Col. Steven Caldwell

[Daniel Jackson]

Caldwell had a huge role in Season 2 and a smaller role in Season 3. In Season 4, he only showed up for two episodes. Does anyone know what his role will be in Season 5, assuming he'll return?

[g.o.d]

Spoiler:

he's in the first episode

[jenks]

He'll be in the mid-season two-parter too.

[Daniel Jackson]

Three episodes? That's it?

[PG15]

For now.

[stargater1990]

Three episodes? That's it?

what do you want? hes a recurring character not a star.

[Daniel Jackson]

Hmm...

Season 2: 11 Episodes
Season 3: 6 Episodes
Season 4: 2 Episodes

Remember, SG-1's Dr. Faiser was in 11 episodes per season right up to her final episode (excluding "Ripple Effect"). It's not unreasonable for a recurring character to appear in as many as half the season's episodes. Doesn't Zelenka appear in half to 2/3 of each season's episodes?

I just want to see Caldwell return to his almost-regular status that he had in Season 2. They've been using him less and less. I guess my frustration comes from him being my favorite recurring character.

[PG15]

I suppose this could be a blessing, in a way. With Caldwell comes, inevitably, the Daedalus, and some fans seem outspoken towards spaceships; the less, the better. They prefer Stargates.

So...yeah, my point is probably hidden around there somewhere.

[jelgate]

You have a point but the next question is how many episodes feature Col. Ellis.

[jenks]

I don't think there have been any confirmed yet have there?

[PG15]

Nope.

[Infinatus]

You have a point but the next question is how many episodes feature Col. Ellis.

Spoiler:

He should be in the mid-season two-parter, since the Apollo is taken over by Todd.

[starfox]

When Caldwell was in S2, his main role was to cause conflict; he was the big scary military outsider brought in to object to Atlantis' comfy little "Procedure? What's that?" attitude. He's mellowed now and is less antagonistic towards the Atlantis team; he's started to think like someone in Pegasus so now they have Ellis and Woolsey to be the procedural bad guys. When he's not arguing or participating in awesome space battles, he's a bit of a glorified truck driver.

However,

Spoiler:

He does have arguably the best lines in 5x01.

[Vala_M]

I think that Joe Mallozzi must not like to use the ships as often since the ship use dropped dramatically when he took over last year, although I have always liked his work on SG-1 and Atlantis before, this seems to be one thing he wanted to change. That and switching Atlantis back to running on Naqahdah generators instead of the ZPM for day to day use.

Vala,

[Alipeeps]

Hmm...

Season 2: 11 Episodes
Season 3: 6 Episodes
Season 4: 2 Episodes

Remember, SG-1's Dr. Faiser was in 11 episodes per season right up to her final episode (excluding "Ripple Effect"). It's not unreasonable for a recurring character to appear in as many as half the season's episodes. Doesn't Zelenka appear in half to 2/3 of each season's episodes?

I just want to see Caldwell return to his almost-regular status that he had in Season 2. They've been using him less and less. I guess my frustration comes from him being my favorite recurring character.

The situation was a little different - Dr Frasier was the on-site physician for the facility that the stories were based around (the SGC) where the core characters were permanently based. Caldwell is based on a ship and is only actually at Atlantis every few weeks or so or when a ship is specifically needed. He's not based on-site.

Also, recurring characters' involvement is not and never has been in any way guaranteed or consistent - and a lot of it depends not only on their requirements of the script but also the availability of the actor. Mitch doesn't sit around waiting for SGA to call and in previous seasons his involvement has been reduced partly because of his reduced availability due to his other commitments (e.g. Daylight, wan't it called?). Zelenka's level of involvement also varies. It's how it is when you're recurring and not contracted to a specific number of eps.