Stargate SG-1: Unending

Under the Microscope

By Wolfen Moondaughter
May 1, 2007

"Unending", the Stargate SG-1 series finale, was written and directed by Stargate mainstay Robert Cooper. The episode hasn't actually aired in the US yet. (I saw "Unending" courtesy of Sky One, which started airing the last half of the season back in mid-January.) The last episodes are airing now on The Sci Fi Channel, having started in mid-April, so keep your eye out for this one! I guesstimate it will air in June, but don't quote me.

A brief summary: SG-1 and the Odyssey visit the Asgardian homeworld for some special upgrades, only to be ambushed by Ori ships on the way home. To save the ship from certain destruction, Sam creates a time-dilation bubble around the Odyssey — but how will she get them out again without them being destroyed by the enemy? It may take a long time to find the answer ... and if she does, what will it cost them?

For those who wish to remain unspoiled, let's just say that I enjoyed the episode immensely. It doesn't resolve anything about the Ori storyline, no, but then that's territory the pending DVD movie, Ark of Truth will cover, so keep your eye out for that next fall. Instead, this episode is more of a showcase for the team's relationships. Can I say I was 100% satisfied? Not quite — more like 97%. But hey, that's still an "A"! This was definitely one of the best episodes in the series, as well as one of the best finales of any series around. Have Kleenex (or whatever brand of facial tissue you prefer) on hand!

Now for some highly-spoilery criticisms and accolades (this is a Microscopic review, after all!). If you haven't seen the ep and don't want to be spoiled, stop reading now!!!

Okay, if you're still reading, I assume that you've either seen the ep already or are a spoiler whore like I tend to be. If not, well, you were warned. (Do I need to get Walter to shout it out to you??) Let me get this show on the road ....

Because their race is dying, the Asgard decide to give the Tau'ri (Earthlings) their technology and a database filled with their knowledge. Unfortunately, the Ori attack as they're finishing up. The Asgard, having planned a mass-suicide, destroy their own world.

I'd read a number of spoilers for this ep, but I hadn't heard any hints at all about the death of Thor and the rest of the Asgard — I didn't even know they would be in the ep! It's funny, I had just been thinking, in the weeks before the episode aired, that it was a shame the Asgard didn't seem to have a resolution in store for their cloning problem. I hope I'm not the only one who does an impression of Niagara Falls during the scene where Thor and Sam have their last conversation. Being a happy-endings kind of girl, I'm a little depressed by the outcome, but it's touching all the same — and better than no mention of them at all, I guess.

The Odyssey is relentlessly pursued by the Ori — every time they jump out of hyperspace, the enemy is there. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) suspects the new Asgard technology is giving off a signature that the Ori can follow, but she can't shut that technology off while the hyperdrive is engaged. So the next time they come out of hyperspace, they do it near a planet with a stargate and evacuate all the crew except for Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell (Ben Browder), Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), ex-space pirate Vala Mal Doran (Claudia Black), Jaffa warrior Teal'c (Christopher Judge), General Hank Landry (Beau Bridges), and Sam herself. The Ori open fire on the Odyssey, and Sam manages to halt time with a time dilation bubble. Unfortunately, she can't figure out a way to come out of the bubble and escape the blast heading straight for them. At best, they have mere seconds to pull whatever rabbits she can come up with out of their hat. She has a few ideas, but she needs time to figure out how to make them work.

Sam tells the team they have three months of supplies, and that it may take as long as that to come up with a solution. Mitchell and Vala especially are not pleased with this news. Two weeks later, Sam tells them that her ideas won't work after all — but the good news is that the Asgard have left them a matter converter that will give them anything they need: air, food, water, and pretty much any object they can dream up. Sam, for example, makes a cello, deciding that learning to play would be a good way to unwind. Mitchell, meanwhile, spars with Teal'c and jogs endlessly around the ship, while Landry gets into botany, and Daniel reads through the storehouse of Asgard knowledge. Vala, of course, is very bored (gods, who could blame her??), and tries to get Daniel into bed.

One such attempt blows up in her face — at least initially. The scene starts with Daniel ruminating on the fate of the Asgard, reflecting that no matter what one does, "at the end of the day, life is too short." Vala apparently sees that as her cue and, with a certain sweet, almost innocent air, tries to undo his pants. Daniel pushes her away, frowning. She can't understand why he won't sleep with her, and as she pursues the matter, he proceeds to get more and more hostile, to the point of hysteria, asking her how she could think he'd ever be attracted to her and making other cruel, cutting remarks. He's convinced she's only using him for entertainment, and he refuses to be her plaything. Her back is to him for most of his tirade — we can see her tears. And as he finally trails off, he suddenly hears her sniffling, and realises something's wrong. He sits by her; she turns away, hiding her face in her hands and insisting he give her a minute. Finally, he gets her to look him in the eye, by gently turning her face with his hand — just as he did in the previous episode, "Dominion", and way back in "Avalon, Part 2". (In fact ... Shanks seems to do the cheek-cupping/chin-grabbing a lot in his roles. It's rather endearing. *Smile*) Seeing her face, Daniel starts to suspect that she truly does care for him, that she isn't just trying to relieve her boredom. He kisses her, then studies her reaction. He smiles and warns, "You better not be messin' with me," before they engage in a passionate kiss that ends with them falling back on the bed. (Cameron's reaction when Vala finally leaves Daniel's quarters is absolutely priceless.)

