Stargate Atlantis is a veritable rainbow of sexuality — we just never knew it. The producers are now outing two SGA characters whose gay subplots were left on the cutting-room floor.
Stargate Atlantis producer Joseph Mallozzi took to his blog to write about the "What Ifs" of SGA including the queer love square they never followed through with, and which character is still in the closet to fans.
According to him, Captain Alicia Vega (played by the gorgeous Leela Savasta) was supposed to be a vying for the affections of Dr. Keller (Jewel Staite) along with Rodney McKay and Ronon, thus turning that incredibly cold love triangle into a love square. (Love rhombus?) But alas, the scene where Vega asked Keller out on a date was cut from the "Search And Rescue" episode this season. Sadly, we'll never get to know this adorable supposed lesbian because she was unfairly slain in "Whispers" by one of Michael's test subjects.
From Mallozzi's blog:
The character of Alicia Vega, meanwhile, did offer an opening that an established character did not: she was new and the final scene of the season five premiere felt neither forced nor insignificant. Of course, as Paul pointed out: “Do we really want to make this love triangle a love rectangle?”. Well, again, the decision was made for us when the episode ran waaaay too long and a good portion of Vega’s scenes, including the last one, had to be cut for time.
It's sad to think that Vega could have had a fun side story, but instead she was killed. Still you never know, because NO ONE DIES ON STARGATE. She could be back, and gayer than ever. Oh, Mallozzi — you should have gone through with it. I would have applauded the effort, and it would have brought in more character development, something SGA can always use more of.
But wait, there's more under the big rainbow of SGA. Another character on the show is secretly gay, and we'll probably never find out who he is. Here's a hint from Mallozzi:
The prospect of introducing a gay character to the Stargate universe was always an interesting possibility, but one that would require the right circumstances. In fact, for several years now, there has been one recurring character who, in my mind, is gay, but there has never been an opportunity to confirm the fact. While I feared that suggesting it in a throw-away (“I’m heading back to Earth to spend time with my boyfriend. See ya!”) would seem like a truly forced WTF moment for fans, alternately, making a big deal of it felt wrong as well. So, unless the right circumstances present themselves for this character, the fans can simply go ahead assuming he is heterosexual until such a time that, in a Rowlingesque postscript, I can add: “And, oh yeah, by the way - he was gay.”
Okay, so it's Lorne — at least I think it is, why because I always knew there was more to him than just that guy standing there. Or maybe I just wish it was Lorne, cause he's far too pretty compared to the rest of the crew, and even though I think he had a thing for Teyla, it seemed forced.
You can tell that this was the type of character that the writers always thought they were going to do more with but couldn't find the time. Now we'll never know who it is until more details come out, and I know the final episodes are in the can. But I could always do with more Lorne. A few other sites threw out Chuck the technician and Radek Zelenka, but my money is on Major Lorne. Zelenka is another good call, as I know nothing about the man's back story but it would be a bit jarring for both Z and L to just off handedly mention that they have a boyfriend. So while I agree that they couldn't just toss it in there, I wish they'd at least tried.
Now that all of this is coming out, I feel the need to say: Kinda lame, guys. You know I love Stargate,, but this Monday quarterbacking a dead show is a little frustrating. Cool that one character had a gay love storyline that was actually shot, but to make another recurring character gay off-camera is kind of disappointing. Also, didn't J.K. Rowling already play this card?
[Joseph Mallozzi via Gateworld]