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

[kimboosan.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm going to second the vote for Dr. McCoy. LOL! He'd be perfect.

However between Keller and Carson...well, honestly, Keller clearly made the cut to get the position in the first place, and I think her fuck up in The Shrine was not as glaring as some fans tend to spin it. And it is not as if Carson was always perfect himself.

So, I can't stand on the medical issues to declare one the winner. What I think is important are two facts:

1. Keller is more of an Earthling than an Lantean - thinking outside the box isn't exactly her forte, and personally I can only see her being horrified at the idea of going back to Pegasus "for good."
2. Carson is a clone - the SGC can make a place for him and he remembers his mother and all that, but he's not really Carson, and he knows it. He's got nothing to lose by leaving Earth.

Carson is cautious by nature but pragmatic, so I don't see him crying in his beer about the idea of moving camp to Pegasus permanently. He is also someone who does think outside the box, and would be more valuable as CMO for that reason.

....I hope that all made sense?

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

1. Keller is more of an Earthling than an Lantean - thinking outside the box isn't exactly her forte, and personally I can only see her being horrified at the idea of going back to Pegasus "for good."
2. Carson is a clone - the SGC can make a place for him and he remembers his mother and all that, but he's not really Carson, and he knows it. He's got nothing to lose by leaving Earth.

I think this is a very good assessment of the two of them. Something that has always bothered me about Keller is how they set her up to be insecure about her ability to head the medical department after Carson's death. I mean, she's brilliant, right? She's the Doogie Howser of Atlantis. She's been chosen to *be* in Atlantis. So why the hand-wringing and the difficulty deciding whether she wants the role?

Seems to me that in many ways she should have been a female version of Rodney. Confident in her own abilities and knowledge until it is proven she doesn't know everything. Even in the situations where her ideas did prove problematic (like Elizabeth and the nanites), you don't see any consequences of *her* decision making, only Rodney's. I think Keller would have been a far more interesting character if she'd been competent and arrogant by day, but we were allowed to see her haunted by her choices and decisions when everyone else had gone to bed.

Carson is cautious by nature but pragmatic, so I don't see him crying in his beer about the idea of moving camp to Pegasus permanently. He is also someone who does think outside the box, and would be more valuable as CMO for that reason.

Makes perfect sense to me. :-)