We’re back to walking down only one path in our Thirteen Weeks for Thirteen Years (13-4-13) series since Stargate Atlantis went it alone starting in Season Four after the mother show Stargate SG-1 ended its ten-year run.
But Atlantis had more than a solo act to be concerned with this year; another change in the regular cast was in store as Torri Higginson and Paul McGillion were removed (but both had guest appearances this season) and Amanda Tapping was added. Also, Firefly star Jewel Staite began a major character arc during this season as the new Chief of Medicine on Atlantis Base, Dr. Jennifer Keller. (Staite was added to the regular cast in Season Five.)
Not only were there these major changes in front of the cameras, but behind them as well. Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper handed the showrunning duties off to writing and production partners Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, who had joined the writing staff during SG-1‘s Season Four. Cooper and Wright were very busy putting together the two direct-to-video SG-1 movies, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, but the two still were able to write, and in Cooper’s case direct, episodes for Atlantis.
Of special note to fans of SG-1 were the two guest appearances made by Christopher Judge this season. Teal’c was there to say goodbye to Carter in “Reunion” and he was invited by her to Atlantis to help Ronon Dex gain approval from Earth’s bureaucratic IOA in “Midway.”
Atlantis Season Four
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Joe Flanigan
From “The Fourth Protocol” in Starburst #354 (Sept. 2007):
“I will have to admit that I had an unfounded initial fear of having Amanda on the show, which was Atlantis losing its distinction from SG-1. I didn’t want to become ‘SG-2’, and, again, that fear was unfounded. To Amanda’s credit she’s such a pleasure to work with and able to tackle all that incredibly crappy exposition that I want to avoid. Jewel [Staite] is very good at that as well, and I think she and Amanda both have a fan base that will hopefully widen the circle of our fan base. I have to say, too, that I miss Paul McGillion, you know? It’s not a case of either or. If it were up to me I’d love to have everyone on the show.
“[‘Adrift’ and ‘Lifeline’] were fun to do, and there are some big surprises in store for our viewers. I love the idea of the city having to leave home and be marooned in space. I actually wanted us to be out there for seven or eight episodes. That would have been cool. I’m not sure why we didn’t do that, but there must have been a good reason. Then, of course, we eventually had to land the city. When we did that, I hoped we would end up on a planet that was distinctly different from the last one, so that it perhaps felt like we were in an inhospitable place that would make survival a bit more challenging. However, we landed on a planet similar to the previous one and looks not unlike various areas surrounding Vancouver. [smiles]
“So I enjoyed Atlantis taking off and then our characters having to figure out what to do next. As for what happens in ‘Lifeline,’ well, we go to the Replicator city. That’s a tough episode to talk about because there are things I can’t reveal. I will tell you that there are some heavier emotional scenes in this episode which are nice, and I think turned out well. They add a layer to the overall body of episodes this season that I believe is going to make the fans appreciate the show a bit more.
“As an actor I had evil twin syndrome with [‘Doppelganger’], which was a challenge from a stunt perspective because I had to fight myself, and then turn around and fight myself all over again. You’re not only doing a lot more stunts than normal, but you’re also doing twice as many as you think because you have to do them a second time.
“So the work was pretty exhausting, but still interesting and a lot of fun to come back to at the start of the season. It was the first time I’d done twinning to that degree. It seems like a common Sci-Fi theme but it was new territory for me. It’s really important that there’s a distinction between your character and its twin, but in this case it was tricky because for the first two-thirds of ‘Doppelganger’ you can’t tell which Sheppard is which. It had to be a gradual distinction between the real one and his twin until the latter evolves into complete evil. It was a little complicated, though, because we didn’t quite have all the scenes written in order to qualify that transition. So it was a fairly abrupt evolution from subtle differences to glaring differences. I’ve yet to watch the cut of the episode, so we’ll see how it turned out, but the actual [creative] process was very rewarding.”
From interview with Rotten Tomatoes (Sept. 2, 2008):
“‘Outcast’ came from an original idea that I had that Ronon and Sheppard had to go back to Earth because Replicators had gotten on world and were being insidious, but it was basically us running around on Earth in familiar areas and blowing things up. They liked that idea and wove some backstory in it about my father passing away. It really took it to the next level, and we got to see a lot more about Sheppard and who he is.
