Different Actress for Elizabeth Wier

[Suzotchka]

If they're just going to replace Torri with someone else to portray Weir, then, why even bother reducing or getting rid of Torri at all? TPTB should've (and could've) avoided all this drama by just making a point to keep Weir on full time and keeping Torri.

Replacing Weir with another actress at this point in time is like replacing Sheppard or McKay with another actor.

[FoolishPleasure]

Also when someone asked why Torri turned down the chance to appear, this is was what JM answered on his blog:

Answer: I understand the fans’ desire to support Torri, but I don’t find it fair or helpful to speculate on the reasons for her declining the offer. As I wrote in yesterday’s entry, we fully respect and support Torri’s decision and wish her all the best. For the record, however, it wasn’t a specific script issue. The content of the script (which has yet to be delivered) was never even discussed.

Be careful with JM's blog. He "embellishes" just a tad. I like the recent post where he took full credit for the idea to hire Ben Browder on SG1. But Cooper said SciFi asked them to use Browder because they (Skiffy) really liked him a lot and he had a huge fan base.

Gotta laugh.

[Southern Red]

Hiring another actress to play Weir would be just another bad decision in a long line of bad decisions. So it's what we can probably expect from these people.

I liked Fran and see no problem with a Replicator story involving her. They will probably have either her or another character say that they once had the form of Weir but found it was no longer useful or some such blather. Easy enough done and she's history.

If they were really smart they would have her disembodied form stick around as a part of Atlantis. After all she spent 10,000 years in stasis to save the expedition before when she hardly knew them. Now that they are her closest friends, she could be a comfort for them. And I could change my sig to read She's In There. LOL

[Anuna]

I think now I definitely completely understand Torri's decision not to do this episode...she really definitely wouldn't have been portraying Weir in this episode...she'd be portraying a 'ghost' of a copy of a copy of Weir...

Not working for me

Agreed. This sounds ridiculous. They would end up changing Weir to the point of unrecognizable. It doesn't work for me. Weir is my favorite character and I'm glad she's not back. I think that says it all.

[Falcon Horus]

...and I think that TPTB are going to just kill off the character.

They are going to delete her - Ghost in the Machine - that screams deletion.

[Anuna]

Also when someone asked why Torri turned down the chance to appear, this is was what JM answered on his blog:

Answer: I understand the fans’ desire to support Torri, but I don’t find it fair or helpful to speculate on the reasons for her declining the offer. As I wrote in yesterday’s entry, we fully respect and support Torri’s decision and wish her all the best. For the record, however, it wasn’t a specific script issue. The content of the script (which has yet to be delivered) was never even discussed.

Well of course they support Torri's decision. They wanted her out of the show in the first place.

[jenks]

If they're just going to replace Torri with someone else to portray Weir, then, why even bother reducing or getting rid of Torri at all?

What has one got to do with the other? They wanted her character to go in a different direction, it's not their fault she refused to come back.

TPTB should've (and could've) avoided all this drama by just making a point to keep Weir on full time and keeping Torri.

How would that solve the situation? They don't want her back full time.

Replacing Weir with another actress at this point in time is like replacing Sheppard or McKay with another actor.

No it's not, as far as I'm aware neither Joe F or David H have refused to reprise their roles.

[Mr.Dr.Prof.Col.John Sheppard]

I don't know if the character was recast, or the story rewritten accordingly. I've become accustomed to Torri's amazing performance over the last few years, and I'll reserve my judgment on how things turn out in regards to the new episode for now.

i think it was rewritten to be a cliff hanger. i as well have liked torri higginsons role of weir but i think a new face would be refreshing

[Ice Wolf]

What has one got to do with the other? They wanted her character to go in a different direction, it's not their fault she refused to come back.

They (TPTB) wanted Weir off the show. I guess you could call that a different direction. We don't know why Torri 'refused' to come back, it could very well be their fault.

No it's not, as far as I'm aware neither Joe F or David H have refused to reprise their roles.

