I've been a fan of Stargate since the movie came out. I began watching the series despite my concerns of what TV might do to the characters and concept I had so loved. I was pleasantly surprised. Richard Dean Anderson gave me a credible Jack O'Neill (much to my surprise) and Michael Shanks was perfect as Daniel Jackson. I even liked the new additions to the team. But, for me, the story of the Stargate was always the story of Jack and Daniel going on adventures and building an unlikely friendship along the way.

For the first three years Stargate was everything I could have hoped it would be. Interesting stories, lots of off-world adventures discovering other civilizations, characters I grew to love. Some of those episodes were nothing short of brilliant - like the four-episode arc at the end of Season 1/beginning of Season 2. What an incredible concept, and it set in motion even more story lines in the future. I thought then that this show had everything going for it and there was no way they could blow it.

I was wrong. I noticed it immediately in Season 4. Something was...off. The characterizations for two of the characters were so screwed up I wasn't sure I was watching the same show any more. Some of the story lines were surprisingly plodding and predictable, and they suddenly seemed to have forgotten they even had a Stargate to go through.

I saw there were new writers on board, so I tried to be patient, thinking they would surely find their feet soon. After all, they had three seasons worth of Stargate to watch in order to get the 'feel' of the show and the characters, and even better, they had the actors right there who knew their characters better than anyone. My only conclusion is that no one apparently *made* these writers sit down and watch Stargate or talk to the actors, because they never got any better. 

I never felt like Season four was connected to anything in Stargate. 

Many of the episodes, to me, felt like they had been written in a vacuum, and at the end of the season we didn't seem to have gotten anywhere. But I was seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel as the season drew to a close and was glad I stuck with it. Jack and Sam were back in character, which was a huge relief; Jack and Daniel had apparently broken through that invisible force field which had kept them apart all season, and I had high hopes for Season 5. 

I really enjoyed the beginning of Season 5. I actually said: I've got my Stargate back. Finally. But then things started unraveling again. After a promising start Daniel and Teal'c once again became very attractive wallpaper, and once I found out Michael Shanks was leaving, that became even more inexplicable to me. Why not make use of him while they had him? From everything I have seen and read Daniel Jackson is *the* most popular character on the show. Why not give the fans what they wanted, which was more Daniel Jackson? Of course, I've learned a lot more since then and have drawn my own conclusions as to why the character of Daniel Jackson is being sidelined. I'm sure others are drawing conclusions as well.

First Brad Wright announces at Gatecon that Daniel Jackson will no longer be a part of SG1. I have checked the quotes, and pretty much everyone agrees he said: ""It is Michael Shanks' choice that he move on and do other projects." Just yesterday I read an interview with MS in which he said, "To be honest with you, it's one of those things where I don't know what I'm gong to be doing. It's not like I'm in the kind of situation where I can say I'm quitting Stargate SG1 to go do this, or I'm leaving to kick-start my film career." Hmm.

Brad Wright also said at Gatecon: "He' will be back on the show." But Michael Shanks says, "It would be nice to think I could still be there from time to time, but I won't be holding my breath just yet." Hmm yet again.

I'm not saying these statements from BW and MS are diametrically opposed, but these two gentlemen are not saying the same things either. Let's see, who am I going to believe? The actor who has struggled to maintain the integrity of his character and finally chose to leave rather than watch his character be marginalized to the point where he wasn't even important to the story line? Or the producer who is trying to save his sinking ship? Gosh, tough one. 

I have stuck with Stargate because I love the show, I love the characters, and I had hope it would get back on track. But I can't watch it any more. I think unfortunately it's a matter of TMI now. I know the producers feel that Daniel Jackson isn't important to the show, and Daniel Jackson is the main reason I *watch* the show. No wonder MS left. I can't bear to watch what's happening to the character; how hard must it have been to him to have to act in those episodes where his character was shown so little regard?

I also know more or less how Daniel Jackson is going to exit the show, and again that is too much information. I'm glad I know, because if I had been hit with that in the face it would have been a terrible blow, but I don't want to see it. As much as I'd like to stick with MS and Daniel Jackson to the bitter end, I just can't. I'm going to quit now. 

(Actually, I wish I had quit after 2001 aired; that would have saved me the agony of sitting through Desperate Measures, which ties with Emancipation as far as I'm concerned as the worst Stargate episode *ever*, and Wormhole X-treme, which I don't even consider a Stargate episode. Self-indulgent ego-stroking by writers who can't even write the characters properly or come up with scripts that are anything but dull and plodding.)

Thank you, Michael Shanks, for keeping the character of Daniel Jackson safe for us for these last five years. I'm sorry I won't be there at the end, but I've still got plenty of wonderful Stargate episodes on tape from the first three years, and hundreds of fanfic stories from writers who *could* find interesting and important things for Daniel Jackson to do and who consider Daniel's story an integral part of Stargate.

So thank you for the memories. To quote Daniel Jackson from a happier time: "What a ride!"

American Maid

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