Stargate Atlantis: Season 2: Changes Part 1

I’m sure Rob’s still planning to go ahead with his Atlantis article, so think of this as more of a companion piece.

As you will be aware, if you’ve bothered to check out the ‘Staff’ section, I’m ‘Sci Fi Heaven’s Resident Stargate Expert.’

No.

Really.

So, Stargate: Atlantis Season 2 is on it’s way in. And guess what? I’m looking forward to it. But, I’m not going to spoil much, I’m just going to tackle this in broad brush strokes. If you’re even remotely interested in the Stargate franchise, you’ll know that, in Season 2, one of the main characters is being dropped to a recurring status.

Don’t continue reading if you don’t want to know who.

Still here?

Excellent.

It’s Ford.

I’m a little disappointed by this, because spoilers indicate that the reason for the drop in status is because the producers looked at this character and realised he didn’t really have any kind of substantial development during Season 1 which implies he had no where to go. Um. Right. I could have told them this back before Season 1 even aired.

The problem came from the characters inception. He never had a hook. With SG-1, you’ve got Jack; the leader. Daniel; the diplomat. Carter; the scientist. Teal’c; the alien. In Atlantis, similar format. Sheppard; the leader. Weir; the diplomat. McKay; the scientist. Teyla; the alien. Ford; the… uh… umm… guy with the gun?

Don’t get me wrong. They did their best with the character. And he served his purpose. But he needed something more, a hook, a nook, a cranny, just something we could really get our teeth into.

All spoilers tell us that they are giving us this hook for Ford’s character. Something to make him that little bit more interesting. And they’re getting rid of him almost straight away. How much more interesting would it be to spend time with this character as he grows and evolves with the changes he’s about to undergo?

Instead, we’re going to miss all that, and just get a few glimpses at it.

It niggles me.

They’ve done it well though. With any luck, the new character they’re bringing in (I like to think of him as Teal’c 2.5) will neatly undercut any loss we feel at this character’s drop to recurring status. It’s a smart move. Ease him out, ease someone in. For the shows longevity, it is probably the correct creative decision. But I can’t help but feel irritated that he’s just being packed off, even if he isn’t really being packed off. Know what I mean?

Shrug.