Rachel Luttrell/Teyla Emmagan WOW Thread

[Linda06]

I've been having intermittent problems with posting since GW's format change, so I'm just now getting back to responding to this question.

Anyway.

Which Season 4 episode do I think would have had more Teyla if Teyla's pregnancy had not been added? That's a good question, but hard to answer because since Rachel was pregnant, the writers would have had to write around Rachel's pregnancy, which is why I wish they had continued with their original plan of going with a dark-Teyla storyline.

Why? Because they could have written a dark-Teyla as leaving Atlantis to concentrate on finding her people herself and then written her in such a way as to keep her storyline intertwined with the overall storyline even when she couldn't be on screen due to Rachel's pregnancy. For instance, I think that The Last Man could have been a stronger episode and the Michael arc would have made more sense if the writers had fleshed out why Michael was so obsessed with Teyla and her child. Having a separate Teyla storyline that intertwined with the overall storyline would have gone a long way to fleshing out that arc and Teyla's role, IMO.

*points up* This..... I agree

[Hope24]

I've been having intermittent problems with posting since GW's format change, so I'm just now getting back to responding to this question.

Anyway.

Which Season 4 episode do I think would have had more Teyla if Teyla's pregnancy had not been added? That's a good question, but hard to answer because since Rachel was pregnant, the writers would have had to write around Rachel's pregnancy, which is why I wish they had continued with their original plan of going with a dark-Teyla storyline.

Why? Because they could have written a dark-Teyla as leaving Atlantis to concentrate on finding her people herself and then written her in such a way as to keep her storyline intertwined with the overall storyline even when she couldn't be on screen due to Rachel's pregnancy. For instance, I think that The Last Man could have been a stronger episode and the Michael arc would have made more sense if the writers had fleshed out why Michael was so obsessed with Teyla and her child. Having a separate Teyla storyline that intertwined with the overall storyline would have gone a long way to fleshing out that arc and Teyla's role, IMO.

I totally agreed.

Teyla leaving to find her people could have work well in explaining Rachel's absence from the screen because of her pregnancy. I guess this storyline would have taken too much of effort. Maybe too much focus? Away from what I wonder... I personally don't see why it would take major effort. Maybe in the beginning it could would take some focus...because of filming different locations....and maybe some separation of the crew maybe for an episode or two. Cause IMO they would have to show a little of Teyla's journey in trying to find her people. But I think we could have also learned a lot about the Pegasus, and its people. We could have certainly learned more about Teyla, how Teyla's former allies viewed her involvement with Atlantis, how Atlantis is viewed by the people of the Pegasus. Do anyone believe that was addressed in Inquisition? I would have like to have seen the two Pegasus natives to have at least had a bigger voice in this episode. That would have made more of a compeling arugment that some backroom deal with a Genii's spy.

But what have we learn from the TBTB and the writers? I think we all know in here...

Oh, an update from Rachel....

http://www.rachelluttrell.com/note.asp

[maxbo]

I totally agreed.

Teyla leaving to find her people could have work well in explaining Rachel's absence from the screen because of her pregnancy. I guess this storyline would have taken too much of effort. Maybe too much focus? Away from what I wonder... I personally don't see why it would take major effort. Maybe in the beginning it could would take some focus...because of filming different locations....and maybe some separation of the crew maybe for an episode or two. Cause IMO they would have to show a little of Teyla's journey in trying to find her people. But I think we could have also learned a lot about the Pegasus, and its people. We could have certainly learned more about Teyla, how Teyla's former allies viewed her involvement with Atlantis, how Atlantis is viewed by the people of the Pegasus. Do anyone believe that was addressed in Inquisition? I would have like to have seen the two Pegasus natives to have at least had a bigger voice in this episode. That would have made more of a compeling arugment that some backroom deal with a Genii's spy.

But what have we learn from the TBTB and the writers? I think we all know in here...

I agree that such a Teyla storyline should not have been too hard to achieve, provided SGA had writers who enjoyed mixing things up. Unfortunately, for the group that we did have, that type of storyline would have required shifting some of the focus away from the characters and storylines they found easy to write.