“A lot of [Sheppard’s inner strength] is survival. He wants to live! A lot of those situations he’s in, he’s about to die! That never give up thing, that whole loyalty thing is something that always plays well with audiences, it’s a quality I admire.”
From “No Ordinary Joe” in TV Zone Special #82, excerpted at Visimag (2008):
“’The Last Man’ was an interesting story to work on and kind of cool, too. I was a little worried when I first read the script, mainly because there was a ton of exposition where David Hewlett’s [McKay] character explains everything that has happened over the past 40,000 years or whatever it was, but I think the episode turned out well. Believe it or not, I actually haven’t seen a final cut of it yet but, as season cliffhangers go, it was a good one.
“As for the sandstorm, I enjoy that kind of stuff. There were these little tiny wood chips that didn’t all get chopped up and some of them hit me, which kind of hurt a bit, but that also lent a greater realism to the situation. I like when our characters go through intense physical adversity because those types of things just read well on screen. It’s also what makes me watch a TV show because I’m always fascinated how someone could physically survive an ordeal like that. And I always think that that’s a smart way to go with our series in general because Sci-Fi plots can sometimes be a bit esoteric, so to show what the physical price is for something is more fun acting-wise than it is to explain something like, for example, the implosion of a planet.
“This job is funny because it’s unlike a lot of others in TV. By that I mean in Atlantis we get to do a variety of things. Because there are no real [creative] boundaries, we can do an episode that’s funny, another that’s dramatic, one that’s scary, etc. In many ways we’re the freest form of TV out there, which you sometimes have to remind yourself of and remember not to take for granted.
“I’ll sometimes read certain parts of our scripts and wonder, ‘How are we going to pull this off?’ However, these guys always manage to somehow do that. Between the art department guys, visual effect people and all the other people who work on this programme, we figure out together how to do what has to be done. From there, it’s just a matter of committing to what’s on the written page and going forth…”
From interview with Rotten Tomatoes (Sept. 2, 2008):
“I think the show works because of the chemistry of the characters, and because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. You can maybe get away with a $150 million movie, you can be serious. If you’re doing a 44-minute Sci Fi show for $3 million you can’t come off being pretentious and too serious.
“Even all the dark characters, the edgy shows that some very well-known show runners have put up—the characters are just not likeable, and that’s why they haven’t worked as well.
“I think that we’re lucky—our characters are likeable, and we enjoy ourselves, and it shows . And to know when the adventure is urgent and when it is funny is key. Comedy and humour are probably the saving grace for us.”
David Hewlett
From interview with UGO, archived at David-Hewlett.co.uk (Sept. 2007):
“It feels like, Stargate, we’re the kid brother or sister of Stargate, and when that started, it was almost 11 years ago now, I feel like TV has changed. I think Atlantis is a product of that. The audiences are much more savvy, and I think the content that we’re seeing on television is darker, so there’s definitely more of a bite to Atlantis than perhaps there was to start off with. I think it’s a good thing, though.
“I think the successes of the whole Stargate universe are these wonderful characters that they’ve written. The science fiction is just a fantastic back drop for these normal everyday people who are struggling to cope with the extraordinary circumstances. That, to me, makes for the best kind of sci-fi, because there’s this great kind of escapist sci-fi, because you can identify with these people and go, ‘I’m kind of like McKay. In a situation like that, I’m probably not going to respond in the best way. I tend to snap at people when I’m being attacked by aliens.’
“I think that the edgy stuff is sort of a product of its time, in a way. We’re not as dark as Battlestar, which I love. Jane and I watch that religiously now, but we’re not Battlestar. We’re a very different show than that. We’re definitely more. I think we’re more sci-fi for the non-sci-fi people, if that makes sense. You want to be careful with a show like this that it doesn’t become too cheerful, otherwise you lose that peril. I think the edgier stuff they’ve been playing with this year will help remind people that we are all at risk.
