Teyla

[GhostPoet]

Ok, I like all the other characters in the show. But this one seems to just have nothing going for her. It's not the actress fault, it's the material (or lack of) she is given. Occasionally she has a great moment. But she has no real PURPOSE...nothing drives her.

So, this thread is here in hopes of making figure out something to improve her character...something maybe the writers will notice and find interesting.

We already have her trying to save her people from the Wraith, but the Wraith are not going to be that big this season and possibly next, what with a new enemy and all. So that purpose goes down the drain.

The same goes for her wraith-genes. If the Wraith are going to be a secondary villain, that really does nothing for her and it hasn't in the past either.

Why is she there? What is her driving points? What is her past like? Is it all just boring farmer-type life? Or did she come from a darker past before that? Something that drove her to live in a small community.

I'd like to see more grit rubbed into the characters life. Maybe she wasn't always so nice and friendly. What if she had a darker past? What if she was a creation by some other race. Something to fight the Wraith and she was sort of a hitman. Stuff happened and then she broke free and lived a quiet life with farmers until SGA came onto the scene and woke up the Wraith. Something like THAT...

Any ideas?

[jds1982]

Well we know she lived with her father and the other Athosians on that one planet for quite a while. I agree that they need to give her more of a backstory, because all she's really been since season one is a prop. They just pull her out when they need a sensitive person or need to connect with the Wraith or their tech, and when they're done with her it's back to the closet.

[FoolishPleasure]

I think she is fairly pretty, but boring as heck (the stick fighting/warrior thing doesn't count as true character development to me). With all the rumors of SGA losing a reg, I think she would be the easiest to replace.

I've never liked her, but I think most folks around here already know that.

[The Sweet Guy]

I'm not a fan of Teyla but I'd hate to see her replaced. The writers just need to put some effort in and actually develop her. Why waste the 3 years of development (what little there may be) to replace with someone new. They've already replaced Ford, why another?

[Descent]

I'm not a fan of Teyla but I'd hate to see her replaced. The writers just need to put some effort in and actually develop her. Why waste the 3 years of development (what little there may be) to replace with someone new. They've already replaced Ford, why another?

Very good point ---->

Teyla just needs to be written for more. The writers need to STOP relying on Sheppard and Mckay so much.

[saberhagen83]

I'm not a fan of Teyla but I'd hate to see her replaced. The writers just need to put some effort in and actually develop her. Why waste the 3 years of development (what little there may be) to replace with someone new. They've already replaced Ford, why another?

Agreed. They really need to work on Teyla. It would get rather boring and stupid if they just threw out a charcater that hasn't got developed, like Ford. They need to start making a ep or two that could focus on her character.

[The Ori]

In my opinion it's TPTB's fault they can make her so much more interesting and show sum depth in her, but they haven't they should go into her back story!!

But this season there seems to be even less of her!! I swear stargate could go on forever and still be sooo goood!!

[Dr McKay]

im sure with some better stories we will grow to love her, but at the moment, she seems to speek a few lines per episode then have an episode where she has a big involvement here and there but thats it, its a real shame, because she is a good character and could be great with more stories

[tears of blood]

to replace with someone new. They've already replaced Ford, why another?

to replace a character you pretty much need to write a backstory for them and give them a purpose for being there, much like how Ronon got his much needed episode(Sateda) a replacement for Teyla would need a genuine reason to be a part of the Atlantis team and to fight against the wraith, otherwise you"l run the risk of the character becoming old and stale to the audience.

this is proberly one of the reasons why it hasnt been considered if at all

that being said its still early days for Atlantis if nothing has changed for Teyla by season 4 by some degree then you should be worried and be assuming she"l get replaced, as for now just hope she gets better.

[SerpentGuard]

Maybe the writers should make her ascend and then come back later, or they should send Teyla to Earth or have the Athosians re-locate to Earth or someting to give them a story...

I'd love to see more Athosian based episodes, with Halling and Jinto (characters we havn't seen since the begining)

[GateLadyM]

The writers have had three years to turn Teyla into something interesting but she is still a wallflower in a tank top. I gave up on her last season.

