Was anyone else disappointed John and Teyla (spoilers)

[KrisRussel]

Nope, I was not disappointed. For me, the chemistry between John and Teyla never went beyond good friends and if they had brought the two together, it would have been like jumping the shark. Again, I'm only speaking for me.
The many things we all see as "clues" to the ships we like can be interpreted in many ways. Like for example that dream John had about Teyla in S&R... didn't he also dream about Ford? So for me that means he's thinking about the people he lost and the only reason Elizabeth wasn't there is because Torri didn't want to be involved anymore with people (tptb, not the actors) who treated her and her character like ****. And I can't really blame her for that.

[Atlantis4Life]

The many things we all see as "clues" to the ships we like can be interpreted in many ways. Like for example that dream John had about Teyla in S&R... didn't he also dream about Ford?

Yes. You are very correct about that. However, Sheppard didn't dream that Ford told him that he cherished the times they spent together when it was just the two of them. He did dream that Teyla told him that. Now there's a "clue." It's totally fine if you don't see it that way, though.

So for me that means he's thinking about the people he lost and the only reason Elizabeth wasn't there is because Torri didn't want to be involved anymore with people (tptb, not the actors) who treated her and her character like ****. And I can't really blame her for that.

Do you have a link for that? Who said that? I'm not asking to be rude or anything. These are real questions. I know that they wanted her to do GITM and she said no to that. However, this is the first time that I'm hearing that she was supposed to be in S&R and that the episode was changed because she said no to it. If you can, please let me know where you read/saw that.

Cheers.

[KrisRussel]

Do you have a link for that? Who said that? I'm not asking to be rude or anything. These are real questions. I know that they wanted her to do GITM and she said no to that. However, this is the first time that I'm hearing that she was supposed to be in S&R and that the episode was changed because she said no to it. If you can, please let me know where you read/saw that.

I thought it was said at a con (don't have a link, sorry) that Torri said that she was asked to play in a couple of s5 episodes, including an arc (that they later changed in the one ep) but that she refused because of the way they had treated her and her character. She never mentioned any specific episodes or titles, but I always figured she'd be in that dream-scene too, cause, like I said, for me it's John remembering the people he lost and cared about.

[Atlantis4Life]

I thought it was said at a con (don't have a link, sorry) that Torri said that she was asked to play in a couple of s5 episodes, including an arc (that they later changed in the one ep) but that she refused because of the way they had treated her and her character. She never mentioned any specific episodes or titles, but I always figured she'd be in that dream-scene too, cause, like I said, for me it's John remembering the people he lost and cared about.

Thanks for your reply. I did try to see if there was anything that I could find online, and the best thing I could come up with was Darren's article about it here at GW.

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2008/0...son_five.shtml

From what I gather from the article, it looks like the producers promised Torri that she would have an opportunity at a continued role in the show when they moved her to the dreadful "recurring character" slot that Paul McGillion eventually got stuck with as well.

However, when this turned into an offer of only one episode for season 5 (that could've potentially led to a bigger arc for the Weir character), Ms. Higginson respectfully declined. The article states that it is unclear as to all of the reasons why Ms. Higginson turned down the role, but it did point to the fact that the actress said that she didn't think that her character was handled well.

Producer/Showrunner, Joseph Mallozzi, is quoted saying that he, Carl Binder, and Paul Mullie worked on the storyline for Elizabeth Weir, but not Martin Gero. Mr. Gero was the writer for Search & Rescue. Mr. Gero had a writing excerpt credit for the Ghost In The Machine episode that Carl Binder wrote, but I believe that was because they used clips from Be All My Sins Remember'd (written by Mr. Gero) in GITM and not because he actually worked on GITM.

So, just from what I can tell, it doesn't look like Torri/Elizabeth was ever meant to play a part in S&R. However, it would have been better (to me) if we had gotten to see her in GITM. That moment where Rodney says "I guess that answers the question as to whether it was really Elizabeth," would have been much more powerful if RepliWeir had have been played by Torri. Oh well...

For me, the opening scene in S&R was about Shep feeling guilty for not saving Teyla and him wanting to be with her. I think he was dreaming about that after he and the rest of the team got buried by one of Michael's traps while they were looking for her. I think Ford showed up as Shep's personified guilt for coming up empty handed again at the end of TLM. He didn't want to give up on Teyla like he did with Ford. As we know, Shep and the team didn't save Teyla until the their third attempt during the rest of the S&R episode (first attempt was TKP2).

Anyhoo, I guess I'll stop typing for now to keep from getting too far off topic. That will give the gestapos less work to do.

Cheers.

