Torri Higginson: I get it now.

[Daniel Jackson]

I think I get why Torri Higginson didn't come back for Season 5. She signed a six-year contract. She was OK with being demoted to a recurring guest star in Season 4 so long as they told her ahead of time so she could make plans to move and find other acting gigs. They didn't tell her until the last minute, which severely annoyed her. Regardless, she got over it and agreed to return in Season 4 as a special guest star for a few episodes.

Season 4
Adrift: She spends most of the episode in a coma. She wakes up at the end to discover that her damaged tissue has been replaced with Asuran nanites.
Lifeline: She leads the mission to steal a ZPM from Asuras to save Atlantis. Sadly, she stays behind to buy time for Sheppard's team to escape. This marks Higginson's last episode as a main character, though she's technically creditted as a guest star. This episode set the stage for Weir to return occasionally in a very interesting capacity. I wonder what her next episode will be like?
This Mortal Coil: In the season's 10th episode, Higginson returns as Weir. However, she's not Weir. She's Weir's clone, I think. After she discover she's a clone, rebel Asurans inform her the original Weir died trying to cause trouble. At the end of the episode, she is killed when clone-team's Puddle Jumper is shot down. Er... Why didn't she go back to Atlantis? Her real self is dead. She has no Asuran nanites. She is completely Human. She thought she was Weir until she was informed she was a clone. Close enough, right? Good episode, but the ending annoyed me. There was no need for Weir 2.0 to die like that. I guess that's the end of Weir...
Be All My Sins Remember'd: At the very end of the episode, we see a single Asuran ship survived. Weir is in command. It's time to begin. The end. What? Huh? I thought Weir was dead. We saw her clone die. Is this original Weir or Weir 3.0? What? It's time to begin what? What?

[U]Season 5, Ghost in the Machine: Weir's Asuran nanites were extracted, making her fully Assuran. What happened to her Human body? Did it die? Does that mean Weir is dead and this Asuran Weir is just a copy? What? OK, she ascended, but that backfired. Now she returns as FRAN, because she didn't have time to make a body that looks like Elizabeth Weir. OK... Well... OK, so Weir has a new body. I guess I can deal with that. Then, at the end of the episode, when Sheppard and friends realize it was the real Weir who was sent to frozen oblivion... Why didn't they go get her, revive her, and allow her to build an organic body? She's just adrift in space. Maybe someone will find her. Maybe she'll never be found. Maybe a meteor will hit her and she'll shatter.

I seem to remember her not wanting to return unless her character got resolution. This can be include death, returning to Human form and being sent to Earth, accepting her Assuran status and going forth into the galaxy for new adventures, or perhaps something else. Who wants their character to end in oblivion with the vague notion that she might return?

I think people blew the Higginson demotion out of proportion. I think she simply disliked how Weir was written after "Lifeline."

[sinfuldraconis]

[U]Season 5, Ghost in the Machine: Weir's Asuran nanites were extracted, making her fully Assuran. What happened to her Human body? Did it die? Does that mean Weir is dead and this Asuran Weir is just a copy? What? OK, she ascended, but that backfired. Now she returns as FRAN, because she didn't have time to make a body that looks like Elizabeth Weir. OK... Well... OK, so Weir has a new body. I guess I can deal with that. Then, at the end of the episode, when Sheppard and friends realize it was the real Weir who was sent to frozen oblivion... Why didn't they go get her, revive her, and allow her to build an organic body? She's just adrift in space. Maybe someone will find her. Maybe she'll never be found. Maybe a meteor will hit her and she'll shatter.

I don't know if you can count 'Ghost in the Machine,' although your reasoning is quite valid. The reason I say you may not be able to count it is because after Torri turned down the opportunity to come back, I believe the story was changed to accommodate Michelle Morgan playing Dr. Weir. How much the story changed is up for debate, but it did change.

[Daniel Jackson]

I suspect the only change was when she took bodily form and had to explain why she looked different. It didn't seem to be an issue after that.

[metalheart777]

You know, I can't blame the woman at all for turning it down. I think they screwed her over. As much as I wanted to see her in SGA again, I was glad that she essentially gave them the finger. The girl's got some balls!

~ mh777

[Daniel Jackson]

At which point was she screwed over? Was it demotion to recurring guest star or what they've done with the character since "Lifeline?"

[metalheart777]

At which point was she screwed over? Was it demotion to recurring guest star or what they've done with the character since "Lifeline?"

I don't think what they've done with the character since any time is really her concern. She is an actress, and she has no control over what she is given in that regard. However, from what I have read, and not just in this post, they mislead her and didn't tell her until the last minute that she was not going to have a job anymore (or at least not a full-time one). Imagine working for a company and them knowing months in advance that they are going to make you a part-time employee, but they don't tell you until the last minute. That is unethical, and a poor way to treat someone who went out of her way! This lady moved to another city to accomodate them and their show.