“Obviously, the biggest [change that makes Atlantis darker] is [the] change of characters. We lost a couple of our leads, effectively, and added a few more, too. Again, from an entirely selfish standpoint, I got Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite to work with. I’ve got two female icons of sci-fi that I get to play with on a daily basis. It’s fantastic. But, by knocking off these characters, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. I mean, they’re talking about the cliff-hanger for Season Four, and I’m like, ‘I hope it’s not me.'”
From “Interview: David Hewlett” with About.com (Mar. 2008):
“You know, I watched ‘The Last Man’ the other day and one of the standout things is—Connor [Trinneer] is, like, the nicest guy on the planet—possibly the universe, I can’t say—but I’ll tell you, he is just an evil bastard in the show! I don’t know how he does it, he just goes from this sweet, jovial kind of guy to this complete monster in seconds.”
From “Exclusive Interview: David Hewlett” at Cinema Spy (May 2008):
“It was funny, someone came up to me and said, ‘Wow, the makeup’s amazing and the way they gave you a little pot belly and stuff.’ And I was like, ‘I just let my belly out a bit.’ Getting up the stairs, frankly, by the end of the season, I was just so creaky and sore anyways. Generally it’s the best thing to play at the end of a season because you’re so tired by episode 20 that you look like a thousand years old anyway. Basically I just allowed myself to move slower and complain more.
“That was another funny Lorne one, because Lorne and me—Kavan [Smith] and me—as old men, we’re just the crabbiest suckers on set anyways, so the two of us as old men it was like shooting Grumpy Old Men in Space. It was just kind of fun, because all those—as you get older all those little aches and pains you get to play that stuff up. I think I was born to be old. Some people were born to live free, die young. I was born to die old. I quite like the excuse for being a little grumpy and a little slower in getting up the stairs and all the doddering things I kind of enjoy doing.
“That and also, what was funny was that my kid was born the day after we finished shooting. The whole time I kept thinking, ‘If my wife goes into labour now, I’ve got four hours of prosthetics that are going to drive across the border with me. Will Nexus [an automated border crossing kiosk] work? Will my Fast Pass card work at the border if I’m a thousand years old?’ How do you explain that one in the secondary check? ‘Sir, are you wearing a disguise?’ What was neat about that is that I was so beautifully distracted throughout that entire episode that I think—again, that adds to the—the things that are the least enjoyable to shoot are often the most fun to watch. You can’t help it, you pick up that uncomfortable—that’s why I find a lot of the big big budget films sometimes they lack that wonderful edge you get from the, ‘Oh, my god, we’ve got one shot at this! Go!’ I think ‘The Last Man’ was one of those where there was a lot of dialogue to shoot in a short period of time, and so much going on. For other people. I just talked. I talked and became invisible when sand went through me. I think the circumstances for that one really helped to get you into the old age thing. The problem now is actually getting out of the old age thing. Season 5, I’m walking around like I’m a thousand years old. Still. But I hold my belly in a little better.”
From “Interview: David Hewlett” with About.com (Mar. 2008):
“I’m still pleasantly surprised by [Rodney’s journey so far]. Because originally when I took this job, my vision of where it was going—and think their vision to some extent—was that it was going to be basically me standing beside a computer yelling out things at people every so often. Rodney was a surprise to them, because he suddenly became part of the team. Originally the idea of Rodney going on missions, everybody would have laughed at it. The idea would have shocked him. Rodney was incredibly unhappy about having to go on these missions in general—where some people see adventure, he sees a potential health hazard.
“So for me, it’s all a pleasant surprise, because I really honestly thought I was going to be sitting behind a computer terminal, bored out of my cranium, and it’s just turned into so much more than that. I think what’s neat about what they’ve done with him is that they’ve really managed to flesh out what is a very nasty, difficult character. So I’m far more than satisfied with what they’ve done. And it’s always a pleasant surprise to see what new, fresh hell they’ve come up with for us. I’m hearing about freezing-cold lakes coming up, so that sounds promising.”
