Stargate: Atlantis (commanders)

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Stargate: Atlantis featured duel leadership. John Sheppard was the military leader and main character. Elizabeth Weir was the civilian leader and central to the show. Unfortunately, she was written out after three seasons, leading to rotating leaders.

 

[maneth]

Carter, definitely Carter. She should have been promoted to lead SG-1 when O'Neill was promoted to Brigadier General, but instead Cameron Mitchell got the lead. That irked me a bit.
I don't know why, but I never really liked Elizabeth Weir. Woolsey was OK.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Carter lead SG-1 in Season 8 when General O'Neill was in charge of the SGC. SG-1 had disbanded when Mitchell came along. He was expected to assemble a new SG-1 team. Instead, he recruited Daniel and Vala, and later Teal'c. Carter returned in the same episode that Vala left. The way I understood it was that Mitchell was in charge, but deferred to Carter's seniority.

What was up with her year on Atlantis? The actress was signed on for 14 of 20 episodes. The first two, she's looking for Atlantis. One of the remaining episodes is just a cameo. So really, we only see her in command for 11 episodes plus the Season 5 premiere.

I like how she progressed from the scientist to team leader, sharing leadership with Mitchell, command of Atlantis, temporary command of the SGC, and finally her own ship.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Carter was by far the best. Weir had her moments and having had longer to flesh out relationships and dynamics with the others paid off, her means of being written out of the show was really pretty crappy though.

Woolsey was just abysmal.

 

[Anwar]

Why did they get rid of Weir in Atlantis? Were they having trouble with Torri Higginson?

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Why did they get rid of Weir in Atlantis? Were they having trouble with Torri Higginson?

I had read somewhere that the writers were having trouble writing for her character. Can't remember where I saw that so I could be wrong.

 

[tomalak301]

Dr. Weir. I just wish the writers did more with her and not cast her aside.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Weir was intended to be a supporting character (like Hammond in SG-1), but Brad Wright liked the character and pushed to give her more stories and things to do, though as time went on Torri Higginson grew unhappy with the quality of the writing and the direction they were taking the Weir, and when they decided to make the character a recurring one she asked to leave.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

That's not true. I watched the show during its original 2004-09 run and followed casting news as it was released. At the end of Season 3, the writers killed off Dr. Beckett to emotionally rattle the audience. The new doctor was introduced in the season finale. It was a combination of difficulty writing for Weir and wanting to do something different with the character that lead to her being downgraded to a recurring guest star in Season 4. The actress understood that roles don't always last as long as the series and liked where they were taking the character. What left her pissed was that they didn't tell her she wasn't returning as a regular until the last possible moment. She returned for three guest appearances and one cameo that left her excited about where Weir was going in Season 5.

In Season 5, only one Weir episode was planned with an episode on is it her, a clone, someone pretending to be her? The actress wanted to move the character forward than play is this really her? She declined the script. Rather than a rewrite fo accomodate the actress, a different one was brought it with minor script adjustments to explain why she looked different.

Hope that helps explain.

 

[maneth]

I like how she progressed from the scientist to team leader, sharing leadership with Mitchell, command of Atlantis, temporary command of the SGC, and finally her own ship.

Yeah, I do agree that Carter's overall arc was a great one. My issue with her was that I didn't get to watch Atlantis and SG-1 concurrently when they first aired, so I was somewhat dismayed by her character's fate on SG-1. I loved the fact that she got her own ship in the end, though!

Weir was actually portrayed by three actresses, Jessica Steen on SG-1: Lost City, Torri Higginson, and Michelle Morgan.

 

[Kraig]

Yeah, I do agree that Carter's overall arc was a great one. My issue with her was that I didn't get to watch Atlantis and SG-1 concurrently when they first aired, so I was somewhat dismayed by her character's fate on SG-1. I loved the fact that she got her own ship in the end, though!

Weir was actually portrayed by three actresses, Jessica Steen on SG-1: Lost City, Torri Higginson, and Michelle Morgan.

I was going to ask which Dr. Weir. Was it Dr. Weir #1 in SG1(Jessica Steen), Dr. Weir #2 in SG1 and Dr. Weir #1 in Atlantis(Tori Higginson), or F.R.A.N. / Dr. Weir #2 in Atlantis(Michelle Morgan)?

 

[maneth]

I was going to ask which Dr. Weir. Was it Dr. Weir #1 in SG1(Jessica Steen), Dr. Weir #2 in SG1 and Dr. Weir #1 in Atlantis(Tori Higginson), or F.R.A.N. / Dr. Weir #2 in Atlantis(Michelle Morgan)?

