Medical Fitness Report

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

So...

You're getting ready to send Atlantis back to Pegasus.  Or perhaps you are among a handful of secret plotters planning to steal the city and return it on your own, knowing it means permanent estrangement from Earth.


Which doctor inspired more confidence, Carson or Keller? (names chosen in this format because it had a nice ring to it)

Who made the better CMO?

Which is more likely to say, "Yes, I'll go back to Pegasus?"

Which is more likely to turn a blind eye to the stealing of Atlantis if TPTB won't send the city back?  Which is more likely to actively aid, even if they didn't intend on going back themselves?  Would either one rat on the rest of the expedition planning such a risky move?

If you could send *any* medical doctor, either in this fandom or another, who would you choose?

Comments

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Nope! I would definitely recommend Janet 'cept she's dead :( Nobody could replace Janet but Carolyn Lam made a good doctor, in my opinion. I think doctors on military bases should be able to not take crap from people and she was good at that (like Janet was) and the writers also showed a nice human side of her in the interactions between her and her father (General Landry).

My wink came from the fact that I was sort of answering Lam to *all* the questions, including Which doctor inspired more confidence, Carson or Keller? :)

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

I think doctors on military bases should be able to not take crap from people and she was good at that (like Janet was) and the writers also showed a nice human side of her in the interactions between her and her father (General Landry).

I agree with you here! When John walks out of the infirmary in SAR with a freaking HOLE in his belly and Jennifer just lets him? I couldn't see anyone getting past Janet! :-)

I'll have to watch one of the later eps just to see what Lam is like.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

At least when she did that it furthered the plot (i.e. letting Team Shep (including Shep) rescue Teyla, showed John's bravery / determination / pain tolerance) as opposed to sounding.. whiny? a lot, which just sort of furthers poor characterization.

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Furthered a *weak* plot. That's the thing that bugged me about the writing at times. We want to have x happen, so we'll screw with our characters' integrity so that we can make it so. :-(

This scene might show John's strength of character, but it undermines Jennifer's. It wouldn't have taken much to fix it in my mind, really. If Keller had laid down the law and then caught John leaving anyway--and John had fixed her with that look and said, "I *have* to go", then I can see Keller caving because she knows *why* John has to go. The way the scene was set up, it seemed more like John didn't respect her medical authority and she shrugged her shoulders and gave up. Does that make sense?

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

We want to have x happen, so we'll screw with our characters' integrity so that we can make it so.

Yeah. Definitely annoying.

I see what you're saying, for sure, but I sort of see it more as John was just in a place where one thing mattered so much that he could ignore other things even if he respected them. Like he says to Carter, he has respect for her, but he was going anyway. So in my mind John could have had respect for Keller's authority too, but still went.

But I do agree the scene could have been handled better, and probably would have if they had cared about Keller being a strong, authoritative doctor in the first place.