Unending - Review
23/10/2008 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500Unending is the 20th episode in Season Ten of Stargate SG1 and it is the last episode ever of the sci-fi show.
Review
It’s almost impossible to review something that has so much sentimental value tied to it. I’ve watched SG1 since the first episode and I’ve now watched its last weekly TV episode, Unending; given how great the start was, the finale had a lot to live up to. In the end, there is much to enjoy in the story and the performances, with some lovely nods to canon, but the story misses in the balancing of the characters and the shock exit of one of Stargates most loved creations, the Asgard.
Using the Asgard in the last episode is a good choice; the Asgard are a fan favourite and they have emotional pull with the audience; the Asgard and their legacy mean something to us. It’s a great hook. As Thor tells Sam that the Tau’ri are ‘the Fifth race’, I didn’t need the heart-tugging musical underscore to have tears spring up in my eyes. Unfortunately, the death of the Asgard in a mass suicide comes as a bit of a shock. The morality question about the mass suicide isn’t given any time at all, and the explosion which finally kills them, while wonderfully realised in special effects, passes so quickly that any emotional resonance of losing the Asgard is, well, lost. The story could have been constructed in another way to enable the main plot of the characters getting stuck together in a time dilation field without killing the Asgard.
The story is well constructed otherwise; the Ori tracking the newly installed Asgard technology, the beaming of the Odyssey crew to a planet to escape while SG1 and Landry stay behind and then getting stuck in the time dilation bubble Sam uses to save them from an Ori attack. The set-up is very well-executed in the second act. The ending is equally good; Sam figures out how to reverse time, Teal’c who saved them in the first story ‘Children of the Gods’ saves them again in the last (another outstanding Chris Judge performance), and they get to blow up the Odyssey and save it at the same time. The special effects are fantastic and really add to the drama as does the brilliant musical underscore throughout.
The last scene of the team back at the SGC and off on a mission is a lovely way to create an ‘unending’ for the show and its characters. It sparkles with teaminess as the five SG1 characters exchange banter via clichés. As SG1 walk through the Stargate into the wormhole, there is a sentimental sigh of satisfaction. That scene is almost perfectly balanced character-wise and highlights the issue with the middle of the story. It is difficult to balance six regular characters in one episode; difficult also to balance six regular characters and the ghosts of past characters that press up against the window of milestone episodes like this one.
To be fair, the characters are mixed up for the most part and shots of them as a group at the dinner table provide a common theme to link the various time-frames and mood changes – that latter part works very well. There are some nice moments; Teal’c comforting Sam was my favourite. Yet, although Sam is shown with the others, the impression is that she’s very much alone; same with Mitchell (Ben Browder turning in a very nice performance as a frustrated, stir-crazy Mitchell). Further, the emphasis on Daniel and Vala means that the overriding impression is that they only spend time with each other although not actually true.
It is good to see the show tackle a romantic relationship within the team again (although as a long time supporter of Sam and Jack no guesses for which relationship I would have preferred to have seen tackled), and the scene where the couple finally get together has just enough believability, thanks to Claudia Black and Michael Shanks, that it works. But the three subsequent shots of them alone together in the various montages is overkill –one of these could have been given over to a Daniel/Teal’c friendship moment which frustratingly isn’t shown at all. While the character interactions taken in isolation are great, as a mix it doesn’t feel balanced.
Landry sticks out like a sore thumb. Although the importance of the Asgard communication might have required the presence of a general, in canon terms, the obvious choice is Jack. Landry being there simply emphasises the absence of Jack more. Further, Landry has remained distant from the SG1 team with his primary relationship being with Mitchell. There is not enough of a connection to give any credibility to Sam sitting by his deathbed crying although both Amanda Tapping and Beau Bridges give excellent performances. Frankly, Landry’s ‘Godspeed’ only had me wishing for the General that quote referenced; Hammond.
There are some nice references throughout; the Asgard, the Fifth Race episode, Daniel noting the voice was how someone identified Thor, the nod back to Prometheus Unbound, Merlin’s phase technology, Walter’s ‘chevron seven; locked’. It was also glaringly obvious what was missing; a reference to Jack O’Neill. Perhaps it was felt that there were enough oblique references to cover it; the clichés, the Fifth Race reference…it wasn’t. Regardless of the upcoming TV movies, this was the TV episodic finale: Jack should have been mentioned by name.
As a finale, there were always going to be disappointments; the lack of Jack and the overall mix of the character moments were mine. What was great was that it was very much a team episode and really continued the great team feeling that has been the significant achievement of S10. The dynamic may be different to that of the classic SG1 I fell in love with, but it has found its own place. If SG1 has to bow out as a weekly TV serial, this is an enjoyable way to go; a quality episode in an overall quality season.
