Season 4 changes discussion thread, Pro and Con

[ShoDar]

Fair enough that people are fretting over Paul's character getting written out but whats not to say that Torri opted to be switched to recurring so that they can save some money for when they actually need the Weir character... that is instead of jamming her in looking concerned whenever a team goes off world, it is insulting to Torri in my opinion when thats the only time you see her in an episode.

Thank you for saying that! I think one of the worst things about Weir as a character is that they know they have to stick her in somewhere but don't know how. It might be interesting if she's there for fewer episodes but actually has something interesting in the ones she is in. And probably more fullfiilling to her as an actor as well. Who knows if that's what will happen, but I don't know that it won't happen so I'm reasonable happy with the idea at the moment.


In general the way I see it, the second season was the weakest overall and there were a lot of issues that needed to be addressed. They spent season 3 tightening up some of the characters and interactions, which has made it a good season overall. The biggest problem with the series as it is now is the lack of coherent direction. There have been some excellent episodes, but what they are doing and why has to be more clearly defined. So I see season 4 and the changes as part of trying to remedy that. And in trying to move forward with the plot, they have had to go in a direction where maybe certain characters don't service that forward motion. Ultimately, Atlantis is a very character driven show, but if the characters are there without a decent plotline, it could end up turning into a soap opera. The greatest thing about these changes is that they seem to have done a good job in identifying the bigger problems going on, which gives me hope that the solutions, while maybe a bit painful, will head in the right direction. I understand the trepidation about the changes from some, but I am personally rather optimistic that they will be positive.

[Sasusc]

They've already said that Torri will be recurring, and they've already killed off Paul's character. When does it not become jumping the gun? Because I'm pretty sure if Amanda hadn't been moved to Atlantis, Torri would still be playing Elizabeth as a regular character.

This I disagree with. We do not know the storylines that have been develope for S4, so we do not know how Weir fits into it. Weir's role as always been a much better version of Hammond/Landry. Better because she was more involve then Hammond/Landry has been with the different cultures and planets they've met. Could the storylines have been developed for allowing Carter into the series? Yes, there is that possiblity that Carter may have needed more time onscreen to develope her storyline and thus leaving less time for slightly "un-needed" character time. And by this, I'm not saying Weir is un-needed. What I am saying is that Weir might not have a huge role to push this story forward.

And are you one of those people that believe Daniel would have been a better choice? Anyone crossing over would still have this same problem of needing to tell how and why they are in Atlantis, and pushing the story forward. It doesn't matter who it is.

dont get me wrong, sam was great on sg1 but we've had 10 years of character development on her and very little on some of the great sga characters.....I'd like to see more of mcays team in action and learn more about them.

I'm also in agreement that the SGA's characters need to be developement more. I want to see Shep and team on more missions and developing their characters. Do I want Carter in SGA? Actually no, I would prefer them to stay focus on the Atlantis cast. There are many characters there that can be develope (and even some we do know that needs to be more develope). But Carter is one of my favorite characters (as well as I love AT) and I jump at the chance to see more of her (both actress and character). I'm just hoping that TPTB doesn't screw this up.