Why did Vala get so much attention?

[the fifth man]

Landry was pretty front and center as the rest of the main cast during Seasons 9&10. As for Lam, wasn't the actress on maternity leave?

I do believe that was the case.

[RealmOfX]

First I loved season 9 & 10. It was very dark and pushed the show up against an impossible enemy. Of course as what became common place, solutions sometimes came from nowhere like the wormhole drive, etc.

However...




I liked both Vala and Mitchell. Mitchell was the right choice as a lead for the show as he was there at the beginning (S9E1) and he provided the questions for the fans, Who? What? Where? When? and How?

For me, being there, is simply not a good enough reason to be a lead of the show especially when there are more capable, and long time established cast members already there. It is even less reasonable when it makes no sense character wise to put an inexperienced and unqualified person in charge of the top team. As for providing questions for fans, sorry I don't need a dumbed down character to do that for me.

As for the rest, opinions vary, especially with supposed on screen chemistry.

[fems]

For me, being there, is simply not a good enough reason to be a lead of the show especially when there are more capable, and long time established cast members already there. It is even less reasonable when it makes no sense character wise to put an inexperienced and unqualified person in charge of the top team. As for providing questions for fans, sorry I don't need a dumbed down character to do that for me.

As for the rest, opinions vary, especially with supposed on screen chemistry.

I agree and certainly don't see the relevance of the questions for fans; we've already seen 8 seasons so by then we pretty much know more about gate travel and the SGC than Mitchell does. Unless of course you're talking about the Farscape fans TPTB were hoping to attract by getting him and CB aboard...

[sholva1]

Yeah i think she should have remained a small character, not waste episodes with her dad and other personal episodes. SG-1 is the flagship team it made no sense to have her on after she has proven to be so treacherous.

[jelgate]

Yeah i think she should have remained a small character, not waste episodes with her dad and other personal episodes. SG-1 is the flagship team it made no sense to have her on after she has proven to be so treacherous.

Teal'c committed murder and many other attrocities and yet they let him be a member of SG1

[RealmOfX]

Teal'c committed murder and many other attrocities and yet they let him be a member of SG1

Very different case, he was brought in with caution and not trusted and limited in his activities for years. He brought a wealth of info on the enemy and provided loyalty from day 1 - none of which Vala did.

[Mrja84]

I agree and certainly don't see the relevance of the questions for fans; we've already seen 8 seasons so by then we pretty much know more about gate travel and the SGC than Mitchell does. Unless of course you're talking about the Farscape fans TPTB were hoping to attract by getting him and CB aboard...

Oh I am sorry, I forgot Stargate had enough fans at that point and didn't need any more people watching the show, right?

Sorry, but almost every episode needs to be accessible to a new audience. Sure they are not going to take baby steps in each episode to describe how the gate works and whatnot, but Vala never asked about how gate travel work did she?

Besides, wasn't SG-1 inexperienced at the beginning. Daniel even yelled at Mitchell not to touch anything in "Prototype" because Daniel could read what it says and not Mitchell. Which is funny, cause that is how SG-1 learn by touching everything they found.

When Vala first came back in Season 9 she wasn't meant to be trusted, but she was used as a way for the team to find the hidden treasure on Earth (or even know it existed) and when she went to the Ori galaxy that gave the character needed growth.

The show is always better when they have great characters to interact with the team.

Only when Vala came back in Season 10 (or late Season 9) did the characters really had to deal with her on a long-term basis.

Point is, Vala is apart of the show and that's happened in the past. Either accept it or continue bashing a fictional character all you want. But I rather talk about the show in a more positive light than nitpick a corpse.

[fems]

Oh I am sorry, I forgot Stargate had enough fans at that point and didn't need any more people watching the show, right?

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about how they introduced new characters every season premiere so new fans could get an introduction to the show and understand its concept better. Oh wait, they didn't!

Sorry, but almost every episode needs to be accessible to a new audience. Sure they are not going to take baby steps in each episode to describe how the gate works and whatnot, but Vala never asked about how gate travel work did she?

That's just a ridiculous statement; if every episode needed to be accessible to a new audience then a story arc over several seasons (like the concept of Goa'uld, Tok'ra, Jaffa or even Ori) wouldn't make sense, nor would all the event/character consistency from earlier episodes.

I think you missed the part where I quoted a post that was about Mitchell since, you know, it's about the lead of the show and inexperienced and unqualified people getting command of SG-1 and how he was supposedly needed to answer fan questions. I never even mentioned Vala.

Besides, wasn't SG-1 inexperienced at the beginning. Daniel even yelled at Mitchell not to touch anything in "Prototype" because Daniel could read what it says and not Mitchell. Which is funny, cause that is how SG-1 learn by touching everything they found.

Yes, SG-1 was inexperienced in the beginning but by season nine they were experts so it doesn't make any sense to put a rookie officer, who's never even set foot on another planet or did any ground combat, in charge of them. The fact that Daniel of all people had to tell him supposed team commander not to touch anything says enough, really.