Because of this, we got episodes like The Last Man, an episode that was full of hanging threads that I was hoping to see followed up in Season 5. I mean, seriously, why did Michael become an unstoppable force because of Teyla's death? I still haven't done my SGA marathon yet, but when I get to Season 4, I'm going to focus my attention on what TPTB could have done differently. Although I enjoyed Season 4 more than some, part of what I loved about that season was the anticipation of seeing how many of the Season 4 issues would be followed up in Season 5.

In Season 5, I was looking forward to seeing how Elizabeth and Carson would be integrated into Atlantis again, in addition to getting more info about Michael, Todd, the Genii, the Athosians, the Satedans. I was also hoping to see more exploration of the Pegasus galaxy and Teyla and Ronon's part in it - beyond Atlantis. And, I wanted to see more exploration of Atlantis that emphasized using Sheppard's strong ATA gene. After seeing the Season 5 season opener, Search and Rescue, I was even more hopeful because I loved that episode and thought it was the best season opener of the series.

Yep, my SGA marathon is going to be interesting. I just hope that my disappointment in Season 5 won't negatively color my opinion of Season 4. I think that's why I've been holding off on my marathon - because I want to make sure that enough time has passed that I can continue to enjoy Season 4 without damning it with the taint of Season 5.

Oh, an update from Rachel....

http://www.rachelluttrell.com/note.asp

Cool. Thanks for the update. I can't wait to buy Rachel's CD.

[Hope24]

I agree that such a Teyla storyline should not have been too hard to achieve, provided SGA had writers who enjoyed mixing things up. Unfortunately, for the group that we did have, that type of storyline would have required shifting some of the focus away from the characters and storylines they found easy to write.

Exactly. These writers have admitted that they found it hard to write for Teyla and Ronon. I find much dissatisfaction with this although I’m glad of the confirmation and believe this should reflect negatively on them as writers. Although, they could argue that they were writing for two shows. Then one could questioned why they didn’t bring in new writers to mixed things up. This show was supposed to focus on characters not a character. And for five seasons, their focus has turn out to be on just one character, a character they could relate to. What is the creativity in that!? They did succeed in other areas, but when it came to character development - major disappointment.

Because of this, we got episodes like The Last Man, an episode that was full of hanging threads that I was hoping to see followed up in Season 5. I mean, seriously, why did Michael become an unstoppable force because of Teyla's death? I still haven't done my SGA marathon yet, but when I get to Season 4, I'm going to focus my attention on what TPTB could have done differently. Although I enjoyed Season 4 more than some, part of what I loved about that season was the anticipation of seeing how many of the Season 4 issues would be followed up in Season 5.

I agreed. I would have like for them to had touched on some of the handing threads in Last Man too.

In Season 5, I was looking forward to seeing how Elizabeth and Carson would be integrated into Atlantis again, in addition to getting more info about Michael, Todd, the Genii, the Athosians, the Satedans. I was also hoping to see more exploration of the Pegasus galaxy and Teyla and Ronon's part in it - beyond Atlantis. And, I wanted to see more exploration of Atlantis that emphasized using Sheppard's strong ATA gene. After seeing the Season 5 season opener, Search and Rescue, I was even more hopeful because I loved that episode and thought it was the best season opener of the series.

I was hoping to see these things as well.

Yep, my SGA marathon is going to be interesting. I just hope that my disappointment in Season 5 won't negatively color my opinion of Season 4. I think that's why I've been holding off on my marathon - because I want to make sure that enough time has passed that I can continue to enjoy Season 4 without damning it with the taint of Season 5.

I hope you share your observations.