Now with talk of bringing over SG1 characters I can see Teyla disappearing and Vala coming in and it would certainly bring some much needed pizzazz. While I doubt they would do that, it would tweak my interest.

[tears of blood]

The writers have had three years to turn Teyla into something interesting but she is still a wallflower in a tank top. I gave up on her last season.

Now with talk of bringing over SG1 characters I can see Teyla disappearing and Vala coming

that wouldnt really flow very well, Vala has no real relationship with any of the SGA Characters, so in reality she"l just be Vala in a different surrounding, this is something personally i wouldnt like to see, if any of the Cast from SG1 should appear in SGA, it would more likely be Carter.. since she has a relationship with Mckay, shes intelligent, the humour and banter between both Mckay and Carter during the episodes in itself would be more intresting then Vala, dont get me wrong Claudia Black is a great actress but she belongs more on SG1 since she flows well with the other characters/actors, (her relationship with Daniel) and the almost mutual respect from the Mitchell and Teal"c characters.

Besides the future of SG1 is still up in the air at the moment.

[travis]

Well I peronally like Teyla though there's not really much of her recently. I think the character has a lots of potential. I really hate for them to kill her off as thats just a lame excuse to bring some one else in. I mean come on their writers arn't they, where's the creativity. This is sci-fi there really no excuse in IMO. I think they could sacrafice McKay and insert more Teyla. I just think that Mckay get to much screen time and story. Any way I do hope they do make use of her character in the second half of season 3.

[Easter Lily]

Well I peronally like Teyla though there's not really much of her recently. I think the character has a lots of potential. I really hate for them to kill her off as thats just a lame excuse to bring some one else in. I mean come on their writers arn't they, where's the creativity. This is sci-fi there really no excuse in IMO. I think they could sacrafice McKay and insert more Teyla. I just think that Mckay get to much screen time and story. Any way I do hope they do make use of her character in the second half of season 3.

I suspect that they find writing McKay a lot easier and a lot more fun than writing about Teyla.
She's not a bad character... just underused. The character has spurts of activity and then gets relegated into the background. Obviously they're using her more and more as a sounding board for various characters but it'll be nice to see her make things happen for a change.
It's a sad indictment on the writing that of the two aliens, Ronon... the relative newcomer has much more distinctive qualities. And I agree with the original post, I would like to have seen Teyla as more of driven character. However, I doubt they can do too much with that now... she's pretty much fixed in a mould.

[Linzi]

I like Teyla. I would agree she has been underused at times, but I certainly don't think she's useless or needs replacing. Why is it so many say, 'I don't like so and so, they're useless, so let's replace her/him?'
There are some characters on SGA I like alot more than others, some I don't think are great characters, some I haven't warmed to, a couple that are inconsistently written for, some who just seem a little boring to me. At times some of the actors performances haven't been solid enough for me, resulting in me not being convinced of a characters role in the show.
However, I don't want any of them to be replaced. That would change the dynamic of the show, and I like the dynamic how it is.
Teyla's a member of Sheppard's team and as such is important in that right alone. The show, for me, is all about that team of four people, with a couple of Atlantis based characters included in the mix from time to time.
Her wraith DNA storyline in season 1 was interesting, and has been used from time to time in subsequent episodes, as her ability to sense the wraith, helping the team to know when the wraith are around, and that alone has been helpful, and been her primary purpose on the show.
I think she's a very pretty woman, or at least I should say Rachel is, as she looks like Teyla! It doesn't bother me what she wears, to be honest. Both the regular female characters wear a fair amount of make-up and sometimes wear tight, figure hugging clothes to accentuate their feminity. I personally don't have a problem with that.
I do think, however, there is a difficulty writing for the stoic, graceful and wise alien warrior role. Teyla's speech is restricted to maintain her 'alienness', and this makes it difficult for her to blend in with humans, and sometimes her dialogue is a little stilted. I don't see how that can be resolved as that would change who she is. For some reason Ronon uses contractions, and Teyla generally doesn't, which, again, can make Teyla seem a little distant, or 'unworldly'.
So, I'd like to see more Teyla and her interactions with the team, but I think I know already who she is and what her purpose is, so, for me, although I'd like to see more of her at times, and see more development of her character, I'm not unhappy with Teyla.