They haven't been essentially fired yet either and I believe that they were still under contracted to do S5 as long as TPTB wanted them in it.

[Killdeer]

I don't know what they're planning, but I would prefer them not recast the role. I would prefer they just explain away her absence somehow.

[Eri13]

"Ghost in the Machine" seems to indicate that no corporeal body is necessary--which is a perfect fit for a situation where the actress has agreed not to corporeally reprise her role. Most references to the 'ghost in the machine' in pop culture are to a consciousness trapped in a mechanical body or computer system.

Sounds like they might be downloading Elizabeth's conscious mind into Atlantis--which would be symbolically fitting for Weir, in a way. There is no voice or physical requirement for a person to appear in this fashion--the big 'shocker' could be Elizabeth 'typing' herself onto their screens. ("Hi, I'm here, what did Woolsey do to my office?!")

It's the Carson/Kindred situation all over again, only Elizabeth's not in a stasis pod, she's actually inside the city.

What intrigues me about this episode is that Carl Binder wrote it, who has a track record of writing good Elizabeth episodes. I'll be interested to see if this is the avenue he and TPTB take. If Elizabeth 'hangs around' in Atlantis, or is contained in the computers of Atlantis, it could pave the way for future appearances by the Weir character.

I don't really see them recasting Weir, not for one episode--you'd have to explain to the casual viewer she is Weir, when she may only get a couple of scenes, at best. If she does go corporeal, I believe she may channel through Fran.

[Ruined_puzzle]

Seeing as its the 5th episode, no wonder they couldn't get Torri back when they seemed to leave it so late to contact her.

I know, I was thinking maybe it would be in the second half but 5th episode. Why wait so long so contact the actress?

From looking at the info at GW it doesn't look like Weir would have had a huge presence screen wise anyways.

[Reiko]

Seeing as its the 5th episode, no wonder they couldn't get Torri back when they seemed to leave it so late to contact her.

That's what I though. 5th episode is quite early for the timeframe that they needed to contact her. Of course I'm not dismissing other possibilities either, but it's not exactly mine to speculate

I can't see them recasting the role of Elizabeth Weir at this point in time. As far as I'm concerned, Torri is the only one who can play the role with grace and class.
[...]If they're just going to replace Torri with someone else to portray Weir, then, why even bother reducing or getting rid of Torri at all? TPTB should've (and could've) avoided all this drama by just making a point to keep Weir on full time and keeping Torri.

I agree with you Suz ... no one else can replace Elizabeth for me. Torri won the character over for me and I wouldn't like another actress to play her. If they did, it would be out of TPTB's desperation. Or stupidity - like Southern Red said it's another stupid mistake in a long line of stupid mistakes. They could of avoided putting fandom in chaos from the beginning. Look where we are now.

actually Joe said

And we blindly trust what Mallozzi says? What FoolishPleasure said - that man embellishes pretty much everything.

They are going to delete her - Ghost in the Machine - that screams deletion.

It's kind of pushing the "DELETE" button. Maybe Rodney will accidentally forget to press "SAVE" while snooping around on Atlantis' systems. Oops

If she does go corporeal, I believe she may channel through Fran.

Or through Teyla. It would give Teyla something to do

[jelgate]

I know, I was thinking maybe it would be in the second half but 5th episode. Why wait so long so contact the actress?

From looking at the info at GW it doesn't look like Weir would have had a huge presence screen wise anyways.

And whose to say that the epiosde list remained unchanged when Torri decided not to continue her role. I imagine they had an arc in plan for her. When she declined, I think TPTB had to restructure their season.

[Chrysalis]

I think that part may have been rewritten and Weir won't appear at all.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope you're right.

Recasting Weir would be the biggest joke ever. Especially after the uproar over Torri being sacked and offered only recurring work in the first place.

For me, the dumping of Beckett and Weir, and the subsequent moves to bring them back, which I'm sure are only attempts to appease the fans, were the beginning of the end for this show. It's a shadow of its former self, and becoming cartoonish, IMO.