So this is it: the last season of anything Stargate-related for the foreseeable future.

It’s such a shame, and not just because the series ends on yet another cliffhanger. These twenty episodes see the show finally find its feet, and the tragedy is that it only pulls this off in its final few episodes, when the series had already been consigned to the back catalogue.

The season starts meekly enough – resolving the first year’s cliffhanger rather neatly, replete with its now trademark moral ambiguity. Stories from there range in quality, though they’re almost all founded in solid ideas.

The best stuff, however, comes much later on in the series, culminating in a breathtakingly beautiful two-parter that sees the crew stumble across a civilisation seeded by an alternate, long-dead versions of themselves – cast back in time and stranded on a harsh, yet habitable planet. Yeah, it’s faintly ridiculous, but it explores the characters in a genuinely interesting way – even serving as a jumping off point for some characters to properly progress – and is more than worth sitting through the slightly haphazard first half of the season for.

The finale, too, deserves a lot of credit for being outrageously bold, particularly if it was written with a mind to continue. There’ll be a school of thought that’ll claim it’s something of a cop out, but that’s a rather cynical view – ultimately, it stands as a bittersweet, yet appropriate send-off for a beleaguered show that is rather telling of the effort the writers put in, kicking it up a notch when news came that their show was on the line.

It continues to look incredibly good, as well, blending traditional sci-fi framing with at least a healthy dose of Paul Greengrass’ visual vocabulary, maintaining a sense of tense claustrophobia that is entirely in keeping with the isolated setting.

Performances are consistently strong – particularly Robert Carlyle as Nicholas Rush, continuing to prove that he’s one of the greatest curveball castings in television history, and the continuing power struggle between Rush and Louis Fererra’s Col. Young is one of the more consistently enjoyable aspects of the series. Even David Blue – though he took a while – finally manages to evolve Eli Wallace past the awkward nerd phase of his character, and fills the ‘unlikely hero’ shoes so comfortably borne by Rodney McKay and Daniel Jackson before him.

Ultimately, though, this isn’t quite essential Stargate – it’s taken far longer than Atlantis did to carve out its niche, and it’s only a smidgen better for it. Perhaps the error was that they were so committed to allowing the characters room to breathe, they forgot to give the story a kick up the backside. But it’s still taken in an interesting direction, and it’s positively brimming with inventive, although occasionally under-fulfilled, ideas attempt to explore exactly what people would do in this far flung situation.

Just make sure that you brace yourself for the finale – it’s perhaps a little disappointing that it’s not going to continue. For now, at least.

Released on DVD on Monday 29th August 2011 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

> Buy the DVD boxset on Amazon.

Watch a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show…