S5: Critique and Contemplations

[Rockhound]

to play the devil's advocate...does ANY tv show's characters not heal over night and have no scars?

It happens, and it's not just these guys, it's every show out there

Agreed, but it is TV and is not real. We would not want it to be because then it would be boring. No one wants to see a hero recuperating for too long from an injury because plain and simple -it would be boring. If Sheppard was held back in the infirmary because of his injury in S&R, the episode would have had a totally different momentum to it. He had to go and rescue Teyla no matter what his injury was because that is what his character would do - realistic or not. I for one would have been pissed if John had spent half the episode in the infirmary (even though it would have been great to see Rodney & Ronan pull off the rescue by themselves). In a way it is as superficial as TV characters waking up with perfect hair, perfect makeup & lipstick, and no "morning breath". It doesn't happen that way in RL, but no one really wants to see it the way it really is because we see that every day

[Falcon Horus]

Scars are not just of the physical kind - there are also the psychological scars which seem to disappear just as easy as the physical ones, making it even more ridiculous than it already is.

[A_PophisandhisFran]

I think that we should keep in mind that this is supposedly the best of the best of the best that we're talking about here. Neither the Atlantis or SG-1 crew are supposed to be "ordinary" soldiers, and are a step above special forces in some ways. Because of this I'm willing to look past these things, and also because I really don't want to see a suicidal Sheppard or see McKay crying in his bed at night. I know some people would love to see all that stuff, but I wouldn't. It works in other shows and it may work in Universe if they try it (we'll have to see about that), but that has never been the way SG-1 or Atlantis handles things.

[jckfan55]

I thought the plastic surgery was a bit too Star Trek. Why not just wave a whirly light over them to heal them? You also had to wonder how many specialities Keller has. Even Janet sometimes called in other docs.

[Skydiver]

Ashleigh in Sanctuary - still had the scratches two eps after she got them. But yeah, most shows they do heal overnight. Just not all

actually, she didn't

she was scratched in the new premiere, then in the re-edit of the witches, she had no scratches, then she had the owies back again

how about in SG1, given jack's injuries in solitudes he'd have been out of commission for 8 weeks or so, and it's totally unreasonable for sam, who was banged up in Evolution, to have gotten the concussion she did in grace, participate in fall out and also chimera all of which happened in the month between Evolution and Death Knell

After Line in the Sand, sam shoulda been out of commission for 6-8 weeks, after death knell for about a month or so...and after death knell sam's scars from the cuts on her face miraculously healed

[Falcon Horus]

I think that we should keep in mind that this is supposedly the best of the best of the best that we're talking about here.

Strange how characters on TV-shows, even if they are the best of the best, happen to be immune to PTSD or any other syndrome while real life soldiers, the best of the best even, come home all screwed up from the frontlines.

And there other people there too, you know, who happen to be just human. It's very unrealistic to have your main characters, and anyone else, have no emotions about something. They keep forgetting continuity.

Besides Sheppard is suicidal - he risks his life time and time again on his suicide missions. He would die for his friends if the mission asked for it. He's by far the only character to have remaining emotional and psychological scaring, and he is supposedly quite the military man if we can go by his trackrecord (even though the military establishment thought otherwise).

So, it's not so very farfetched - besides if they are the best of the best and are supposedly immune to anything the Pegasus Galaxy or Wraith throw at them, why did they bring a psychologist along for the ride? Or better yet, do you really think going through the stuff Sheppard was put through in Condemned doesn't leave a mark? That would be a bit naive, don't you think?

[Killdeer]

But perhaps the biggest disappointment for me was that it was a missed opportunity for some meaty scenes for Teyla and Ronon. With the premise of the Pegasus galaxy putting the Atlantis expedition on trial, I'd expected, as the only Pegasus natives in the city, for Ronon and especially Teyla to take the lead in defending their actions. But aside from a passing line from Teyla, we didn't really get to see their feelings on how the expedition has affected their galaxy, which is something I don't think the show has explored before.

This is one of the biggest complaints I think I've seen about the episode - also that they didn't seem to be taking the trial seriously. Well-intentioned or not, the expedition has caused a lot of chaos in Pegasus. Of course whether they would be better off without the Atlantis expedition there is a matter of debate, but it would have been nice to have the matter taken a bit more seriously.

