If you haven’t seen the final episode of SGU yet, beware of spoilers for “Gauntlet” below!
The last episode of Stargate Universe may have left the major story arc unresolved and the crew’s fate undetermined, but it did provide some important emotional closure as fans head into the void between Stargate galaxies along with the crew of Destiny. The entire crew ended the season in stasis, ready for a 3-year journey to the next galaxy on the ship’s route — all except for Eli.
In a new interview with AOL TV’s Mike Moody, executive producer Brad Wright explained that the ending of “Gauntlet” was meant not just to set up a third season, but also to provide some degree of closure — just in case the show wasn’t renewed.
“We wanted it to be both [a season finale and a series finale],” Wright said. “I had pitched the idea of putting the crew into suspended animation — with someone having to stay behind because one pod didn’t work — because I thought it made for an interesting reset of the Earth side of things.”
Advancing the time frame three years into the future would certainly allow for some change-ups when the crew came out of stasis and revisited Earth using the communication stones, while retaining the current character dynamics on board the ship.
“A three year time cut would have been interesting,” Wright said. “The story of the person that was going to be left behind was also a great opener for Season Three.”
The crew enjoys a last meal together - finally a family.
The final scripts were being written when Season Two kicked off with “Intervention” on its new night. Wright expressed concerns about the show’s move to Tuesdays in interviews leading up to the premiere, and those October ratings proved that his worries were well-founded. SGU averaged 1.09 million viewers over the five episodes aired that month, which ended with Syfy cancelling its lead-out partner, Caprica.
“When we saw the Tuesday night ratings on Syfy we knew it might be the end,” Wright said. “By having our leads come together for one last meal before going off into the void, we got a chance to see them as a team in the way we were always working toward. And by making the person left behind Eli, it brought the series full circle. Those two elements make it feel like a finale.”
So where was Destiny going? What was the final payoff of the show’s arc? For now, Wright isn’t talking.
“I don’t want to say where we were going to go with the story,” he said. “It didn’t happen, so the show is what it is now. I think a pretty decent two seasons of television.”
To see the rest of Wright’s comments, including his plan to compress SGU‘s story into a movie that brought together SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe (a plan on which MGM passed), check out the full interview at Mike Moody’s blog.
Brad Wright looks like David Blue! LOL
Thanks for the link.
I’m thankful they did what they did with Gauntlet. I would not have been able to stand the episode had it been a cliffhanger like Incursion part 2 or Resurgence, with all the characters close to being killed and all ‘doom and gloom’. In fact I can not imagine a more perfect ending, personally. After all it had to give a relatively gratifying ending to the show, yet not actually end it. It obviously had to be left open just in case there was a season 3. At least I can look back at these 2 seasons which by themselves… Read more »
SyFy should have given a final season! One more season SyFy, that’s ALL we wanted! You could have canceled it after that and we would have been okay if you had just given us a FINAL season! It would have finished Desinty’s journey, given more proper closure to the Stargate universe (and Stargate Universe) as the franchise went on hiatus…instead you axed the show and betrayed Stargate fans.
So frustrating.
Grrr im welling up again after reading “Time to start typing something else.” kinda hit home big time that its over.. Ive been waiting for Brad to say something, probably more in hope that it’ll be reborn, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear..
Sad :(
not a series finale in any way shape or form. one movie is all we need to finish it ALL up.
What are the chances of a book(s) to finish up the story? I know I would buy in as would many other fans I would think.
Anyone know if this method has been tried with other canceled shows?
here’s hoping that if nothing else happens, the writers who are penning the novels get a crack at finishing or continuing the story.
I watched it.. I thought about not watching it but ended up doing it anyway.
Just seemed to me they put stargate in bed stasis…literally
@duncansil. Myself and a few others are working on a short story series to continue the “show”.
@ducansil with Star Trek, the books are basically continuing the series as if they never ended. Unlike books that were made during the series run, they actually can take more liberties with the characters, such as killing them off, moving them off the ship, etc.
Also, I believe that until recently the series Angel had a series of comic books to continue the story. I also believe that Firefly and Dollhouse all have comics.
Stargate Atlantis right now has a series of books set after the series, but I don’t know if those are any good.
@Browncoat1984 Yeah, Buffy/Angel and Firefly all have “canon” (call so by Joss himself) sequel comics.
Yea, that ending was rather OK, I kept expecting the episode to go to hell and end with a cliffhanger like atlantis under siege (whatever season finale that was, 1 or 2) or something :p but no… Good work.
Still want the rest of the story though :(
I would assume Stargate is not dead forever just for now. Where MGM still isn’t in a good financial situation they are probably looking to invest in big money makers (James Bond) at the moment and shelf their projects like Stargate. I would like to think if there are plans to revisit Stargate by MGM that is probably why they would not consider releasing the scripts for the Stargate movies as books. Hopefully MGM rebounds and produces one or more movies to finish off Stargate as now the last two series really just stopped rather than ended.
