First Aired: May 9, 2011
Cut off from every star and every planet in their path, the crew takes a stand against the drone command ships. Meanwhile, Eli comes up with an extreme plan to escape drone space for good.
Our 13-month rewatch of all the Stargate season premieres, finales, and mid-season two-parters concludes this week! If you’re new to our ongoing Stargate Rewatch project, next week is a great time to join us as we focus each month on a single theme.
First up for February: The N.I.D.!
“Gauntlet” Facts:
- Anna Galvin returns for the show’s final episode as Mrs. Armstrong, Chloe’s mother. She appeared in four episodes of the series but this is her only appearance in Season Two. (Galvin was previously featured in guest roles as Reya Varrick on SG-1 and Vanessa Conrad on Atlantis.)
- The series ends with the entire crew — except for Eli — asleep in stasis pods while Destiny begins a 3-year trip in between galaxies. The writers had several ideas for how to rescue the crew at the start of Season Three, including rescue through the Stargate when Earth finds another way to dial Destiny — or from the advanced, space-faring race that evolved from the crew’s descendants (“Epilogue”).
- Syfy Channel cancelled the series in mid-December, several weeks after filming on Season Two had finished — which meant that the writers did not intend “Gauntlet” to be a series finale. Series co-creator Brad Wright eventually pitched an all-in-one Stargate movie that would have tied together elements and characters from SGU, Atlantis, and SG-1, to properly tie up loose threads. But MGM had just emerged from bankruptcy under new management, and passed on the pitch.
- The final sequence of the show’s final episode is a reversal of the opening moments in the series premiere: the camera pans down through the decks of Destiny as the ship powers down, and then shoots into F.T.L. — leaving viewers behind in the same blank star field where we began the adventure two years earlier.
“Gauntlet” on GateWorld:
- Episode Guide
- Episode Transcript
- Fan Reviews
- Photo Gallery
- Screencap Gallery
- Discussion Forum
- Stargate Universe Season Two Podcast
- “Gauntlet” Podcast
- Producer reveals alternate ending for SGU finale
- Interview with David Blue (2011)
- Interview with Alaina Huffman (2011)
- Interview with Brian J. Smith (2011)
- Interview with Jamil Walker Smith (2011)
SGU‘s Cancellation:
- Syfy cancels Stargate Universe after two seasons
- Six Reasons SGU Was Cancelled
- An Open Letter to Stargate Fans From Syfy
- Stargate producer responds to Syfy’s arguments for SGU cancellation
Download “Gauntlet” now from Amazon or iTunes!
Rewatch “Gauntlet” this week! Then post your comments below, or head over to the “Gauntlet” discussion forum and see what people were saying back in the day. What are your favorite moments?
Each week we’re highlighting a favorite episode from Stargate’s 17 seasons. Watch the episode with us this week and join in the fun!
I was very slow to warm to SGU, but for me, it started really improving the second season. I think the writers started to go back to what worked and realized that bleakness doesn’t go for an entire TV season the way it can go for a 90 minute art film, or BSG (which didn’t appeal to me personally.). By the time Eli was alone in the ship, I REALLY wanted to know what would happen next. It was too bad they didn’t get to tell us.
Thanks for keeping the SGC alive, Darren! I know I am a few weeks behind putting this comment out there, but… I still think that the writers had more planned for TJ’s baby. Now, before everyone gets out of shape, yes I did read what was written about it. Here is my take, though. I think an ancient, or even the obelisk race, scooped up her baby’s SOUL. There, it could grow and learn in a safe environment about “the rules” of ascended beings. My hope was that the child would have felt a need to help her mother (at… Read more »