Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashbacks?

[Morpheus 02]

i know there's Lost, which was famous for its use of Flashbacks (and then flash forwards, then flash sideways)

But would Atlantis and/or Universe have benefitted from using extensive Flashbacks?

They've been used on occasion, in episodes that specifically called for them. But how about on a more regular basis?

For Atlantis...i think it would have bolstered Lt. Ford's character, giving us a better picutre of him, and perhpas how he would be in some ways "superior" to Shepard in leading an SG team.

With Universe, it would have been better than some of the goofy ways they have connected to Earth in real time.

So what do you think?

 

[PsychoPere]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

It's a very rare show that can handle extensive flashbacks on a regular basis in a satisfying and quality manner. As such, I'm going with "no."

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

Joe Washington??

 

[Snick27]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

its the sole reason i quit watching THE EVENT. So NO! Flashbacks SUCK!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

If you want good flashbacks, you need good writers. Lost had good writers and good flashbacks. For the reverse example, see The Event.

Since Stargate has never had very good writers (certainly not in the past ten years or so), the answer is not to add flashbacks but to hire writers like they had on Lost (if they could afford them, maybe that's the problem). Then you can do flashbacks or flashsideways or whatever you want.

 

[Snick27]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

If you want good flashbacks, you need good writers. Lost had good writers and good flashbacks. For the reverse example, see The Event.

Since Stargate has never had very good writers (certainly not in the past ten years or so), the answer is not to add flashbacks but to hire writers like they had on Lost (if they could afford them, maybe that's the problem). Then you can do flashbacks or flashsideways or whatever you want.

all flashbacks do is ruin the flow of the tv show. If you got a good story to tell then you dont need flashbacks or flash sides ways. Keep it simple with a good story.

 

[PsychoPere]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

all flashbacks do is ruin the flow of the tv show. If you got a good story to tell then you dont need flashbacks or flash sides ways. Keep it simple with a good story.

I disagree. Lost handled flashbacks perfectly. The flashbacks always served a purpose, to show life before the island, to explain why characters were on the plane, how some of them knew one another; in short, to shed more light on the background of the characters. As for the flash sideways, not using them would not have allowed the producers and writers to tell the story they wanted to.

 

[Snick27]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

all flashbacks do is ruin the flow of the tv show. If you got a good story to tell then you dont need flashbacks or flash sides ways. Keep it simple with a good story.

I disagree. Lost handled flashbacks perfectly. The flashbacks always served a purpose, to show life before the island, to explain why characters were on the plan, how some of them knew one another; in short, to shed more light on the background of the characters. As for the flash sideways, not using them would not have allowed the producers and writers to tell the story they wanted to.

Well ive never watched Lost so i take your word for it. Ive just never liked them and ruined The Event.

 

[Kelthaz]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

Flashbacks can work well, but they are difficult to pull off. For example, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm pulled them off beautifully and the film could never have been as good without Bruce's flashbacks to his time with Andrea.

Of course, as Temis says, it all comes down to the writers. Good writers will make a good show with or without flashbacks. Bad writers will always fail.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

If you want good flashbacks, you need good writers. Lost had good writers and good flashbacks. For the reverse example, see The Event.

Since Stargate has never had very good writers (certainly not in the past ten years or so), the answer is not to add flashbacks but to hire writers like they had on Lost (if they could afford them, maybe that's the problem). Then you can do flashbacks or flashsideways or whatever you want.

all flashbacks do is ruin the flow of the tv show. If you got a good story to tell then you dont need flashbacks or flash sides ways. Keep it simple with a good story.

But would the flashbacks REALLY be any worse than supposedly cut-off people contacting earth, or even interacting with characters on earth in real time? Or using villains from previous series for no reason and having contradictory explanations of them (such as Replicators)

For me, reasonably used flashbacks could be excellent ways to bring back old Stargate characters. For Atlantis, it would bolster their previous Stargate involvement, and show how valuable they are on missions.

And for me, Universe is just NOT must-see TV. It's not fun like SG-1. I would have liked to see why someo fo them are on the team. i know this is Eli's first encounter with ALien stuff...but did anyone else go on SG missions or part of an SG team?

It just seems more natural than using "stones" to go back to earth.

 

[The Wormhole]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

I wouldn't say constant flashbacks in every episode to the extent Lost had are necessary, but SGU sure could use a flashback episode, perhaps showing life on Icarus or origin stories showing the lives of the characters before they got involved in the Icarus project. Stuff like that. It might help establish the characters somewhat. Besides, the potential sixth season of Atlantis had a flashback episode planned that primarily took place in the first season, so this isn't exactly an idea that's foreign to the Stargate writers.

 

[PsychoPere]

Re: Would ATlantis or Universe had benefitted from extensive Flashback

I would have liked to see why someo fo them are on the team. [...] but did anyone else go on SG missions or part of an SG team?

For the first sentence, a decent chunk of these people are supposedly "the wrong people," remember. They were assigned to Icarus Base, but not to the Ninth Chevron Expedition. Young, for example, was in command of Icarus Base, while Telford was to lead the Expedition. From some dialogue throughout the series so far, we know that Young used to lead an SG team but apparently requested reassignment away from the field because he couldn't handle the stress. Other than Telford and Young, I don't think we've had any indications that anyone else onboard Destiny had traveled through a Stargate except to go back and forth between Earth installations. This seems to be the first SGC field experience for everyone else.