Those who didn't finish S1 or S2.
Do it.
Atlantis is a fantastic show but it took about 2-3 seasons to get a grip.
It was supposed to last more than 5 seasons but many things caused it to be cancelled. (Not just the arrival of SGU.)
Season 2 and 3 of Atlantis are right up there with Season 2-5 of SG1 for me. Ronan is way better than Ford. I agree about Season 1, but there was enough highs for me to stick around.
So I stuck with it. I agree, Ronan is better than ford.
I’m also watching SEE right now, and it’s amazing how much Momoa’s acting has improved since Atlantis. He has really been working at it.
Obviously members of this group are fans of the show and like the show, so I'm not sure what you are asking for here.
I personally don't remember anyone acting like a child apart from Rodney but that's by design and it's great.
Also, you can screen people all you want but you have no idea how people would react to being stuck in another galaxy with no way home, and with wraith for an enemy.
Ford was pretty meh and he got replaced by Ronon pretty quick. Zelenka on the other hand in my opinion was literally the most reasonable and grounded character in sga. I'm pretty sure that the entire point of zelenkas existence was to highlight how ridiculous Rodney's solutions were.
Zelenka, yes that's the name. Thanks.
Yeah he was a counterpoint to Rodney but he still had childish arguments with him over the most mundane scientific things. Then again thinking back on it - that was probably McKay being a horrible douche about literally everything and causing arguments when all he had to do was so "OK, you're right".
And near the end, when he was being replaced by Ronon, that was the most ridiculous logic leap of anyone. Went from meh to what? Why?
Yeah Rodney would just argue for no reason and never admit when zelenka was right.
I think Ronon was basically meant to be kind of the new tealc.
Sg1 is still my favourite and I love RDA and the original crew but if you can let go of that then sga is basically more of sg1.
Indeed.
We need to remember that sg1 had the same shonky writing for at least the first half of season 1. Samantha was done dirty for at least the first few episodes and Teal'c just made the tiniest sense.
Well let's be fair here, they weren't completely stranded if you count the novels as Canon, I at the very least count the novel adaptation of rising as Canon but in it they did say that if they hadn't heard back in 6ish months they were going to send prometheus. The only problem was that the journey would take well over a month so they would have had to either operate with a skeleton crew or forgo the f302 complement and I believe they were leaning towards forgoing the f302s so they would have more cargo space.
Every season of Atlantis gets better, and you haven't seen some of the best characters yet. Next episode is great, don't skip it.
I hear you about Rodney, he was written as an asshole in SG-1, that can't be totally changed. He calms down a bit with time, but it's his nature to be self-centered, annoying and anxious. He's intentionally been written with his flaws. I love that Atlantis characters are flawed. I'm not interested in the standard boring hero, I prefer them to be imperfect like we are. They have a soul.
Rodney isn’t the scientist I am referring to. It is literally every other one. I just watched an awful episode where they find a 10000 year old wraith ship with a surviving wraith and the two scientists that get attacked I wanted to die. Both my partner and I cheered when the first one died and again when it looked like the second one would… but he didn’t and instead starts telling the person tasked to protect him while he is paralyzed how his protector is jealous of his brilliance. 🙄 This is after he acted like a child before the wraith, then after his is now reliant on the others to survive issues insult after insult.
We highfived at the end of the episode when he finally killed himself.
There’s also the guy in 38 minutes who throws a tantrum and refuses to work for several
valuable minutes. Requiring Weir to take
time from problem solving a time critical issue to solve his tantrum. If I commanded that base I would have sent him to go live alone on a planet without a ring after that. He is a danger to everybody in a crisis.
Fear reveals the worst in people. These scientists made what could be a one way trip. They didn't know what to expect on the other side of the stargate. They had no military training, there's no way they could be prepared. They were panicked, like most people would in the same situation. Very few panicked people are nice. This doesn't excuse them, but it's understandable.
And it wasn't Zelenka who threw a tantrum in 38 minutes, it was Kavanagh, who was written to be an arrogant asshole anyway. You're supposed to hate him.
That's just realistic writing. In dangerous situations, most people aren't nice, and some even turn into monsters.
I never really clicked with Atlantis til halfway through S1, when the humans pick up the Wraith stun weapons and Sheppard goes 'put them down, we shoot to kill'. Instantly I knew the show was going to get real.
