Dr Carson Beckett Discussion here

[TJuk]

I completely agree. I think Carson is the sort of character most people like. He is my favourite but I accept many others have another favourite, but Carson is near the top of many, if not most, people's list. He's just such a sweetie. And with Paul McGillion's reactions, we get to see into his soul, and we can connect with him, and share his feelings.

Very true, I've noticed a division opening up between some of the main characters fans. There seems to be an attitude of if you like one, you hate the other mainly because they fight over who's getting all the attention in the ep/writing. Certain characters like Weir, because they're under-developed, are treated with disdain or disinterest. But while Carson may not be the most popular, he's probably the only one who nearly everyone at least likes, in fact you rarely see a 'I dont like him', and the majority say they love the character though he's not their favourite. I think thats down to the way PM has brought Carson to life and infused him with so much depth, sometimes just with a look (they do use him a lot for reaction shots!). Some people complain he's had more developement then the rest but then he's had a fraction of the screentime (less and less every year...*******s...) and we practically know nothing about his past or personal life AND he's not had his own episode for 2 seasons, heck he's only ever had one, PtW. I think mainly though his popularity is down to the fact the character is so damn likable, so 'everyman', he's easy to identify with. AND he's probably the only character who interacts with everyone else on an individual level, he's like the glue that holds them all together, the 'heart'. That kinda character is so bloody important and so useful because he's versatile and is a catalyst for the others! Course it also helps PM is so damn HOT, adorable and such a bloody talented actor!

I hope we get to FINALLY see him have a chance to develope (or just to see some personal stuff, and like Weir, a chance to see the emotional reaction to all the retrovirus arc).

[DrsChick]

I agree with everyone else about the division in certain camps and vying for attention. I rarely saw any negative comments towards Carson...until recently. Either b/c the character is "interfering" in team dynamics or OOC with some of his reactions. I used to be able to count on the fact Carson had no negativity toward him (unlike Weir-you either like her or don't-my perception of online comments.)

But the comforting part for me is the fact they killed off Janet Frazier on SG-1. How could they do that to Carson and not have people howl "They copied SG-1". The writers want to pride themselves on originality-well as much as you can get in Sci-Fi. So a big part of me says Nah, they can't do that to another doctor.

A little part of me has doubts. I would hate to lose both Stargates in one yr 'cuz that's what would happen if Carson's the one they kill off.

[Chrysalis]

I agree with everyone else about the division in certain camps and vying for attention. I rarely saw any negative comments towards Carson...until recently. Either b/c the character is "interfering" in team dynamics or OOC with some of his reactions. I used to be able to count on the fact Carson had no negativity toward him (unlike Weir-you either like her or don't-my perception of online comments.)

But the comforting part for me is the fact they killed off Janet Frazier on SG-1. How could they do that to Carson and not have people howl "They copied SG-1". The writers want to pride themselves on originality-well as much as you can get in Sci-Fi. So a big part of me says Nah, they can't do that to another doctor.

A little part of me has doubts. I would hate to lose both Stargates in one yr 'cuz that's what would happen if Carson's the one they kill off.

I agree completely with everything you say! I think that a lot of the 'major' characters cop attitude from fans. I've seen Sheppard/Flanigan fans saying it's looking like the McKay/Hewlett show. Some of them get extremely irate about it. I love both of them. I think they work really well off each other (as PM does with DH! They're so funny together!), but some of the Flanigan fans have, at times, been very annoyed that their character of choice seems to be playing second fiddle to McKay.

I've also seen some Sheyla fans (some not all) making obscene comments about Elizabeth/Torri, mostly based on how she's unsuitable to be shipped with Shep because of her age/appearance (the age thing cracks me up because she's the same age as Rachel, give or take a year!) ... any number of things. Some of it can be really nasty.

Paul McGillion is the one person, and Carson the one character to avoid that sort of thing. Bottom line, people don't see him as a threat to anything. He's not upstaging Shep, he's not taking scenes away from Rodney.. he complements them. I would love to see the friendship between Beckett and Elizabeth explored more. They've known each other the longest, along with Rodney. The three of them must have a bond, especially Carson and Elizabeth, given their similar pacifist backgrounds.

