I hate to admit it, since I like Carter better than Weir, but...

[Agent_Dark]

We all know your ship preferences, and the fact that you hate Weir, so your opinion isn't really unexpected, is it?

yeah, but you're anti-s4 so therefore your opinion is irrelevant and null

[sexy_penguin]

yeah, but you're anti-s4 so therefore your opinion is irrelevant and null

Um.. and you're pro-season 4 so that makes your opinion.... what exactly?

Works both ways.

[Linzi]

Chemistry either is or it isn't...but the perception of that chemistry that someone swears exists isn't universal. I know there are characters and pairings that I thought had chemistry out the ears that others felt was non-existent and vice versa.

As for Carter's chemistry...let's see. She's interacted with Shep, Mer, Keller and Woolsey...and had a brief run in with Ronon. So far, with what little I've seen her there, I think she's developing a fantastic chemistry with all of the above. I'd like to see more of her and Ronon and I'd love for an actual moment with her and Teyla. And I really, really want to see her interact with Czech-ilicious Radek and Lorne too.

I agree. It's all subjective, isn't it? I think Carter has great chemistry with McKay, Sheppard, Keller and Ronon so far - some others don't. So? Big deal. Others are entitled not to see that, I think.

I feel it's early days! Carter has only been in a few episodes and hasn't had a lot of screentime. I am pleased with her interactions with the cast, and feel she's really fitting in well. Time will tell how this all progresses.

I personally never saw fantastic chemistry with Weir and other cast members that some people saw - and I'm NOT talking about romantic stuff here, I mean general chemistry. I mean it was fine, but nothing to make me shout out about. And? whose opinion is right? Nobody's is. We all like what we like, see what we want and form our opinions on that. We all have different opinions on things, different likes and dislikes, and I'm amazed some people don't think it's ok to feel like that. Are we all meant to be clones? Why should we all like the same things? Or perceive things in the same way as others?

And, please, can we stop accusing people of being haters, or bringing in shipping preferences when they post their views and explanations of those views? Everyone is entitled to say what they like as long as they are respectful and stay within forum rules. Just because the general 'you' don't agree with what's said, don't start throwing round accusations of 'Well, you would say that, you're a...*inserts description*' Frankly that sort of intolerance and inflammatory posting causes so much trouble on this forum, and has others having no choice but to either report the post, or respond in kind.

[doylefan22]

I agree. It's all subjective, isn't it? I think Carter has great chemistry with McKay, Sheppard, Keller and Ronon so far - some others don't. So? Big deal. Others are entitled not to see that, I think.

I'm hard pushed to call it great chemistry because of her limited time so far but I think she's fitted in fairly seamlessly and hasn't been too forced in which is a blessing.

Torri/Weir did admittedly have great chemistry with the others imo but she did have three years to cultivate that. I'm particularly fond of the chemistry between her and Rodney who she has mostly been gentle and understanding to, knowing exactly how to deal with him and seemingly seeing beyond his surface personality. My biggest worry was that Carter would somehow belittle Rodney (not because of being intentionally horrible to him or anything) and I'm glad that hasn't happened.

To be honest I think I prefer Carter keeping herself slightly separated from the rest of them as it probably should be like that with her as military leader. I'd like to see a deal of mutual respect but not necessarily best buddies.

[JackHarkness_Hot]

Well, maybe if AT finally has time to portray Carter on Atlantis, she'll also find the time to put a little spark into her portrayal. So far, she seems to be putting forth a minimal effort.

No one can disagree with this fact. It's evident in all episodes she's been in as "leader".

If the Col Carter character was shown with more energy then she would have been okay but she hardly does anything, she stands around, mutters something then go off on one of her, "Oh this happen to the SGC, we did this", well, that's BOOOORRRRINGGGG! It's like Carter is dying in front of us, what happened to her energy, her essence, all gone when she entered the role as "Leader of the Expedition team".

She did more when she was on (4x02) Lifeline and that's before she was officially the leader. Don't say that ain't true, it's there, evident in all the episodes of Season 4 so far.

I say, jump into the deep end and do the job or don't do it at all. It's not like Carter is new to the Stargate story.

[MechaThor]

I don't mind Carter in Atlantis and I like that shes not in it that much.