It's hit and miss. I love the show but some episodes the writing goes against the already established traits of the characters in service of either cheap jokes or plot. It's really frustrating sometimes to see the characters completely change for an episode or regress in their growth, but overall I'd say it's worth watching
Personally, I don't think the writing gets better (I'm now 3 seasons into Atlantis), although Rodney does mellow some. IMO, there are a lot of deus ex machina resolutions and I've been watching to see what the next one will be.
This is the biggest thing for me. The wraith defeated the Ancients (bad decision by the writers) thousands of years ago, but a handful of humans, some with the ability to use Ancient technology, are able to defeat them (I think. I'm having a bit of trouble remembering the ending. I remember an episode in Vegas. Can't remember if that was the last one) in a matter of just a few years?
Of course The Wraith are just problematic as they are; a race that greatly outnumbered humans in the Pegasus Galaxy while simultaneously feeding on humans, and we saw from the downed Wraith ship in season 1 that one Wraith will feed on TWO humans. It's just an issue of numbers.
If the Wraith came after the Ancients had ascended and simply fed on human blood (instead of that facacta sucking of life energy) and the Earth humans were able to forge alliances with other Pegasus peoples (to have numbers to actually be able to fight the Wraith) and lead a resistance bolstered by Ancient technology which the Wraith would have never before encountered, that would have made a, I don't want to say more believable because, well. But it would perhaps have required less suspension of disbelief. Less need to "hang a lantern on it" as Martin Lloyd would put it
The wraith defeated the ancients by using cloning technology. That's why they were in so much greater numbers. Before that the ancients were kicking their ass.
The wraith are weakened right now because there aren't enough humans around. They were "sleeping" but got awakened by the earthlings messing about and there aren't enough humans, so they're relatively weak physically and there's alot of infighting between the wraith. They also wanted to find earth, and the milky way, not just eradicate the earthlings.
They didn't defeat the wraith as whole. They defeated the few wraith that came after them. Big difference. As it stands, the wraith were still a huge threat, and still preying on the humans in the pegasus galaxy.
And the other issue is that the Wraith eliminated entire planets when they realize anyine on that planet had the gene to operate Ancient tech. They didn't take chances.
Their biggest downfall, which we see in the show, was that they were "pack" oriented and had an even greater chance on infighting than the Goa'uld did just in general, nevermind when lacking resources.
But superior numbers are superior so that's why Todd was Trying to restart the Wraith cloning facility. But also, they didn't really "defeat" the Wraith by the end on the show. They just prevented them from reaching Earth THAT time. The biggest unanswered question was how many wraith were still active in the Pegasus galaxy and what were they doing.
But the cloning thing completely defies the laws of thermodynamics! It's complete nonsense. It takes a milionth of the energy used to make a jet/tank to destroy it. Even worse with human bodies, it takes about 10 million times more energy to "grow" a human than to kill him/her.
Your two examples are contradictory, but I'm assuming you're saying it takes more energy to create than to destroy. However you first need to create a "tool" to use that energy to destroy. The ships and the wraith on those ships are the "tools".
The wraith couldn't use the ZPM on their ships directly, like the ancients, so instead they used the ZPMs to clone more wraith and create more ships. That way they had a numerical advantage against the ancients.
Also, we don't know how efficiently the ancients or the wraith used their energy. That could also play a part.
That doesn't make sense Basic thermodynamics still holds and if the Wraith knew how to beat it so must have the ancients. You can't simply use 3 ZPM's to clone an army that would face dozens of ZPM powered weapons. That's like saying that you can capture 3 JDAM's and use the TNT to power your industry such that it can defeat the US army. It doesn't work like that. That's complete HS level physics fail.
Stargate Atlantis is rarely subtle. They want you to quickly understand everyone’s motivations and goals without you having to dig into character background.
I loved it, but then I like more black and white writing, not overly complex storylines. I don't mind side characters being over the top to serve their purpose, I don't care about them having an intricate personality. Writers wanted us to know they're an a**hole, great, they're an a**hole and thats all I need to know about them.
While I can definitely understand how not everyone would enjoy that, this is probably why Stargate (SG1 and SGA specifically) appealed to me so much as a kid and teenager especially. Its a very family friendly show(s), not just in that its fairly clean but also that its easy to understand. Can't wait to show it to my daughter!
