SG1 "Unending" Vs SGA "Enemy At The Gate"

[Gate Traveller]

Despite the fact that SG1 ran 5 seasons longer, SGA has given us some incredible star gate moments and EATG was quite an impressive ending for the show.

Unending Vs Enemy At The Gate which series finale was better?

Yes SG1's ending ran into the Ark Of Truth for a reason but was it really a good finale to one of the best shows EVER!

Enemy At The Gate could have gone the same way, they could have set up the SGA Extinction movie with EATG but they didn't, instead they gave us an action packed, visually impressive and even a little funny series finale that drew big numbers.

I personally love EATG, I prefer it over Unending, its a better "watch". What do yall think? Comments, Ideas N Suggestions Pplz!

[Crazedwraith]

Well I think I found the huge problems in Unending much less annoying than The huge problems in Enemy At The Gate.

In the end I don't like Unending but I get the impression that it was trying, a hell of a lot more than EatG to be a satisfying conclusion for the characters and the show as a whole. Especially with Thor's awesome "You are the fifth Race speech" It may have failed horribly but it tried.

Where EatG was just a contrived mess, relying a lot of special effects and an earth invasion story line we've seen many many times before. It was trying to be an action packed bonaza ad it failed horribly at that.

[Linda06]

Well I think I found the huge problems in Unending much less annoying than The huge problems in Enemy At The Gate.

In the end I don't like Unending but I get the impression that it was trying, a hell of a lot more than EatG to be a satisfying conclusion for the characters and the show as a whole. Especially with Thor's awesome "You are the fifth Race speech" It may have failed horribly but it tried.

Where EatG was just a contrived mess, relying a lot of special effects and an earth invasion story line we've seen many many times before. It was trying to be an action packed bonaza ad it failed horribly at that.

Plus there was a lot of plot holes in EATG

[CazzBlade]

EatG isn't the greatest SGA ep but I did enjoy it Whereas I found Unending to be terrible

[Killdeer]

I don't know if I can choose. I hated Unending. For many reasons.

On the other hand, the issues with EatG are such that I've not yet been able to bring myself to watch it. *sigh*

[slurredspeech]

EatG, hands down. At least something was actually going on in that ep (nevermind the obvious problems it had). With Unending, I was struggling to keep awake. Besides, for an ep that relied almost solely on character interaction, it was very much lacking in that department. I could go on and disect it but the crux of the matter is - upon wathcing it, all I could think was 'Ten years and this is how it ends? With a 'filler' episode that didn't even happen? ' A terribly terribly weak finale and a huge disservice to the show.

[A_PophisandhisFran]

I just got season 5 of Atlantis so I can't judge for sure, but I'm almost certain I'll like Enemy at the Gate better. Unending was VERY disappointing imo. It was pretty boring and really didn't work as a finale at all. I thought what they did with the Asgard was kind of bad timing as well.

[Killdeer]

for an ep that relied almost solely on character interaction, it was very much lacking in that department. I could go on and disect it but the crux of the matter is - upon wathcing it, all I could think was 'Ten years and this is how it ends? With a 'filler' episode that didn't even happen? ' A terribly terribly weak finale and a huge disservice to the show.

I completely and totally agree.

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Unending had something EatG lacked. Character moments. For me it felt like Unending focused more on the characters instead of the plot. And that's a good thing because series finales should focus on the characters we all love so much, because they are the reason we continue to watch stargate. EatG was the direct opposite of Unending. It had no character moments and I'm having an hard time to remember if Ronon or Teyla were in the episode at all. EatG would probably have been better than Unending if it had been a 90 minute episode, because they would probably have had more time for character moments and build-up so the episode wouldn't have felt so contrived.

[slurredspeech]

And that's a good thing because series finales should focuse on the characters we all love so much, because they are the reason we continue to watch stargate.

I agree, and had it been done well (heck, had it been done decently) I'd be singing praises like say 'ooh, remember that significant Sam-Daniel moment in which you can really feel the gravity of those last ten years of friendship; that was wow.' Alas. We got nothing coming even close (between any characters) and instead I'm certain if I was a first time viewer and had the unfortune of Unending being the first episode I saw, I would have thought they were just random co-workers marooned on a spaceship together.

Come to think of it, if the writers didn't learn that lesson by the time EatG was being done (and a lot of S5 tells me they didn't), I'm fairly glad they stuck to what they know and packed it with action.

