Stargate Atlantis season 5
.........
And so, the final season of my favorite sci-fi franchise of all time has concluded (Stargate Universe is not Stargate and doesn't count). Stargate Atlantis, together with Stargate SG-1, have done for me what Star Wars and Star Trek have done for previous generations. I have spent years with these two shows and well over 400 hours watching and re-watching them. They define science fiction for me, and now they are gone. It is a very melancholy day for me.
I have made my thoughts on Atlantis clear previously, but I will recap: Even on its best days it wasn't as good as the best of SG-1, but the average episode was most certainly better than the average episode of SG-1. Atlantis was consistently good, while SG-1 was often times better, sometimes worse.
The worst problem with Atlantis was character balance. Towards the middle of the fourth season, pretty much the whole world (make that universe) revolved around Rodney, just as his ego imagined it did. The rest of the characters existed as side notes or assistants to the great Rodney McKay. As great of a character as he is, the other characters were just as awesome and deserved their fair share of screen time.
And characters are what sets SG-1 ahead of Atlantis in the final tally. You simply can't beat the original team: Daniel, Sam, Teal'c, and Jack when it comes to pure chemistry or viewer interest. Unlike Atlantis, all four got almost equal screen time and development, and it shows.
I am sad that it is over. Greatly so. I still hold on to the hope that Universe gets canceled and replaced by a real Stargate show soon, but I am not counting on it. It seems some people don't know what is good for them and continue to watch it. For now, all that is left is to Doctor Who and try to forget my heartache. And re-watch the shows again, of course.