I hope that this rumour turns out to be just that -- a rumour and nothing more. There's so much potential for this character. And PM seemed so thrilled to be a regular cast member during season 2. It just seems very unfair!

As for copying SG1 -- well it wouldn't be the first time. I hope it's not what happens, though!

[Arlessiar]

Folks, don't get me wrong, no offence intended and I'm a big, big fan of PM/CB myself - but this is the CB discussion thread, that means it's for the discussion of things the character does or about what he's like and such things. It's not for thunking in any way or general discussion and not for the new (admittedly depressing) rumours, as all these things have their own threads.
I know this thread was buried for some time and I'm glad to see that it's been reactivated, but we should stay on-topic.


So, what about the latest Carson character development? For example "Sateda" and "Common ground".

Spoiler:

I always knew that Carson is someone who hates to go through the gate when it's not really an emergency, but that he doesn't think twice about it when someone's in danger and needs help. I think the first thing, his fear, was portrayed a lot in S1 and S2, but the second things, his courage and selflessness, wasn't shown that much until now. But both in Sateda and Common Ground he doesn't hesitate one second when his friends are in need of help. I like that they finally put his dedication this into the show.

I have to say I wasn't so comfortable with Carson in "The real world" and in his scenes with Rodney in "Sateda" and "Common Ground".

Spoiler:

Somehow I think Carson gave up too quickly in "TRW". I didn't expect him to admit defeat so early.
And I have the impression that he becomes a bit mean lately when he's talking with Rodney. His reactions in the Daedalus sickay in "Sateda" when they talk about Dex, and in the gateroom in "CG" when Rodney is briefing the marines, seemed a bit ooc to me, he was a little too harsh and insulting to Rodney.
But then again, maybe that's thew darker side of Carson. The whole retrovirus thing probably changed him a bit.

Bye, A.

[maxbo]

I agree that this is not a thunking thread and because no one has thunked here recently that reminder is not needed at this time, however, I disagree that this is not the place to discuss these troubling rumors because it's kind of hard to discuss Carson without discussing the possibility that he won't be around any longer. Especially, when you take into consideration that he's already been excluded from 2 espisodes and we're not even half through the season yet.

Anyway, in response to your comments about Carson's role in this season's episodes. I agree that Sateda and Common Ground

Spoiler:

were great for showing how much Carson is willing to overcome his fears to help his friends. I think we've always seen his courage and his willingness to help others (Duet, Instinct, for example), but Sateda and Common Ground really spotlighted those character traits. In both episodes, he was clearly going into life threatening situations and he went because he wanted to, not because he was ordered to. I loved seeing that.

I disagree with your assessment of he seemed OOC in his scenes with Rodney in Sateda because

Spoiler:

they've always had a snarky, but friendly relationship that I find amusing. There's one scene in Season 2, I believe, where Carson doesn't say anything, but his expressions were priceless in response to Rodney being Rodney. I see them as the kind of friends who would always have each other's backs, but wouldn't pull any punches with each other.

I saw his scenes with Rodney in Sateda as him trying to understand Rodney's motivations because he didn't think Rodney was close enough to Ronon to risk such physical discomfort when there were others who could have taken his place. I saw his little smile at the end of the Daedalus infirmary scene as the realization that Rodney had volunteered to go along because he truly did feel close to Ronon.

On the other hand, I agree with you about The Real World.

Spoiler:

Carson, in character, woudn't have given up on Elizabeth so easily. But, his OOCness was par for the course, because I found that most of the non-Elizabeth/Jack scenes were off in that episode. It was as if TPTB had spent so much time on the Jack and Jack-related scenes that there wasn't much left over to flesh out the other scenes.

Something was missing in most the team member's scenes, not just Carson's, IMO. The only parts of the team scenes I liked were

Spoiler:

some of the Carson/Rodney moments and the scene where Sheppard burst through the plastic to support Elizabeth. The rest were just... off.

[RoryJ]

I have to say I wasn't so comfortable with Carson in "The real world" and in his scenes with Rodney in "Sateda" and "Common Ground".

Spoiler:

Somehow I think Carson gave up too quickly in "TRW". I didn't expect him to admit defeat so early.