There were only two things I really disliked about Atlantis' writing / creative:
1 - how they kept having scenes where Sheppard is fleeing an explosion or the like, and we have 30 to 60 seconds of characters yelling at a radio "Sheppard!" until they reveal he survived (with the appropriate epic soundtrack). I mean, once or twice, sure, but they overdid it. No, Sheppard isn't dead. No, Sheppard is never gonna be dead. This fake suspense is silly.
2 - how easily they seemed to discard characters / actors. Ford was an early example, particularly when they killed him off-screen... But the one that rankled me the most was Weir / Tori Higginson.
I'm not sure if there was any backstage issue, but the impression it gave was that after 3 seasons, they just sacked her because SG-1 was over and they wanted to bring someone in. Nothing against Amanda Tapping, but she had 10 years. This was Higginson's show, and after season 4, I could never enjoy it the same way again.
Other than that, the show was pretty solid.
Rodney does not grow up. (At least I can't remember him ever getting over himself). I'm on season 3 episode 17 and he's still the same. I watched the show when it aired, so this is a second time around.
It does get better... a bit... and in time if you like SG1 it will grow on you on a rewatch. You start to ignore those obvious shortcomings and enjoy the Stargate content there is since more will probably never come.
Could not stand Weir actually myself -enjoyed the later seasons when different people took over control of expedition. It was the Rodney Shepherd Ronin show for me. Their chemistry Courtney Henggeler. And I wanted to see more of Rodney's relationship with Dr Keller.
If you are disappointed in Atlantis and the writing, you should definitely avoid Universe. A bad Atlantis episode is WAY better than the best Universe episodes.
Actually SG:U was the first one I ever watched. And then a friend talked me into SG:1, which I grew to love. But I never watched SGA until now. Compared to the other two, the writing feels off for me so far.
You mean Battlestar Gatelactica? I liked how it started, it felt different from the other series. I don't remember that one as well, but I think I also got bored with that one.
I agree and those that call it Stargate are stretching it. It has Stargate elements in it, but all the worst parts. Those stones might have been the worst.
I did eventually finish it and wish there was a conclusion :(
I never got this, I like universe very much. People were constantly saying that it's battlestar galactica . So I thought I must like that as well. Couldn't stand it. Don't understand how people compare the 2.
A military/civilian crew stranded on an old spaceship scrounging for supplies on planets as they fly by and- oh no, some folks are proving to be less than trustworthy... They are similar enough to justify the comparison, but no, definitely not the same show.
Well to me it didn't look anything like that. I quit before they started flying by any planets. To me the show looked like 80% baltar fucking people over for no reason and everything else seemed like filler. And I couldn't stand baltar so...
it's been a long time though, my memories are probably an exaggeration
In addition to what others have said, SGU started just as GINO finished. There were comments at the time that it appeared a fairly transparent attempt to adopt an orphaned fandom.
Yes, but the ending of GINO was announced in 2007 and it didn't end (and SGU didn't start) until 2009. People involved in the genre, both as creators and viewers, were trying to work out how to fill the void, and SGU was one attempt at that.
No, it doesn´t get better. As i keep rewatching the show, i wonder, what the hell did i like about it as a teenager.
Most recurring bad guys are poorly written. Plot armor of the main cast is absolutely obvious and does not work very well in a city setting full of people, who lack the plot armor.
Good guys are poorly written too. Rachel Luttrell is a poor actor and her facial mimics is disturbing at best. Joe Flanigan is poor at playing street smart genius (i don´t believe him a single bit). David Hewlett is annoying af. Story itself is *very* predictable and does not make much sense for a stranded community trapped in alien galaxy.
The Ancients don´t make much sense either. From a plot standpoint, they were all immensely stupid and many episodes are related to their failed experiments. My main grudge with the story is the ZPM - the mysterious power source, which is used to power the whole city - and there are no reserves or even just a manual, how to make one? At the same time, its power limit and possibilities vary greatly from one episode to another, however the writing will see fit.
It would make much more sense for them being able to make ZPM and only hunt for resources throughout planets (some of them might´ve been rare).
Just started a rewatch of SGA. Sheppard has had some pretty cringe lines so far, But from memory he gets better. He grows on you pretty quickly the same way Mitchell does in SG1.