One of the big problems SyFy has is the 3-4 month winter break in shows like SGU. It’s difficult to hook someone on a show and then keep their interest over a break that long. I’ve never liked the long breaks and would prefer perhaps a month at most over the winter holidays. It seemed like every time SGU got going, there was either a long mid-season break, or a long end of season break. Well, I don’t have to worry about that anymore because I’m done with SyFy and their programming/format changes. It’s been a good run, but I… Read more »
the show was decent in my eyes the start was way too boring i thought it would get the axe then but then by season 2 it started kicking ass, season 3 would of been crazy, anyway its over it doesnt have the numbers to come back the actors are gone etc etc anyway i think take a few years off get some ideas together see what went wrong dont redo the same mistakes, earths ships would of advanced maybe have a rescue mission to find the destiny (never leave a man behind blahblah) but once there the ship has… Read more »
Um…I dunno if anyone has noticed this yet but I certainly hope nobody watching this episode was French and had keen eyesight. If you have the episode recorded, go to around 16 minutes in and see what Rush’s chalk scribblings on the right hand side say…you truly won’t believe it. That’s right, it says “F*** the French”. There’s an article about it on SFN at http://cms.scifi-nexus.com/?p=568 if you want to see the screenshots. Unbelievable.
@duncansil
“What are the chances of a book(s) to finish up the story? I know I would buy in as would many other fans I would think.
Anyone know if this method has been tried with other canceled shows?”
Best example there would have to be the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica, Richard Hatch (Apollo) wrote continuation novels set 20+ years later, and they are very good.
If someone does that with SGU, with approval from the Show’s writers, then that would be great! I still want the show continued normally though.
Arrrrrrrrr Very sad to hear…..
Well they have 3 years to get at least a movie made. They could wake up just some of the crew members in the next galaxy and go with original plan for a movie using some SG-1 and Atlantis cast members to reduce the budget. Alot would depend on whether or not the SGU sets have been completely destroyed or not. Just make fewer of those awful Saturday Night waste of time movies. But that probably wont happen in the same way a new Star Trek series hasnt happened after 6 years. They probably did the SGU ending the best… Read more »
What really ticked my off was that they didn’t end the story. Caprica was cancelled, but they slapped together a ending over a few mins of future clips. It gave the story a proper ending. Universe could have done the same. Brad Wright could have at least mentioned what his ending would have been. Yet he wants to remain silent. I have watched every episode of every stargate show ever made. I think i earned that much. All i want is a few pages of text on what the end game would have been. It’s not like they will be… Read more »
I admit SGU had its flaws, and I agreed at first with many viewers that this was not worthy of the Stargate name, however in the past 2 years I have seen SGU go from a terrible Stargate show…to the only Stargate show, True even now I still dont think its Stargate, but at least it had a Stargate, I have met many many others who now wish SGU would stay on the air, the story line is intense and keeps putting you on the edge of your seat like the past 5 episodes, they had a good line going.… Read more »
I was happy with it. Eli’s final scene with his mother was touching, and his choice to stay behind displayed the heroism and confidence he’s grown into throughout the series. Since he was by far my favorite character, I was happy we got to spend the last moments of the show with him, seeing him do something huge and wonderful. It was a lot like the end of Carnivale (also cancelled early at the end of S2) or even Angel, because sure, the story is going to continue, but you’re happy about that, and you get a sense of closure… Read more »
They kill shows on purpose every time by moving them to tuesday nights. Typical NBC, ABC, CBS move. Just because some execs dont get it doesnt mean they should crap on their fans of the shows. Its rediculous what shows have been killed in the last few years that were better than anything else on tv. But keep the brain dead public brain dead and keep them ignorant. We are becoming Iran while other countries are becoming what USA was… You pay the price some day.
As an avid fan of all things scifi, I now understand the cancelling of SG-U. The entire final season was disappointing, leading up to a final that left me feeling unfullfilled. Most of the plots were hookie to say the least. Come on, a kidney transplant? It was not even realistic. Kidneys are in the back and removed from the back, not through the abdomen. Don’t get me started on the who plot line involving their descendents which was rehashed from so many previous series. No, I am glad they killed this series rather than allowing a long drawn out… Read more »
You’re right, it really does say F*** the French, rotated by 90 degrees clockwise at the right side of the screen at about 16 mins, Chloe has just asked Rush “how’s it going?” He replies “huh?” and the camera pans to show her in the mid area of the frame, coming towards Rush. The scribble is at the right. Great fun.
I hate fan fiction almost as much as actor fiction (yes you, Nichelle Nicholls) but I will probably look at some post SGU stuff.
@ Stevenwithavee; I remember the discussing the kidney transplant on the forum.. didn’t it turn out to be right when people looked it up?
I don’t know how the descendant plotline was rehashed, I’ve never seen anything like this and I thought it was really cool. All I know is there is some old star trek episode with something similar, but isn’t that a case of “simpsons did it!” ?
