magnavox_23: A close up of Rick wearing glasses. he has a finger resting against his lips, and a curious expession on his face. (Daniel_naptime)
'Adíshní Mags ([personal profile] magnavox_23) wrote2014-10-11 01:39 pm
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Meta: Atlantis Needed A Daniel

I am mid way through season four of Atlantis on my rewatch of the entire Stargate franchise (what? Infinity? Um...), and what is really striking me by this point is the lack of moral input when it comes to the plans they devise. Where is their Daniel? Elizabeth played this role somewhat, but she let things get out of hand as far back as Michael. Now (Be All My Sins Remember'd) Rodney creates F.R.A.N. and argues to Sam that she is not even alive. This is completely at odds with Sam's beliefs expressed in Unnatural Selection, as well as her experiences with Reese and Fifth. (I am not even going to go into the subtext of having a programmable woman with these writers). There was such an opportunity for Sam to bring her close personal experience with Replicators to the fore, and nothing. Here she is free to express her opinion and ideas, she is not Jack's underling merely following orders, and she's letting MacKay convince her otherwise? This also speaks to the many wasted opportunites that having Sam in a command position could have entailed.

I feel Atlantis, especially in the later years, has a lack of idea exchange (mirrors the behind the scenes stuff, huh). Teyla objects some, but she exerts no great influence over those making the decisions. It's such a shame because that ever present arguement was one of the core driving forces in the original series, and it adds a much needed layer to the process of making those all important decisions before and during the battle.

Atlantis needed a Daniel.

That just happens to be the way I feel about it. What do you think?
antares_dw: (johnrodneybed)

[personal profile] antares_dw 2014-10-12 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
Because John/Rodney is my favourite pairing on SGA I wasn't too disappointed that there were a lot of episodes about them. *g*

And I think they tried from time to time to add a bit moral input or showed characters struggling with their decisions (for example in Miller's Crossing when Sheppard "persuaded" Wallace to sacrifice himself). But on the whole you are absolutely right, Atlantis should have had more moments when somebody critized/thought through their decisions.

And I have to admit I was afraid that Atlantis would become the Sam-Rodney show and was pleased to see that it was not. Although there were some episodes with her where she should have been more in the focus.

And Daniel/Rodney is something I always love to read, but unfortunately there aren't much stories. Perhaps that would have been better if Daniel had been a longer time on Atlantis. (Although Jack should have come and taken him home after a certain time. *g*)