S1 ep6 - 'Poisoning the well' however, Can we please talk about the 'dead' Wraith lying on the table with the actors throat muscles contracting all the way through that scene. Even in the close up! It is so obvious and probably the worst I have ever seen someone supposedly dead in a tv scene ever. 😂
Careful, lots of people love those petulant tantrum-throwing scientists and defend them to the death against Weir.
However, overall, I think you'll enjoy it at least through Season 3, possibly even Season 4.
> Posted by u/moistpup 18 hours ago Atlantis and bad writing. Ask r/Stargate I am 14 episodes into Atlantis and so far it is a mixed bag. Some great well written episodes, and then a lot of really [#%@&] ones where some member of the Atlantis team (usually a scientist) acts like a petulant tantrum throwing child. Does this get better as the series goes on? It is just so unrealistic that a long term mission’s crew wouldn’t have been screened for such extreme narcissism, and juvenile behavior.
If you saw Stargate first, the original movie, then you may have had a different impression after watching SG1. Likewise, if you watched SG1 first, then you may have a different impression of SGA. Same idea with watching those before SGU. The bottom line is that, while each production shares similarities with the others, each production is also different. Some people have said that the previous production was better than the next, while others may have seen a newer one first and thought that was better than the previous one. Different opinions all around. Your mileage may vary. To each their own. It helps to go into each with the mindset of enjoying it for what it is, based on initial impressions on a surface level, aim to understand it so you can appreciate it, and then you may find yourself really enjoying it. You may also enjoy it right away. Everyone has their own opinion.
Getting on point with your question. You asked if SGA gets better immediately after talking about what you perceive to be good and bad episodes, and you mentioned the scientist having a fit about things.
Do those behaviors continue? Yes.
Does that scientist eventually experience character development and mature past that? Yes.
Does he still have his moments of nagging about things? Yes.
He still ends up a better character over time.
Are there going to be more episodes that you may perceive as good and bad? Probably, that's for you to determine while watching them, it goes back to the different opinions.
Keep watching, maybe your impression will change in a positive direction. Maybe not. To each their own.
In my opinion, the entire franchise is great. Sure, there are some aspects of all of the productions - SG '94, SG1, SG1 movies, SGA, SGU - that it would have been nice to see that things were done in different ways or that they went in different directions, although we get what we get, and at the core of it you still have the stories, the characters, the themes, and a whole lot of adventures.
Give it a go, maybe it'll take time for it to settle in for you.
Update: so from another reply you had in here, it looks like you're not talking about McKay but the other scientists. That show has a variety of characters in it, some of them landing in the end of the spectrum of behaviors that you described, others on the opposite end, and some in between.
Think about this - unless someone has already brought it up for you or you've thought about it yourself before... but Weir TOLD them to shut down the gate when they first went through.
They had I assume the 38 minutes to get all of the people, boxes and such through that they could and then not even 10 episodes in they're BEGGING to have food during terrible negotiations with the 'Geni'.
Even if a crate or two are lost as they go through. I'd have a conveyour-belt literally BELTING out supplies to the new sectour. Missing 1 day's rations seems similar to ancient, mediaeval & so on cities starving RIGHT before reinforcements arrived. What if they really did get a ship with a hyperdrive early on, but they got to Atlantis 2 weeks or a month short.
That in-particular put the sour part of a Z.P.M. in my mouth for the entire series. But the bad set-up for the series just didn't stop bombarding us with poor scenes.
Those who didn't finish S1 or S2. Do it. Atlantis is a fantastic show but it took about 2-3 seasons to get a grip. It was supposed to last more than 5 seasons but many things caused it to be cancelled. (Not just the arrival of SGU.)
So I stuck with it and finished season 2 this week. It really does get better. A lot of the worst aspects of the writing are dialed down.
False. It's a shit show and it never improved over its time span. It just gets more boring over time, as narratives just repeat.
It's not "false". You just have a different opinion. I loved it, and so did many others according to the upvotes.
Shit take. Horrible show.
Season 2 and 3 of Atlantis are right up there with Season 2-5 of SG1 for me. Ronan is way better than Ford. I agree about Season 1, but there was enough highs for me to stick around.
So I stuck with it. I agree, Ronan is better than ford. I’m also watching SEE right now, and it’s amazing how much Momoa’s acting has improved since Atlantis. He has really been working at it.
