Episode of the Week: SG-1’s Finale ‘Unending’

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• I thought Unending it was dreadful.
  SG1 confined to their ship, in a sad story that feels like a waste of acting talent and production resources. Unlike Star Trek The Next Generation, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or the re imagined Battlestar Galactica, SG1's final episode feels like the worst excesses of Star Trek Voyager with the dreaded reset button present and correct. If this was the direction SG1 was going to head in, perhaps this great series really did quit while it was ahead.
  I am just grateful we then got The Ark Of Truth, which did complete the Ori storyline and the series in an epic final way. It also neatly bookends the show with Children Of The Gods.

• The Asgard didn't re-emerge half a season later on Atlantis nor in the episode "Be All My Sins Remember'd". It was a season and a half later during the fifth mid-season two-parter, "First Contact"/"The Lost Tribe". The fourth season episode "Be All My Sins Remember'd" was about the war with the Asurans.

• Another episode where ultimately Teal'c is the hero.

• As davecs pointed out, the Pegasus Asgard were revealed in First Contact, not Be All My Sins Remember'd.

  ...And I also kinda have to agree with Thunderbird 2. I think it was the worst season finale of the franchise. Stargate is known for having some of the greatest season finales... basically in all of television. Unending was by no means a bad episode, but... it wasn't great, and it wasn't the ending SG-1 deserved. At least The Ark of Truth and Continuum were pretty amazing.

• Ack, for shame! I actually caught the "Lost Tribe" error while reviewing this post yesterday, and promptly forgot to correct it before setting the post to auto-publish this morning. Fixed.

• My biggest with this "ending" was no Jack. If you are over budget and you know you are filming your last episode, you cut something to bring back the person that made you. This show would have died in Season 1 without Richard Dean Anderson. Sorry you find a way to make sure he and Jack O'Neill are part of the ending.

• @Sam and Jack Shipper,

  Do you know if the show tried to get him for the finale? I don't, so it could have just been his schedule was full.

  RDA did not "make" Stargate SG-1. He brought in a bigger fanbase, but those people had to enjoy scifi if they wanted to stay.

  I think the show was made with the collaboration of the cast and crew, not just one man.

• As far as I'm concerned, "Moebius" will always be the true finale of SG-1. "Unending" was the worst example of a 'bottle' show, people just sitting on a set and talking.

• I have to agree with the majority here-- Unending was an average (leaning toward less than average) episode, but a horrible season (much less series) finale. I want team moments, Jack, a bold adventure, and a little action. What we got were boring conversations on a ship.

  Full Circle, The Lost City, Mobius-- all of these are examples of how to end a show (and as I recall, all of those were originally written as a potential series finale).

  @Mrja84-- RDA did indeed make SG1, at least during the early years. His name was above the title-- many of the cast and crew have acknowledged that it was because of him they had a job (this is mentioned a few times in the DVD commentaries during the first 4 or so seasons as well).

• Rick may have contributed to most of the success of the first season, but I think its was the chemistry of the cast that grew more close together around the 3rd season, and every season after that. I think the strong bond with SG1 characters also contributed to the long success. If you have ever served in the military, it really does that feel. The story telling was awesome and adding constant humor instead of non stop techno lingo also drew in a broad of viewers that weren't die hard sci fi fans. As far as "Unending" it was ok for an ending that had to be put together pretty quick. "Moebius" was intended to be the fianle. So for me that was the end of SG1 before they moved on in their careers. Then "Unending " just says that the Stargate program moved on as well. Overall just one of the best and UNDERATED long-running TV shows of ANY genres in history! Godspeed everybody