Amanda Tapping
From interview with Moviehole (May 2009):
“I made a conscious choice off the top to make [Carter] out of her comfort zone, to be a leader that was about listening to her team and throwing it out to them more often than making the decisions for herself. I tried to make her as respectful in this new situation as possible and I think in doing so watered her down a bit and then I think that we didn’t have the opportunity to flesh her out as a leader as much as we would have liked. And it was weird to watch teams going through the gate and to be staying behind, it was really hard at first. I was like ‘well, I should be on that mission, I might be able to help out’ but what Cater was trying to do was make sure that the team felt respected, that their positions were all safe and they felt respected and that was Carter’s MO as a leader and I think in some ways she could have shown a bit more strength. When she was able to show backbone she showed it but I think we could have fleshed her out a bit more.”
From interview in Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: The Official Magazine #27, excerpted at Slice of SciFi (Apr./May 2009):
“Doing the episode ‘Trio’ with David Hewlett and Jewel Staite [will be a memory I’ll take with me]. I don’t know what the fans thought of the episode, and it¹s probably best that I don’t know, because it was just so much fun! I haven’t laughed so hard in such a long time; the whole cast of Stargate: Atlantis are really talented, really nice people. Being able to hang out just the three of us and go through those shared experiences was amazing; me conquering my fear of heights not really, but trying to; being thrown around on a gimble, and writing Stargate: Atlantis: The Musical. Those kinds of memories are priceless. That for me was a huge highlight.”
From Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: The Official Magazine, excerpted at AmandaTapping.com (Jun. 2008):
“I just want to address this right off. It was a very difficult decision, not to say that I walked away from Stargate: Atlantis, because I haven’t. I still want to be a part of the show. They offered me a very nice contract with the caveat being that I had to make Stargate: Atlantis my first priority, and I totally understood why in terms of timing and scheduling, but I couldn’t do it because I knew there was a good possibility that Sanctuary would get worldwide television broadcast. Had I said ‘Yes’ to what the folks at Stargate: Atlantis wanted, I would’ve essentially shut down Stage 3 Media and Sanctuary. So, as much as we tried to make it work, and executive producer Joe Mallozzi and I were on the phone a lot trying to work things out, we just decided at the end of the day that the timing just was not going to happen. He was very cool. They were wonderful.
“The last time I got off phone with Joe I was just bawling. I hung up and started crying and my husband said, ‘What? What?’ And I said, ‘Oh, my God. 11 years. This is huge.’ It’s been my life, my home, my family—literally—for well over a decade. But the beauty of it is I haven’t walked away from it completely. It’s not like I turned my back on Stargate: Atlantis. I said, ‘Let’s see what we can do to make this work.’ I will make myself available.
“I had this whole thought that, ‘Oh, my God, the fans are going to hate me,’ When I went on to Stargate: Atlantis, in a lot of people’s minds I took over for another character, which is an unfair assessment because that’s not exactly how it came down. That my going to Stargate: Atlantis precipitated other people leaving is a popular misconception. And now I’m walking away. And I worry they’ll think, ‘Who the hell is she to do that?’ Maybe I concern myself too much with what the fans are saying because I take it so personally, and I’ve always believed that the fans are the heart of the show—and that’s not lip service. I truly believe that. I played out the worse case scenario in my head. As soon as this announcement is made, there are going to be people who are going to slag me off, ‘You abandoned this.’
“I think at the end of the day it’s a perfect compromise. I’m moving on to my own series. It’s a whole new role for me. It’s exciting, and it’s an interesting show, and I think the fans will love it. I’m not turning my back on Stargate. I’m certainly still a part of the franchise. Sam Carter is still very much a part of me. I think my Polyanna view of things that’s the perfect-case scenario. And I just hope a lot of the fans will eventually see it that way, too.”
From interview in Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: The Official Magazine #27, excerpted at Slice of SciFi (Apr./May 2009):
“I’ve always said that the fans have always been paramount to me, and they’ve been amazing. I want to say thank you to the people who have supported, and continue to support me, no matter what I do. They went over and checked out Sanctuary when it was on the web to be supportive of me, and I appreciate that. Whether they stick with the show or not is entirely up to them, but the fact that they gave it a try is hugely important. The fact that they gave me a chance going over to Stargate: Atlantis is just as big. You remember the bad things, but I really try to remember the good things that people have said, and there have been so many.”
