I hope you don't mind me dropping in on the conversation, but it popped up in a Google blog alert I have set up for The Hewlett and I thought this was an interesting idea.
With Trinity it was so much easier to blame Rodney because he spent the entire time going "I can do it!" But what if Rodney fails during a time where he spends the entire time going "I *can't* do it" You know that John wouldn't believe him, and I think he'd feel at least let down in Rodney, if not outright disappointment.
I've always had problems with Trinity. I can go along with the writers wanting to show Rodney getting something wrong and getting taken down a peg or two, but... no one else has. No one on Atlantis, or more importantly, out of ten years on SG-1, Sam Carter never had such a major failure. Even when she let a replicator in her head, she got the pat on the head with a "It's not your fault," when she -- and everyone else -- should have known what would happen. I really hate the dumbing down of characters to drive the plots.
I never got why everyone seemed to take Rodney's failure so personally. I know John's faith in Rodney saving the day was shaken, as was everyone else's, but guess what folks -- you're at war and stuff like this is going to happen. IIRC, Weir was even "disciplining" Rodney where others could overhear, which was just bad management, 5/6 of a solar system or not.
Although, I have a feeling that fanfic writers would do a better job of it than the show writers, they'd probably have Carter come in and save the day while just making Rodney look stupid :(
You're probably right there. I personally am not watching the season, though I'm still lurking around in fandom (including reading episode discussion) and reading fanfic. I just couldn't go through another show becoming centered on Sam Carter again (unless they can magically erase the last few years of how she's been), though I'll probably watch the "highlights" on DVD later.
I know Sam hasn't been in the show much so far, but I expect that to increase. The show is "under new management" and it's going to take some time for their influence to be truly felt. But it's been interesting to see most (slash) fans simply talking around her instead of about her.
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With Trinity it was so much easier to blame Rodney because he spent the entire time going "I can do it!" But what if Rodney fails during a time where he spends the entire time going "I *can't* do it" You know that John wouldn't believe him, and I think he'd feel at least let down in Rodney, if not outright disappointment.
I've always had problems with Trinity. I can go along with the writers wanting to show Rodney getting something wrong and getting taken down a peg or two, but... no one else has. No one on Atlantis, or more importantly, out of ten years on SG-1, Sam Carter never had such a major failure. Even when she let a replicator in her head, she got the pat on the head with a "It's not your fault," when she -- and everyone else -- should have known what would happen. I really hate the dumbing down of characters to drive the plots.
I never got why everyone seemed to take Rodney's failure so personally. I know John's faith in Rodney saving the day was shaken, as was everyone else's, but guess what folks -- you're at war and stuff like this is going to happen. IIRC, Weir was even "disciplining" Rodney where others could overhear, which was just bad management, 5/6 of a solar system or not.
Although, I have a feeling that fanfic writers would do a better job of it than the show writers, they'd probably have Carter come in and save the day while just making Rodney look stupid :(
You're probably right there. I personally am not watching the season, though I'm still lurking around in fandom (including reading episode discussion) and reading fanfic. I just couldn't go through another show becoming centered on Sam Carter again (unless they can magically erase the last few years of how she's been), though I'll probably watch the "highlights" on DVD later.
I know Sam hasn't been in the show much so far, but I expect that to increase. The show is "under new management" and it's going to take some time for their influence to be truly felt. But it's been interesting to see most (slash) fans simply talking around her instead of about her.