Shows on television have a lot of expectations to live up to. They have to either fit a very specific mold, or break that same mold; And a lot of them fail to do so to the dismay, anger, or sometimes satisfaction of their scathing critics...the average viewer.
I won't try and sway you or berate you, the open-minded reader, with why you should have watched this show and maybe have had a hand in staving off its untimely cancellation.
But what I will do is give you some insights to a show that should have lasted awhile longer, and had its legs cut out from under it before its proper time had come.
Stargate: Universe was a show that tried to be something new. In a "universe" that's been around about two decades now, that's hard to accomplish on a few fronts. SG:1 did plenty over its ten seasons to establish the breadth and width of this particular galaxy, and SG:Atlantis gave us a pretty picture of the far edges of the painting.
But if the first two shows were the painting, SG:U is your perspective over the original artist's shoulder----there is so much more depth and complexity, and you see what it was that inspired the artwork in the first place. To create this larger picture, SG:U gives us the Destiny, a ship built to study planets in every galaxy in our known universe. Running on a predetermined course, the aptly named ship becomes home to refugees from the shambles of a satellite-planet research fortress.
Over the course of forty-three episodes, this show has managed to embrace a very rough-and-tumble family, a team of military and a team of scientists thrown together, escaping an assault and stranded on a massive ghost ship, with no power and a deadline--get supplies and back on the ship before it jumps to another solar system.
The circumstances aboard the ship alter in highs and lows over the course of its two seasons---the roster ensemble grows, there's bales of humor alongside some crushing deaths and character arcs. I will admit that by the end even the less-explored characters had at least once caught me by surprise. These writers flesh everyone out- it's a very human series of characters. no supermen, just men and women trying to get along...or at least, trying not to throttle each other.
The hubris of its two leaders is naturally the strongest argument, of Col. Young's desire to protect the people and Dr. Rush's desire to further their knowledge of the technological wonder at their disposal---sometimes at the risk of the very explorers learning about it-- but when these characters hit their personal brick walls in the course of events, and are humbled somewhat, the scales stay balanced. Not one of the people on the ship is perfect-and thank goodness for that. As a viewer, I'll admit that I only started watching for the chance to see Robert Carlysle do something Scifi (no, James Bond film doesn't count) and then I stuck around for everyone else- names and faces I didn't know (though the occasional SG guest spots were a treat, especially Rodney McKay).
And just like its roster, the show itself isn't perfect. But it was a damned load more impressive than one had expected in just two seasons. it broadened the entire horizon of an existing fictional universe, while still feeling appropriately sized from episode to episode. There were some weak episodes, either frivolous character stories or some McGuffin circumstances that didn't seem to meld with the overall feel of the show, but then you've got episodes like when Greer and Volker are undergoing the kidney transplant, and you have two guys stoned in the Arboretum staring up at the dome, like they're on the ground in the backyard. just...childlike wonder at the awe they get to live and breathe. Or Eli's masterpiece development from shy nerd to self-assured, confident adult over the course of the series. Or those rare-treat episodes where the Matt/Chloe relationship isn't a drag for its predictable cliches.
In the end, the show's bittersweet demise was graced with a very optimistic and open-ended season finale. It was constructed months before the announcement but in some ways it is the perfect bow to such a present...the promise that they're still out there. in case the people who make the calls change their minds and bring this show back, when the time is right. So while it may not have the rabid fanbase that the crew of Serenity does, this ship will keep on sailing the black, soaring on in this browncoat's memory alongside the other great ships.
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