John Sheppard Discussion/Appreciation

[maxbo]

Linzi, you're right, I don't remember seeing any spoilers about Sheppard either and that's weird. How can there not be spoiler worthy storylines for the first character shown in the opening credits? The most promising thing I've read so far is that each character is supposed to get a background episode, but after Epiphany, I'll believe it when I see it. Although I enjoyed Epiphany, in many ways it's the most disappointing Sheppard episode because it should have been so much better.

[Linzi]

Linzi, you're right, I don't remember seeing any spoilers about Sheppard either and that's weird. How can there not be spoiler worthy storylines for the first character shown in the opening credits? The most promising thing I've read so far is that each character is supposed to get a background episode, but after Epiphany, I'll believe it when I see it. Although I enjoyed Epiphany, in many ways it's the most disappointing Sheppard episode because it should have been so much better.

It is actually very telling that we don't get any spoilers for Sheppard, as he really doesn't get any big storylines, does he? I find it incredibly strange that the leading man doesn't.
Epiphany had its moments, but you're right it could have and SHOULD have been much better. It was better than I thought it would be, but only because I went into it expecting nothing after reading reviews of it, and that's not saying much, is it? I only enjoyed parts of it because of JF's performance.
I just hope JF keeps plugging away at the writers and BW to actually write something half decent for Sheppard.

[maxbo]

Can you give me a link for that ficcie?, I've not read that one and it sounds great!
I agree with what you say here, many ficcies I've read have much better plots and character moments than what we see on screen

In looking for that link, I found another fic that I love called, "And the Sky Was Dark", http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2767929/1/. If you haven't read it yet, it features a vulnerable, pretty much out of control, Sheppard (he loses his sight in the first chapter).

I'll link the other fic when I find it.

[Elinor]

You know, I'm thinking a bit different about spoilers this time around. Firstly, I'm going to really try and avoid them as much as I can and secondly, maybe it's a good sign that Shep stuff hasn't been mentioned much yet. There was a lot of hype about back story for 'Epiphany' and we didn't get anything. So maybe no news yet is good news? Brad Wright promised twice that we'd get it this time around...I don't think he'd dare say that if it wasn't true surely! There could be more to these episodes that we know about yet. I'm always trying to stay positive!!

As for why is Shep always shot in the same place? 'Cos it's the easiest arm for him to bandage himself!! Let's have an episode where he's forgotten to bring any bandages or he is so incapacitated he can't do it himself. Poor Shep! We do love to whump him and whump him good!!

[Merlin7]

I have to agree with you all that we really haven't seen Sheppard out of control yet and that's surprising because there have been several opportunities. Off the top of my head, I would probably have said that Conversion was a good out of control Sheppard episode, but when I really think about it, I realize that it wasn't. Despite the fact that Sheppard was the one turning into a bug, Conversion wasn't as much of a Sheppard episode as it should have been. That's a shame.

IMO, the cave scenes in Epiphany were the closest out of control Sheppard moments that I can remember. But, unfortunately, those were only preliminary moments, which were derailed after Sheppard left the cave.

Exactly. Perfect oppurtunity and I know Joe said they couldn't use him as much, but just one little extra scene about HIM dealing with it would have gone far. or the scenes with him and WEIR should have been about Shep's POV and not WEIR's. :igh::

[Merlin7]

Linzi, you're right, I don't remember seeing any spoilers about Sheppard either and that's weird. How can there not be spoiler worthy storylines for the first character shown in the opening credits? The most promising thing I've read so far is that each character is supposed to get a background episode, but after Epiphany, I'll believe it when I see it. Although I enjoyed Epiphany, in many ways it's the most disappointing Sheppard episode because it should have been so much better.

What I wouldn't give for it to have been teh ep Joe actually wrote. From what I've heard, Joe is pretty disappointed too. Can't blame him.

It would be easy to use Shep and develope him. TPTB saying they can't do that is BS. They just suck as writers. Period. Caues anyone NOT a writer for the show sure could write a good Shep script.

And the lack of spoilers isn't a surprise really. TPTB don't want to write for Shep and they've made that clear. :hrugs::
Fine...I'll just have one less show to watch.