Rachel Luttrell
From “One on One with Rachel Luttrell” at Hobo Trashcan (Apr. 2007):
“The new season in particular has new characters. We’ve lost a couple of characters and there’s some shifts going on there, which changes the tone of the show. But the actors and characters who we’ve added I think will be embraced by the audience. Amanda Tapping is joining us and Jewel Staite, who I think sci-fi fans will know from the series Firefly, and then Serenity the movie. Right now, I’ve only read the first four scripts and we do 20 in the season. But I think that the tone of Teyla, my character, is going to shift ever so slightly and we’re going to start to see, even though she’s very strong, I think what we’re going to start to see is perhaps even more strength and a little bit of an edge, a little bit more of a darkness that will hopefully be tempered by depth. And we’re going to also get to see, thankfully, a little bit more of her people and how they influence who she is. That is something I’ve been hoping to explore for quite a while.”
From “Stargate Atlantis – Rachel Luttrell Interview” at UGO (Sept. 2007):
“I’m sad that we’ve lost Paul [McGillion] and that we’ve lost Torri [Higginson], but hopefully we haven’t lost them for good. But yes, absolutely, Paul does come back, as does Torri. They both have a presence in Season Four, and their departure, their characters, where they are left, is also kind of open-ended. We definitely haven’t seen the last them.”
From “Exclusive Interview: Rachel Luttrell” at Cinema Spy (Aug. 4, 2008):
“I spoke to the writers prior to beginning Season 4—a good month before we started—and they had in mind, as they always do, how the story arcs were going to play out for that season and what they wanted to encompass in Teyla’s journey. And I came to them and dropped the bomb [that I was pregnant]. But they ran with it and they did a wonderful job and they were able to blend portions of what they wanted for the season and encompass the journey that I was going through. And I think it made for a stronger, colourful character for me to portray that.
“[The] thing is they started encompassing my pregnancy from the get-go in Season 4, so there was never a point where I felt like I had to hide that. If anything, it was something I kept in the back of my head because I knew that Teyla was going through it even though she hadn’t made it aware to the rest of her team. So it was something that I was aware of as well on the same note, even though I hadn’t announced it to my castmates and the crew. The writers, producers, and myself all knew that that was something that was going to be a part of her journey. No, I never felt that I had to downplay that or play something else. It was always part of what I was holding in my mind.”
From “Stargate Atlantis – Rachel Luttrell Interview” at UGO (Sept. 2007):
“Once the crew and the cast knew—I actually didn’t tell anyone except for our producers until I was three months along—everyone was so incredibly accommodating. They got me my own reclining cast chair, which was fantastic, which the rest of the cast were fighting for, but sadly, didn’t get. It was actually really good. This season, as it turns out, ended up being one of the most physical seasons that I’ve had to do thus far, which is kind of funny considering I was pregnant. … certainly during the first part of the season while I was still capable and while it probably wouldn’t be offensive for the audience to see. I wasn’t showing, and so I did a lot of very physical things. I did a couple of fights that were the biggest that I’ve done to date, so there you have it. But looking back, I really enjoyed it and pretty much my entire pregnancy has been documented now on Stargate.
“Even though [Teyla] was embracing motherhood on one hand, there were many things that were going on in her life that also brought out a little bit more of a darker side for her and a more edgy quality. But I don’t think we’ve completely lost the lightness that I believe audiences have come to expect from the Stargate franchise. But yeah, it was a weightier season. There were a lot of deep things being discussed.
“Well, we don’t really hear about the season to come until after a few episodes of the season we have just finished shooting have aired. Season Four premieres next Friday the 28th at 10 pm, and so we’re going to wait and see. Everybody is hoping that people are tuning in on that night, because now with the technology, TiVo, and all that stuff—which I absolutely adore—it’s hard to tell how many people are actually watching the show. No one knows how many people are actually recording it, so it’s just a matter of when are you tuning in and are you tuning in at that point. I think that the network is going to pay close attention to that, and I think we’ll just see. But, people are enthusiastic about the potential that there’s going to be another season, but it is the entertainment business, so you never know.”