I enjoyed season 4 for the most parts although I felt they could have done some things differently. IMO their writing for Teyla was hit and miss. I liked the Teyla we saw in Missing, being strong, a leader, a warrior kicking butts, getting whump…she was darker and edgier, but then… And if they were going to introduced Kanaan as her love interest then introduce him then….to us certainly the viewers, not out of thin air, not in canon with previous episodes. We could dismissed the lack of Teyla as due to Rachel’s RL pregnancy in Season 4. So I was excited for Season 5, I was looking forward to seeing the team, the team feel, seeing more of Teyla, some of what was touched on in Season 4 have some continuality, loved Search and Rescue and then the disappointments. I really love or enjoyed episodes like DV, Queen, Prodigal, TLT/First Contact, Outsiders, Infection, EATG, but I can find things to complain about in these episodes, but I would watch them again. Notice I do not mentioned Vegas. I know for many this may be their favorite SGA’s episode or Sheppard’s episode. I don’t consider this episode a SGA’s episode in the truest sense. Two of the main characters of the team are missing, but yet, a Wraith has been living on Earth, they somehow captured Todd, but Ronon and Teyla are MIA. I know in AU anything can happen, but this is the second to last episode of the series. Characters' arcs should be building, not missing. IMO there were such major plotholes in Vegas. I can’t find any enjoyment in this episode other than the fact I think JF did an excellent job and he looked “hot” in ithe episode. And based on his performance in this episode he should have been cast for Rockford Files, IMO.

I have felt this, and said it, and I have seen that I am not the only one who feels this way, that Season 5 shows that the TPTB had loss all interest in SGA. It certainly could not have had/been their focus and events have proved this to be the case, IMO.

Cool. Thanks for the update. I can't wait to buy Rachel's CD.

Me too.

[Jeyla4ever]

I hope she gets it out soon, too! She's been tweeting a lot more now too!

[Jeyla4ever]

Thought I'd share with you guys Rachel's tweets for the past couple of weeks. She's getting more involved now than before but I'm not sure how long that's going to last.

Hanging with my wonderful extended family in the garden. Searching flights to Vancouver. Gorgeous day.
about 19 hours ago via web
Working out studio dates. Will be recording the last few vocal tracks for my CD in Vancouver next week. Then one day in the studio in LA!
11:24 AM May 30th via web
True love? Cleaning dirt out of your husband's dry and cracked foot. Yup. Sexy. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
2:36 AM May 30th via web
It's past midnight and I am hearing the sound of a train whistle. Thing is we don't live by a train track. What the...?
2:31 AM May 30th via web
Heading off to Malibu with my boys. Beautiful day!!!
12:21 PM May 29th via web
What a day! Making our new house feel like a home. About to watch some 30Rock with some vodka and Grapefruit juice. I deserve it. : )
12:40 AM May 29th via web
First one up. Just me and my dog kicking around. The sounds of birds and a breathtaking view of the mountains. Breath. Life is good.
10:25 AM May 28th via web
Went on a full moon hike with Loyd and Caden tonight led by "The Tree People" here in LA. Beautiful.
1:04 AM May 28th via web

[Jeyla4ever]

Thought I'd share some of the Teyla icons I've collected.

[Jeyla4ever]

[Jeyla4ever]

[Jeyla4ever]

[Jeyla4ever]

[Jeyla4ever]

,

[Jeyla4ever]

Will share more laterz.....if you take any of those, in the HTML is the name of the artist that made it.

[Coco Pops]

Rachel was great as a Wraith Queen, as was Teyla.... I thought that suited her well......

Since she has part Wraith in her DNA it would have been interesting to see her actually turn into one. But what they did in that episode was briliant and I liked her as a Wraith

[Jeyla4ever]

Rachel herself has admitted that The Queen was not her favorite episode. She didn't care for the prosthesis and she didn't like to walk around like a monster when she still had her young one with her and nursing. She thought she would traumatize him.

As a mother, I can completely understand her.

But as far as her career, I loved her in The Queen. I think there was so much there that they could have done with her and her character in the future and too many scenarios that could have spawned over this plot.

Too bad the writers didn't see the potential there.

Instead they cared more for Rodney and Jennifer's relationship or whatever that's called.

One of my favorite episodes are the ones that showcase Teyla with her Wraith abilities.

Spoils of War is another great episode that I think started something interesting that never continued.