My main fear of her coming to Atlantis was that she would spoil the Mckay/Zelenka thing as the tech guys and maybe even spoil Sheppard/lorne as the military guys. But luckly that has not happened.

Yes maybe the "Back in the SGC" stuff is abit annoying, maybe it will become her catchphrase like Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses. But its a given since SG-1 has eatern most of the stories b4 anyways.

Carter may not have been in this ep. But was she needed? The replicators would not of made a version of her, However i am sure the blonde babe will return in the next ep.

[Aussie_Fan]

I just don't like how she is being written. Her character's around when really she shouldn't be and then when she should be around we don't see her at all.

At least Weir got some descent screen time..

[Integrabyte]

I just don't like how she is being written. Her character's around when really she shouldn't be and then when she should be around we don't see her at all.

At least Weir got some descent screen time..

To prove that even a very good character like Sam can suck on TV

[ToasterOnFire]

she was sg1's commander in s8.

And then she lost that command to someone who's never been through a gate before. TPTB thought she wasn't good enough to lead in s9 and s10...

[Killdeer]

You know, I've been thinking about this, and I think my whole problem is that everyone is being so freaking nice to each other. You know, people being nice is great in RL, but it's boring on TV. I liked Carter in the one episode where they had some tension introduced with Ronon. But since then everyone is on their best behavior. And I'm not talking about outside tension, like Woolsey. That doesn't count. Even Rodney is being uncommonly nice, and it just doesn't feel right.

Yes I miss Weir. Yes, I think she added something special to the group. But her not being there has nothing to do with my frustrations about Carter. They've always been two separate issues for me. I don't like the way Elizabeth's been treated. But my issues with Carter are a separate thing. I wouldn't have a problem with Carter if they would work harder on showing us an actual transition - if they would put in some tension, some confrontation. Show us some struggle with her taking over this new command. But instead, they've voted to skip all of that, and just have her just fill Elizabeth's place. They badly need to differentiate her from Elizabeth somehow. If she was actually doing something different, I don't think there would be so much issue with comparisons. But when she's doing the same things, saying the same things, even standing in the same position on the same balcony - good grief. They threw in a token confrontation with Ronon in Reunion (and BTW, as I've said before, I really liked Carter in Reunion), and then just skipped over all the rest.

One of the reasons the later seasons of SG-1 were more boring (IMO) than the earlier seasons is that they completely threw away the idea of any intrateam tension after Daniel returned. That's one reason I welcomed Vala so much - she shook things up, introduced some friction. Not as much as there could have been, but at least some.

I don't understand why the writers are so afraid to put other main characters in conflict with Carter. This happened on SG-1 too, and I didn't understand it. Are they that afraid that it's going to make her look bad? That doesn't speak well for confidence in the character. If they were bringing a character like Jack O'Neill over to run the place, you can bet they'd throw in a lot of tension and butting heads between him and Sheppard and him and Rodney. So why in the world not do the same with Carter? Why take the easy way out? The Carter/Shep bonding moments wouldn't bother me so much if they'd had to work to get there - if they'd earned them. But this instantanious harmony is not only unrealistic - it's boring. Annoyingly so.

As someone mentioned earlier, there was Teyla's dream where it was brought up that she was afraid Carter didn't trust her. Why not explore that? Why not have Carter have a few confrontations with Rodney or with Shep? And for heaven's sake, have the woman make a few mistakes along the way! This is her first command after all! Mistakes make a person more likable in my opinion, and they're certainly having Rodney make a ton of them this year. Why not spread the wealth a little?

There's a lot of things that they could do to make Carter's transition better. Instead, with Amanda being out so much in the first half, I'm afraid they've completely skipped the transitional phase (less the token confrontation with Ronon) and now will expect us to assume that everyone's completely adjusted. Well, no, I'm not adjusted. I want them to show us that.

You know, we talked and debated about this for months and months before the season actually aired. As I remember it, most people said they wanted a realistic integration - to show Carter having some struggles with the command, to not have everyone accept her all at once. Well, here we are, and what I'm seeing is what I feared. No, she's not taking over the show, but neither is her integration into the Atlantis crew being handled remotely believably. Instead, they're ignoring all the questions and all the tension points that they could be exploiting, in favor of showing Carter being perfectly accepted. It's S9 all over again, with them absolutely refusing to acknowledge the co-leadership issue and instead having Carter and Cam be bestest of friends.