Of course, being a very hard-core Daniel/Vala shipper, this is my favourite scene in the episode (one of my faves in the entire series, really) — though there are a few other smaller moments in this ep that come close. I've encountered a number people who feel the scene was out of character for Daniel, but I don't agree.

Yes, Daniel and Vala had been getting much friendlier to each other over the course of two seasons, but every time she did anything that reminded him of her old habits (ie, the sort of behaviors she displayed when they first met, back when she hijacked the Prometheus), I think it disappointed him to the point of anger, particularly because he'd vouched for her so often. Case in point, there's the events in "Company of Thieves", the episode which marked Vala's first mission as a full member of SG-1: Daniel spent a good portion of the time either frowning at her or yelling at her outright because she'd used her old criminal connections to acquire a crappy ship (which made him suspect she'd pocketed some of the naquadah they'd given her to buy it), then used more of those unsavoury connections to get information they needed to find the Odyssey (which resulted in them being captured by the enemy). And there's plenty of other examples of his losing his cool around her from earlier in their relationship — just as there's also plenty of evidence of him showing tenderness towards her, particularly when he knows she's struggling emotionally. (And really, if he didn’t care about her, would he get that upset? Without actually turning murderous, I mean?)

This scene in "Unending" was a great revisit to a similar scene in season nine's "Ties that Bind", where she propositioned him only to find that he actually seemed disgusted by the idea. He "informed" her back then that she used sex as a weapon to keep from forming any lasting relationships. When she seemed hurt by his remarks and angrily reminded him of what she had been put through as a host for the Goa'uld Qetesh, Daniel felt bad for saying what he did — until he thought twice about it and decided she was putting him on with her sob routine. "Are you messin' with me?" he'd asked back then; I love that Cooper threw that nod to that line in here. Thing is, I don't think Vala's little routine back then was entirely an act. This time, though, she doesn't throw her history in his face, doesn't even speak at all, showing how much she's matured and developed emotionally since then.

So when you have a man who's lost his wife under some pretty horrific circumstances (Sha're was made into a host for a Goa'uld named Amonet, and was killed by Teal'c when Amonet was about to use her body to kill Daniel), and the girl who's throwing herself at him has a reputation for flirtation and mind games .... well, yeah, I think his going off on her like that is totally believable. There was plenty of set-up for it, starting in the very first episode in which she was introduced (and I doubt the parallel between Vala and Sha're — i.e., that they were both forced to be Goa'uld hosts — was unintentional). Daniel's human; he can be a thoughtless, self-centered jerk too — just like anyone else — even if it does take a bit more to set him off than it takes for most people. In fact, as guarded and understandably cynical as he has become over the years, it makes perfect sense that it would take someone very close to his heart to set him off like that, to reveal his vulnerability in such a spectacularly explosive fashion. But there's also been plenty of set-up showing how deeply he cares for her, so it is still believable that he would kiss her even after the horrible things he said. There's also been plenty of evidence that she genuinely cared for him, even if he's been in too much denial himself to see it. (The battle cry of Daniel/Vala shippers everywhere: "Daniel = Denial!") And, of course, it helps how well Michael Shanks and Claudia Black play off each other. I remember Shanks once said something to the effect that Black helped revitalise his interest in acting, and it shows.

It would have been nice, however, if that scene could have been drawn out a little longer — over the course of several scenes, preferably. For example, this scene could have ended with Vala running off, then been followed up with Daniel talking to someone else in SG-1 and realising, through the course of that conversation, how he'd misjudged her intentions. But hey, it's not the Daniel/Vala show, so I understand the need for brevity. Truthfully, I half expected no resolution at all, so I was willing at the start to take whatever I could get — and what we did get was a much meatier bone than I had even hoped for, so it's all good! Especially since this episode offered something very few stories have ever offered a "ship" fandom — an entire lifetime's worth of aftermath!

Unfortunately, that aftermath is only hinted at, mostly within two montages. The first montage features Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" It shows life aboard the ship in the months after Daniel and Vala's hook-up (and no, the montage isn't just about them). It includes the group laughing at the dinner table (with Daniel grinning like we've seldom seen him smile before!), an adorable Christmas scene (Vala sits in Daniel's lap while she opens a present, and Cam kisses Sam, then Vala, under the mistletoe — awwww!), and a poignant moment with Vala sobbing her heart out in Daniel's arms (you can bet we fanficcers are having a blast speculating about that bit!). Sam works on the problem, with a hologram of Thor assisting her. Landry's small collection of plants becomes a small jungle in his quarters. Landry and Mitchell play a lot of chess and talk. Mitchell is also shown trashing his quarters. The second montage jumps twenty years into the future: Sam's become a gifted cello player, Daniel and Vala are still together, and Landry's health is failing.