[MattSilver 3k]

While I would've liked a John/Teyla (Especially if I had a gun to my head and I had to choose between them and John/Weir - the former would get immediately singled out), ultimately I'm cool with Shep being a solitary wolf. Adds a slight darkness to his character if he can't stay with a woman and may never get a completely happy "wife and kids" ending, which I never really saw for him. Yes I do think there was a bit of disappointment abound when Teyla got pregnant and the writers created Kanaan, but it happened already, and we'll just have to deal.

Meanwhile, the fanfic writers can write some Kanaan kill-offs followed by John/Teyla doing the deed on his corpse.

[Atlantis4Life]

While I would've liked a John/Teyla (Especially if I had a gun to my head and I had to choose between them and John/Weir - the former would get immediately singled out), ultimately I'm cool with Shep being a solitary wolf. Adds a slight darkness to his character if he can't stay with a woman and may never get a completely happy "wife and kids" ending, which I never really saw for him. Yes I do think there was a bit of disappointment abound when Teyla got pregnant and the writers created Kanaan, but it happened already, and we'll just have to deal.

Meanwhile, the fanfic writers can write some Kanaan kill-offs followed by John/Teyla doing the deed on his corpse.

LMAO. A bit morbid at the end, but... Greened!

[Blencathra]

In answer to the original question, I feel slightly disappointed. But there again John/Teyla isn't my top OTP.

However, one thing that does keep coming back to me is that part of me is actually relieved that it didn't happen. Not because I don't like the pairing - I do, but because then what would we do? All the fun would be sucked right out of it. There would be no "getting them togther" fan-fic, no "setting things right" fan fic. To my mind when a couple get together, then that's it, people lose interest. Where to we go after that? Baby fics? If you take a quick peep at the SGU threads there doesn't seem to be hoards of people busily writing fic, or doing artwork etc - not like in the SG1/SGA threads. I think that's because it's all be done for us by TPTB, there is no need for people to use their imagination.

So part of me asks TPTB to leave well alone. Now they have abandoned the characters, they belong to us to do with as we wish. Personally I love reading, writing, making vids and art about my OTP. Isn't that why a lot of us are still here?

[Flowerbud]

No, I wasn't. I thought they had no chemistry and for the most part, Shep treated Teyla in an offhand, casual manner. Re Shep's hallucination in S&R, if he was so interested in her, why were there so few scenes of them in previous seasons demonstrating their friendship and affection for each other. There were practically no scenes of flirtation. A man in his late thirties/early forties would not hesitate to pursue a woman he is interested in. Their main bond was of teammates.

When I started watching SGA, I had heard this was the official ship, but that cave scene was cringeworthy with both actors trying so hard to build some sort of intimacy between their characters. But as season 1 progressed, it was just painful, IMO. He doesn't treat her particularly well further emphasizing the power differential between them. Shep is foremost an Earthling, an American, and a career military man. He is not a Daniel Jackson so fascinated by alien cultures that he could abandon much of his old life and live with his love in her world as Daniel had done with Sharea. Teyla would have to do all the compromising. She has to learn about American football, learn English colloquialisms, accept him as the leader of the team (although she has more experience being a leader than Shep does) and Atlantis' plans even if she has reservations. I was so pleased they didn't pursue the ship. They had to be equals for the relationship to work on screen. I am glad she got a happy ending. She put up with a lot for the sake of her people, but she at least has someone who is devoted to her and shares her values as well as having an adorable baby to love.

[Atlantis4Life]

Thanks Blencathra!

I might have an issue of "what now?" with John and Teyla getting together if the series were to keep going for years to come, but it is officially and forever over. The only hope any of us have is in the movies, and I highly doubt that there will be many of them. There is still a significant group of fans that are doing their best in campaigning to get just one! ()

My belief based on what I perceived from what I saw in the show was that eventually John and Teyla would get together. John is good at being the solitary type, but after a while even loners can get tired of being alone, and people grow... You never know how a person can change. And I never expected that they would end up as a "normal suburban" couple. Afterall, that wasn't Teyla's upbringing anyway. *shrugs* If they do end up making the movie by some miracle, then I hope that they really put the effort and time into writing the movie that it deserves, regardless of what they ultimately decide to do with the characters.

The great thing about the world of Sci-Fi fan fiction is that it's Sci-Fi. So, it wouldn't matter how SGA officially ended, fans could always find a way to write things the way they want with AU story lines, clones, time travel story lines, etc. TPTB took advantage of this with Carson. We literally *saw* him get annihilated in Sunday, only for him to come back as a clone of himself with all of his memories and personality in tact. Now, that's an "only in Sci-Fi" story.