I hope this isn't the end of it. I hope that going into the second half, they explore some more of these aspects. But my fear is that they will expect us to assume that this has all already happened (after all, it had already been three months in The Seer), and refuse to show it.

To quote Joe Flanigan, speaking of the relationship between Sheppard and Carter:

"Drama isn't interesting when people get along," he said. "It's interesting when they butt heads....When everybody just gets along, it could be a little dull. So we were trying to create some areas where we would have a little friction."

I agree completely - it's dull when people are just getting along. Here's hoping they succeeded, but so far it doesn't look promising.

All of the above is only my own opinions and perspectives on the subject in question.

[Linzi]

You know, I've been thinking about this, and I think my whole problem is that everyone is being so freaking nice to each other. You know, people being nice is great in RL, but it's boring on TV. I liked Carter in the one episode where they had some tension introduced with Ronon. But since then everyone is on their best behavior. And I'm not talking about outside tension, like Woolsey. That doesn't count. Even Rodney is being uncommonly nice, and it just doesn't feel right.

Yes I miss Weir. Yes, I think she added something special to the group. But her not being there has nothing to do with my frustrations about Carter. They've always been two separate issues for me. I don't like the way Elizabeth's been treated. But my issues with Carter are a separate thing. I wouldn't have a problem with Carter if they would work harder on showing us an actual transition - if they would put in some tension, some confrontation. Show us some struggle with her taking over this new command. But instead, they've voted to skip all of that, and just have her just fill Elizabeth's place. They badly need to differentiate her from Elizabeth somehow. If she was actually doing something different, I don't think there would be so much issue with comparisons. But when she's doing the same things, saying the same things, even standing in the same position on the same balcony - good grief. They threw in a token confrontation with Ronon in Reunion (and BTW, as I've said before, I really liked Carter in Reunion), and then just skipped over all the rest.

One of the reasons the later seasons of SG-1 were more boring (IMO) than the earlier seasons is that they completely threw away the idea of any intrateam tension after Daniel returned. That's one reason I welcomed Vala so much - she shook things up, introduced some friction. Not as much as there could have been, but at least some.

I don't understand why the writers are so afraid to put other main characters in conflict with Carter. This happened on SG-1 too, and I didn't understand it. Are they that afraid that it's going to make her look bad? That doesn't speak well for confidence in the character. If they were bringing a character like Jack O'Neill over to run the place, you can bet they'd throw in a lot of tension and butting heads between him and Sheppard and him and Rodney. So why in the world not do the same with Carter? Why take the easy way out? The Carter/Shep bonding moments wouldn't bother me so much if they'd had to work to get there - if they'd earned them. But this instantanious harmony is not only unrealistic - it's boring. Annoyingly so.

As someone mentioned earlier, there was Teyla's dream where it was brought up that she was afraid Carter didn't trust her. Why not explore that? Why not have Carter have a few confrontations with Rodney or with Shep? And for heaven's sake, have the woman make a few mistakes along the way! This is her first command after all! Mistakes make a person more likable in my opinion, and they're certainly having Rodney make a ton of them this year. Why not spread the wealth a little?

There's a lot of things that they could do to make Carter's transition better. Instead, with Amanda being out so much in the first half, I'm afraid they've completely skipped the transitional phase (less the token confrontation with Ronon) and now will expect us to assume that everyone's completely adjusted. Well, no, I'm not adjusted. I want them to show us that.

You know, we talked and debated about this for months and months before the season actually aired. As I remember it, most people said they wanted a realistic integration - to show Carter having some struggles with the command, to not have everyone accept her all at once. Well, here we are, and what I'm seeing is what I feared. No, she's not taking over the show, but neither is her integration into the Atlantis crew being handled remotely believably. Instead, they're ignoring all the questions and all the tension points that they could be exploiting, in favor of showing Carter being perfectly accepted. It's S9 all over again, with them absolutely refusing to acknowledge the co-leadership issue and instead having Carter and Cam be bestest of friends.

I hope this isn't the end of it. I hope that going into the second half, they explore some more of these aspects. But my fear is that they will expect us to assume that this has all already happened (after all, it had already been three months in The Seer), and refuse to show it.