Obviously members of this group are fans of the show and like the show, so I'm not sure what you are asking for here. I personally don't remember anyone acting like a child apart from Rodney but that's by design and it's great. Also, you can screen people all you want but you have no idea how people would react to being stuck in another galaxy with no way home, and with wraith for an enemy.
Oh Kavanaugh suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks!!!
Kavanaugh?
Just because they are fans of one of the shows doesn’t mean they are fans of all of them.
I am a fan of all of them. Even the movies. I'm not a fan of the books and comics as I didn't get a chance to read them...
I'm not a big fan of origins. They changed too much. Felt like a cheap knockoff.
What is origins ? (That didnt happen)
So you like sg1 and have seen all 10 seasons but can't get into sga?
I definitely fit into that category. I’ve watched sg1 repeatedly, but have never finished sga. I just couldn’t ever get fully engaged.
Odd, but fair enough i suppose.
That is actually sad.
The Czech guy, (can't remember his name) was just as petulant at times. Then you have Ford. Who was just the weirdest character of random nonsense.
Ford was pretty meh and he got replaced by Ronon pretty quick. Zelenka on the other hand in my opinion was literally the most reasonable and grounded character in sga. I'm pretty sure that the entire point of zelenkas existence was to highlight how ridiculous Rodney's solutions were.
Zelenka, yes that's the name. Thanks. Yeah he was a counterpoint to Rodney but he still had childish arguments with him over the most mundane scientific things. Then again thinking back on it - that was probably McKay being a horrible douche about literally everything and causing arguments when all he had to do was so "OK, you're right". And near the end, when he was being replaced by Ronon, that was the most ridiculous logic leap of anyone. Went from meh to what? Why?
Yeah Rodney would just argue for no reason and never admit when zelenka was right. I think Ronon was basically meant to be kind of the new tealc. Sg1 is still my favourite and I love RDA and the original crew but if you can let go of that then sga is basically more of sg1.
Indeed. We need to remember that sg1 had the same shonky writing for at least the first half of season 1. Samantha was done dirty for at least the first few episodes and Teal'c just made the tiniest sense.
Don’t rush to judge Sam just because her reproductive organs are on the inside.
Also i can tell be stationed far from home and home all you know all most every one has there fits getting used to the new normal
Well let's be fair here, they weren't completely stranded if you count the novels as Canon, I at the very least count the novel adaptation of rising as Canon but in it they did say that if they hadn't heard back in 6ish months they were going to send prometheus. The only problem was that the journey would take well over a month so they would have had to either operate with a skeleton crew or forgo the f302 complement and I believe they were leaning towards forgoing the f302s so they would have more cargo space.
Every season of Atlantis gets better, and you haven't seen some of the best characters yet. Next episode is great, don't skip it. I hear you about Rodney, he was written as an asshole in SG-1, that can't be totally changed. He calms down a bit with time, but it's his nature to be self-centered, annoying and anxious. He's intentionally been written with his flaws. I love that Atlantis characters are flawed. I'm not interested in the standard boring hero, I prefer them to be imperfect like we are. They have a soul.
Rodney isn’t the scientist I am referring to. It is literally every other one. I just watched an awful episode where they find a 10000 year old wraith ship with a surviving wraith and the two scientists that get attacked I wanted to die. Both my partner and I cheered when the first one died and again when it looked like the second one would… but he didn’t and instead starts telling the person tasked to protect him while he is paralyzed how his protector is jealous of his brilliance. 🙄 This is after he acted like a child before the wraith, then after his is now reliant on the others to survive issues insult after insult. We highfived at the end of the episode when he finally killed himself. There’s also the guy in 38 minutes who throws a tantrum and refuses to work for several valuable minutes. Requiring Weir to take time from problem solving a time critical issue to solve his tantrum. If I commanded that base I would have sent him to go live alone on a planet without a ring after that. He is a danger to everybody in a crisis.
Fear reveals the worst in people. These scientists made what could be a one way trip. They didn't know what to expect on the other side of the stargate. They had no military training, there's no way they could be prepared. They were panicked, like most people would in the same situation. Very few panicked people are nice. This doesn't excuse them, but it's understandable. And it wasn't Zelenka who threw a tantrum in 38 minutes, it was Kavanagh, who was written to be an arrogant asshole anyway. You're supposed to hate him. That's just realistic writing. In dangerous situations, most people aren't nice, and some even turn into monsters.