Jason Momoa
From “Jason Momoa: Dex appeal” at Total Sci-Fi Online (May 20, 2008):
“It doesn’t feel like a different show or anything like that, but there are new energies in it. Not having Paul McGillion here, who is a good buddy, it is just a little different. But the new members of the team are great. I mean, Jewel Staite is a sweetheart and I have a lot of stuff with her this year. It is just different because your friends aren’t there but as far as character-wise, I don’t like anyone anyway so it just works out!” [laughs]
From video interview with Extra TV‘s Jerry Penacoli, found at MGM’s Official Stargate Site and at YouTube (Jan. 2008):
“I get stuck in a room with a woman, Dr. Keller, on an episode coming up. You know, I talk about—cos my wife died about seven years ago—but you know, seven years ago. I guess that’s his whole insecurities, he’s a little rough. I don’t know what they’re going to do with that whole relationship. Hopefully, he gets some soon, you know? I think that’ll take all of that aggression off of him. That’s why I’m such a good warrior…”
From “Exclusive Interview: Jason Momoa” at Cinema Spy (Aug. 11, 2008):
“It’s interesting, because someone asked me earlier about the ring. [He points to a gold ring in his dreadlocks.] I put this on me because my wife died in front of me on Sateda. One thing about Ronon is he holds a grudge. He’s very loyal, he’s got a lot of honour. Even though—I was thinking about this as an actor—would Ronon really have a love relationship? To me, no. Yes, a guy needs to get laid, but I don’t think it needs to be in the show.”
From video interview with Extra TV‘s Jerry Penacoli, found at MGM’s Official Stargate Site and at YouTube (Jan. 2008):
“Since I started here, I’ve been kind of compared to Chris Judge on the other show, being we’re both dark-skinned and fight…and aliens, and I get to meet up with him, finally. I don’t like him and we have to be stuck together and defend Earth. It’s a lot of fun. We’re shooting that right now. We’re bruised and battered—huge fight scene—probably one of the biggest fight scenes we’ve rehearsed for. We spent three days rehearsing for it and a lot of blood. … I mean, the whole thing’s lots of fights and today—like, last night was all gun fire. I forgot to put my ear plugs in—sightly deaf in this ear today. I know, dumb, dumb!
“Yeah, you do get hit. I’ve been hit and I’ve hit people and knocked someone out….You don’t want those things to happen, but you train and train so it doesn’t, but once things start going really fast it’s—if you lean in a little bit or be off just like a little, then BOOM!
“I just had this [tattoo] done in Hawaii. My cousins have this and it’s an ‘aumakua, which is like your guardian. Like any other tribe, they use like an animal for whatever their warrior tribe is, so this is the shark. … I did it kind of without permission for the show. But, my guy’s got tattoos on his neck and stuff and I said, ‘Well, it looks spacey,’ you know? We wrote it into the show, which is great. They actually did the tapping—in an episode I meet up with all my people who I think were dead on my home planet and it’s funny, they are tapping it on in the episode and I decide to smack the guy. He sunk it too deep and I just went [SLAP].”
From “Exclusive Interview: Jason Momoa” at Cinema Spy (Aug. 11, 2008):
“I just find myself a little bit more nostalgically tragic [than an action hero]. Just more of a—I didn’t want to play an action star because it’s just such a gimme. I’m not that way, I don’t want to be that way. I dreaded my hair because I don’t want to be the pretty boy and the hunk. I didn’t want it to be all about my face; it originally started from that and I hated that. Because I’m just not that. From that spawned the dreads. I just wanted different roles. Now that I have this role, it’s great, because Joe’s the number one. And you don’t find someone like me—big, tall—next to someone that’s the leading man on the show. Normally the sidekick’s going to be someone like David. It’s going to be someone funny. I play right next to Joe and it’s awesome. I’ve worked on shows when guys aren’t that cool with it. …It’s interesting that Joe—he’s a Harrison Ford type of guy, super confident and with his own style and we work well together. I’d love to work with Flanigan for the rest of my life. He’s great.”
Great job digging up all of that interview material! Season 4 was somewhat of a turning point, and it’s fascinating to get an up-close, behind the scenes look at it from all of the lead actors. The whole cast seems to have thoroughly loved SGA. I know we fans would dearly love to see them reunited in a continuation of its story!!!
Thank you. 🙂
I’m still hoping for a movie or something to continue their story. Even some kind of mention on SGU would help some. I keep wondering where McKay is to help solve some of their technical problems!