Spoilers galore on Stargate Atlantis Season 4 (MSN Blog)

[wraithfodder]

Hey, I'm linking and quoting an article which is chockful of spoilers, some of which will be quoted. Spoilerphobes should squeak in horror and flee. 

The MSN TV blog at http://tvfilter.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!DB9D137CC0F754C9!22076.entry has this big interview with Joe Mallozzi, in which he talks about upcoming episodes. Here are some snippets and my comments.

I won't lie. All the stuff about Carter coming over, I read and went 'meh,' since I really liked Weir and although I do like Carter, I'm not on her rah-rah best-thing-since-Cheese Whiz bandwagon ;)

So the character of Teyla will be pregnant for Season Four. And that will impact not only the team dynamic and her relationship, particularly with Sheppard, but an overall dark arc we set in motion early in the season.

For instance, the fact that she was pregnant, it's something she's afraid of revealing to the rest of the team, because she's afraid of how they're going to react and whether they'll still want her on the team. When she finally comes forward and reveals it, I can tell you some are happy and one is not very happy to find that basically she'd been keeping it a secret from him that long. So it strains relationships in that respect as well. What we set out to do in Season Four is untidy things a bit and strain relationships a bit and just see where we can go with that. 

I think this is Sheppard's and Teyla's relationship which gets strained. Angst! This does sound quite promising.
And anyone thinking Ronon, Sheppard or McKay is the dad, well, nope, nada. Or Lorne or Zelenka, as dad isn't part of the expedition. Hmmm...

JM: The first couple of episodes, she's more of a B-story, where Atlantis is lost in space and she's on the Apollo trying to find them. In the episode called "Reunion," she settles in. It's not an easy first day. In that particular episode, her settling in is the B-story, where the A-story is Ronon encountering some Satedans that he thought were killed in the fall of Sateda, his former friends and the unit he fought with. He's drawn to his past and has to make a decision, the decision between remaining with the life he's built on Atlantis or returning of the roots he knew. In the same episode, Carter is letting go of the roots she knew and building a new home on Atlantis. It's kind of interesting how those two stories intersect. Carter kind of runs afoul of Ronon, who doesn't appreciate her coming in and establishing certain protocols. She doesn't exactly run afoul of Sheppard, but they have a certain disagreement about mission priorities. It's a bit of a bumpy road for her, especially in an episode later on called "The Seer." It's an episode that explores her command decision. It forces her to step up and assume that command role in a big way under the scrutiny of Richard Woolsey, who happens to be there while all this is happening. He's there to review her three-month stay as commander, so there's added pressure. That's kind of another fun episode. It's always fun to have Bob Picardo swinging by. 

And at the end of the day, I think we've set up something very cool with the Weir character as well. So it's something we can explore further on down the line. 

I hope down the line isn't like seasons down the line. If they get a season five, they should bring Weir back. Yup, yup, unless of course she gets another series, And what will they do if Paul McGillion does get STAR TREK? Heh, they won't be able to afford him then ;)

 

FOUND another article, interview conducted with Joe Mallozzi at Comic-Con, at

http://www.multichannel.com/blog/1300000330.html#900015090

in which Mallozzi talks about SHEPPARD'S backstory.

Joe:  it’s one of things we’ve been well aware of,  that we’ve explored all the other characters but Sheppard, who is essentially the team leader but has had very little back story.  Joe [Flanigan, who plays Sheppard] came in and pitched a story, one of the stories he pitched out this year, that has the team traveling back to earth to deal w/ a situation.  It was a springboard, a kernel of an idea.  And then we started spinning it last week.  And we were thinking... this would be an opportunity to get into Sheppard’s background, something we’ve been talking about for quite awhile.  

One of the things we know from “Letters from Pegasus” - he has no connection back on earth and no one he felt strongly enough to send a message to [back to earth].   We also know he's divorced.  What's gong on there?  Does he have family, is he estranged from family?   The story line we're working on with him has him going back for a funeral.  And we’re thinking maybe someone with will go him - maybe Ronin or McKay will go back with him.  He'll reconnect w/ his family.  We'll be dealing with the big sci fi angle that will drive the story because all of our stories, obviously, have that angle.  But it will also give us an opportunity to explore Sheppard’s character.  What's going on w/ his family?  Why are they estranged?  We've come up w/ an atypical story for the character which is going to be a lot of fun.
We're still very early on.  We're still kicking around some ideas.  Hopefully, we’ll start spinning it on Monday.  This week coming up we hope we will have broken the last three stories -  this one, and the season finale which Paul pitched out.  And we have a blank spot.  It really depends on the budget, too.

And the rest, read the link above, and feel free to comment :)

 

I'm thrilled that Ronon is going to clash with Carter. It only makes sense as she's as by the book as a library stand. Weir bent and adjusted to go with the flow, and did what was necessary to ensure the survival of the city and its occupants, whereas Carter, from the sounds of it, will have to sit there and consider her job security if she screws up. 

Comments

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

Urrghh. OK. Not exactly thrilled by this. I think I'm going to just eventually have to start avoiding spoilers altogether.

