Another Stargate Comes to a Close

by Josh Roth @ 5:08 pm January 10th, 2009

Last night saw the end of one of my all time favorite sci-fi franchises, Stargate, at least until this summer. Stargate SG-1 was the first show I ever became a fan of, and it sparked my interest in science fiction. SG-1 lasted a great 10 years, and never really lost its creative spark. A few weeks ago I went a bit nuts when Sci-Fi Channel canned Stargate: Atlantis, and now the adventure’s finally over. The finale wasn’t particularly thrilling or spectacular, there have been far more exciting episodes, and in the end it feels a bit rushed. But there were some great space battles, and some especially impressive special effects. What “Enemy at the Gate” did do well was wrap up the series, making way for the upcoming TV movie, and the next chapter in the Stargate saga.

The only real problem with “Enemy at the Gate” is that it moves way too fast. There is barely enough time for the tension to build. I can’t help but feel that the finale would have worked a whole lot better as a two parter, they probably could have done without the “Vegas” episode all together. Then we would have had more time to get reacquainted with Colonel Carter, more time to learn about the awesome sounding ‘Wormhole Drive’ (I would have loved a whole episode about that), and more tension with the Wraith attacking Earth. Having a Wraith hiveship juiced up on ZPMs and launching an attack on Earth should have felt like a massive event, but because it all happens over the course of one hour it feels more like a throw away episode than a big series closer.

Apart from pacing trouble the finale does a great job of wrapping up the show’s five year run. It leaves all the characters alive and well on Earth, not to mention Rodney McKay got the girl (see left). I’m sad to see Stargate: Atlantis leave our screens, but even more sad to see the end of classic Stargate. We’ll wait and see if Stargate: Universe holds up with the quality and mythology of SG-1 and Atlantis. Universe sounds like Star Trek: Voyager and less of a continuation of the classic stargate-verse. Atlantis was a direct spin-off of SG-1; for example McKay (my all time favorite Stargate character) who appeared in a few SG-1 episodes. Universe takes place on an Ancient ship designed to venture out into other galaxies and plant stargates on planets. The characters will be more or less trapped on the ship, so there will be little contact with Stargate Command on Earth.

One thing is for sure, I will seriously miss Rodney McKay…