When Vala first came back in Season 9 she wasn't meant to be trusted, but she was used as a way for the team to find the hidden treasure on Earth (or even know it existed) and when she went to the Ori galaxy that gave the character needed growth.

No, she was used as Daniel's lust interest and sexy space babe (and, admittedly, a replacement for AT who was on maternity leave). Yeah, she needed growth but what she needed more was actual character development from the get-go.

The show is always better when they have great characters to interact with the team.

Yeah, with the emphasis on great...

Point is, Vala is apart of the show and that's happened in the past.

That's an ironic statement. I think you missed a space there otherwise your entire rant doesn't make much sense.

Either accept it or continue bashing a fictional character all you want. But I rather talk about the show in a more positive light than nitpick a corpse.

Yes, because bashing (which I didn't) a fictional character is so much more useless than defending said fictional character when she wasn't even being attacked.

[python490]

When Ben Browder joined the show I knew the show would begin its decline. This is a testament to RDA impact on the Franchise, Browder had his moment in Farscape(great show btw). Browder did what he could and I didn't mind it too much but we can all agree that RDA is a legend of SG-1 and its hard to replace him with anyone. Claudia Blacks character was sexy, and funny at times so it brought something fresh to the show. To be honest in my opinion she brought some laugh back into the show, yes not the witty lines that RDA had but a different kind of humor. CB(Vala) at least brought humor to the last season and her guest appearances.

[blueray]

Very different case, he was brought in with caution and not trusted and limited in his activities for years. He brought a wealth of info on the enemy and provided loyalty from day 1 - none of which Vala did.

they did take a while before they trusted vala, but i think her sacrificing herself to stop the supergate from forming got her respect. and she still had to work hard to get into the sgc. though as i think i said on this thread (or maybe another one) i don't think they should have had her join sg-1, they should have had her be on another team and be a major recurring character, mainly because of adia.

[Fan-e-Gate]

Claudia Blacks character was sexy, and funny at times so it brought something fresh to the show. To be honest in my opinion she brought some laugh back into the show, yes not the witty lines that RDA had but a different kind of humor. CB(Vala) at least brought humor to the last season and her guest appearances.

Vala wasn't funny at all, IMHO. I can see how they were trying to make her funny, or at least humorous, but they failed.

[Mrja84]

Vala wasn't funny at all, IMHO. I can see how they were trying to make her funny, or at least humorous, but they failed.

Humor is relative, not everyone gets the same joke. But to declare something completely not funny is like American Idol isn't a good show, yet it fills a need in which millions of people watch it.

While I do not watch that show, I respect the fact that it resonates with other people. While I didn't like everything of Stargate, I respect everything they did. Real world events affected the show a lot, with producers leaving, cast changes, etc.

They keep the show going for 10 seasons, that's fantastic. So think about that, would SG-1 still be on the air after 10 seasons if Vala wasn't on the show? No. Would it still have made it to 10 seasons...who knows?

[python490]

Vala wasn't funny at all, IMHO. I can see how they were trying to make her funny, or at least humorous, but they failed.

Not everyone is going to agree. Overall I did think she got a little too much face time, but that is because I think the writers wanted to play around with a new character. To be fair I love SG-1 but by season 9 I knew the show was going to reach its end. People liked Vala and people disliked her. I just didn't mind her. She was just a guest actress for one season IMHO. Teal'C,Jack,Sam, and Daniel now that is a TEAM.

[Garan]

sex sells

(I know this is an old thread, but I just had to answer this.)

Unfortunately, this is so true. It happens in almost every TV series. I couldn't stand Vala, and I couldn't stand Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager (and not Anise). The people behind the shows do everything and anything to please the "young, male" viewers, but at the same time they annoy a lot of other people, including me.

I'm sure that's what happended with Atlantis as well, with Beckett and Weir, they weren't "sexy" enough. It makes me angry to think about it, actually. I really liked those two characters, especially Beckett.

I have never seen the other way around, though, that they bring in new hot male characters, to replace female characters. They must have decided that they had enough female viewers, then.

[Xaeden]

Vala isn't Seven of Nine. She adds humor to the series, and I'm fairly certain most people who like her do so because they found her funny. Sex is used in her comedic bits, but what's funny about it is that she's overselling herself and doing it to make those around her uncomfortable. Her trying to act sexy therefore is not for the purpose of making the audience think she's sexy.

I'm not saying she's unattractive or that she has no sex appeal, just that she's not the "sexy" character who exists to try to appeal to the male gaze. Rather, she's there to try to fill the humor void left by Richard Dean Anderson. I love Vala and when she reappeared in season 9 in that ridiculous outfit, my reaction wasn't, "Wow, that's hot," it was "Wow, this is funny." That outfit clearly existed so that she could be humorously absurd or, as Daniel would put it, so she could be a fruitcake.