Were the clones just really, really stupid or suicidal?

[ciannwn]

Stargate SG1 seasons 1-7 (though there were a few low points in between, this was generally the best Sci Fi show ever) and parts of Atlantis.

I like Battlestar Galactica but not for the relationships - the Starbuck and Apollo romance got very tedious very quickly. It's grim, harsh and the only people who come back from the dead there are Cylons. If SGA was a bit more like that, Kavanagh wouldn't have 'conveniently' fainted before Ronon laid a finger on him in 'Cricital Mass'. Our heroes would have been faced with the unpalatable fact that they really had tortured the wrong man rather than just intending to and having a lucky escape.

The Stargate writers have always been afraid of committing. They always want to leave holes open so they can do what they want without difficulty.

I agree with you there. I've noticed a tendency to 'keep explanations to a minimum and be as vague as possible'. This gives me the impression that they make it up as they go along so they don't want to be tied down by details.

and the entire fictional universe exists in this happy little place where nobody dies

TPTB set a precedent with Daniel - if he can come back then why not any other character? Then there's the Ba'al clones - kill Ba'al off in one episode and we get another Ba'al or even several a few episodes later. Finally there are the alternate universes where (a) a dead character in one is very much alive in another or (b) they can kill off a star character without he/she actually being dead in the 'main Stargate universe'. Alternate universes are wonderful resources for people who like leaving holes open. It gives them an 'excuse' to revive any dead character whenever they feel like it. If they really, really wanted to they could even come up with a reason as to why this alternate version is happy to move to the 'main Stargate universe'.

The writers simply needed to get rid of all those characters at once and saw this as the easiest way to do it. Yep, it's flat out stupid.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that the explanation is along those lines.They'd touched briefly on the psychological drama of duplicates realising they were duplicates and the team facing their duplicates and that was enough of that.

one of the reasons Atlantis was rising in popularity was due to the show's changing nature, which has begun to seriously wane as the seasons go on.

Or maybe it got a bit more lightweight in comparison to how it started off. Two of the best episodes as far as I'm concerned were 'The Storm' and 'The Eye'. Kolya and Sheppard playing a kind of psychological chess game with each other showed that 'excitement' doesn't have to revolve around amazing special effects and big explosions.

[BubblingOverWithIdeas]

Or maybe it got a bit more lightweight in comparison to how it started off. Two of the best episodes as far as I'm concerned were 'The Storm' and 'The Eye'. Kolya and Sheppard playing a kind of psychological chess game with each other showed that 'excitement' doesn't have to revolve around amazing special effects and big explosions.

They need more like that. But, at the same time, not a rehash. That was a great sequence because it was something new.

I like Battlestar Galactica but not for the relationships - the Starbuck and Apollo romance got very tedious very quickly. It's grim, harsh and the only people who come back from the dead there are Cylons. If SGA was a bit more like that, Kavanagh wouldn't have 'conveniently' fainted before Ronon laid a finger on him in 'Cricital Mass'. Our heroes would have been faced with the unpalatable fact that they really had tortured the wrong man rather than just intending to and having a lucky escape.

Totally agree here (except that I apparently have a greater tolerance for the Apollo/Starbuck relationship than some people). Actions have long-term consequences, and you rarely get to change tracks in life-or-death situations.