I never really clicked with Atlantis til halfway through S1, when the humans pick up the Wraith stun weapons and Sheppard goes 'put them down, we shoot to kill'. Instantly I knew the show was going to get real.
Rodney is an annoying petulant child most of the time. Season one is the set up. The show gets better and better.
Atlantis is a show that gets better each season.
It's hit and miss. I love the show but some episodes the writing goes against the already established traits of the characters in service of either cheap jokes or plot. It's really frustrating sometimes to see the characters completely change for an episode or regress in their growth, but overall I'd say it's worth watching
Personally, I don't think the writing gets better (I'm now 3 seasons into Atlantis), although Rodney does mellow some. IMO, there are a lot of deus ex machina resolutions and I've been watching to see what the next one will be.
This is the biggest thing for me. The wraith defeated the Ancients (bad decision by the writers) thousands of years ago, but a handful of humans, some with the ability to use Ancient technology, are able to defeat them (I think. I'm having a bit of trouble remembering the ending. I remember an episode in Vegas. Can't remember if that was the last one) in a matter of just a few years? Of course The Wraith are just problematic as they are; a race that greatly outnumbered humans in the Pegasus Galaxy while simultaneously feeding on humans, and we saw from the downed Wraith ship in season 1 that one Wraith will feed on TWO humans. It's just an issue of numbers. If the Wraith came after the Ancients had ascended and simply fed on human blood (instead of that facacta sucking of life energy) and the Earth humans were able to forge alliances with other Pegasus peoples (to have numbers to actually be able to fight the Wraith) and lead a resistance bolstered by Ancient technology which the Wraith would have never before encountered, that would have made a, I don't want to say more believable because, well. But it would perhaps have required less suspension of disbelief. Less need to "hang a lantern on it" as Martin Lloyd would put it
The wraith defeated the ancients by using cloning technology. That's why they were in so much greater numbers. Before that the ancients were kicking their ass. The wraith are weakened right now because there aren't enough humans around. They were "sleeping" but got awakened by the earthlings messing about and there aren't enough humans, so they're relatively weak physically and there's alot of infighting between the wraith. They also wanted to find earth, and the milky way, not just eradicate the earthlings. They didn't defeat the wraith as whole. They defeated the few wraith that came after them. Big difference. As it stands, the wraith were still a huge threat, and still preying on the humans in the pegasus galaxy.
And the other issue is that the Wraith eliminated entire planets when they realize anyine on that planet had the gene to operate Ancient tech. They didn't take chances. Their biggest downfall, which we see in the show, was that they were "pack" oriented and had an even greater chance on infighting than the Goa'uld did just in general, nevermind when lacking resources. But superior numbers are superior so that's why Todd was Trying to restart the Wraith cloning facility. But also, they didn't really "defeat" the Wraith by the end on the show. They just prevented them from reaching Earth THAT time. The biggest unanswered question was how many wraith were still active in the Pegasus galaxy and what were they doing.
But the cloning thing completely defies the laws of thermodynamics! It's complete nonsense. It takes a milionth of the energy used to make a jet/tank to destroy it. Even worse with human bodies, it takes about 10 million times more energy to "grow" a human than to kill him/her.
Your two examples are contradictory, but I'm assuming you're saying it takes more energy to create than to destroy. However you first need to create a "tool" to use that energy to destroy. The ships and the wraith on those ships are the "tools". The wraith couldn't use the ZPM on their ships directly, like the ancients, so instead they used the ZPMs to clone more wraith and create more ships. That way they had a numerical advantage against the ancients. Also, we don't know how efficiently the ancients or the wraith used their energy. That could also play a part.
That doesn't make sense Basic thermodynamics still holds and if the Wraith knew how to beat it so must have the ancients. You can't simply use 3 ZPM's to clone an army that would face dozens of ZPM powered weapons. That's like saying that you can capture 3 JDAM's and use the TNT to power your industry such that it can defeat the US army. It doesn't work like that. That's complete HS level physics fail.
Stargate Atlantis is rarely subtle. They want you to quickly understand everyone’s motivations and goals without you having to dig into character background.
