'Gauntlet' (220) General Discussion

[Homo_Lvsitanvs]

Perfect. Just the absolutely perfect ending to this series, and to the Stargate franchise. All through the final scene I was convinced that a command ship would suddenly appear, leaving the series on a cliffhanger, and as we saw Destiny starting to fly away from the camera I was wailing at the screen, “End it! End it now!” And when they ended it now, I wailed in total relief, and in anguish that it was over, and cried solidly for an hour afterwards before I could even start typing. Perfect ending. Just perfect.

And now - apart from stopping to add this comment - I'm typing like a lunatic to get this transcript done ... even though I never want it to end! Eight years of typing Stargate transcripts - what am I going to do with my life in future?!

My first post. And a dedication:

Having English as a second language, I often refer to GW transcripts for a better understanding of some of the passages I found most difficult (especially when McKay's talking <open quotes> very very fast <close quotes - and winking to 'Seizure' an SGA in general>.

In your transcripts I've found not only the most accurate interpretation of the spoken dialogue, but also from the 'unspoken' one: the gestures, the facial expressions, the little moments that often go by unnoticed but add sooo much to the development not only of the story but also of the characters and their dynamics, and a personal touch/remark that goes beyond the transcription (and sometimes correction of a scriptwriter's or actors honest mistake (again in 'Seizure' - "SG-1 teams 4 and 5...." Oops....), that make me personally enjoy reading them almost as much as seeing an episode.

I've also been working on a private project of my own: the translation and resync of the SGA series (and possibly down the road SGU) to my native language (Portuguese). And from experience, I do understand the effort that must be put in order to understand and transport to text each episode's sentiment.

I haven't read 'Gauntlet' yet (I will tonight) but when I saw that the transcript was up I almost guessed that you wouldn't end it without some kind of personal sign-off. Yup.

I don't know your contribution to GW was a professional arrangement, or just (just? 159 transcripts? really?) a labor of love, but I feel an homage is owed to you, miss Callie Sullivan.

So, since probably tonight is the last time I'll start reading the phrase 'Transcript by Callie Sullivan' followed by a very enlightening half-hour of episodic flashbacking follwing your guidelines, I wanted my first post to essentially say one word:

Thank you. For all.


Okay, four words then . They're worth every letter (pun intended).



PS: Did you really cry? I'll admit, it was moving and felt 'full-circle' like (better even than 'Unending', which I view also as an 'open ending', and much better than 'EATG'), but I wouldn't shed a tear about the end of Stargate.... ok, maybe one.... with a smile on my lips..... in a few years time.... upon a rewatch. Yeah.....

[garhkal]

That was absolutly beautiful great way to end it all

I am actually ranking it higher than Unending for a series ender..

Nice ambiguous ending there. Leaves you asking questions but there's still hope.

That it does. And the way they ended it, with a '3 year; ticker', gives me some hope it MIGHT return in 3 years real time.

Eli gets in the pod, Ginn shunts him into AI world and he never leaves.

Since she and Perry are in Quarantine

i doubt that.

The ending of the episode greatly improved my opinion of the whole episode overall. Very glad we got to see the Stargate used in the last episode, not that I wasn't expecting it but...well...nevermind. The ending of the episode reminds me very much of how SGU began.

That it did.. The artistry of it was very poetic in how they mirrored in reverse Air. As to the stargate, the only site we saw of it was when it turned off...

So...it did bother Rush that Eli was smarter than him.

I know people i work with who are smarter than me, but their application of that smarts still makes me better at the job. I think THAT is what grated rush. To see all those talents go to waste.

I will miss Stargate. There is no other franchise like it. I feel like there will be a hole left in my viewing pleasures. .

Science fiction wise yes.. Though look at how well Law and order did.. 20 straight years, 3 spin offs..

I only wish there were the hope of it coming back.

Some may say wishful thinking, but i will keep hope alive in my heart it will return.

Well, unless they show how Eli solves the whole... death thing for an episode, or spend an episode focusing on Sharon and Eli's mom and Scott's kid and *gag* Telford, I'd say they'd have started the next episode with everyone waking up.

Why do you think death..
We had an ep all about Mccay on his own (well with his head carter) when his jumper sank. I would not mind a full ep devoted to him solving the issue, then his going to sleep... then the next ep fasts forward 3 years..

you know we saved their asses twice. 1st time was from the attack by anubis in Homecoming and the second when they decided to test that dang naquadria bomb on one of the rival countries and it almost caused a chain reaction. yeah we may owe them due to the fact that we tried to dial destiny but in reality, Jonas quinn should've been the one to conduct the negotiations on the langaran side.

While all true, i for one, if in the Langaran's position would have done the same.

