Torri Higginson played Stargate: Atlantis' Elizabeth Weir, and she left under something of a cloud. The character of Elizabeth Weir was originally a crucial one for Stargate: Atlantis. She was positioned as the most direct connection between Stargate: SG-1 and the new spinoff, which saw Weir take charge of an expedition that became stranded in the Pegasus Galaxy. Surprisingly, though, Weir became a secondary character after season 3 and was then written out - with Amanda Tapping's Samantha Carter making the leap from the freshly-canceled Stargate: SG-1 to take charge of the Atlantis mission.
Higginson herself long seems to have been dissatisfied with the way her character was treated, feeling Weir deserved to be more than a recurring character. Speaking to GateWorld, she admitted she felt she was written out in part because the writers and producers had loyalty to the cast of Stargate: Atlantis' canceled sister show. "I don't judge them for it," she stressed. "I believe that there is a loyalty to the [SG-1] people and when they knew that show was ending they tried to find a way to keep the people they'd been loyal to for ten years alive, and I absolutely admire that. There is a lot of loyalty to this business. I think that's very great, and very gracious of them."
Stargate: Atlantis Struggled To Balance Its Many Characters
Stargate: SG-1 had a small number of characters, meaning everybody got their chance to shine. In contrast, Stargate: Atlantis was the story of a massive mission stranded in a distant galaxy, meaning there were a number of primary and recurring characters. The writers struggled to adapt to this new approach, and some of the heroes simply failed to land. In an interview with Red Carpet News, Higginson noted she felt Weir was particularly problematic. "My character got kinda pushed out because she wasn’t military strong enough," she noted. "Amanda came in, and then in the end, it was a guy that ran it. Picardo came in and ran it, right? So I don’t know how progressive that was. But I’m just being a devil’s advocate."
Higginson certainly has a point when it comes to the military side of Stargate. The Stargate teams are associated with the US Air Force, which means they generally have a military approach. Weir, in contrast, was a diplomat who had been placed in charge of the Atlantis mission. This was probably supposed to be an extension of the conflict between Daniel Jackson and the original Stargate missions in Stargate: SG-1, but it simply didn't work - because when the Atlantis mission arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy, they found themselves in a state of war with the Wraith. Weir felt as though she was sidelined, and the character was often either standing around in the background or, worse, serving as a blocker for the more military members of her expedition to overcome. Weir simply wasn't a good fit on a conceptual level.
What Happened To Torri Higginson After Stargate: Atlantis?
Stargate: Atlantis lasted five seasons, and the cast switched up a lot during that time. Season 2, for example, saw Jason Momoa join Stargate: Atlantis as former Wraith prisoner Ronon Dex, replacing Rainbow Sun Franck's Lieutenant Ford as a major character. Higginson's departure is more noticeable, though, simply because it happened at a time when the show's status quo finally seemed to be settling down. Still, she went on to continue her successful career, swiftly joining NCIS as Dr. Jordan Hanson. She can currently be seen in the Canadian TV series Transplant, where the former Stargate: Atlantis star plays a major member of the cast.