I hate all this stuff with Shep and Teyla. I love them as friends, but I've gotten to where I just cringe at every mention of Shep and Teyla together in anything. :( I just see Shep and Teyla turning into Atlantis's version of Jack and Sam, and that ship destroyed both Jack and Sam for me as characters. I don't want to start disliking Shep or Teyla.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping there's no 'Sheyla' in SGA, as in romance, as yes, I can understand how you got to feel that way about sam and jack as the writers just didn't handle it well.

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...now I've read the article....At least he clarifies that the father will NOT be on base. Interesting that he also admits to being part of the decision to get rid of Weir....almost sounds like he's happy about it...am I reading too much into that? *confused*

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Trying to determine WHAT JM means gives me a headache.

[sgafan33.livejournal.com]

I think Sheppard will be upset at Teyla because he's the leader of the team and he considers Teyla a friend and why would she be afraid to tell him that she's pregnant? I don't think it's going to be that he's upset that she's pregnant, just that she felt she had to keep it a secret because she didn't know what would happenn.

Sheppard's talked to her a couple of times about his feelings. He's confessed to her that he's not good at talking about stuff like that, but he did talk to her. He's probably going to be disappointed that she didn't feel like she could talk to him.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I think that too, plus if she's pregnant and going out on dangerous missions, he'll probably have considered that too, as if they were back on Earth, she'd be taken out of any combat situations.

[jackfan2.livejournal.com]

No no.. you didn't. Mullozie was instrumental in getting rid of Torri. *points to my icon* They clashed. She didn't dance when he told her to, unlike ... some... SG1/now SGA characters do *cough*Tapping*cough*Carter*minithrowup*. Must be nice to walk on water, but then, I wouldn't know.

Yes, you may say it 'Bitter much?' And yes, I am. :D

Hmm.. read over at JM's blog how he hit his head and didn't realize until later that it was bleeding. Is it bad of me to have laughed hysterically?

No, what was bad was that I wished he'd not survived the concussion.

Yes yes.. bitter .. MUCH.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Torri has a mind of her own, and like Joe will call them on things like ignoring the emotional side of things like Carson's death. I don't think they like that, but they put up with it from Joe because he's their star... for now.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

well, would not wish that on anyone (except dictators, etc.). I don't think we'll EVER find out the reason they decided to toss Weir off the show.

[jackfan2.livejournal.com]

Yea.. the Sheyla camp is rejoicing that Weir is gone. No more shipper-war for canon rights in pairings. *shrug*

If they go for any kind of ship/Sheyla, I will definitely be hoping that John's curse (everyone he's cared about at Atlantis has died: Ford, Carson, Weir) spreads Teyla's direction next.

Keep the ships in fanfic, not on the show.

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

Keep the ships in fanfic, not on the show.

I can agree with that!

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

Yea.. the Sheyla camp is rejoicing that Weir is gone. No more shipper-war for canon rights in pairings.

The fact is, the Sheyla shippers are simply deluding themselves. Teyla's obvious lack of trust in Sheppard by keeping her pregnancy secret and thus putting a strain on her friendship with him, combined with the fact that Shep isn't the father (thank goodness!) will put quite a few more torpedoes in the side of that sinking ship. 'Bout damn time, too. Their dynamic works far better as friends/sort-of-siblings than as a bad romantic cliché.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

You know, hadn't realized that everybody Shep cared about dies. Whoa, if he and Carter (black widow) got together, hmm, would not be good.

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

Shep and Carter?!? Ewwww! Wash your mouth out with soap! LOL!

Seriously, though, I'm thinking their curses would probably cancel each other out. :)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Well, it would be fraternization, against the rules, so it ain't gonna happen. If it does, well, watch the show tank.

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

Well, it would be fraternization, against the rules, so it ain't gonna happen.

Thank goodness for the regs, eh? :)

If it does, well, watch the show tank.

Heh. The show is already in danger of tanking with all the bad decisions TPTB have made in the past several months. Oh, I would so like to win the lottery... I'd lock up controlling interest in both MGM and NBC/UNI/SciFi, and then have a nice quiet chat with TPTB. Smacking them upside their heads with my very fat checkbook that pays their salaries... :P

[sgafan33.livejournal.com]

The multichannel link needs a user id and password. Is there some way I can read the whole article?

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

that's weird. i didn't have to use a password or anything. try entering through the main addy for multichannel and McNamara's column is usually quite visible on the right.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

I love how Mallozzi argued with someone who said Shep's wife was Nancy, saying it's Karen, and he should know. Then next thing you know, he's saying it's Nancy! Haha!

And yes, I want both Torri and Paul to get something that puts them out of Bridge's reach financially. And I want for the boys from Bridge to desperately want them back to save the show and then realise they can't afford them! That would be karma!

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with the "meh" on Carter; I like her, and I don't mind her seeing her on Atlantis, but damnit, I want Weir to be there too! They'd better bring her back in S5, and for more than a piddly little four episodes! It would be so ironic if the Weir (and Carson) episodes end up getting the highest ratings all season... given how obsessive TPTB are about the ratings right now, it'd serve them right.

(Speaking of Weir, have you seen Torri Higginson's new interview on GateWorld yet?)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check out GW, see if that's new as I thought it was old.