I've been an avid watcher of all of the Star Gate series ever since SG-1 was still on the air.  I was very disappointed when SG-1 replaced Richard Dean Anderson (yes, I know he deserved to retire), and even more so when the series ended after 10 seasons.  But all things said, it ended well.  Atlantis was also a great show, and again it also ended well.  So when in December of 2010 SyFy announced that they were not renewing Stargate Universe and began to tout and advertise "The Final Episodes", I was once again hoping a good ending, and some sort of closure.

For those of you who haven't seen the original Star Gate movie that kicked off the television franchises that followed, the basic premise is that there is this device called a Star Gate, that aliens used back in the day of the Egyptian Pharohs to travel between our world and another world.  Of course, their superior technology made them appear as gods, so these aliens took on the roles of Egyptian gods (in the movie, Ra was one such alien).

The television series expanded on this idea.  Instead of just 1 planet, the gate "addresses" they would dial would allow them to travel to hundred and thousands of other planets, so long as they also had a functional stargate.  This made for many exciting tales, introduction of many cool friends and enemies, and all sorts of cool gadgets and effects.  I could literally sit and watch for hours (and did, on occasion).  The series itself ended in a planned way, and even though earth was in the middle of some huge conflicts, the end fit.  There were even some follow up direct-to-tv movies to polish off the storyline with style, which they did.

Then there was Stargate Atlantis.  The premise here is that the beings who created the stargates were known as the "Ancients".  They were obviously very technologically advanced, and as it turns out were the inhabitants of the city of the fabled Atlantis.  Only Atlantis didn't sink into the ocean, it actually left the planet and went to another planet VERY far away.  So far, that they had to use a very rare energy source in a one-shot scenario to even open a stargate connection to it, thereby creating a one-way ticket for the adventurers who became the staple cast on Atlantis.  This show followed its own path, different from the original SG1, and when it ended, they actually brought the whole city of Atlantis through space back to earth to kick some alien ass and save the planet.   So yeah, decent end to the series.

So Stargate Universe.  The idea here is that a group of soldiers, scientists, civilians, and even a sorta-kidnapped video game player who was good at math escape through a stargate that was dialed with 9 chevrons (9 digits in the phone number) to an automated spaceship called Destiny.  I'm skipping over some details as to how they did it and why, but imagine you suddenly have this group of people who didn't want or even plan on being on this ship.  Plus, the ship is not in the best shape, full control over it is locked out, and as it turns out, this thing is literally too far from earth to even THINK about turning it around and heading home, even if they HAD control of it.

What makes Stargate Universe different from the other Stargate series is that this series is REALLY more into character building than its predecessors.  Being a small group of people basically held hostage in this ship, you can image how the show can be all about the people.  Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of eye-candy along the way and occasional bursts of action, but this show was always more about the people than about the action.

So we come to the end of the season.  To give them credit, they only announced in December that they would not be continuing the show, choosing to end the series in the second season.  But then the SyFy channel began to 'tout' the FINAL EPISODES of Stargate Universe.  How heavily they marketed it and talked about it, one could barely assume that they would not find some way to finish off the series that would make the viewers happy.

NOT.

The series ends, basically, by putting the crew (well, most of it) into suspended animation. The ship's been getting pounded by these alien drone ships who have been programmed to destroy all technology that is not their own.  The last several episodes of the series pits them in some way against these foes.  In the end, the figure out that these drones are waiting at every potential stop along their course as far as they can see.  So they decide to to one huge subspace jump to the next galaxy, totally bypassing these guys.  The issue?  The they have "just enough" power to make the trip, which will take 3 years.  And since they don't have supplies for more than a month (star-trek style replicators aren't to be found), they put the crew into suspended animation for the trip.

The problem?  Well, when it comes down to the end, the very LAST stasis chamber is broken.  The three people left awake are the commanding officer, the arrogant but brilliant scientist, and the wonder-boy video gamer turned genius.  Of course, the scientist tells the other 2 to go into stasis while he fixes the last pod.  If he keeps only minimal life support running, he has about 2 weeks of time before the ship passes the line of even being able to make it to the next galaxy.  If that happens, the 3 years can become 30, or 300, or 3000 years as the ship has to "drift" to the next galaxy on momentum alone.

Well, the commander decides he cannot trust the scientist.  He has a history of being very self serving, and if push comes to shove, suicide at the end of 2 weeks is not his style.  He would put the rest of the crew at danger to sustain his life.  So the commander decides he will stay.  Its a suicide mission, as he hasn't a chance in hell of trying to even work the stasis pods, let alone repair one.

But no, the kid admits to himself out loud that he is smarter than the scientist, and tells the commander he will stay and if he cannot fix it, he will do the right thing.  So off the scientist and commander go into stasis, as the kid wanders around the ship basically turning off all the lights.  The camera pans through a doorway to an area the crew used as a lounge. This area has a wall-sized window of sorts that shows the outside of the ship in the direction the ship is traveling.  There, among the background as Destiny flies through hyperspace, we see Eli, the kid, standing at the railing.  The camera pans around to see his face, and his somber look becomes sort of a grin.

Then pan out.  We see Destiny zooming away into space through hyperspace, heading on its way.  We watch until it is just a spec in the background, like any other star.  Fade to black.

So, that's it.  That's how they END the series. This is tastes more of a SEASON finale, than a SERIES finale.  But no.  There are no plans for a Stargate Universe movie, even direct-to-tv.  There are no plans to ever explain what happened.  Did Eli make it?  Did Destiny make it?   Did they ever manage to find a way home?  Did they ever find what they were looking for? (yes, Destiny DID have a purpose).

No.  Nothing.  Nada.  We get nothing and like it.

SyFy, I am dissapoint.

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