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STARGATE SG-1 SOLUTIONS TEAM AND CHARACTER ESSAYS


ALISON grieves for Daniel Jackson and Stargate SG-1

Hello 

I wanted to take a moment to share a realisation I've made. I've watched many sci-fi TV shows, but the team in Stargate is the one that has touched me deepest. I preferred RayK in Due South to Ray Vecchio and to Fraser. Babylon 5 went from strength to strength with Sheridan and Delenn. I don't miss Zhaan from Farscape.  I've loved each of the Doctors (except Colin Baker of course) in Doctor Who. 

I find it's not the same for Stargate. Each member of this team is unique and irreplaceable. Together, they are greater than the sum of their individual parts, and they have shared so much and grown so close, they have become a family.  I would feel as upset at losing this wonderfully emotionally engaging dynamic if any of the characters left, but to learn that one of the two original characters from the movie is no longer considered an important enough part of Stargate to be worthy of restoration of his role from it's current level in S5 - where he is mostly wallpaper along with Teal'c - is wrenching. 

Stargate SG-1 has been about Daniel's journey for most of us.  He translated the alien language, made the leap to realise those seven symbols were an address in space.  He gave the slaves back their past.  He died for Jack and fought to free the Abydonians.  He and Jack killed Ra, then Daniel got them home.  He found the cartouche that held the addresses of this vast network of Stargates the series used to explore.  He realised the importance of the expanding universe model.  Daniel's need to find Sha'uri was what drove him into the team of SG-1, but it is truly Daniel's quest for knowledge, his reaching out on behalf of us all to communicate with those ancient and alien cultures in the spirit of humanity that draws me and many others to this show.  Daniel's awe and wonder at the universe, his drive to learn and know all he can, his compassion for and belief in people are at the heart of the show TPTB no longer want to make.

When Michael Shanks has to walk away because of the way Daniel has been demoted, when there is no place for Daniel in this team or in the premise, then there is no place for the original spirit of Stargate or the family of SG-1 we have been so drawn to.  This is no longer Stargate and no longer SG-1.  I won't watch a product which rejects the values that drew me and millions of fans around the world.  Stargate has declined in popularity among households and women viewers, slumping from first place to sixth.  Still, TPTB go on as they are.  Jack no longer cares about his team as he once did.  Daniel is written out episodes, separated from the team and from his friendship with Jack.  Sam goes from one extreme to another, Jack's girl or male guest star of the week's girl to Super Sam Saving The Universe.  Teal'c is wallpaper, always on the outside looking in.

I realise now I'm mourning this show because this premise and these four characters were unique.  There was nothing and no one like them.  Originality has been sacrificed for what?  Truly.  I don't know.

I'm grieving the loss of Daniel Jackson now, because having seen 'Summit' I can honestly say he may as well be gone now. The characters of Jack, Sam and Teal'c are being twisted to have us believe losing Daniel doesn't really matter to them, and by extension to us. Jack was too busy with the annoying Marty Sue character of the week to care that Daniel was going off on a dangerous solo mission, one that presented him with a terrible moral dilemma. There was no room in the script for Jack to so much as shoot his friend and teammate a concerned look. Ditto for Sam, who was far busier saying hi to her Dad and worrying over the fate of the long-dead Lantesh and the same annoying Marty Sue of the week Jack was so busy with. 

The action was good but that family dimension I've so enjoyed was completely absent. Only Teal'c and Jacob cared enough to worry about Daniel. That says a lot for a show that has built its reputation on the strength and closeness of these four team members. 

I have no confidence whatsoever for the future. Ratings in the UK for Stargate SG-1 are falling ever lower and still, TPTB don't see they have a problem. 

It is my belief they do not understand that none of the team members are replaceable, Daniel least of all How can Daniel mean so little to Stargate, how can Michael Shanks, "The Young Lord Of The Internet' with more fan sites dedicated to him than Brad Pitt, be considered an expendable cast member because he believes in the same values as the audience, the fans TPTB are rejecting along with him?  How can TPTB expect us to go on watching when the man who opened the Stargate can't even be dignified with Jack's friendship which we've seen as the heart of the team dynamic and the chemistry of these two characters is what has compelled us so, when he is denied the comradeship of his teammates, or an episode dedicated to his departure? Instead, we have to lose time dedicated to introducing the new character.  TPTB don't even realise that we are mourning for Daniel's loss and the loss of the team and the show with him. 

It is not a matter of choice.  Some of us literally cannot watch without him.  We can hardly bear to watch now as past events are twisted to fit the new regime - Daniel contributed nothing, it is Sam and Sam alone who made the Stargate programme viable. 

It is no thanks to all Daniel Jackson has meant to the majority of fans or to the series, or to the dedicated and talented actor Michael Shanks. The irony is that Showtime won't even commit to showing the rest of Season 5 of Stargate and The Sci-Fi Channel, which prides itself on its appeal to the female demographic, have bought a product and placed their trust in a production team very successfully taking the heart right out of many previously loyal and dedicated fans who will be raising the only protest they can and switching off a show they *loved* after Meridian airs. 

TPTB tell us something had to change.  It has.  We'll be watching Farscape.

Alison

(c) 2001 Alison.  All rights recognised.  No copyright infringement intended.


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