Comments on: Crossing Lines: Stargate Atlantis — No Hope On The Horizon

By: irv

irv — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:19:48 +0000

Actually, what I’ve seen this season wasn’t the John show, it was the McKay show. And he’s just too annoying to keep watching. But none of the rest of the characters could ever carry it. Sheppard has no personality (or is it that the actor isn’t good enough to show it?). Tayla has no personality (though the writers seem to think that earnestness and a stilted way of talking make a personality). Ronan is there to be the muscle and the butt of many jokes.

Woolsey was always a monster on the original Stargate, so of course they decided to humanize him on Atlantis because, hey! Everybody loves the actor, right? (Whatever his name is. He was on one of the horrible fake Star Trek shows, too, wasn’t he?)

The episode where they were “on trial” never mentioned that the purpose of the trial was just power. Maybe they didn’t know that. The episode with Michael was another damn episode with that terrible character. Die, already, will you?!?

Which is about all I can say about the show, too.

No, wait! Does that mean they’re going to push that ridiculous joke of a show “Sanctuary” on us even more? Maybe I’ll just stop watching Sci Fi channel completely.

By: RedShirt

RedShirt — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:30:02 +0000

I’m not debating that Hewlett is not a good actor. He is. But Flanigan is too. The difference in my opinion is that Hewlett has been given a lot to do this season, while Flanigan has basically been sidelined. Sheppard simply appearing in an episode does not mean he’s taking over show when as the lead he has the right to occasionally do so. If you’d watched season four you’d see that he did an amazing job in quite a few episodes, namely the ones I mentioned above. And sorry, IMO, if anyone on Atlantis is a one note monotone from the Keanu school of acting, it’s definitely Mamoa.

That said, I miss Ronon and Teyla a heck of a lot too. I miss the entire team aspect. But it’s not Sheppard’s fault. Ronon was used as a tool to promote the love triangle that never really existed. And Teyla’s leading role status has been taken over by the character of Keller.

And I’m not a member of the Flanigan fan community coming at you with slings and arrows, and I recognize that you have a right to your opinion, but I happen to think he does a good job. In fact I was happy with the entire cast until this season. Season five is disjointed and all over the place. And a big part of the problem is the lack of team focus and by team I mean Sheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ronon.

By: Naamen Gobert Tilahun

Naamen Gobert Tilahun — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:20:10 +0000

Usually I don’t reply to comments to my post on Fantasy but I wanted to offer one point of clarification to everyone who’s anger about my reviewing? This is not a review, it’s a column. That is why when you go to the front page of Fantasy it is under Non-fiction, not Reviews. So as a column it is my opinion not a review or objective piece of commentary. When I do reviews I do my best to stay impartial but a column is a subjective viewpoint and I write it as such.

I think that while we can argue back and forth whether John or Rodney had the bigger role my main point was to highlight the complete absence of Ronon and Teyla except for a few episodes.

The fact is that when I talked about The John Show I was referring to the episodes I was talking about in this column rather than the season as a whole sorry I did not make that clearer but John does still get a lot of screen time most episodes, even when their focus of that episode is someone else. Yes, Rodney does as well, I didn’t argue that he doesn’t, but in my opinion David Hewlett is a good actor. So even though it still annoys me that Characters of Color are often pushed to the side and absent with no reason given. I don’t mind watching Hewlett as much as Flanigan who to my mind is on the Keanu Reeves – same facial expression for every emotion, mostly monotone voice and vacant eyes – level of action but again that’s just my opinion.

By: JasonL

JasonL — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:39:52 +0000

The “John Show sometimes featuring Rodney or Woolsey”…is this season five review for real? And more importantly did you even watch this season of Atlantis?

I mean, wow. Seriously? If you did watch you’d know this has been the season of McKay and from there on, McKay and Keller. No one can argue that these two “love birds” are the only characters with a bona fide arc this season! Dare I say, the only arc this season. Romance. Love triangles. On a Sci-Fi show. GIVE ME A BREAK. Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla have been nothing more than background characters.

On another note me-thinks you have some serious Flanigan issues to work through. I like the character and the actor but unfortunately the writers didn’t seem concerned in developing him like that did McKay and Keller.