[Lythisrose]

As much as EatG had problems, it was far more watchable as an ep than Unending. I was SO disappointed with Unending and thought it was a very poor end to a great series.
EatG was rushed (and the very end balcony scene was indeed chokeworthy), but it was so much more fun to watch.

[Ouroboros]

They were both pretty awful for differant reasons.

I only give Enemy at the Gate the higher marks because the ridiculous over the top wanktech it introduced into the series hasn't yet managed to damage another show, oh and the movie that shared its name had a cool Nazi Ed Harris in it.

Neither one really felt like a finale episode though, but "The Ark of Truth" was honestly probably worse than both of them. Nobody with even the slightest standards for story writing should be able to forgive that ending.

[Crazedwraith]

I agree, and had it been done well (heck, had it been done decently) I'd be singing praises like say 'ooh, remember that significant Sam-Daniel moment in which you can really feel the gravity of those last ten years of friendship; that was wow.' Alas. We got nothing coming even close (between any characters) and instead I'm certain if I was a first time viewer and had the unfortune of Unending being the first episode I saw, I would have thought they were just random co-workers marooned on a spaceship together.

This is true BUT at least it tried. I like to thing that its most basic; Unending was a good concept. Trap the team somewhere and have them have to live with it. Basically it should have been 'Solitudes' (I'm on a season 1 rewatch ATM ) with the entire team there. (ie Cam, Sam, Dan, Vala and Teal'c not Landry)

Whereas EAtG is just. Aliens attack earth! Again. Not an original plot at all. And not even an unoriginal plot done well.

So for me. Undying = Good concept. badly realised.

EATg = Bad concept, badly realised.

[Ltcolshepjumper]

Well I think I found the huge problems in Unending much less annoying than The huge problems in Enemy At The Gate.

In the end I don't like Unending but I get the impression that it was trying, a hell of a lot more than EatG to be a satisfying conclusion for the characters and the show as a whole. Especially with Thor's awesome "You are the fifth Race speech" It may have failed horribly but it tried.

Where EatG was just a contrived mess, relying a lot of special effects and an earth invasion story line we've seen many many times before. It was trying to be an action packed bonaza ad it failed horribly at that.

I agree. EatG failed in every aspect. Sure, it had CGI action-packed scenes( just the one F-302 scene) but it was horribly rushed. They packed a 90 minute plot into less than 45 minutes and ended the episode horribly.

EatG should have rivaled Lost City and The Siege Pt 2 in character moments and action.

Lost City portrayed the "Earth is under attack" scenario very well. And the Siege pulled off a very well written and well paced plot in 45 minutes. Even if EatG couldn't be 90 minutes, it could have been written in such a way as to seem as though it were 90 minutes. The reason I cite Lost City and The Siege Pt 2 is because they are among the best episodes of the Stargate Franchise.

What did we get instead? Possibly the worst series finale. Unending was good for its plot- SG-1 stuck on a ship for 40 years.

As far as which one is a better watch- sure, EatG. Unending was boring. However, I would only watch EatG if I really needed a Stargate fix. In fact, nothing happened in EatG. The fact that the plot could have been resolved halfway through the episode doesn't help either.

[slurredspeech]

This is true BUT at least it tried. I like to thing that its most basic; Unending was a good concept. Trap the team somewhere and have them have to live with it. Basically it should have been 'Solitudes' (I'm on a season 1 rewatch ATM ) with the entire team there. (ie Cam, Sam, Dan, Vala and Teal'c not Landry)

Gosh, if it had a smidgen of Solitudes power of interaction (and this was team split in half, instead of the whole team interaction), I'd seriously be on board. It may not seem that way, but I really really wanted it to work. Because it's SG-1 and I freaking love SG-1. Like, head over heals kind of love. But - and I can see where you're coming from with 'trying', I really do - after ten years I expected so much more than a lame attempt at paying tribute to the 'team'. I'm sorry, but I didn't see it - it being all those years of fighting together, facing unfaceable thing, highs and lows and the whole ten yards yadda yadda - I didn't see it at all. Might have been a nice concept but it failed so miserably in delivery it was painful to watch. And all it achieved was making me sad. Not for them stuck on a ship together (didn't feel it) but for the show ending in such a... lame way leaving a lot to be desired.

So, I don't know, perhaps I'm being too harsh. But after all those years and some absolutely phenomenal writing, I can't justify that finale and give writers a pass because at least they were trying.

(I LOVE season 1! Methinks I'm gonna follow your example and do some rewatching myself. OOOH MARATHONS.)