[Merlin7]

You know, I'm thinking a bit different about spoilers this time around. Firstly, I'm going to really try and avoid them as much as I can and secondly, maybe it's a good sign that Shep stuff hasn't been mentioned much yet. There was a lot of hype about back story for 'Epiphany' and we didn't get anything. So maybe no news yet is good news? Brad Wright promised twice that we'd get it this time around...I don't think he'd dare say that if it wasn't true surely! There could be more to these episodes that we know about yet. I'm always trying to stay positive!!

As for why is Shep always shot in the same place? 'Cos it's the easiest arm for him to bandage himself!! Let's have an episode where he's forgotten to bring any bandages or he is so incapacitated he can't do it himself. Poor Shep! We do love to whump him and whump him good!!

You have a point about Epiphany. :igh::
It coulda/shoulda been so wonderful too. ::kicks PTB again, just cause it feels good::

[Luz]

You know, I'm thinking a bit different about spoilers this time around. Firstly, I'm going to really try and avoid them as much as I can and secondly, maybe it's a good sign that Shep stuff hasn't been mentioned much yet. There was a lot of hype about back story for 'Epiphany' and we didn't get anything. So maybe no news yet is good news? Brad Wright promised twice that we'd get it this time around...I don't think he'd dare say that if it wasn't true surely! There could be more to these episodes that we know about yet. I'm always trying to stay positive!!

That's my mantra "stay possitive" actually i'm not so irked about the spoilers. As you said usually we'll get the spoilers misleading us in one direction and then when we'll watch the episode and see how wrong we were (i.e Conversion or Epiphany as stated by many), so some spoilers promise

Spoiler:

Ronon's backstory

who knows?, maybe since tptb aim for one thing and almost always end up missing we'll end up having a Sheppard centered episode, and Sheppard's backstory instead.

As for why is Shep always shot in the same place? 'Cos it's the easiest arm for him to bandage himself!!

LOL, very logical explanation. Honestly tptb really want to show him as some kind of Superman even going to this extreme, i'd never thought of it from this pov, but it makes sense. Off course if he were shot anywhere else he wouldn't be able to bandage himself and move on.

[maxbo]

Exactly. Perfect oppurtunity and I know Joe said they couldn't use him as much, but just one little extra scene about HIM dealing with it would have gone far. or the scenes with him and WEIR should have been about Shep's POV and not WEIR's. :igh::

I agree that those scenes should've been shown from Sheppard's POV. IMO, it's scenes like these that cause some viewers to believe that Sheppard has had a lot of development. On the surface, they seemed to be good Sheppard character development scenes, but in retrospect, they were more Elizabeth character development scenes instead. And, you're right that even if TPTB didn't have much access to JF, they could have added a small scene where we saw him try to deal with what was happening to him. It's strange that much of Michael was told from Michael's POV, but almost none of Conversion was shown from Sheppard's POV. What a waste.

What I wouldn't give for it to have been teh ep Joe actually wrote. From what I've heard, Joe is pretty disappointed too. Can't blame him.

It would be easy to use Shep and develope him. TPTB saying they can't do that is BS. They just suck as writers. Period. Caues anyone NOT a writer for the show sure could write a good Shep script.

And the lack of spoilers isn't a surprise really. TPTB don't want to write for Shep and they've made that clear. :hrugs::
Fine...I'll just have one less show to watch.

I feel for JF too. It must have been hard to see your idea changed so much that it was almost unrecognizable. I hope things change for the better next season. Especially, since JF, and the other SGA actors, are still enthusiastic enough about their characters to actively push for more character development.

I wish TPTB would consult some of the many, many talented fan fic writers out there for how to develop Sheppard. Sometimes, the best things about certain SGA scenes is that you know the fanfic writers are going to expand on them and improve them.

[Merlin7]

I agree that those scenes should've been shown from Sheppard's POV. IMO, it's scenes like these that cause some viewers to believe that Sheppard has had a lot of development. On the surface, they seemed to be good Sheppard character development scenes, but in retrospect, they were more Elizabeth character development scenes instead. And, you're right that even if TPTB didn't have much access to JF, they could have added a small scene where we saw him try to deal with what was happening to him. It's strange that much of Michael was told from Michael's POV, but almost none of Conversion was shown from Sheppard's POV. What a waste.