To quote Joe Flanigan, speaking of the relationship between Sheppard and Carter:



I agree completely - it's dull when people are just getting along. Here's hoping they succeeded, but so far it doesn't look promising.

All of the above is only my own opinions and perspectives on the subject in question.

I know exactly what you're saying here. I like a little discomfort between characters too. I think the problem is two-fold. Firstly AT's time has been limited on the show because of existing work committments. This invariably means Carter couldn't be on the show much whilst the SG1 movies were filming.

Secondly. Poor PTB. Whatever they do people will moan. Put Carter in too much, make her too assertive, too confrontational, then some fans would be really unhappy, and we'd get 'She's taking over the show, and upsetting character X! I hate her for that, how dare she!'

Conversely, have her treading gently, as Carter has done, have her understanding the shoes she's filling, having a relaxed command style and deferring to the experts as she's done, and she's not 'doing' enough. She's not putting her stamp on the series and she's not showing her skills.

How to please everyone? Simply, you can't. I also have to ask, how often did we see conflict between the old leader, Weir and the other principle characters? With Sheppard in season 1, Rising, Hot Zone, and Conversion when we had buggy Shep. With McKay in Trinity. Never with Teyla or Ronon that I remember. Possibly there are odd moments I'm forgetting, but nothing else stands out for me here. So, I can't see there's been much conflict between them really, not in a whole three seasons.

Now, I hope that the second half of the season will show Carter a little more involved in the events on screen. But, I think JM and PM were very aware that some fans were concerned Carter would dominate the show, and have always made it very clear that wasn't going to be the case. And, so far, they have kept to their word. Carter is in a more supporting role.

I'm hopeful that soon we'll see Carter show more of her leadership skills and make her mark more on the show. Though, I have to say, I've been really pleased so far. The Seer really made me see her in a leadership role, in control of the situation and indeed making her mark on the show as far as I'm concerned. But, I'd now like to see more.

As for the conflict? I just don't see her Carter actively having conflict for any amount of time with the characters on the show. If she had been having serious disagreements with Shep, McKay et al in the few episodes she'd been in so far, (6 to date), then I think it would have made her unpopular with many fans. In real life, when we go into a new job, we try to befriend people and work with them in a positive manner before we get to know them well enough to perhaps throw our authority around too much. It's about working alongside people and guiding them, and I think Carter has achieved that so far.

I think there have been moments of discomfort. When Sheppard asked to find Weir in Reunion, when McKay didn't want to go off world in DG, with Ronon in Reunion too. There were glimpses of disagreement there, and for me those were the right levels for the time. I would like to see more, but to be honest, I wouldn't want too much. I like that the characters trust each other's judgement and respect each other. I like they can work side by side.

Carter is treading gently, but I have no doubt she'll have to put her foot down with some characters soon.

Those are my thoughts on the situation so far.

[jelgate]

I know exactly what you're saying here. I like a little discomfort between characters too. I think the problem is two-fold. Firstly AT's time has been limited on the show because of existing work committments. This invariably means Carter couldn't be on the show much whilst the SG1 movies were filming.Secondly. Poor PTB. Whatever they do people will moan. Put Carter in too much, make her too assertive, too confrontational, then some fans would be really unhappy, and we'd get 'She's taking over the show, and upsetting character X! I hate her for that, how dare she!'Conversely, have her treading gently, as Carter has done, have her understanding the shoes she's filling, having a relaxed command style and deferring to the experts as she's done, and she's not 'doing' enough. She's not putting her stamp on the series and she's not showing her skills.How to please everyone? Simply, you can't.?* I also have to ask, how often did we see conflict between the old leader, Weir and the other principle characters? With Sheppard in season 1, Rising, Hot Zone, and Conversion when we had buggy Shep. With McKay in Trinity. Never with Teyla or Ronon that I remember. Possibly there are odd moments I'm forgetting, but nothing else stands out for me here. So, I can't see there's been much conflict between them really, not in a whole three seasons.Now, I hope that the second half of the season will show Carter a little more involved in the events on screen. But, I think JM and PM were very aware that some fans were concerned Carter would dominate the show, and have always made it very clear that wasn't going to be the case. And, so far, they have kept to their word. Carter is in a more supporting role.I'm hopeful that soon we'll see Carter show more of her leadership skills and make her mark more on the show. Though, I have to say, I've been really pleased so far. The Seer really made me see her in a leadership role, in control of the situation and indeed making her mark on the show as far as I'm concerned. But, I'd now like to see more.As for the conflict? I just don't see her Carter actively having conflict for any amount of time with the characters on the show. If she had been having serious disagreements with Shep, McKay et al in the few episodes she'd been in so far, (6 to date),?* then I think it would have made her unpopular with many fans. In real life, when we go into a new job, we try to befriend people and work with them in a positive manner before we get to know them well enough to perhaps throw our authority around too much. It's about working alongside people and guiding them, and I think Carter has achieved that so far. I think there have been moments of discomfort. When Sheppard asked to find Weir in Reunion, when McKay didn't want to go off world in DG, with Ronon in Reunion too. There were glimpses of disagreement there, and for me those were the right levels for the time. I would like to see more, but to be honest, I wouldn't want too much. I like that the characters trust each other's judgement and respect each other. I like they can work side by side. Carter is treading gently, but I have no doubt she'll have to put her foot down with some characters soon. Those are my thoughts on the situation so far.

