GateWorld Podcast Feedback!

[silvercomet]

I had some technical problems to get the podcasts at first but they are solved now. I'm still catching up the podcasts. But I want to say thank you. They are interesting and I enjoy to listen to them.

For the Podcast question. "...Which character do you still mourn the loss of?"

Even if it's predictable I still miss Weir and the original Beckett. These were not only two very likable characters, I also think they brought a special chemistry to the members of Sheppard's team. I liked the interaction between all the characters because everyone was special. There weren't two similar people. And I'm sure there would have been some stories to explore especially for Weir and Beckett. For example for Weir being more involved in off-world missions and for Beckett with Michael and the Hoffan drug.

It's just not the same with Clone-Carson. Not because he is a Clone but it feels like he isn't a real Atlantis member any more.

And I miss Ford, the one who is addicted to the Wraith enzyme. Because this is an interesting story. He isn't a real enemy but also not a friend any longer.

[Darren]

Episode #17 is now available!

With no new episode of Stargate Atlantis to talk about this week, GateWorld editors Darren and David turn to a special discussion topic: the characters we lost too soon. We'll revisit the history of some beloved characters such as Jonas Quinn, Janet Fraiser, and Elizabeth Weir, and ask that tough question: Were they written out too soon, or was their departure satisfying storytelling?

Also this week:

Preview! Podcast listeners get an exclusive preview of this week's interview with Legends Memorabilia head Paul Brown.

News! Breaking news from the Stargate universe

Features! The latest special features from GateWorld

Listener Mail! Listeners share their opinions on the characters we lost too soon.

Listener Question: We'll be talking a bit about the Wraith hybrid Michael next week. What do you think of this character? What do you like or dislike about him and how his character has been used? What makes him a good villain for Atlantis?

CALL US! You can call the hotline and leave us a voicemail any time, day or night. Tell us what you thought of the newest Atlantis episode, answer the weekly listener question, leave feedback on the podcast itself, or talk about anything you want.

Dial: 616-712-1647 (long distance rates apply)

Thanks to everyone for listening and contributing!

[TameFarrar]

My Mitka groove ....ROFLMAO!!!!!

I completely enjoyed this weeks podcast. It was refreshing to remember and hear about past characters. It was like a trip down memory lane. Since I find myself in agreement with both of you for the most part overall I have nothing to add except it was a great podcast yet again

[stargatelvr]

With regards to Michael.

I enjoy Michael's character. Here is a villain that we have met before and continue to meet. I enjoy revisiting him instead of just seeing another wraith whom Sheppard decides to give a name to for an episode or two. It seems that Atlantis has just a bunch of faceless wraith as enemies at times, so it's nice to have a familiar face every now and again.

[quade_1]

I find Michael boring, I don't like any of his stories. I would say he is the most uninteresting and boring villian in Stargate history. The best "Michael" episode was probably Search & Rescue, although he wasn't in it, it was his facility. If they had only kept Steve around.


I am not sure if anyone has posted this but since you mentioned Legends in last weeks podcast, you might be interested in this, http://store.quantummechanix.com/Sta...or_p_3-48.html

I would say that is friggin cool, i can't wait for the Prometheus and Daedalus models!!

[Col. Frank Simmons]

I like the character of Michael because he is simply portrayed by Conner Trinner

[talyn2k1]

I agree with David and Darren, as much as I wanted Carson back, bringing him back did cheapen his death in Sunday. The scene where he dies is the only scene in any show that I can remember where I have welled up at the death of a character. My wife tells me I'm a cold ba$tard.

I'm glad he's back, but he never should've been killed in the first place! If they were looking at characters to kill then there are several regulars I could've recommended instead of Carson.

[Mac Jackson]

For the podcast:
I love the idea of Michael. I love that he's our mistake and the Atlantis team did something dirty that came back to bite them. However I think I would have liked it better if he became the leader of the Wraith thereby establishing him as a "Worst of the Bad" among bad guys and helping us connect with him and his progress instead of him being just an occasional pain that needs to be dealt with. His speradic appearances lessen his weight as a villain and have just made him another Wraith with a name.

