The show's end

The finale is certainly a moment of irk for many fans - myself no exception.

Before I inform you of how the show ultimately ended, I have to rant about some things you should know. To many fans (myself included) the show ended on a cliffhanger with the aptly titled "The Angel of Death". The plot was that after about year of fighting the aliens, after the battles had picked up other forces (Joseph Lonetree, the remaining veterans of 1938, Project 9, and the rogue Quinn), a new player presented itself - a synth from the planet Qar'To. This being was working to annihilate the aliens, but wanted to preserve humanity - but alas, this was only to secure a means of a food source. The episode ended with the synth leaving Earth to return with reinforcements. There was no resolution to this, but we can be assured that as long as the Qar'To aliens (whatever they really were) were in the war, humanity wasn't going to win.

There was no resolution to this, but there was a second season. And it was proof that there is a fate worse than death. Under the new management of people who had no hand in the first season, these people reconstructed the show from very little knowledge of how the series was being built. The clash of the elements from Season 2 with those of Season 1 were one thing, but the season kept contradicting facts as it went, even those the season itself had set-up. It finally ended in what I believe to be the poorest excuse for a finale, the weakest and most half-assed means at a wrap-up that has ever been made:

2x20 - "The Obelisk":

It all starts when Malzor is talking with the Eternal (which sounds like a one-sided conversation since the Eternal is whining in some whalespeak), and Malzor in turn consults the obelisk. I can't recall much, but he believes that they have reached their limit and in order to wipe out humanity, they must release some spore (I have no clue about the proper spelling, but it's something like "teleschion") that will wipe out every organism native to Earth (they'll live, but they will loose some good resources as well). Well, one of the Morthren children is a bit of a rebel and sneaks out having stolen the obelisk. This boy, Ceeto, contacts Debi, whom he befriended in a previous episode, and tries to warn her. Then there's some fuzzy stuff, and the adults (Harrison, Suzanne, and Adrian) are with them and Ceeto shows them all the information on the obelisk that conviently reveals the proper exposition into the Morthren history: you see, sometime just before 1953, the aliens were minding their own business on Morthrai when they noticed some happenings on a strange planet called Earth, which is unleashing the atomic bomb.* Intent to see as to what's going on, some scientists go on a little expedition to Earth. From there we see footage from the film with the heat-rays going off, which is easily very confusing to the audience as to the message. Then we see the aliens dead. Malzor is watching it and sees that his mate, who was on the expedition, is also dead. He then seeks revenge by first killing someone's father (I think it was Mana's) so that he can steal the obelisk. He fabricates lies and distortions so that he can wage a war against humanity.** But the means to fund such resources drains the planet and it counts down to destruction, forcing them to abandon it.*** Then Ceeto calls his mom, Mana (although this isn't revealed until a little later in a poorly written come-and-go line) who shows her the same mess they all had seen. With Mana leading, they all storm the Morthren headquarters as Malzor is readying the troops. But the tide is quickly changed when she shows them all the horrible truth. With everyone ganging up on him, he bumps into Ceeto from behind and instinctively turns and evaporates him. In retaliation, Debi shoots Malzor dead. The war is ended with the Morthren calling things off (with, sadly, no indication as to what they will do or how they now view their useless god), and our heroes walking off into very cliche sunset. The [Insipid] End.

Continuity errors:

* Season 1 had established that the aliens had known about Earth prior to the atomic bomb and even visited the planet before 1953 on at least two occasions that we know of.

** All of this is a major pissing-point on a lot of levels as not only did the film establish that the aliens were clearly on the warpath (again, the insertion of those scenes were awfully contradictory), but this is undoubtably backed up in the first season when we get more of a preception of the aliens' inner workings. Additionally, this change in backstory even contradicts previous Season 2 episodes since the aliens from 1953 are referred to as soldiers at least twice. Not to mention that if what we have seen in the second season was in fact the first (and only) invasion effort, then what is the significance of "The Second Invasion" subtitle added to the title for the second season? And, of course, this is pretty much a complete ignorance of the very foundation of Wells' novel. All this in just one episode. Everyone involved must be so proud!

*** While this actually stays in line with what we see in the first episode of the season, this is confusing in terms of what the first told us of the aliens' planet (which was actually Mor-Tax, by the way). In that, we are told that the planet's sun was dying, which was the reason for leaving their world. In fact, I did some math and analyzing, and I concluded that the aliens' planet would have been abandoned before the show even started, and the sun may have been passing away very into early into the first season. This isn't a major contradiction, but the two stories don't necessarily align either. Then again, this is only if you can even get past the retooling of the plant name...

So as you can see, it had a conclusion, but it makes so little sense within the context of pretty much the rest of the entire series before it, that it makes very little impact as a resolution. It actually does more harm than a cliffhanger ever could. I can't help but feel that the episode, as a finale, was stamped out just to make things even more confusing because a cliffhanger can at least leave elements up for consideration (even Sliders was smart enough to know this when they knew Season 6 wasn't coming). The series finale seemed to be answering questions that no one was asking, and ignoring those that were. To comprehend this into the preceding episodes so as to make a cohernt whole... is pretty much impossible, and seems nothing more than a major attempt to discredit the show. I certainly don't understand why or how they expected the viewers to swallow the crap was pumped out in that hour. Whoever brainstormed this little piece of utter garbage should be ashamed of themselves more than anyone else that worked to bring us the dreadful second season. "The Obelisk" is just one of most pathetic and insulting things to which I have ever bared witness.

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Formless, faithless, and free.