I adored Carson in CG and especially in Sateda. But I completely agree with you on TRW:

Spoiler:

If I had to hear Carson say "We're losing her!" one more time, I was gonna throw my remote through the screen. The Carson we've seen gets frustrated when he can't do anything. In this episode he just stands there being the voice of doom. I was surprised, as usually Carl Binder writes so well for Carson.

[sueKay]

So have you all watched the SFX clips of Paul McGillion on youtube (link's in the fandom section of the forum)?

Spoiler:

I'm beginning to think that the rumours we've heard are just that...because he talks about how he's looking forward to the future

[Arlessiar]

Two OT answers first, then the rest:

I agree that this is not a thunking thread and because no one has thunked here recently that reminder is not needed at this time

No offence to anyone in particular here but there's been a lot of talk about PM and how great he portrays Carson (I agree with that 100%) and such. That's thunk thread stuff, not CB discussion, which is solely about the character and not the actor. Yes, of course, they're connected in a way, but that's not the point here. This said, I also didn't mean to say that this thread is seriously and completely off-topic. It's just that it's also not really on-topic.

however, I disagree that this is not the place to discuss these troubling rumors because it's kind of hard to discuss Carson without discussing the possibility that he won't be around any longer. Especially, when you take into consideration that he's already been excluded from 2 espisodes and we're not even half through the season yet.

I agree with that. But it's still only a rumour, and lenghty 'what if' discussions which also include more than just PM/CB stuff can be found on many, many other threads already, no need to repeat them completely here.
So a discussion in this thread here about the possibility that CB might not be on Atlantis much longer means we should talk about the 'what ifs' on Atlantis (=how could it happen that he leaves?) and the consequences for the characters in the series. No more Beckett - what then? Would there be a new doc coming from Earth? Or would Dr. Biro or another doc take over and that's it then? What would the loss of Beckett mean to the other characters?

I disagree with your assessment of he seemed OOC in his scenes with Rodney in Sateda because

Spoiler:

they've always had a snarky, but friendly relationship that I find amusing. There's one scene in Season 2, I believe, where Carson doesn't say anything, but his expressions were priceless in response to Rodney being Rodney. I see them as the kind of friends who would always have each other's backs, but wouldn't pull any punches with each other.
I saw his scenes with Rodney in Sateda as him trying to understand Rodney's motivations because he didn't think Rodney was close enough to Ronon to risk such physical discomfort when there were others who could have taken his place. I saw his little smile at the end of the Daedalus infirmary scene as the realization that Rodney had volunteered to go along because he truly did feel close to Ronon.

I agree when you say that they

Spoiler:

always had a slightly snarky but friendly relationship - in fact I would have called these two friends. But: I think Carson would be able to admit that he's Rodney's friend if someone asked him. Rodney probably wouldn't, he's problems with that, but I think deep inside he thinks of the people on Atlantis as his friends and family.
And since I regard these two as friends I was always happy to see their friendly banter. But these two things I mentioned before from "Sateda" and "CG", these seemed off to me. Carson didn't seem like the friend he seemed to be before. His words were not nice, not even for a friend who's teasing, and it just didn't seem to fit into the image I have of the normally so friendly and caring Carson. I agree, the smile at the end of the sickbay scene shows that Carson maybe didn't mean everything he said that harshly and is in fact happy that Rodney tries everything to save Dex. But I can't help it, somehow the conversation before that smile didn't seem to fit to Carson.
And before, when he called his patient Rodney a big baby, that didn't seem right, too. And the scene in which he was supposed to remove the arrow but let that soldier rudely interrogate the patient, and before, when he even drugged his hurting patient with a 'bit too much morphine' only to have a chance to handle him easier - didn't seem like something CB would do to me.

The Gateroom scene -

Spoiler:

well, I think Carson's comment wasn't meant as a tease, it was serious, and really, Rodney did everything right. Maybe it wasn't his task, yes, maybe his behaviour was a bit presumptuous, but there seemed to be no-one else who could do it at this moment. And Rodney wanted to help Sheppard as good as possible. That he also imitates him is something like a tribute to Shepp, I think. So I like it that Teyla says something like "well done" to Rodney, instead of questioning and devaluing his actions like Carson did in my opinion.

Everything I've written here now is just IMHO of course.

Bye, A.

[TameFarrar]

revived for staff purposes