[Skydiver]

inquisitoin was, at its best, a cheap clip show

But i do think the biggest 'travesty' is that shep and the crew aren't of hte 'wow, look at all the stuff we screwed up' mind set.

yeah, they're not evil, they didn't do it deliberately, but they DID really mess things up.

they should at least have some remorse

[slurredspeech]

Strange how characters on TV-shows, even if they are the best of the best, happen to be immune to PTSD or any other syndrome while real life soldiers,...

... And there other people there too, you know, who happen to be just human.

I love how McKay, the nervous scientist who spent his pre-Atlantis years on theoretical research in Russia, is so well-equipped emotionally and psychologically to handle even the direst of the dire situations of doom with absolutely no consequence to his mental health.
(And I don't want to hear 'what mental health' from all ye cynics. I know; it's the first retort that would come to me.)

[Falcon Horus]

I love how McKay, the nervous scientist who spent his pre-Atlantis years on theoretical research in Russia, is so well-equipped emotionally and psychologically to handle even the direst of the dire situations of doom with absolutely no consequence to his mental health.

There can only be answer to that -> They're cylons.

[EvenstarSRV]

This is one of the biggest complaints I think I've seen about the episode - also that they didn't seem to be taking the trial seriously. Well-intentioned or not, the expedition has caused a lot of chaos in Pegasus. Of course whether they would be better off without the Atlantis expedition there is a matter of debate, but it would have been nice to have the matter taken a bit more seriously.

Exactly. The expedition doesn't deserve all the blame for the chaos, but they are at least partially responsible for some of it, like Michael. I would have preferred for the writers to take the concept seriously as opposed to having the characters bribe their way out of it.

[fumblesmcstupid]

The writers write the stories that they put our guys in, then they turn around and put them on trial for the actions that they had them do...then they give us a really bad Pro vs Con on WHY the characters did what they.....

John killed the Keeper while rescuing his men setting off a chain of events through no fault of his own!

Rodney messed with the code on the Assurans trying to help....

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

This clipshow was just ludicrous.

[A_PophisandhisFran]

Besides Sheppard is suicidal - he risks his life time and time again on his suicide missions. He would die for his friends if the mission asked for it. He's by far the only character to have remaining emotional and psychological scaring, and he is supposedly quite the military man if we can go by his trackrecord (even though the military establishment thought otherwise).

Sheppard is scarred because of alot of the things he's done (I like the way they dealed with him shooting Sumner in the first season), but I don't think he's suicidal because he risks his life for his team.

We almost always see Atlantis and SG-1 on the job. Lots of people who ARE psychologically or emotionally unstable can keep it together in front of friends or in the workplace (how many times has someone gone on a killing spree and then everyone who knew him/her end up saying "He/she acted so normal"). We very rarely see SG-1 or the Atlantis crew during their downtime, and when we do it's usually when the team is hanging out someplace. We HAVE seen that Carter has a screwed up social life, McKay has no friends outside of work, etc. It's uncanny the number of SG-1 or Atlantis personell who are separated (O'Neill, Sheppard, Woolsey, Weir loses Simon, etc.). Again, the two Stargate shows just aren't the type of shows to deal with emotional issues week in and week out.

On Inquisition again- I think Sheppard waking the Wraith was understandable, they had no idea about the Wraith and they would have woken up anyway. I hated the Asuran thing though. They had NO right to be messing with that code, and frankly someone should have paid for it. To me, that may be the single worst decision the Atlantis expedition has ever made (besides maybe Michael).

[Crazedwraith]

There can only be answer to that -> They're cylons.

Ironically, nBSG cylons did get mentally damaged quite a bit. I'm thinking Boomer, Gina, Athena after she was raped by the pegasus guy.

Early BSG also kept people's injuries from week to week. Adama has a great huge scab on his face in the first episode after the beating he took in the miniseries.

[Falcon Horus]

Ironically, nBSG cylons did get mentally damaged quite a bit. I'm thinking Boomer, Gina, Athena after she was raped by the pegasus guy.

Early BSG also kept people's injuries from week to week. Adama has a great huge scab on his face in the first episode after the beating he took in the miniseries.

Frak, you're right.

Maybe they're first generation cylons then.