There's something about Torri Higgningson's portrayal that I just didn't like. I don't know if it was the writing or the acting, but something just didn't work for me. The others played the role for such a short time that I don't really remember much about them.

 

[CommanderTrip]

For me personally. Weir was my favorite. It was sad to see her go. I liked the character and the actress and it's a shame the writers didn't better utilize her character.

I was always under the impression weir's departure was due to the fact that the actress playing carter had another year on her contract after sg1 ended, so the writers bumped weir for Carter?

 

[JD]

Weir was actually portrayed by three actresses, Jessica Steen on SG-1: Lost City, Torri Higginson, and Michelle Morgan.

That's crazy, Jessica Steen and Michelle Morgan have been co-stars on Heartland from 2007 all the way through to at least last year. Jessica Steen plays the girlfriend/wife of Michelle Morgan's character's father.

 

[Anwar]

That's crazy, Jessica Steen and Michelle Morgan have been co-stars on Heartland from 2007 all the way through to at least last year. Jessica Steen plays the girlfriend/wife of Michelle Morgan's character's father.

There's only a 16 year difference...Michelle's character must be younger than Michelle's actual age.

 

[maneth]

There's only a 16 year difference...Michelle's character must be younger than Michelle's actual age.

There's always Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Sean Connery was born in 1930 and Harrison Ford in 1942, but thanks to the white beard, Connery looked old enough to play Ford's father.

The Graduate is also a lot less shocking when you consider that Anne Bancroft who played Mrs. Robinson was only 6 years older than Dustin Hoffman, who was 30 or nearly so when they shot the movie.

I haven't seen Heartland so I don't know about that daughter/girlfriend dynamic, but there are plenty of examples both in fiction and in real life, where the second or Nth wife is very much younger than the first.

The most extreme case I know of is Bernie Ecclestone, who through his eldest child, who is in her 60s, is a great-grandfather. Yet he became a father again last year, at 88. So his eldest child could be the grandmother of his youngest. I guess when you're a billionaire...

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

I was always under the impression weir's departure was due to the fact that the actress playing carter had another year on her contract after sg1 ended, so the writers bumped weir for Carter?

That's exactly what happened. Apparently, crossing Carter over to Atlantis was always the plan. Unfortunately, Higginson got the boot with Weir downgraded to recurring guest star.

 

[Anwar]

That's exactly what happened. Apparently, crossing Carter over to Atlantis was always the plan. Unfortunately, Higginson got the boot with Weir downgraded to recurring guest star.

A shame really, I remember back in the day that some were complaining about her acting but to me she always seemed like a Canadian Sigourney Weaver.

 

[Morpheus 02]

My favorite was Woosley, because 1) his role made a lot of sense (oversight of everything, but not field commander) 2) he was "vulnerable" and had to "learn" from the more experienced people, which would empower their characters 3) he actually DOES know a lot about the SG programs...albeit not from PERSONAL and DIRECT experience.

With Carter..yes, she is DEFINITELY one of the most qualified... but like SHuri in Black Panther, i think her heart is in the science. SHe is also a socialable person, so being being behind a desk, and assigning the actual science and exploring work to others, i would think would hurt her inside.

And for Amanda Tapping..i didn't get the sense of excitement like she had in SG-1. But she certainly had the talent to carry it out, and if she was interested in being the commander in a Revival, i certainly would be interested.

My problem with Weir is that she is supposed to be a top negotiator....which should have made her the "SG-1-A" team leader, thought certainly for non combat situations.

But she was set up as administrator,which isn't necessarily her field, and didn't make sense to me.

General Hammond was the best model for Station leadership, especially over the "main team".

 

[JD]

There's always Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Sean Connery was born in 1930 and Harrison Ford in 1942, but thanks to the white beard, Connery looked old enough to play Ford's father.

The Graduate is also a lot less shocking when you consider that Anne Bancroft who played Mrs. Robinson was only 6 years older than Dustin Hoffman, who was 30 or nearly so when they shot the movie.

I haven't seen Heartland so I don't know about that daughter/girlfriend dynamic, but there are plenty of examples both in fiction and in real life, where the second or Nth wife is very much younger than the first.

The most extreme case I know of is Bernie Ecclestone, who through his eldest child, who is in her 60s, is a great-grandfather. Yet he became a father again last year, at 88. So his eldest child could be the grandmother of his youngest. I guess when you're a billionaire...

I think the issue is actually Shaun Johnston, he's 62, and playing 39 year old Michelle Morgan's grandfather. That's only a 23 year age difference, which seems pretty small for a grandfather.
And just out of curiosity, I looked up the actress who plays his daughter and Michelle Morgan's character's mother, who only appears briefly in the first episode and then flashbacks, and she's only 1 year younger than Shaun Johnston.