the stars like dust

cesperanza is responsible for an interesting discussion of Joe "The Flan" Flanigan's acting and its effects on the character of John  Sheppard here.

It reminded me of just how flexible in interpretation John Sheppard really is, and I suspect we have The Flan's disconnect from the dramatic opportunities and the genre to thank for this. I've never warmed up to Cameron Mitchell, and I think part of the reason for that is that Ben plays his similar character so much more connectedly. I suspect I just don't *like* the standard SciFi Network hero, and Sheppard's quirkiness and just *weirdness* makes me like him so much more. When Cameron makes comments about the Asgard, I think he's a bigoted jerk. When Sheppard does, I think he's a complete dork, and watching him whisper about it to Rodney makes me a little fond of him.

He doesn't always strike the right note, and that makes him a lot more interesting. He often doesn't seem particularly genuine, which says to me that there is a whole Sheppard under the surface that we don't get to see directly, and so I'm going to try to put into words one version of who John Sheppard might be.

Wow, I could really go on about that a lot.
But, that'll do for now.
I'm glad there are so many different Sheppards around. If the show pins him down, some of them will fade, and I'll miss them. Yay for The Flan's ambiguity!