Best Season of Atlantis

[Joelist]

It is interesting how we all have differing takes on parts of SGA but can all concur that the show overall was good. And compared to SGU it is a sublime masterpiece.

It is also interesting to see all the anti-Jennifer Kellerism. I suspect that had they not written Beckett out before bringing her on the reaction would not be so negative. Jewel Staite is a very good actress. The main issue there was that the character was not truly written to compliment Jewel's acting strengths. They wrote her a bit too lacking in confidence and waiflike. Her other roles where they wrote the characters stronger and more plain spoken show her off better (interestingly Jewel did a spot on W13 where they did her role properly and she was great in it).

Also interesting is the negative reaction to McKeller. It worked for me because the two played well off of each other and because for once the geek not the hunk got the girl. Also it did not take up a lot of time (basically 1 episode and small parts and mentions in others). The other thing that made it interesting is that the relationship was foreshadowed in The Last Man, leaving one to wonder if it was destined for the same end (Keller dying). Of course that gets filed under the list of things they started then dropped and did not pick up.

Now something that ultimately did not work was Carter as Atlantis leader. Had she been the Carter we knew and loved from SG-1 it could have been excellent but they watered her down a lot and she was pretty much a non-factor. Interestingly Woolsey turned out to be a pretty good leader - one reason I would have liked a 6th season was to give that dynamic more episodes to blossom.

 

[PegDIG2004]

It is interesting how we all have differing takes on parts of SGA but can all concur that the show overall was good. And compared to SGU it is a sublime masterpiece.

It is also interesting to see all the anti-Jennifer Kellerism. I suspect that had they not written Beckett out before bringing her on the reaction would not be so negative. Jewel Staite is a very good actress. The main issue there was that the character was not truly written to compliment Jewel's acting strengths. They wrote her a bit too lacking in confidence and waiflike. Her other roles where they wrote the characters stronger and more plain spoken show her off better (interestingly Jewel did a spot on W13 where they did her role properly and she was great in it).

Also interesting is the negative reaction to McKeller. It worked for me because the two played well off of each other and because for once the geek not the hunk got the girl. Also it did not take up a lot of time (basically 1 episode and small parts and mentions in others). The other thing that made it interesting is that the relationship was foreshadowed in The Last Man, leaving one to wonder if it was destined for the same end (Keller dying). Of course that gets filed under the list of things they started then dropped and did not pick up.

Now something that ultimately did not work was Carter as Atlantis leader. Had she been the Carter we knew and loved from SG-1 it could have been excellent but they watered her down a lot and she was pretty much a non-factor. Interestingly Woolsey turned out to be a pretty good leader - one reason I would have liked a 6th season was to give that dynamic more episodes to blossom.

I think that's one thing we can all agree on. We would have loved to have gotten a sixth season to find out where all these storylines were going.

 

[Joelist]

I don't know. I didn't have an opinion about Keller one way or another when she was first introduced in First Strike. She was kind of okay to me until Missing, and that's when I couldn't take her. She was whiney, unsure, whiney, and annoying to me. That was the first time that I thought to myself that it would have been a much better episode if that had've been Beckett and not Keller. As I've said before, Trio is what sealed the deal for me knowing that I'd never like her.

From what I can tell, a good number of people did give her (the character) a fair chance, and it just didn't work out. Even a lot of Jewel Staite fans don't like Keller. The Keller character didn't work for a lot of people, and most people thought that she was too young to be a CMO even if she was supposed to be a super-genius because that didn't mean that she had the experience necessary to be CMO, and that's something that schooling can't make up for.

I contrast that to Ronon, whom I also didn't have an opinion of either way when he was introduced. He was a great character, and Jason Momoa was perfectly cast to play him, so it all worked out. I still missed Ford, but by the end of season 3 Ronon had successfully taken his place for me. It also helped that they hadn't built up the Ford character that much before getting rid of him, but by the timed they killed off Beckett, he seemed irreplaceable to me so he was going to be pretty darn hard to replace. Again, Keller just didn't fit the bill for me, as well as many others that preferred Beckett after giving Keller a chance.

A 6th season could have been great with great writing, but I don't know if that was going to happen. If it was just going to be more of what occurred in season 5, then I'm sad to say that I'm glad that it's gone.

What you are saying goes to what I said. TPTB did not write Keller in a way that played to Jewel Staite's strengths as an actress. Had she simply been there as a new doctor on Beckett's staff it would have worked better. Killing Carson angered the fans, which "poisoned the well" for anyone they tried to replace him with.

 

[PegDIG2004]

What you are saying goes to what I said. TPTB did not write Keller in a way that played to Jewel Staite's strengths as an actress. Had she simply been there as a new doctor on Beckett's staff it would have worked better. Killing Carson angered the fans, which "poisoned the well" for anyone they tried to replace him with.

TPTB seem to be truly adept at one thing. Angering fans.

 

[PegDIG2004]

Not exactly, because I think the Dr. Cole would have been better if they were going to feature someone as a member of Carson's staff, and they also could have increased Nurse Cho's screen time as well... I don't think that the writers were going to get over their crush on Jewel, and so the writing likely wouldn't have been better for her even if she was Carson's underling. I've read where some Jewel Staite fans said that she was miscast, and perhaps that's it. I believe that Jewel is probably a good actress (I haven't seen her in much else - Firefly is on my ever increasing list of things to watch). I just don't think she fit the show.

Still, I agree with you that killing Carson did have a negative effect by angering fans. I know I didn't like it, but I gave her a fair shake.

I hope you get a chance to watch Firefly. It's fantastic. It's another sci-fi series that I came into backwards. I actually saw the film first. Jewel Staite is wonderful as Kayley. My brother in law jokingly calls her the series killer because Firefly was so short lived and then Atlantis was cancelled so shortly after she started on it.