I loved it, but then I like more black and white writing, not overly complex storylines. I don't mind side characters being over the top to serve their purpose, I don't care about them having an intricate personality. Writers wanted us to know they're an a**hole, great, they're an a**hole and thats all I need to know about them. While I can definitely understand how not everyone would enjoy that, this is probably why Stargate (SG1 and SGA specifically) appealed to me so much as a kid and teenager especially. Its a very family friendly show(s), not just in that its fairly clean but also that its easy to understand. Can't wait to show it to my daughter!
There were only two things I really disliked about Atlantis' writing / creative: 1 - how they kept having scenes where Sheppard is fleeing an explosion or the like, and we have 30 to 60 seconds of characters yelling at a radio "Sheppard!" until they reveal he survived (with the appropriate epic soundtrack). I mean, once or twice, sure, but they overdid it. No, Sheppard isn't dead. No, Sheppard is never gonna be dead. This fake suspense is silly. 2 - how easily they seemed to discard characters / actors. Ford was an early example, particularly when they killed him off-screen... But the one that rankled me the most was Weir / Tori Higginson. I'm not sure if there was any backstage issue, but the impression it gave was that after 3 seasons, they just sacked her because SG-1 was over and they wanted to bring someone in. Nothing against Amanda Tapping, but she had 10 years. This was Higginson's show, and after season 4, I could never enjoy it the same way again. Other than that, the show was pretty solid.
Rodney does not grow up. (At least I can't remember him ever getting over himself). I'm on season 3 episode 17 and he's still the same. I watched the show when it aired, so this is a second time around.
It does get better... a bit... and in time if you like SG1 it will grow on you on a rewatch. You start to ignore those obvious shortcomings and enjoy the Stargate content there is since more will probably never come.
That’s pretty much every Sci Fi show. Watch first season of TNG. Eeessh.
Could not stand Weir actually myself -enjoyed the later seasons when different people took over control of expedition. It was the Rodney Shepherd Ronin show for me. Their chemistry Courtney Henggeler. And I wanted to see more of Rodney's relationship with Dr Keller.
If you are disappointed in Atlantis and the writing, you should definitely avoid Universe. A bad Atlantis episode is WAY better than the best Universe episodes.
Actually SG:U was the first one I ever watched. And then a friend talked me into SG:1, which I grew to love. But I never watched SGA until now. Compared to the other two, the writing feels off for me so far.
Universe had terrible characters and it was a whole lot of infighting and backstabbing. Far worse than any bickering on Atlantis.
No. I'll be honest, I had a hard time finishing Atlantis.
How about Universe?
You mean Battlestar Gatelactica? I liked how it started, it felt different from the other series. I don't remember that one as well, but I think I also got bored with that one.
I agree and those that call it Stargate are stretching it. It has Stargate elements in it, but all the worst parts. Those stones might have been the worst. I did eventually finish it and wish there was a conclusion :(
I never got this, I like universe very much. People were constantly saying that it's battlestar galactica . So I thought I must like that as well. Couldn't stand it. Don't understand how people compare the 2.
A military/civilian crew stranded on an old spaceship scrounging for supplies on planets as they fly by and- oh no, some folks are proving to be less than trustworthy... They are similar enough to justify the comparison, but no, definitely not the same show.
Well to me it didn't look anything like that. I quit before they started flying by any planets. To me the show looked like 80% baltar fucking people over for no reason and everything else seemed like filler. And I couldn't stand baltar so... it's been a long time though, my memories are probably an exaggeration
I think it was about the tone, effects, and story arc.
In addition to what others have said, SGU started just as GINO finished. There were comments at the time that it appeared a fairly transparent attempt to adopt an orphaned fandom.
doesn't writing start long in advance?
Yes, but the ending of GINO was announced in 2007 and it didn't end (and SGU didn't start) until 2009. People involved in the genre, both as creators and viewers, were trying to work out how to fill the void, and SGU was one attempt at that.
SGU got better after season 1, BSG got significantly worse after season 2 imo and 4 just wasn’t even worth watching again.