We see a tearful Sam at Landry's bedside, echoing an earlier ep's scene, way back when her father, Jacob, died; indeed, I can see Landry having become a surrogate father figure to them all. Sam blames herself for their having been trapped for so long, but Landry reminds her that they would have died long ago if not for her quick thinking. Sam has a touching moment with Teal'c after Landry passes on, and confesses to Daniel that she's given up trying to think of a way out of their predicament.

Except she doesn't give up entirely. Fifty years after trapping them in the bubble, she figures out a way to rewind time just enough to get a program to her past self that will solve the problem of the Ori being able to track them, and let them jump to hyperspace before the Ori blast can hit the ship. There's a catch, though — one of them must stay un-rewound, so that person can give her past self the program.

Let me pause here for an observation. I noticed that Vala's the one who gave Sam the initial idea to rewind time in the first place, in a conversation they have much earlier in the ep. I've also noticed, throughout Vala's time on the series, that she's often the one who sees the answer to the team's problems. Unfortunately, due to her character flaws, they seldom take her seriously (like when she destroyed the supergate in "Beachhead", proved to have an understanding of wild animals in "Uninvited", and was able to repair the hyperdrive in a fashion that Sam insisted shouldn’t have worked in "Company of Thieves"). Which makes the story all the more interesting, of course, especially since she does her fair share of screwing up still. I just think it's cool that she's much smarter than she's given credit for. It's like she has some sort of instinctual problem-solving ability ....

Anyway, Teal'c, being Jaffa and therefore much longer-lived than the rest of them, insists he be the one to stay as he is. There's another catch to the plan, though — they have to let themselves be blown up before time will rewind. Daniel and Vala say a touching goodbye, each saying that they didn't stay with the other just because they were stuck on the ship — suggesting to viewers that they could someday get together in the new, altered timeline as well.

Man, fifty years ... I'm surprised Mitchell didn't completely crack, or even commit suicide! The thought of even a single week in an enclosed, inorganic environment is absolutely terrifying to me. (Well, I guess there's a reason I'm not an astronaut!)

So now Teal'c is fifty years older (which some people find sad, but I think is great — he's gotten to spend fifty extra years with his much-shorter-lived friends!). He's also the only one who remembers the life they lived on the ship, and he's not telling the rest of them anything. He does give them some cryptic clues, though, in the form of wisdom Daniel supposedly learned from the Asgard database, particularly, "Beggars can't be choosers," and "Better late than never." Yes, I think those are pointed at Daniel and Vala directly; Tea'lc is a Daniel/Vala shipper too, I guess. *Wink*

And they end the show, fittingly, by going through the stargate.

Which actually brings me to my only real issues with the episode, my 3% dissatisfaction. Firstly, I feel the episode ought to have focused around the stargate itself, rather than having the device that the series is named for being as almost an afterthought. I also don't like that there was no mention of Richard Dean Anderson's character, Jack O'Neill. I think he should have been in this episode instead of "The Shroud". Even if it just wasn't feasible to include him, I would have liked to have seen Sam talk about missing him to Vala. Yes, "Moebius, Part 2" showed Jack and Sam getting it on (although does that even count when they were so unlike themselves?), and Daniel/Vala's scene wasn't any more "permanent" that that scene was (if anything, the "Moebius" scene was more the more "permanent" of the two, since that version of Sam and Jack lived out the rest of their days in the Ancient Egypt of the primary timeline), but after ten seasons, shouldn't primary-timeline Jack/Sam be fully-acknowledged-by-others canon by now? With no more of this "We're in the military, we can't fraternize" stuff, I mean?? Anyway, I also think that some parts of the first twenty minutes of this ep could have been trimmed in favour of having more scenes set during the fifty years instead. And of course, the time paradox involved drives me batshit, but that's par for the course with me and time-travel stories.

In fact, in this particular instance, I'm even willing to overlook the paradox, because of the sheer volume of fanficcing possibilities this episode offers. Just think — 50 years worth of unexplored material! As much as I would have loved to have seen more interactions in the ep, there's definitely an upside to them leaving so much to the imagination! (I even ended up starting a livejournal community for fanworks specific to the episode.) So thanks, Mr. Cooper, for leaving the fandom with such an inspiring end to the series!

But thank Gaia it's not the end of the story!

Stargate SG-1 — The official MGM site.
Stargate SG-1 @ Sci Fi — The official page for the series at The Sci Fi Channel's website.