In sci fi, you're never truly dead
The fun thing about sci if? There are numerous, cracktastic ways to bring back dead characters.
Though I'm not sure if I'm entirely happy with how SGA handled Elizabeth's "return", but hey, it's something and some outstanding issues were addressed. Like how the Elizabeth from the end of "Spoils of War" was actually original Elizabeth. Well, original in the sense that it was the first Elizabeth's consciousness, not Replicator!Elizabeth. Though, terribly convenient that once the nanites from Elizabeth's body were released they kept her identity and consciousness. Either way, you have an Elizabeth of some shape and form, trying to help the rebel Replicators try to ascend.
When I had heard they were going to address the topic of the Replicators who wanted to ascend, and saw the title of the episode, I immediately thought they would have Elizabeth in the episode, but in such a way that they wouldn't need Torri there. So, with a title like "Ghost in the Machine", I suspected she would be in a computer. I was kind of hoping the episode would end in such a way that disembodied Elizabeth could hang out in the city's mainframe as an entity until they could find a way to make her whole again. That way Elizabeth could still show up occasionally, likely as a synthesized voice, interact with the team, have her presence there, but with no need to bring in anybody to actually be there. The way it actually happened is a giant cheat. I heard they tried to get Torri back, but she turned them down, and who's the blame her. The producers practically fired her so I would be a little peeved still. I appreciate the effort the writer made; there was a lot of dancing around explaining why Elizabeth didn't come back looking like herself. Good way to bring back Fran, or, at least the actress who played Fran. Kudos for her getting down Elizabeth's mannerisms. You can almost believe that is Elizabeth inside of Fran's body. See, sci fi, cracktastic. :-) With this ending, this is potential for Elizabeth to come back. Replicators don't die from being exposed to the vacuum of space; they just shut down and hibernate. So it's completely possible for someone to come along and finding the floating Replicators, reboot them and use them for nefarious purposes. Also opens it up for the time when Elizabeth could come back as herself. Time heals all wounds and such; if the producers are nice enough they could get Torri for an episode or two.
Too bad the actress who plays Fran is in a CBC drama so she doesn't have tons of free time. If she had time, they could have kept Fran/Elizabeth around in the city, letting her build a human body. Though, I'm glad the Replicators never got around to building human bodies. That could have turned into a horribly convenient plot device. Your character is dying? Just download their brain pattern and build a new body! It would have been Stargate's own version of regeneration. Actually, in a way, it is. Same character, different person playing them. I did like that John had a very brief line about what if one of the Replicators decided to stay after the human bodies were ready. I'm sure the John/Elizabeth shippers were very happy, though very confused. And look at John, all sad and depressed at the end.
So we're up to three dead characters back from the dead. Well, two and half really; Ford in John's dream doesn't really count. Who else has been killed off? Should we expect to see them all for the 100th episode?
On a slightly different note, word floating around is this season might be the last for SGA. The producers seem fairly determined to get the third series up and running, though I don't know why that would have to lead to the end of SGA. Just let the show run for another season or two. Yes, SGA can just join SG-1 in the wonderful world of DVD movies, but I'd rather have another season before that happens. Give the writers the chance to plan things ahead of time. If they know they're going into their last season from the start then they can shape episodes around that.
Also weird, Sci Fi isn't splitting up the season in to two. Seems they want to run all the episodes before BSG comes back in January. Shows just how much Sci Fi cares about Stargate. Sure, there's just a two week gap between the mid season two parter, but it feels like Sci Fi is just dumping the episodes so they don't go to waste.
Though I'm not sure if I'm entirely happy with how SGA handled Elizabeth's "return", but hey, it's something and some outstanding issues were addressed. Like how the Elizabeth from the end of "Spoils of War" was actually original Elizabeth. Well, original in the sense that it was the first Elizabeth's consciousness, not Replicator!Elizabeth. Though, terribly convenient that once the nanites from Elizabeth's body were released they kept her identity and consciousness. Either way, you have an Elizabeth of some shape and form, trying to help the rebel Replicators try to ascend.
When I had heard they were going to address the topic of the Replicators who wanted to ascend, and saw the title of the episode, I immediately thought they would have Elizabeth in the episode, but in such a way that they wouldn't need Torri there. So, with a title like "Ghost in the Machine", I suspected she would be in a computer. I was kind of hoping the episode would end in such a way that disembodied Elizabeth could hang out in the city's mainframe as an entity until they could find a way to make her whole again. That way Elizabeth could still show up occasionally, likely as a synthesized voice, interact with the team, have her presence there, but with no need to bring in anybody to actually be there. The way it actually happened is a giant cheat. I heard they tried to get Torri back, but she turned them down, and who's the blame her. The producers practically fired her so I would be a little peeved still. I appreciate the effort the writer made; there was a lot of dancing around explaining why Elizabeth didn't come back looking like herself. Good way to bring back Fran, or, at least the actress who played Fran. Kudos for her getting down Elizabeth's mannerisms. You can almost believe that is Elizabeth inside of Fran's body. See, sci fi, cracktastic. :-) With this ending, this is potential for Elizabeth to come back. Replicators don't die from being exposed to the vacuum of space; they just shut down and hibernate. So it's completely possible for someone to come along and finding the floating Replicators, reboot them and use them for nefarious purposes. Also opens it up for the time when Elizabeth could come back as herself. Time heals all wounds and such; if the producers are nice enough they could get Torri for an episode or two.
Too bad the actress who plays Fran is in a CBC drama so she doesn't have tons of free time. If she had time, they could have kept Fran/Elizabeth around in the city, letting her build a human body. Though, I'm glad the Replicators never got around to building human bodies. That could have turned into a horribly convenient plot device. Your character is dying? Just download their brain pattern and build a new body! It would have been Stargate's own version of regeneration. Actually, in a way, it is. Same character, different person playing them. I did like that John had a very brief line about what if one of the Replicators decided to stay after the human bodies were ready. I'm sure the John/Elizabeth shippers were very happy, though very confused. And look at John, all sad and depressed at the end.
So we're up to three dead characters back from the dead. Well, two and half really; Ford in John's dream doesn't really count. Who else has been killed off? Should we expect to see them all for the 100th episode?
On a slightly different note, word floating around is this season might be the last for SGA. The producers seem fairly determined to get the third series up and running, though I don't know why that would have to lead to the end of SGA. Just let the show run for another season or two. Yes, SGA can just join SG-1 in the wonderful world of DVD movies, but I'd rather have another season before that happens. Give the writers the chance to plan things ahead of time. If they know they're going into their last season from the start then they can shape episodes around that.
Also weird, Sci Fi isn't splitting up the season in to two. Seems they want to run all the episodes before BSG comes back in January. Shows just how much Sci Fi cares about Stargate. Sure, there's just a two week gap between the mid season two parter, but it feels like Sci Fi is just dumping the episodes so they don't go to waste.