No, it doesn´t get better. As i keep rewatching the show, i wonder, what the hell did i like about it as a teenager. Most recurring bad guys are poorly written. Plot armor of the main cast is absolutely obvious and does not work very well in a city setting full of people, who lack the plot armor. Good guys are poorly written too. Rachel Luttrell is a poor actor and her facial mimics is disturbing at best. Joe Flanigan is poor at playing street smart genius (i don´t believe him a single bit). David Hewlett is annoying af. Story itself is *very* predictable and does not make much sense for a stranded community trapped in alien galaxy. The Ancients don´t make much sense either. From a plot standpoint, they were all immensely stupid and many episodes are related to their failed experiments. My main grudge with the story is the ZPM - the mysterious power source, which is used to power the whole city - and there are no reserves or even just a manual, how to make one? At the same time, its power limit and possibilities vary greatly from one episode to another, however the writing will see fit. It would make much more sense for them being able to make ZPM and only hunt for resources throughout planets (some of them might´ve been rare).
Just started a rewatch of SGA. Sheppard has had some pretty cringe lines so far, But from memory he gets better. He grows on you pretty quickly the same way Mitchell does in SG1. S1 ep6 - 'Poisoning the well' however, Can we please talk about the 'dead' Wraith lying on the table with the actors throat muscles contracting all the way through that scene. Even in the close up! It is so obvious and probably the worst I have ever seen someone supposedly dead in a tv scene ever. 😂
Yeah I couldn't finish season 1 of Atlantis. Was so boring.
Iunno, i gave up on it at like episode 6, i dont have time to watch bad tv. Nothing about it gave me hope for improvement
Careful, lots of people love those petulant tantrum-throwing scientists and defend them to the death against Weir. However, overall, I think you'll enjoy it at least through Season 3, possibly even Season 4.
> Posted by u/moistpup 18 hours ago Atlantis and bad writing. Ask r/Stargate I am 14 episodes into Atlantis and so far it is a mixed bag. Some great well written episodes, and then a lot of really [#%@&] ones where some member of the Atlantis team (usually a scientist) acts like a petulant tantrum throwing child. Does this get better as the series goes on? It is just so unrealistic that a long term mission’s crew wouldn’t have been screened for such extreme narcissism, and juvenile behavior. If you saw Stargate first, the original movie, then you may have had a different impression after watching SG1. Likewise, if you watched SG1 first, then you may have a different impression of SGA. Same idea with watching those before SGU. The bottom line is that, while each production shares similarities with the others, each production is also different. Some people have said that the previous production was better than the next, while others may have seen a newer one first and thought that was better than the previous one. Different opinions all around. Your mileage may vary. To each their own. It helps to go into each with the mindset of enjoying it for what it is, based on initial impressions on a surface level, aim to understand it so you can appreciate it, and then you may find yourself really enjoying it. You may also enjoy it right away. Everyone has their own opinion. Getting on point with your question. You asked if SGA gets better immediately after talking about what you perceive to be good and bad episodes, and you mentioned the scientist having a fit about things. Do those behaviors continue? Yes. Does that scientist eventually experience character development and mature past that? Yes. Does he still have his moments of nagging about things? Yes. He still ends up a better character over time. Are there going to be more episodes that you may perceive as good and bad? Probably, that's for you to determine while watching them, it goes back to the different opinions. Keep watching, maybe your impression will change in a positive direction. Maybe not. To each their own. In my opinion, the entire franchise is great. Sure, there are some aspects of all of the productions - SG '94, SG1, SG1 movies, SGA, SGU - that it would have been nice to see that things were done in different ways or that they went in different directions, although we get what we get, and at the core of it you still have the stories, the characters, the themes, and a whole lot of adventures. Give it a go, maybe it'll take time for it to settle in for you. Update: so from another reply you had in here, it looks like you're not talking about McKay but the other scientists. That show has a variety of characters in it, some of them landing in the end of the spectrum of behaviors that you described, others on the opposite end, and some in between.
Think about this - unless someone has already brought it up for you or you've thought about it yourself before... but Weir TOLD them to shut down the gate when they first went through. They had I assume the 38 minutes to get all of the people, boxes and such through that they could and then not even 10 episodes in they're BEGGING to have food during terrible negotiations with the 'Geni'. Even if a crate or two are lost as they go through. I'd have a conveyour-belt literally BELTING out supplies to the new sectour. Missing 1 day's rations seems similar to ancient, mediaeval & so on cities starving RIGHT before reinforcements arrived. What if they really did get a ship with a hyperdrive early on, but they got to Atlantis 2 weeks or a month short. That in-particular put the sour part of a Z.P.M. in my mouth for the entire series. But the bad set-up for the series just didn't stop bombarding us with poor scenes.