@ Damna: Haha, it’s really there, that’s great! xD I can imagine Rush writing that while frustrated with calculations.. some set decorator probably got bored while filling the wall.
The descendant plotline has been done in Deep Space Nine and Enterprise.
I honestly stopped saying “It’s been done before” a LONG time ago when it comes to sci-fi and TV in general. Sometimes its co-incidence, sometimes its not, but I look at it like this: even if it HAS been done before, did I enjoy it? If the answer to that question is “yes” then that’s acceptable.
Thanks Brad, I Know I gave ya’ll a lot of smart talk about SGU, but since they’re all in the family, when SyFy picked on one of em, SyFy insulted the legacy of all of em. Sure the numbers were down, but we all know that the show should have stayed on Friday nights, and premiered during the summer like the franchise always has. But what you and Joe and Rob and others did, was nothing short of amazing. Be well sir. And bring my show back, will ya.
This ending was very symbolic for me personally. Born in 1987, I’ve had Star Trek and then Stargate running for my entire life, all 24 years. It’s been a great collection of journeys to watch and enjoy. And to watch the whole ship shut down, all the lights go out was moving. Then to watch Eli, a person who is of the same age as I and a character I’ve been able to connect with (props to David Blue’s acting) stand alone at the end truly happy to be where he is, was even more moving for me. Even though… Read more »
the one thing that is sad is seeing a great show go before its time. plus i guess we will never know about the Big Bang unless Doctor Who does it.
MGM should make a war game on all the space ships that are in the stargate series. Plus even a game that just base on Destiny and the billions and billions of galaxies out there.
I was pleasantly surprised that the episode actually worked as a SERIES finale, and not a season ending cliffhanger. It almost felt like they knew that Stargate was going away for awhile. I was worried that the final episode wouldn’t provide any closure, but I’m very happy with the way SGU ended (for now). I’m sure we’ll eventually see them come out of stasis when the franchise is relaunched at a later date.
I don’t feel the last episode had any kind of closure at all. It was a big disappointment as any kind of Finale. This is a space soap opera without an ending. They have no intentions on making a movie for this series. Or anything else for Stargate for that matter. FOr this episode to be the last anything for Stargate we ever get is just wrong. I am very disappointed!!
IT was a bittersweet moment,at the end..and even that alone is good enough for me,for now.At least it wasn’t just bitter and sad and it is true,the journey never ends.Literally and figuratively andI am sure it will continue even onscreen and be continued,be picked up to return once again,hopefully sooner than we think!
Thanks Brad to you and your team and the cast,fo all the years you have entertained us all. Ever since SG-1 come on air down here in New Zealand my wife and I have been glued and now that we have three children they have loved every minute. We’ve watched every episode, Just watched the last of SGU on YouTude last Wednesday. We have every SG-1, Atlantis and the 1st season of SGU on DVD, As of Thursday we started to watch from the start with the original film Stargate. 1 episode every night. It never gets old. We had… Read more »
@duncansil. Myself and a few others are working on a short story series to continue the “show”.
kcsguniverse | May 11 @ 10:02 pm
Would love to get involved with this do you have a web page or anything. Hope you see this and reply
Thanks Brad for giving us SGU! I loved every minute of the ride. I hope syfy or some other network decides to bring the show back.
Overall, the SGU arc has been extremely good! They chose to abandon the “funny funny” style taken on by SG1 and Atlantis, instead taking on a very serious plot line…And, I like it. There were a few episodes that weren’t as “exciting” or “glamorous”, but the writers were BUILDING the show up. Now, we are at the end of Season 2 with some amazing episodes and the highest viewer ratings since the beginning of Season 1. I understand why MGM cancelled it. “They” are about the all mighty dollar. Period. If it doesn’t watched, per archaic rules set up by… Read more »
Well, just watched the last episode of SGU and boy, it feels so empty knowing thats the end of the series. I m disappointed but i guess it was the best way to end the series without killing it permanently. So, thanks anyway for at least giving SGU the send off that was great. Season 2 was quite a ride. I just wish Season 1 wasnt such a departure that it was, as I am sure that was what was responsible for the large drop in viewing numbers. Personally, for me (a Stargate fan from the beginning) I welcomed the… Read more »
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stargate-Universe/105663602801940
Stargate on facebook, pls like if you don’t want to see this show cancelled
I think MGM should do a StarGate movie and wrap up all the Stargate lose ends. They could have members of SG1 and SG Atlantis go on a rescue mission and use the Atlantis city to find the SGU crew. Finish mission of the Destiny ship and bring back knowledge that will help defeat the Lucian Alliance.
I would rather say Destiny would unlock the ability to ascend and Ancients and modern humans could finally meet as equals. Or maybe have the Asgard return and reprogram those nasty drones to fight off the Wraith incursion, and so on…of course I’d leave it to the people who surprised me everytime with these brilliant scifi series. I bowe to you all!