It was a good show. I didn’t care for the way Col. Young hung his head down and folded his arms in the stasis pod. It reminded me of a funeral pose suggesting a finality I’m not ready to accept

True it did look reminicint of funeral poses.. BUT you have to remember he was exhausted.. So it stands to reason his head would droop.

Destiny looks big enough that there could be additional stasis pods elsewhere onboard maybe in an unexplored section of the ship for Eli to discover. The unanswered questions IMO leaves a positive feeling of hope. I’ve grown to like many of the characters and will miss the.

True there could be. But with everything powered off and that also includes the doors, how would he find any?

Not a bad episode at all.

I do hate the nagging question of whether he made it into the pod or not....but....such is life I guess. Although, that little smile on Eli's face at the end....was it a smile that said "I just figured it out" or something else?....Hrm....

R.I.P. Stargate

We can only speculate.. Personally i feel it may have been him going..
"Man i am all alone. Time for some fun!"

Perfect. Just the absolutely perfect ending to this series, and to the Stargate franchise. All through the final scene I was convinced that a command ship would suddenly appear, leaving the series on a cliffhanger, and as we saw Destiny starting to fly away from the camera I was wailing at the screen, “End it! End it now!” And when they ended it now, I wailed in total relief, and in anguish that it was over, and cried solidly for an hour afterwards before I could even start typing. Perfect ending. Just perfect.

Part of me was actually fearing that too, that a command ship would pop up, just as it went into FTL.... then linger there before it to disappeared.

Anyways, I liked the dynamic between Chloe and Rush. She's brilliant and he knows it, Rush seems to be seeing the fact that he is starting to become the "third wheel".

It does seem he has stepped back from being "The man they all hate but need", to being "just another person who helps"..

Chloe grew a LOT this season. She can now calculate the FTL jumps to within 500' of where they want to be. Thats crazy super-math skills there. She's come a long way in 2 seasons from being the useless silverspooned daughter with no talents whatsoever.

That she has.. though it would have been nicer if she had told everyone they would have come out right ontop of the command ship..

Eli was finally starting to show a backbone to Rush, speaking his mind to Young, and being the leader he is meant to be.

I;m not sure he was meant to be a leader. BUT it was lovely seeing him stand up for himself, an rush actually acknowledging that eli was good..

I was kind of hoping we would see Franklin and Rush's wife one last time as he was stepping into the pod. As if to say "you made the right choice".

That would have been sweet. OR better yet, when eli was standing in the observation deck, we see a glimpse in the backround of Franklin, Ginn, Perry and Gloria...

Sigh.

I loved that it began with Eli and it ended with Eli. It suddenly hit me, just after Rush and Young went into their pods, that the show was really all about Eli. I had been wondering for awhile who was meant to be the central character. For a long time it was all about Rush vs. Young. But I think it was Eli who really told the story. He was the camera (both literally, with his kinos, and figuratively) through which the saga of the Destiny was recorded for us to enjoy for years to come.

I was going to say something similar, but this sums it up perfectly. Eli really was the heart/centre of the show if you can call it that. Tbh i think SGU really has revolved around two main things, Eli's journey going from a hopeless slacker to living up to his potential and becoming a man, and Destinys mission.

I am giving green to both of you...

A second less annoying problematic thing was Park coming up with the decoy plan through second hand info, why did no one else who was actually there come up with that? Instead of happening like that she should've pushed her way back on the bridge earlier on because she thinks she could still be of some use but then everyone would be like, "Aaaw, yeah, no." Then Eli comes up with something for her to do and then she comes up with the plan and everyone would be all surprised like, "Her brain still works even though she is blind!!!!" Or something to that effect.

To me it was CAUSE she was "left out" of the loop that she had so much free time to think it through without any other worries..

As this is long i will like always continue it next post..

[garhkal]

I hate how the life support system is always a huge power hog in sci-fi shows. Life support should barely take up any energy at all compared to the other systems.

You sure of that?? Life support gives:
Heat/air conditioning
Gravity
air
and is also most likely what scrubbs the water.

Speaking of which did anyone notice if Wray was wearing a new outfit? So many things we'll never know...

Not that i noticed.. Though it would have made for a great hark back to Blockade.

Am I the only one who thinks Eli just committed suicide to save all the others? I mean, they talked about having some power for a couple of weeks. But then, the entire ship powered down, presumably by Eli.

He was there in the observation lounge with just the battery-lamps on. I think whatever happens Eli just punched his ticket. He's not repairing the pod; it's like he knew there was no way to fix it.

That is a saddening possibility. BUT why would he have done so? Just so he didn't waste the energy?

There were beautiful shots of the gate dialing, and I'm glad they didn't show the wormhole effect.

