas!
The only story out of all these proposed for “season six” would have been an Asgard storyline. Season five had five or six worthwhile episodes. Season six would not have topped that.
HotOne | January 11 @ 2:52 pmWhen the 2nd 60’s trek season was done, fans were not ignored in the end. WE got our way just as it should be, that should be relevant again today. I say it’s not too late for a 6th season! Meanwhile SGU can be fine tuned for it’s release in early 2010 and not seem such a leap of faith as it does this early, Yes it feels too early to me for SGA to end.
sizzlerjoe | January 11 @ 3:01 pmI guess I can welcome SGU, do I the fan have a choice?
sizzlerjoe | January 11 @ 3:04 pmwrestling on sci-fi is, abnormal ! I’ll bet $1000 McKay would agree !
They should of gotten one more season and go out with a bang. Finish up all the story lines introduced in Season 4 and have like an epic 2 part finale. Enemy at the Gate was a great finale, but would of rather it been a season finale.
ScoobyDoo | January 11 @ 3:04 pmI really wish we could’ve seen “Carter Roshoman” as part of Season 4 before Amanda left. I would’ve loved Carter to have her own SGA episode.
SamJackShipper93 | January 11 @ 3:11 pmThe time travel episode sounds interesting and has potential as with most of these to become movies but I am afraid that if another stargate team goes back in time and changes the timeline the universe might implode.
chestnu1 | January 11 @ 3:42 pmNot sure how I feel about a possible season 6 from these short descriptions. I do think the first 2 parter would have been interesting and we’ll likely see that in the first SGA movie.
The time travel one would have been cool. The replicator one, not so cool…on paper at least. The dark Asgards could be interesting if executed well.
I find it interesting that there was a Carter episode planned. That would have been fitting back in season 4.
QuinnMallory | January 11 @ 3:58 pmdirect to dvd/blu-ray season 6 would be nice.. i think it could generate a butt load of cash
knockdownxl | January 11 @ 5:19 pmOk, The Scifi channel in the USA my have dropped the show but there is a bright side here and profit to be made for MGM.
I say this for the rest of us who may have wanted the show to continue (SG1 aswell!), What is stopping season 6, 7 and so on – just being sold direct to DVD or some another network like Skyone in the UK.
You have a good show with a lot of world wide respect, SG-1 should have also continued onwards aswell.
SGU as much as I seem to be interested in how this might turn out, it seems to be like reinventing the wheel alittle, and is this really the right way to go?
Going the way of movies might kill off SGA, SG1 altogether.
So how about linking both shows, So we have the Stargate Universe working with both original shows together onwards onto a new show.
Rodney one week on Atlantis following some of the planned season 6 missions, and some linked to SG1 for season 11 maybe, but importantly both cast members coming together!
This would be the SGU I would want to see, following on from what has been done already so well.
x-seti | January 11 @ 5:37 pmMGM and Sci-FI don’t care about what any of us think unless we enclose a million bucks in the letter. Sometimes I wish they would have just ended it with a big boom. Then as the credits roll we here a voice from space saying, “is anyone out there, is anyone out there”. Now thats my kind of set up for a movie that would cast off useless characters and pull Atlantis back together for fresh writing. I’m just so irritated I can’t stand it. Again, we need a new network that is really devoted to good sci-fi and not just another Anaconda movie. I will be turning Sci-Fi on less and less now.
flmatthew | January 11 @ 6:01 pmman !! i hope the DVD movies are going to have the main actors in it .
craig007 | January 11 @ 6:13 pmI’m sorry but after reading this it felt like a huge slap in the face to fans who have devoted years to the Stargte franchise. The whole “What if’s?”, “Could have beens.” and what might be is just pure torutre to those fans who wanted to see this show continue on. I agree with a lot of people one more season wouldn’t have hurt SciFi channel. In fact, and this is strictly my opinion! There are only a handful of shows on this channel that make it worth watching. Sanctuary, BSG, Ghosthunters,Dr.Who and Both Stargates. With both series gone now it feels like a massive void of intelligent writing with exception to the former shows mentioned and just the pure giggle value of GH.
Mgm and SciFi should be ashamed of themselves thinking their viewers are just mindless drones with no opinions and no influence, blindly watching them with upmost loyalty. They lost my respect 6 months ago and confirmed my orginal belief by not even giving this show a proper send off or giving fans a chance to express their grattitude and well wishes as they did for SG1
As far as universe is concerned…It’s voyager wrapped in pretty Stargate wrap and loaded with the OC mentality and visual appeal from what I have been reading…I keep expecting Robert Picardo to pop up at some point here and ask..”What is the nature of the medical emergency?” My response would have to be..”I’m surrounded by morons!!”
Don’t get me wrong I am still a fan of both Atlantis and SG1 and have the upmost respect for both crews and actors. This is ONLY my opinion on the events leading up to the present. I apologize if I have offended anyone with this but also from what I have been reading. I am not the only one outraged by the injustice been done to Atlantis.
Kara Sheppard | January 11 @ 6:46 pmGuys! they are giving them a Movie, that’s a big send off.
Your disappointed about the ‘what ifs’ i’m sure the creators and writers are even more… yet they are moving on and are going to write movies!
You have to change it around and repackage it for the younger audiences as well as the old, you have to move it forward, capture more people. And from what i’ve read its going to be a more character centre show, which peeks my interest.
Finally, MGM & Sci Fi decided to make a movie, so talking about MGM making a direct to DVD season makes no sense what so ever!
canonfodder | January 11 @ 7:52 pmDeal with the fact that the shows ending… on a good note, not 2 seasons late when everyone is watching it in the hope that a good episode will pop up and make the last 2 years of crap worthwhile!
I watched the whole last season in the hope that a good episode would pop up…
Imitation Tofu | January 11 @ 8:49 pmAwww….man. Now….I really wish there was a 6th Season. That episode sounds like it would’ve been awesome. :)
So….Carl Binder likes Replicators…huh? Does that mean we might see the little buggers on the third SG-1 movie? Because….he’s writing for it. :p
Sue_Jackson | January 11 @ 9:13 pmIt upsets me to read about what if’s for a season 6; no need to rub it in our faces even more. They’re doing that enough with SGU. I am happy for a movie, but only two hrs vs a whole season doesn’t sit well. I would like the suggested idea of a straight to DVD season 6 and then a movie. I need my Atlantis & Shep. fix and a two hr. movie won’t cut it. My only hope is that SGU fails and they decide to restart Atlantis.
missingShep | January 11 @ 9:28 pmUmmm…if “Now What?” is actually the plot of the first film I’m not interested because the notion is completely ludicrous. It utterly disposes of ANY sense of reality.
The problem is not Atlantis being on Earth. The problem is the notion that there would be an IOA to decide ANYTHING. Consider it: Atlantis-storehouse of thousands of years of accumulated technology-lands in San Fran Bay.
There is NO WAY…WHATSOEVER that ANY country in possession of such a storehouse would share it, treaties be damned.
The IOA would be crying about the treaty and their authority to the wind. Only two things would happen: The President ordering the Stars and Stripes be flown from the top of the tower And a message sent to the rest of the world that essentially says, “Atlantis is in US territory, under US control and we’ll share with you what we choose to when we choose to. If you don’t like it we’ll tell you where you can gate yourselves.”
No nation would behave any differently and if you’re going to spend an hour and a half trying to show me otherwise (i.e. the IOA exerting the same authority it’s always had as though nothing whatsoever has REALLY changed) you can save it because that’s FAR less believable than wormholes and Wraith.
Prometheus59650 | January 11 @ 9:30 pm