Thanks,

[stargatelvr]

So, I listened to "That Podcast show" to listen to the review of the Gateworld Podcast and then I wrote to them saying

"I enjoyed your review of the Gateworld podcast! Thanks. You guys captured what I thought of the podcast well, though as you can tell by my name and email, I know a lot about Stargate. So I know that they really know what they are talking about and they are always pointing out new things to me, as a fan, that I was like, "Oh that makes sence now". Thanks for the review."

And then yesterday I got a response back

Thank you for the encouragement. As we said in the review we believe they knew about Stargate. Actually, they were persuasive enough to trigger my curiosity to start checking out Stargate for myself.

Thank you very much,

Daniel Sellers

[Steve 2]

Oh, well. Fine then. The discussion was only about "regulars" who departed the show. I must have missed the memo.

Anyway.....Michael. Jackson. Michael Jackson. That's who he is, right? Used to look like something, now he looks a little like everything. Pretty soon, maybe even in the Atlantis movie, he's going back to the jheri curl. Oooh, get him a diamond studded glove. What? It's functional. It also covers his shame. Other Wrath would laugh at him if they knew his "feeder" was, um, impotent.

If it wasn't for the embarrassingly amateurish attempt to create a villain out of the Lucian Alliance Michael could safely be called Stargate's lamest villain. As it is, he's certainly one of the franchise's oddest creations. Sort of a Frankenstein-esque mishmash, he sadly tends more towards Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein than anything else. Even sadder, Boyle gave that monster more character and emotion than Michael has ever had.

Tell me, oh knowledgeable Stargate fans. What does Michael want? No, really. Why, exactly, does he gravitate towards Teyla? Aside from the obvious delight he gets out of tying her to metal tables. That's always a hoot. Similarly shrouded in mystery (as I'm sure is the intention, natch) are his motivations for pursing Teyla's baby. Right now, Michael is a bit like Mr. Shwartz down the block. Tell the kids to stay away from his house, don't accept candy from him, and by all means, don't hit a ball in his yard.

Michael cuts the heads off of Wraith Queens. With his Ninja Sword. Should I say anything about this? Do I have anything to say about this? Wouldn't you all enjoy a nice battle axe better? Bamford, can we work that in?

Why does Michael make bug monsters? Does Michael even remember his bug monsters? Michael, why have you forsaken your bug monsters? He loved'em and left'em. What a player. Atlantis, Red Dwarf called and said they wanted their schtick back.

Um, what else? The hybrids. What's up with that? If anyone can give me a straight answer as to WHY Michael takes regular humans, sticks them in a green incubator, then turns them into hybrids, I'll give you all the left over bug outfits. Are they an army? Not so much. Are they "his people"? Nope. So, ok. He's got hybrids. Awesome?

I'll tell you one cool thing about Michael. He's got a pet Beckett. It makes oh sooo little sense that he's got a pet Beckett, though. I know, I know. People love Pet Beckett. But everyone--fans, writers, Pet Beckett himself--all have to scrub their brains with muriatic acid to make this one work. Michael, one time when he was freaked out on a planet, after using his de-wraithified army (not to be confused with his bug army or hybrid army) to combine their super galactic-spanning telepathic wank powers to call a taxi, used the two minutes he had while they parked in orbit to read everything everywhere and learned about Atlantis' encounter with the Hoffans. Wait, let me tell it. It's good. He then uses his intellect (which is awesome) to create a perfect, exact clone of Real Beckett. No one else in the Stargate universe has yet created a perfect clone, not the Asgard, not the Ancients, not Harlan. But Micheal did. Obviously, Atlantis didn't know this when they kidnapped him, but I think it's obvious that Shep and his team miraculously happened to select the single most intelligent Wraith ever. He's like Einstein, maybe with a bit of Mengele thrown in, but you get it. Can you imagine the conversation after the rest of his hive found out he got snatched?

"Um, Wraith. Hey, Wraith."
"What is it, Wraith?"
"Heh, yeah. You know those humans who just left?"
"Duh, I was there firing the bazooka stunner next to you."
"Right, well, um. They took Wraith with them."
"Wait, wait. They took Wraith?"
"No, Wraith."
"Wraith?"
"No, Wraith."
"Okay, genius, we're all Wraith. Which one of us? Wraith, Wraith, Wraith?"
"Um, WRAITH."
"Oh, crap. They got Wraith? Queenie's gonna be pissed. Hide her battle axe."