And regardless, they did use the gate to go to that meteorite planet

True, they did gate out once..

[Lt.Colonel John Sheppard]

hey here's a question, say eli gets that pod fixed and he goes in it and stuff, and the three years are up how are they going to get out of the pods? did they program destiny to awake them?

[MattSilver 3k]

hey here's a question, say eli gets that pod fixed and he goes in it and stuff, and the three years are up how are they going to get out of the pods? did they program destiny to awake them?

I'd imagine so. Otherwise, eggs on a whole lot of faces.

[Lt.Colonel John Sheppard]

I'd imagine so. Otherwise, eggs on a whole lot of faces.

i also would like imagine earth finally got to dial destiny within that 3 year timeline. alot of what if's questions now.

[starg4te]

Am I the only one dissapointed they didn't show O'Neill one laast time?

[jelgate]

Am I the only one dissapointed they didn't show O'Neill one laast time?

It seems like a waste of budget to stunt cast RDA

[LtColCarter]

Am I the only one dissapointed they didn't show O'Neill one laast time?

A little...but not overly disappointed.

[JoseP927]

Oh wow...didn't see that before...

Yes. I must get me a hi-def television someday.

[Blackhole]

Too bad only that the Whiny Brigade was too stubborn to appreciate something that dared to be a bit different instead of repeating what had already been done for fourteen years.

TPTB of SGU has no reason to hang its head.

They gave me a good first season. Not great, probably not very good. But good. Certainly better than the first season of classics like TNG, DS9 and B5.

They provided a first half of the second season that was indeed very good. No, SGU's second season didn't become worthy only during its second half. It was delivering fantastic episodes and terrific human drama from the very beginning of its sophomore run.

They also provided a stellar second half of season two that no other Stargate series can touch. And that makes the second season of SGU as strong as any as the Stargate franchise has ever put out. And, please, don't use ratings as a measuring stick because that would suggest all shows, movies, books, songs that were popular were also all of high quality while all of those that didn't find large success were inferior works of art. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence out there that would suggest otherwise.

Thank God TPTB allowed these characters to EARN their trust and respect one another. Because the payoff in these final episodes would not have been nearly as strong if they all were so chummy from the start like the crews of SG1 and SGA. Some of us love human conflict and how some disagreements and weariness are never completely overcome. There is nothing wrong with that. And if going that route was a "catastrophic mistake" financially for TPTB (in terms of keeping an audience) it was a winner artistically. And I respect the latter more than the former. As a fan of SGU if I had to choose between the show going five years by taking the SG1/SGA approach or the show going out in two years by doing exactly what they did, then I'd pick the two year scenario. At least I'll get a show that isn't afraid to touch adult themes rather than provide only cartoon escapism. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion on the merits and "artistic value" of the show, but viewers like yourself who share your blind reverence for the failed series are a minority. I don't agree that dissatisfied fans like myself were at all whinny or stubborn. After a fair trial most still didn't enjoy the show and chose to vote with their collective feet. Others like myself, despite their dissatisfaction still stuck it out to the bitter end.

I don't think it is fair to blame fandom or Syfy for the show's demise. Responsibility imo rests squarely on the shoulders of SGU's creators. The show's dark and gloomy atmosphere and depressing and maudlin (at times) "wrong person in the wrong place" storylines managed in a season and a half to drive off most new viewers and a large established 13 year fan base. An article I read indicated that all the Stargate movies are now on hold. I loved both Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis and am furious that the franchise may never recover from SGU. Hopefully, Stargate's creators will be given another chance and a movie or even better another series will be produced. We will have to wait and see.

[JoseP927]

riginally Posted by LeonK
Not a bad episode at all.

I do hate the nagging question of whether he made it into the pod or not....but....such is life I guess. Although, that little smile on Eli's face at the end....was it a smile that said "I just figured it out" or something else?....Hrm....

R.I.P. Stargate

I think its safe to assume he survives, if not by fixing the pod, then by some other clever means. He's been faced with a lot more serious challenges before; this would be a piece of cake.

[JoseP927]

Well they closed my other thread
http://forum.gateworld.net/threads/8...Beyond-It-quot
but although I know the thread titles probably come from a template, just seeing that gave me a momentary sense of hope that there may be more to come.

[morrismike]

It seems like a waste of budget to stunt cast RDA

TPTW have been trying their best the last 5 years to make Jack look like an idiot, what would the point of having him on the last episode.

[garhkal]

i also would like imagine earth finally got to dial destiny within that 3 year timeline. alot of what if's questions now.

That would be sweet. The crew waiking up cause OF earth dialing in. BUT i wonder if all the systems coming back on cause of it, how much of a "drop" in power it would have caused to make the ship fall short.?