By: RedShirt

RedShirt — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:27:29 +0000

Hmmm…Sorry I have to disagree with you here. Sheppard /Flanigan was amazing in season 4…Miller’s Crossing anyone?…Adrift? Doppleganger? He’s one of the few characters on Atlantis that can still surprise me with his actions when he’s given a good storyline to fill. Besides as Freidag said above, why blame him for the mess of Season 5 when Sheppard hasn’t even been featured in a single episode thus far? The real focus of this season, has been the ridiculous lump of an unrealistic “love triangle” between McKay and Keller, and oh yeah, (did anyone actually think he had a chance???) Ronon. Before someone comments, hey, Keller hasn’t been in five eps this season remember this, it’s not the quantity but quality that counts and McKay and Keller are the only two characters with a story arc this season. The only two characters with any form of development. And the only two characters with three specific eps each in season 5. If there’s a reason this season seems disjointed it’s because the writers decided to make room for this ridiculous out of nowhere fantasy instead of concentrating on the team dynamics. In my opinion more Sheppard and more team episodes would have been fantastic. You have four eps left to watch. I pity you during Brainstorm’s scientific blunders galore.

By: Mikou

Mikou — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:49:27 +0000

No slings or arrows from this direction. I mostly agree with your review. One of my biggest disappointments with SGA is the lack of team-focused plotting. With the exception of a few episodes that focus on them, Ronon and Teyla are sidelined in most of the episodes and the focus is mostly on John and/or Rodney. Unfortunately for me, a little of both of those characters goes a long way and John has become less and less interesting as time passes.

I don’t think there’s quite as much focus on the McKay/Keller romance as others suggest, but what there is seems contrived. At this point, I’m watching to be a completist. I’ll be relieved when it’s all over because I don’t think the show ever reached anywhere near the full potential of its original concepts.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:12:09 +0000

Are you serious? The John Sheppard show? With Sheppard on screen all the time and the whole show built around him? Have you seen Tracker, Brain Storm, the mid season two parter, Broken Ties, The Queen, The Shrine?

I honestly laughed myself onto my floor reading your comments. The show is the Rodney McKay show. Surely we don’t need to do a count of screen time and dialogue for each character to prove that, do we? Yep, some folks have and McKay comes out on top every time. Are you watching the same show as I am? Obviously not….

As for Flanigan? Well, each to his/her own on acting preferences. I disagree with you and think he’s a great lead, given poor material, nearly no dialogue and considering he his character got his first backstory in season 4, he’s done a great job of making the character three dimensional and likeable. But you’re entitled to your opinion, of course. I just can’t for the life of me fathom how you think Sheppard dominates the show. Certainly not in season 5. I can only presume you slept through the many scenes he hasn’t been in….

By: Freidag

Freidag — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:52:29 +0000

More slings and arrows. “Sheppard taking over the remaining episodes…”?????? Wow, watch the show will ya? Sure, Teyla and Ronon have been absent this season, but so has Sheppard. He’s been in scenes but he’s not “there”. No featured episode, no character driven scenes. The only arc that mattered this season was the arc that ended with McKay getting laid. The writers forgot about Sheppard and Co. the minute they decided that the “great McKay Keller romance” was all that mattered. When Flanigan is in the episode and allowed to do more than just stand around with a gun (ie The Shrine), he is excellent as a lead. But when he’s forced to do the same routine time after time because the writing is weak and redundant I can’t blame the guy for probably being bored out of his mind.

And as for Prodigal…that was a great episode and a favorite among most fans. The same goes for Woolsey. He’s gone over very well. Daedalus Variations however was the only true team episode this season.

But honestly, blaming Flanigan for a season of Atlantis that he hardly even figured in is very weak reviewing. If anything I agree with the comment above. Way too much emphasis on McKay and Keller. Everyone else took a back seat.

And hey, I’m not even a Flan fan…I just know a cruel and unjust review when I read one.

By: Serenitysky

Serenitysky — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:16:46 +0000

Slings and Arrows coming your way!!!!
From my perspective, this season has been depressing because it doesn’t feature Sheppard at all, he’s just there to hold a gun. The true focus and love child of the writers is the McKay and Keller relationship, and everything else is secondary. Remnants was pretty much a Woolsey episode, with the other two stories in as support. We never get to see why John is such a tormented soul. Ronon and Teyla have been pretty much sidelined this season, if favor of Jennifer Keller… how many ways can one person get captured? This Mary Sue character, and it gets even worse in Brain Storm, has, for the most part, ruined Atlantis for me. And if I never see McKay again, it will be too soon. (And he used to be one of my favorite people on the show). The ONLY reason I will continue to watch is to catch glimpses of John Sheppard and his team when they are not playing second fiddle to the allmighty McKeller.
And I do think Joe Flanigan is a superb actor, his facial expressions convey more and differing emotions than a million lines of dialog from one Rodney McKay ever could. There would be no real reason to watch this series if Flanigan hadn’t been there throughout the years.