But I digress. Michael then constructs/discovers a strangely Earth-like warehouse and places his Pet Beckett there. For like two years. He gives him food and water, makes sure he's got all his shots, even takes him in for boosters. Because it all makes perfect sense that while ardently creating his bug army he'd need some diversion. I'll bet Michael was pissed when Shep stole him.

Anyway, I'm sure you're all tired of reading this. So, to sum up. Michael is a nonsensical joke of a character whom the writers have batted around from outlandish to crazy to downright laughable. Next, apparently, he's going to storm Atlantis (I know, no one has ever tried that one before) and wreak havoc. He'll probably try to blow up the control tower. All the other villains have done that before and he's feeling a little left out. But he probably just wants his Beckett back. Maybe by then I'll figure out how he flew that puddle-jumper he can't fly off of his tricked-out cruiser in the season premier.

[Apep]

2008-11-04 Podcast question: What do I think of Michael

I had a love/hate opinion of the Michael character. Atlantis needed individual villains like the System Lords of SG1, Michael provided that and did it quite well. I don’t however like what he represented and that’s the Stargate writers propensity to humanise aliens in an all ready too human universe. First it was the replicators, then the Wraith and then with Michaels monster creations. Instead of finding a middle ground between monster and humanoid to make them more practical for the show they opted to humanise again despite them being called hybrids.

[Optimus Chekov]

Michael was great, or at least I felt so. His first few appearances really had me enjoying the character. However, it seemed as if there were many differing stages of Michael, sometimes hit and sometimes miss. I responded more positively to the full-blood but still 'Pariah' Michael of No Man's Land than to the hybrid Michael and sometimes the sole nose(or cheek)-slit thing makes me laugh. It was satisfying to see him kill the last queen in The Last Man, control Beckett, ponder the injustice of being a guinea pig for Earth experiments and boldly face Ronon as his 'Executioner'.

[Darren]

Episode #18 is now available!

The Wraith hybrid Michael returns in "The Prodigal," the latest episode of Stargate Atlantis! Darren and David discuss the episode with special guest Tame Farrar, one of our beloved moderators at GateWorld Forum. Was Michael's return satisfying? What about his goals, controversial decisions, and his relationship with Teyla?

Also this week:

Preview! Podcast listeners get an exclusive preview of this week's interview with "Apophis" actor Peter Williams.

News! Breaking news from the Stargate universe

Features! The latest special features from GateWorld

Listener Mail! Listeners share their opinions on Michael.

Listener Question: As Stargate Atlantis heads into its final six episodes, what do you think of the original races introduced on the show? Other than the Wraith, have you found those "supporting character" races like the Athosians, the Genii, the Satedans, and the Travelers to be interesting and well-used? Which one is your favorite?

CALL US! You can call the hotline and leave us a voicemail any time, day or night. Tell us what you thought of the newest Atlantis episode, answer the weekly listener question, leave feedback on the podcast itself, or talk about anything you want.

Dial: 616-712-1647 (long distance rates apply)

Thanks to everyone for listening and contributing!

[TameFarrar]

Peter was on the same Podcast as me *dies*.. I adore Peter .... good thing I didn't know that I would have gushed more

This was by far one of the best Podcasts!! (no I have yet to listen ) But I am just sayin'

ETA:.. Truly excellent.. Laughed out loud over the vampire joke

[DeRoest]

Listener Question: As Stargate Atlantis heads into its final six episodes, what do you think of the original races introduced on the show? Other than the Wraith, have you found those "supporting character" races like the Athosians, the Genii, the Satedans, and the Travelers to be interesting and well-used? Which one is your favorite?

My favorite race was the Bolo-Kai who appear only in the Season 4 episode "Missing". They are a tribe of primitive raiders who use the Stargate system to attack vulnerable villages. Of all the races ever introduced on Stargate, this race seems the most realistic. The stargates allow anyone to travel to other planets without advanced technology and it makes since that even primitives could decipher the dialing system.