Well said Linzi. Apparently Peg hasn't corrupted you too much. I am personally pleased with what has happened with Carter. She acts like Hammond when he was in charge of SGC.No getting in the way of the team and having to make the tough decisions

[Killdeer]

Well said Linzi. Apparently Peg hasn't corrupted you too much. I am personally pleased with what has happened with Carter. She acts like Hammond when he was in charge of SGC.No getting in the way of the team and having to make the tough decisions

Actually, no not really. Hammond and Jack butted heads quite a bit, especially in the early days. Hammond and Daniel didn't exactly get along very well in the beginning either. And Teal'c and Sam had to prove themselves to him at first too. The relationship between SG-1 and Hammond was a growing process, and even up until the end, they never hesitated to show Jack crossing lines and Hammond slapping him down.

That's my point. They grew the relationship naturally there. Here, they're just assuming it, not earning it.

[Southern Red]

I think chemistry is like pornography. You can't really define it, but you dang sure know it when you see it.

Actors are frequently put in situations, romantic or otherwise, where they have to relate to and interact with other actors sometimes on a very intimate level. If the audience believes the resulting scene is believable and that the emotions portrayed by the characters are real, they consider the actors to have chemistry.

From the first moment I saw Torri Higginson interact with the rest of the cast, I saw that chemistry. Rodney, Daniel, Carson, Jack, Peter, John, even Sumner in the pilot and then later in the series Teyla, Ford, Ronon etc. She seemed to genuinely care about each and every one of them and they her. In the pilot everyone ran around trying to show her things and in later episodes her authority was accepted without question most of the time. The little bit of conflict with Sheppard before they found a commonality was just spicy enough to make things interesting. That is sorely missing with Carter. I won't even speak about the romantic angle with her and John because everyone knows how I feel about that, but that chemistry is there without a word being spoken.

I always liked Carter in SG-l but whoever this blonde woman is who seems unsure of herself and sadly out of place is not that Carter. More and more it seems like Sheppard and Rodney are running things and doing a fine job of it IMHO. And speaking of chemistry, JF and DH have it as did both those men and PM. It's an ease of working together, a generosity that comes across on the screen. It can't be developed and it can't be faked. It just is the subjective opinion of the viewer.

Now the test for TPTB is if they can decide that they see what some of us see.

[ToasterOnFire]

You know, I've been thinking about this, and I think my whole problem is that everyone is being so freaking nice to each other. You know, people being nice is great in RL, but it's boring on TV. I liked Carter in the one episode where they had some tension introduced with Ronon. But since then everyone is on their best behavior. And I'm not talking about outside tension, like Woolsey. That doesn't count. Even Rodney is being uncommonly nice, and it just doesn't feel right.

TPTB skirt away from writing conflict. Mitchell took over as leader of SG1 in s9 and no one on the team batted an eye, even Carter. The same thing happened with Carter and Atlantis. Everyone gets along and in the rare times that they don't it's forgotten about when the ep ends.