~ mh777

[Daniel Jackson]

I don't think what they've done with the character since any time is really her concern. She is an actress, and she has no control over what she is given in that regard.

I disagree. I've read that she was open to "Ghost in the Machine." She didn't want do it because it left Weir's fate up in the air. It seems Higginson is frustrated of this is Weir alive or dead nonsense and wants a straight answer if she's going to return.

However, from what I have read, and not just in this post, they mislead her and didn't tell her until the last minute that she was not going to have a job anymore (or at least not a full-time one).

Yes, they did mislead her. However, if she were upset to the point where she didn't want to come back... why would she agree to return for four episodes and then pass on the fifth? It doesn't add up.

Imagine working for a company and them knowing months in advance that they are going to make you a part-time employee, but they don't tell you until the last minute. That is unethical, and a poor way to treat someone who went out of her way! This lady moved to another city to accomodate them and their show.

Agreed. However, as I point out... she did come back for four episodes. Why pass on the fifth? What changed?

[Agent_Dark]

torri higginson was fired because she kept demanding spicey chicken wings be prepared for her afternoon snack. You can't keep doing that every day, every week. They had to let her go.

[metalheart777]

I disagree. I've read that she was open to "Ghost in the Machine." She didn't want do it because it left Weir's fate up in the air. It seems Higginson is frustrated of this is Weir alive or dead nonsense and wants a straight answer if she's going to return.


Yes, they did mislead her. However, if she were upset to the point where she didn't want to come back... why would she agree to return for four episodes and then pass on the fifth? It doesn't add up.


Agreed. However, as I point out... she did come back for four episodes. Why pass on the fifth? What changed?

I can only speculate on why she decided to return for the episodes in season 4. It could be that she really wanted the resolution for the character, maybe she wanted the paycheck, I don't know. Maybe she thought that if she rode out the 4th season that she would come back full-time in the 5th. In any case, refusing to do the 5th season was a way for her to stand up for herself. I applaud her for that! I wanted to see her one last time, I really did, but I do have to admit that I am glad she refused. As a human being, and also an important part of the Stargate family, she deserved better than that. Just my opinion....

~ mh777

[SaberBlade]

I think one of her problems with being "killed off" was because she had apparently moved to Canada in order to work on the show (not sure if it was true though) so moving your life to another country and then being constantly cut down after each season probably had to have gotten to her.

If Elizabeth will not return because Torri is unwilling to return then just kill the character off and get it done with. Some resolution with Torri is better than no resolution or a lame actress change without her. They could have brought her back to Atlantis but decided to use Woolsey instead so I think she just got fed up.

[GoSpikey]

I for one couldn't care less about her not being in it any more, in fact, I liked her played by another character to round things up, and bringing her to the scene again would be dead boring. DEAD = DEAD.

And aren't there threads like these already around, somewhere?

[knowles2]

Look I never understood why the actor was so annoyed or seemed to to be so annoyed about six year contract be ended so soon. And how she said all that crap about moving to a city just for the series, I mean given the American studios habit of canceling things suddenly, no one working on tv over their should really based their entire 6 years of their lives on a single contract, which probably at least a dozen if not more get clauses for the studio and the actors.

Also you cannot give any more than couple of months notice, they usally have a pretty long break before they start writing episodes for the next season.

And plus I did not really fine here character interesting or that she really added anything to the show.

Whole and as the replicator, the Asuran made sure the nanites just consume her entire body until their was no more organic material left.

As for the story, their two area in which I think it would of change, one would of been that she would of came back in the form of her old body and that they would not have traped her in cold space and instead left her and her fellow asurans on a other planet.

The reason they did not go back and pick her up and defrost her was because of the remaining Asurans floating about in subspace, they would have track her down again, and threaten Atlantis and her friends. That why she made the self sacrifice. But I am surprise that Rodney did not agree to try and complete her team work and pick her up once he has finished.
But they could explained that by saying these are the basics models, the no thrills version of the nanites which means they may not be able to defrost themselves or the extreme could of space could of produce damage which cannot be repaired.

[Daniel Jackson]

They could fire drones at all of the Asurans floating in space except for Weir, then bring her back.

[MIZA]

well if this is the way they are going to act towards her who could blame her for leaving, but perhaps this is the same kind of stuff is why the show is being cancelled ?

[Jumper_One]

well if this is the way they are going to act towards her who could blame her for leaving, but perhaps this is the same kind of stuff is why the show is being cancelled ?

huh? Atlantis was offed to make way for SGU