SGA "The Real World" SPOILERS

[justalurkr]

A quick scan of my friendlist reveals ever so much more eloquent denunciations of the Buffy-ness of it all, except for the part where Joss Whedon is basically a god, and this ep is not fit to empty his spitoon, so I'll leave others to natter on about that.

The same quick scan doesn't appear to yield the following sentiment anywhere, so here shall I unload:

Why is Elizabeth Weir only interesting when alone, and far away from Atlantis? Because she was, to me, very interesting in this episode. She held on to "no, Atlantis is real" just slightly longer than was reasonable, but Elizabeth Weir is, above all, a reasonable woman. Two and a half years on Atlantis still haven't broken her of looking no harder than she has to at the world around her, so I found it perfectly believable that she'd settle into her appointed virtual niche in short order.

[handwave] And isn't that a problem for anyone else? The Family That Is Atlantis (Dysfunctional Though It May Be) is a theme that's run through the whole season, spanking us rosy peaking during Sateda and peeking out through the shipper frippery here, stops just short of Elizabeth Weir in comparison to the ties that bind everyone else.

She's aloof from the rest of them and not, to my mind, because of any good leadership horsepucky. Elizabeth Weir is an adequate leader at best, even compared to the constructed leadership standard of the Bridge Powers That Be. She's aloof because she's in this family, but not of it. Setting up her struggle in this one episode, so far away from the rest of the crowd, only reconnecting afterward in any real way with Sheppard in the most horrifyingly schmoopy way possible, just highlighted & underscored that for me.

Elizabeth Weir, as written, does not belong to, or on, Atlantis.

Comments

[amycooper.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I think the only really good thing that can be said about this episode is that it proves that Torri Higginson is a talented actress. It really is a shame in a sense though. I mean, they're wasting a good actress on such a poorly developed and written character. That's what I walked away from this episode with.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I do a little yippee-skip of delight whenever Weir finds her way off planet (Epiphany, briefly to translate or Progeny to negotiate,) but it's all too seldom she's doing anything other than playing SchoolMarm of Doom to the schoolyard antics of the rest of the cast.