Didn't TPTB stop using an Air Force adviser starting in s9? That undoubtedly made it easier to write certain situations (Landry/Lam) and steer more toward camp. And I don't think that SGA ever adhered to RL military standards as strictly as SG1 did in s1-8.
I think part of the allure with SGA when it started was it had a "misfits in space" feel to it. Here was a group obviously out of their element, cut off from Earth, fighting a powerful enemy, and struggling to make allies and survive. You had a diplomat thrust into a war, a rebel forced to be a leader, a frightened, OTT scientist forced to become brave, a leader who chose to stay with the team instead of her people. It was fun to watch how these people dealt with all these changes and make mistakes and cope as best as they could.
However, once they regained contact with Earth that allure was lost. The desperation and fear wasn't present at the same level anymore. And I found myself less forgiving of the team's mistakes, not only because they made stupider mistakes (Michael, gah) but because the lack of repercussions made less sense. No one could really be questioned or replaced on Atlantis in s1 because they couldn't contact Earth. It was similar to BSG - sure those people are screwed up but who else could be in charge? But after Siege Atlantis had regular contact with Earth, and the team could have been replaced at any time. I wondered why Weir didn't encounter more strife for being a civilian in charge when Atlantis was in the middle of a war. I wondered why Shep stayed in charge of the military after all the poor security decisions. I wondered why the IOA didn't question Teyla or Ronon just because they were not from Earth. (Oddly enough, I didn't wonder about Rodney. His intelligence makes up for his incredibly poor people skills, much like a lot of scientists in RL.
) And I felt like the show just glossed over that part instead of really convincing me that these people are indeed the best for the job. I would have been happier if the SGC and/or the IOA really went to town on the team, maybe even suspending some of them for a while, but in the end having the team come back to Atlantis stronger than ever.
At this point this concept of worthiness is not going to be revisited (and it would be out of place to do so now anyway), but it's contributed to this feeling of "off"-ness I've had with the team since s2.
I think part of the allure with SGA when it started was it had a "misfits in space" feel to it. Here was a group obviously out of their element, cut off from Earth, fighting a powerful enemy, and struggling to make allies and survive. You had a diplomat thrust into a war, a rebel forced to be a leader, a frightened, OTT scientist forced to become brave, a leader who chose to stay with the team instead of her people. It was fun to watch how these people dealt with all these changes and make mistakes and cope as best as they could.
However, once they regained contact with Earth that allure was lost. The desperation and fear wasn't present at the same level anymore. And I found myself less forgiving of the team's mistakes, not only because they made stupider mistakes (Michael, gah) but because the lack of repercussions made less sense. No one could really be questioned or replaced on Atlantis in s1 because they couldn't contact Earth. It was similar to BSG - sure those people are screwed up but who else could be in charge? But after Siege Atlantis had regular contact with Earth, and the team could have been replaced at any time. I wondered why Weir didn't encounter more strife for being a civilian in charge when Atlantis was in the middle of a war. I wondered why Shep stayed in charge of the military after all the poor security decisions. I wondered why the IOA didn't question Teyla or Ronon just because they were not from Earth. (Oddly enough, I didn't wonder about Rodney. His intelligence makes up for his incredibly poor people skills, much like a lot of scientists in RL.
) And I felt like the show just glossed over that part instead of really convincing me that these people are indeed the best for the job. I would have been happier if the SGC and/or the IOA really went to town on the team, maybe even suspending some of them for a while, but in the end having the team come back to Atlantis stronger than ever. At this point this concept of worthiness is not going to be revisited (and it would be out of place to do so now anyway), but it's contributed to this feeling of "off"-ness I've had with the team since s2.
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