I feel for JF too. It must have been hard to see your idea changed so much that it was almost unrecognizable. I hope things change for the better next season. Especially, since JF, and the other SGA actors, are still enthusiastic enough about their characters to actively push for more character development.

I wish TPTB would consult some of the many, many talented fan fic writers out there for how to develop Sheppard. Sometimes, the best things about certain SGA scenes is that you know the fanfic writers are going to expand on them and improve them.

I'm with you on everything. The thing about Michael that bugs me is that a GUEST STAR got a full ep/the POV and character development that SHEP hasn't gotten in TWO years as the SO CALLED Lead actor. ::Kicks and kicks and kicks the stupid PTB::

[Elinor]

I wish TPTB would consult some of the many, many talented fan fic writers out there for how to develop Sheppard. Sometimes, the best things about certain SGA scenes is that you know the fanfic writers are going to expand on them and improve them.

That would be wonderful if they did that.

I've spent many an hour reading some absolutely great fanfic.

[vaberella]

Spoiler:

I think that John is aware of the long term affect and the consequences. But John is the guy that lives in the MOMENT. He deals with what's happening HERE and NOW. And that's what he was doing. He'll worry about what happens later...later. It's Weir's job to listen to Teyla about the consequences. It's John's job to try and keep the mess of their actions to a minimum. Unfortunately, he doesn't get alot of support in that area.

Too true Merlin, too true. He makes

Spoiler:

mention of this also before he takes that figher out when he says something to Caldwell about what went down.

[NikkiH]

I'm probably repeating what everyone else has said but I just wanted to totally agree with everyone about Sheppard's lack of character development. It is too bad that many of us were spoiled for the script of "Epiphany" the way JF wrote it. We were so excited about learning about Sheppard's history. It's too bad the writers had to mess with it. Let Joe write more stories and use them since he seems to want his character to grow more than the producers and writers.

It's nice to see Sheppard being the hero, but there are some time I'd like to see him need help too. I'd love to see what Merlin7 suggested as well. McKay having to protect Sheppard and save the day for once. Nobody is as invincible as Sheppard seems to be. Sure, he gets knocked out and gets shot in the arm a few times. But he's all well again the next scene. I'd love to see some major angst. He is always there for everyone else, let them be there for him for once.

Sorry for rambling on. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

[Linzi]

I'm probably repeating what everyone else has said but I just wanted to totally agree with everyone about Sheppard's lack of character development. It is too bad that many of us were spoiled for the script of "Epiphany" the way JF wrote it. We were so excited about learning about Sheppard's history. It's too bad the writers had to mess with it. Let Joe write more stories and use them since he seems to want his character to grow more than the producers and writers.

It's nice to see Sheppard being the hero, but there are some time I'd like to see him need help too. I'd love to see what Merlin7 suggested as well. McKay having to protect Sheppard and save the day for once. Nobody is as invincible as Sheppard seems to be. Sure, he gets knocked out and gets shot in the arm a few times. But he's all well again the next scene. I'd love to see some major angst. He is always there for everyone else, let them be there for him for once.

Sorry for rambling on. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

You're not rambling! what you say makes perfect sense.
We definitely need some major angst, I agree.
I also would love to see some of Joe's ideas on the screen. The idea he came up with where Sheppard and McKay are drunk with power sounded fantastic, as did the backstory idea for Sateda, don't suppose we'll see either in Season 3 though.

[NikkiH]

You're not rambling! what you say makes perfect sense.
We definitely need some major angst, I agree.
I also would love to see some of Joe's ideas on the screen. The idea he came up with where Sheppard and McKay are drunk with power sounded fantastic, as did the backstory idea for Sateda, don't suppose we'll see either in Season 3 though.

Thanks. This thread is really interesting and I'm glad it is here.

I had not heard of the McKay and Sheppard idea before. That would be great!!

It's really sad that the writers don't seem to want to have any character background.