 

[Mr. A]

Totally agree!

What you are saying goes to what I said. TPTB did not write Keller in a way that played to Jewel Staite's strengths as an actress. Had she simply been there as a new doctor on Beckett's staff it would have worked better. Killing Carson angered the fans, which "poisoned the well" for anyone they tried to replace him with.

I think that "brilliant" move by TPTB, together with the likewise uncalled for killing of Dr. Weir are the factors most responsible for the drop in viewership early during Season 4.

 

[stclare]

TPTB seem to be truly adept at one thing. Angering fans.

Right on!

:shepsalute:

 

[SerenityS]

TPTB seem to be truly adept at one thing. Angering fans.

This I can agree with!!!

 

[SG-Rocks]

Robot Kill Robinson Family

I think that "brilliant" move by TPTB, together with the likewise uncalled for killing of Dr. Weir are the factors most responsible for the drop in viewership early during Season 4.

Yeah, how many people tune in their show to see which of their favourite character gets killed off that week? Although I think they're way behind in offing SGoo people. Can't Eli vent a section of the ship and get rid of 30 of them or so? He'd have more donuts then.

 

[Red Mage]

I hope you get a chance to watch Firefly. It's fantastic. It's another sci-fi series that I came into backwards. I actually saw the film first. Jewel Staite is wonderful as Kayley. My brother in law jokingly calls her the series killer because Firefly was so short lived and then Atlantis was cancelled so shortly after she started on it.

Some of the younger members here might remember another short lived sci fi series she was in on Nickolodeon. Looking at her imdb profile she really does seem to be bad luck for TV shows since nearly everything she's been in is cancelled within two seasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XukV58Y18m8

Watching that intro, looks like there's another show SGU ripped off. A bunch of misfits board a mysterious ship and pass through a wormhole and now are stuck on a long space journey across the universe. Sounds pretty familar. Except that show got it right and they found the bridge in the first episode

 

[AdamG]

To me the show peaked end of season 3 and start of season 4 baring a few gems after. I personanly found the season primere of season 4 great (though getting rid of elizabeth still sounded troubles. Beckett and Weir....Sniff sniff. When they finished the replicators off and showed Weir, that scene was fantastic...but no follow up ..well just not the follow up it deserved. As for the best season; I loved season 1. A ton of exploration, a riviting cliff hanger mid season, characters were vulnerable, any one could be off'd. the wraith were scary and strong. And it had humour. Those were the days.

 

[Frumenta]

My first problem with Keller was that I could not buy her as a doctor. Even as a super smart Dougette Howser type she was completely unbelievable in the part. I decided to ignore it and I liked her with Ronon. But then TPTB decided to go with McKeller despite the absolute NEGATIVE chemistry between Keller and McKay. It was disturbing to look at them macking on each other. I hated her in Trio, I hated her in The Shrine, I hated her in Brain Storm and I hated her in that other one where she has switched bodies with that chick. Season 5 became the freaking perils of Jennifer to the expense of other much better known and loved characters.

 

[Gatefan1976]

My first problem with Keller was that I could not buy her as a doctor. Even as a super smart Dougette Howser type she was completely unbelievable in the part. I decided to ignore it and I liked her with Ronon. But then TPTB decided to go with McKeller despite the absolute NEGATIVE chemistry between Keller and McKay. It was disturbing to look at them macking on each other. I hated her in Trio, I hated her in The Shrine, I hated her in Brain Storm and I hated her in that other one where she has switched bodies with that chick. Season 5 became the freaking perils of Jennifer to the expense of other much better known and loved characters.

So, what you're saying, in essense, is that Keller was TPTB's dry run for Chloe?

 

[XCVG]

Season 1 I haven't seen much off, but it seems like a good beginning. I watched Thirty-eight Minutes last week and it contrasts very starkly to SGU. They're way more screwed but it's much more hopeful and they actually try to fix the problem. Sheppard tells McKay to stop whining and fix the problem and Weir tells Halling how they don't accept death like the Athosians and then threatens to ship some scientist offworld.

Season 2 I have seen mostly in its entirety. Don't remember that much, but it seemed like a lot of filler and just wasn't as good.

Season 3 was excellent. Some sideplot but also developing the main plotlines as well, and bringing in the (underused IMO) Asurans.

Season 4 sucked. Carter was underused, didn't really feel like the right person, and didn't act like the Carter from before. And the ponytail looks awful. They got rid of the Asurans way too soon and even the season finale was kind of disappointing. Bringing in the Travelers was nice, though. It had it's moments, but overall wasn't that great.

Season 5 was pretty good, but could have been better. I think a lot of it was that it was the last season and they had to tie up some of the loose ends. It was better than season 4, bringing in Woolsey worked pretty well, and I really liked the Asgard episodes. The season/series finale was REALLY disappointing, though. Some parts were just WTF to an SGU level, and it just wasn't epic or conclusive enough to be a good finale. Why only send up 302s to defend the chair? This is the last line of defense for the planet, send up EVERYTHING YOU HAVE! They had a connection to the hive ship, wouldn't it make more sense to send a nuke through? I would have drawn out the episode a bit longer, had a full fledged Wraith assault and delayed Atlantis a bit, and ended with disclosure. What the hell, it's the end of Stargate anyway (SGU doesn't count and the movies aren't coming).

So I cast my vote for season 3. As for McKeller and Keller in general, I'm pretty neutral on the whole thing. I like Beckett and was glad they brought him back in some capacity. Again, contrast with SGU. I was actually sad when Fraiser and later Beckett died (See a pattern? Is TJ next?) but couldn't care less about whoever it was that died in SGU.

 

[Klepto]

I would say season 3 was my favourite but season 1 was still good