As you've mentioned, being able take things in whatever direction we like as fans is the great thing about the characters being "ours," but I think that they were always ours. I've read fanfics about stories in between episodes or that follow up on episodes. I've even heard of fanfics where people re-write episodes they thought could have been done better. So, I think that the loss of Atlantis perhaps only drives the creativity with certain SGA fanfic groups/writers up a bit. As long as there is fan interest, SGA will never die.

I think that all of us are still here for the reasons you've outlined: We love the show, the actors, and I think most of all, the characters. This will definitely keep SGA alive for years to come (imo).

Cheers,

Atlantis.


@Flowerbud

For the sake of peace, I'm just going to say that our opinions are very different. We clearly didn't see the same things.

Cheers.

[Flowerbud]

Atlantis4life, that's cool. I don't want to start a ship war either.

[nephtys59]

No, I wasn't. I thought they had no chemistry and for the most part, Shep treated Teyla in an offhand, casual manner. Re Shep's hallucination in S&R, if he was so interested in her, why were there so few scenes of them in previous seasons demonstrating their friendship and affection for each other. There were practically no scenes of flirtation. A man in his late thirties/early forties would not hesitate to pursue a woman he is interested in. Their main bond was of teammates.

I second that.
And if anything disappointed me about SGA and how it ended, this was not related to pairings.

[AlbinoMonkeyC]

My couple of cents:

Cent One: Ship wars are for insane Twilight fans, the media that spawns them (cough Team Edward VS Team Jacob cough) and the companies that use them to make a profit (cough Burger King and Hot Topic cough).

Cent Two: Yes I am!! TPTB screwed us over!!! *twitch* I had them shipped since the start and JF supported it (see Rising Commentary).

Cent Three: That's what fanfics for!!

[Anuna]

Not at all. And thank God PTB weren't able to pull something similar s McKeller with them. They didn't seem to have sexual chemistry at all, and scenes like cave scene in "The Rising" seemed forced and out of the left field. They worked well as friends, and that's what their bond ultimately turned out to be, and I am very okay with that.

I do often say that PTB should have played ship differently, and let them get to know each other and become friends before throwing UST anvils at viewers. If they had done a decent buildup, then maybe the ship would have worked, but we all know these writers aren't very good at writing ship. Ultimately, the John/Teyla romance didn't have any consistent canon progression after first half of season one, which is where PTB had, obviously, let the ball drop.

[Anuna]

While I would've liked a John/Teyla (Especially if I had a gun to my head and I had to choose between them and John/Weir - the former would get immediately singled out), ultimately I'm cool with Shep being a solitary wolf. Adds a slight darkness to his character if he can't stay with a woman and may never get a completely happy "wife and kids" ending, which I never really saw for him. Yes I do think there was a bit of disappointment abound when Teyla got pregnant and the writers created Kanaan, but it happened already, and we'll just have to deal.

Meanwhile, the fanfic writers can write some Kanaan kill-offs followed by John/Teyla doing the deed on his corpse.

Because the world never has enough of bad fics.

[Falcon Horus]

As to people thinking it will stick to butterflies and happy smiley faces - I've spend enough time on GW to know its users.

...Kanaan being the househusband/child caretaker.

Oh dear - I read housemaid... ...oops. Kanaan's a stay-at-home-dad.

Like for example that dream John had about Teyla in S&R... didn't he also dream about Ford?

It was clear as day - John was dreaming of a threesome.

No, I agree... seemed much like he was slightly confused to say the least, like he had a WTF!?!-moment there. But with Ford there the indication to me was that he felt as though he failed his friends at keeping them safe from harm's way, even though he knows Atlantis and Pegasus have a way of getting them in trouble and in harm's way without there being a (n immediate) way out.

It's one of those scenes that spawns a gazillion theories, none of which are wrong (thank the goddess).

While I would've liked a John/Teyla (Especially if I had a gun to my head and I had to choose between them and John/Weir - the former would get immediately singled out)...

Are you trying to get another infraction?

...ultimately I'm cool with Shep being a solitary wolf. Adds a slight darkness to his character if he can't stay with a woman and may never get a completely happy "wife and kids" ending, which I never really saw for him.

Mmm... interesting...

Meanwhile, the fanfic writers can write some Kanaan kill-offs followed by John/Teyla doing the deed on his corpse.

Oh dear...

Their main bond was of teammates.

And here I go again... instead of main bond, I read man bond... to which I'm like, what? A what bond?

I think I need to get more sleep...

When I started watching SGA, I had heard this was the official ship, ...

Really? Where did you read that? - Purely out of curiosity here...

I don't want to start a ship war either.

Gateworld history - it'll happen. Over and over, and over again...