John Sheppard Discussion/Appreciation

[Easter Lily]

However even before that I was attracted by the fact that he was completely unprepared and had no Stargate experience. He was purely there because he was assigned to pilot O'Neill and nearly got shot down and then thrown into this crazy world. He turns up on the base and knows nothing and Beckett was asking if he had security clearance and he's like, <SNIP>

It was a good idea to have a lead character who is completely new to the Stargate world in order to give people tuning into SGA who haven't seen SG-1 someone to identify with. For myself, having watched all of SG-1, it was good to have a character who looked at things from a fresh perspective. Everyone else as Weir says:

I think that's a very important point because from then onwards there is a shift of perspective from the old hands to this greenhorn. Of course he stuffs it up... because he hasn't got a clue what to do or what he's doing... it's all guts and instincts and he has to improvise as he goes along. It's a great moment when he arrives on Athos and meets the locals for the first time. Him not knowing what "Halling" means and rambling on about liking football, ferris wheels and anything that goes faster than 200m/h. We feel his naivete and smile indulgently at this feeble attempt at humour because we are the old hands at gate travel... we as the audience have, as it were, entered the gate on many occasions but now we are seeing it through the eyes of someone who with some trepidation is stepping into the gate afresh. Through his eyes everything "that is old is new again"...

[Shep'sSocks]

I quite liked that Martin Gero confirmed my hypothesis that up until the moment he stepped through the gate Sheppard wasn't sure he was going. Wow, not Jossed, I thought!

[Easter Lily]

I rather like the looks that were exchanged between the two men (Sheppard and Col Sumner) in the SGC prior to leaving for Atlantis. It is almost as if Sumner was defying Sheppard not go on the expedition and Sheppard returning that look of defiance by one that indicated that he was not going to be put off by Sumner's less-than-cordial manner.

[Shep'sSocks]

It's that section that made me sit up and take notice. That defiant, angry and above all hurt smirk that Sheppard gives when Sumner glares at him as Sheppard comes into the gateroom.

[Salty]

I don't think the coin toss was for the decision to go. Everyone else who WAS going was saying their goodbyes so you know they had decided to go. And in those scenes is Shep flipping the coin. I think he HAD decided to go and the coin toss was for another decision. In my little fantasy world I like to think it was whether or not to contact his estranged father to say goodbye.

[Elinor]

However even before that I was attracted by the fact that he was completely unprepared and had no Stargate experience. He was purely there because he was assigned to pilot O'Neill and nearly got shot down and then thrown into this crazy world. He turns up on the base and knows nothing and Beckett was asking if he had security clearance and he's like,

SHEPPARD: Yeah, yeah, General O'Neill just gave it to me.

BECKETT: Then you don't even know about the Stargate.

SHEPPARD: The what?

I was thinking the same thing! I luv that look of awe and "unsureness" on his face when he enters the base on Antartica. That's when I was smitten!

[Shep'sSocks]

I don't think the coin toss was for the decision to go. Everyone else who WAS going was saying their goodbyes so you know they had decided to go. And in those scenes is Shep flipping the coin. I think he HAD decided to go and the coin toss was for another decision. In my little fantasy world I like to think it was whether or not to contact his estranged father to say goodbye.

You mean the SternColonelDad? I've also decided that he has a twin brother from whom he's estranged. I have absolutely no canonical basis for this, I just decided that in my own strange little head.

[Elinor]

You mean the SternColonelDad? I've also decided that he has a twin brother from whom he's estranged. I have absolutely no canonical basis for this, I just decided that in my own strange little head.

Hee hee! I like that! I have a great time to, in my little "made up Stargate world"!

[knocknashee]

It's funny people should mention made up SG worlds, since I've read some interesting fics with some interesting ideas recently...maybe Shep's parents were peace loving hippies???

I think there are definitely more things than we realise behind Shep...

[FoolishPleasure]

I'm thinking there is an estranged father issue going on w/Shep. I don't think TPTB would go the estranged sibling route as McKay seems to have that track with his sister (but wants to patch it up - from his video in LFP).

Also - I'm definitely in the boat w/Easter Lily. . that Janus/other Ancients played with their time travel devices and are relatives of Sheppard's (great grandfather, etc.), which is why he has purer abilities than anyone else.

You know you are hooked when you wish away 2 months of your life so you can see new episodes of a TV show. *shaking head*

[Shep'sSocks]

I agree that the coin toss was not about whether he was going to go or not. I always wondered why some people thought it might have been given that O'Neill said in the helicopter 'That if you can't give me a yes before we ge tto McMurdoh then I don't even want ya' (Not wholly accurate quote but as near as I remember it) so he would've decided to go or not before the leaving sequence.

Although thinking about it doesn't O'Neill talk about people who don't want to go through the Stargate as being nuts and then alter in the outpost Beckett mentions the Stargate and Sheppard doesn't know what he is talking about.

I like your idea about whether or not it was to make contact with an estranged relative.

It was the other way around. First the scene with Beckett then the scene with O'Neill.

[Easter Lily]

Either way, I think it tells us that Sheppard keeps everything close to the chest. With all his charm and bravado, he is really a private person. Whether he is that way because of some past event or whether he is just a lifelong loner that is probably for us to find out..
I know I'm probably skipping ahead but I think it's relevant to our present discussion. On one of the rare occasions that I think we see a chink in that armour is in the only scene that I like in Sanctuary, when Shep says to Chaya something to the effect of flirting with a woman from another galaxy. He says it with such sweetness and shyness... a rare departure from the usual witticism and devil-may-care attitude.

[Shep'sSocks]

I described it elsewhere as "dopily cute".

[Elinor]

You know you are hooked when you wish away 2 months of your life so you can see new episodes of a TV show. *shaking head*

I wonder what you call someone worse than hooked, 'cos I'm wishing away 5 months.... gotta wait until October!! (It's probably called "obsession" or something ........ like the perfume!!)

[knocknashee]

Either way, I think it tells us that Sheppard keeps everything close to the chest. With all his charm and bravado, he is really a private person. Whether he is that way because of some past event or whether he is just a lifelong loner that is probably for us to find out..
I know I'm probably skipping ahead but I think it's relevant to our present discussion. On one of the rare occasions that I think we see a chink in that armour is in the only scene that I like in Sanctuary, when Shep says to Chaya something to the effect of flirting with a woman from another galaxy. He says it with such sweetness and shyness... a rare departure from the usual witticism and devil-may-care attitude.

That was probably the one thing I did enjoy about that episode...it was nice to see a more vulnerable side to Shep's nature.