I’m going to miss it; bring on the movies.
Review
It’s almost impossible to review something that has so much sentimental value tied to it. I’ve watched SG1 since the first episode and I’ve now watched its last weekly TV episode, Unending; given how great the start was, the finale had a lot to live up to. In the end, there is much to enjoy in the story and the performances, with some lovely nods to canon, but the story misses in the balancing of the characters and the shock exit of one of Stargates most loved creations, the Asgard.
Using the Asgard in the last episode is a good choice; the Asgard are a fan favourite and they have emotional pull with the audience; the Asgard and their legacy mean something to us. It’s a great hook. As Thor tells Sam that the Tau’ri are ‘the Fifth race’, I didn’t need the heart-tugging musical underscore to have tears spring up in my eyes. Unfortunately, the death of the Asgard in a mass suicide comes as a bit of a shock. The morality question about the mass suicide isn’t given any time at all, and the explosion which finally kills them, while wonderfully realised in special effects, passes so quickly that any emotional resonance of losing the Asgard is, well, lost. The story could have been constructed in another way to enable the main plot of the characters getting stuck together in a time dilation field without killing the Asgard.
The story is well constructed otherwise; the Ori tracking the newly installed Asgard technology, the beaming of the Odyssey crew to a planet to escape while SG1 and Landry stay behind and then getting stuck in the time dilation bubble Sam uses to save them from an Ori attack. The set-up is very well-executed in the second act. The ending is equally good; Sam figures out how to reverse time, Teal’c who saved them in the first story ‘Children of the Gods’ saves them again in the last (another outstanding Chris Judge performance), and they get to blow up the Odyssey and save it at the same time. The special effects are fantastic and really add to the drama as does the brilliant musical underscore throughout.
The last scene of the team back at the SGC and off on a mission is a lovely way to create an ‘unending’ for the show and its characters. It sparkles with teaminess as the five SG1 characters exchange banter via clichés. As SG1 walk through the Stargate into the wormhole, there is a sentimental sigh of satisfaction. That scene is almost perfectly balanced character-wise and highlights the issue with the middle of the story. It is difficult to balance six regular characters in one episode; difficult also to balance six regular characters and the ghosts of past characters that press up against the window of milestone episodes like this one.
To be fair, the characters are mixed up for the most part and shots of them as a group at the dinner table provide a common theme to link the various time-frames and mood changes – that latter part works very well. There are some nice moments; Teal’c comforting Sam was my favourite. Yet, although Sam is shown with the others, the impression is that she’s very much alone; same with Mitchell (Ben Browder turning in a very nice performance as a frustrated, stir-crazy Mitchell). Further, the emphasis on Daniel and Vala means that the overriding impression is that they only spend time with each other although not actually true.
It is good to see the show tackle a romantic relationship within the team again (although as a long time supporter of Sam and Jack no guesses for which relationship I would have preferred to have seen tackled), and the scene where the couple finally get together has just enough believability, thanks to Claudia Black and Michael Shanks, that it works. But the three subsequent shots of them alone together in the various montages is overkill –one of these could have been given over to a Daniel/Teal’c friendship moment which frustratingly isn’t shown at all. While the character interactions taken in isolation are great, as a mix it doesn’t feel balanced.
Landry sticks out like a sore thumb. Although the importance of the Asgard communication might have required the presence of a general, in canon terms, the obvious choice is Jack. Landry being there simply emphasises the absence of Jack more. Further, Landry has remained distant from the SG1 team with his primary relationship being with Mitchell. There is not enough of a connection to give any credibility to Sam sitting by his deathbed crying although both Amanda Tapping and Beau Bridges give excellent performances. Frankly, Landry’s ‘Godspeed’ only had me wishing for the General that quote referenced; Hammond.
There are some nice references throughout; the Asgard, the Fifth Race episode, Daniel noting the voice was how someone identified Thor, the nod back to Prometheus Unbound, Merlin’s phase technology, Walter’s ‘chevron seven; locked’. It was also glaringly obvious what was missing; a reference to Jack O’Neill. Perhaps it was felt that there were enough oblique references to cover it; the clichés, the Fifth Race reference…it wasn’t. Regardless of the upcoming TV movies, this was the TV episodic finale: Jack should have been mentioned by name.
As a finale, there were always going to be disappointments; the lack of Jack and the overall mix of the character moments were mine. What was great was that it was very much a team episode and really continued the great team feeling that has been the significant achievement of S10. The dynamic may be different to that of the classic SG1 I fell in love with, but it has found its own place. If SG1 has to bow out as a weekly TV serial, this is an enjoyable way to go; a quality episode in an overall quality season.
I’m going to miss it; bring on the movies.
