Expedition Leaders...

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Who was the best?  Who was your favorite?

What storyline do you think we would have seen if Torri Higginson had been willing to come back (not that I blame her--heard a very interesting interview with her over that)?  Was killing Elizabeth so soon after killing Carson a mistake for the show?  What storyline, if any, would you have liked to have seen for Elizabeth in general?

Was Sam Carter the logical choice for expedition leader?  Did they utilize her character properly?  Do you think Sam as expedition leader bore any resemblance to Sam as we knew her in SG-1?  Was it possible to introduce a character such as her, that essentially could overrule and upstage both John and Rodney, and still use her well?  What storyline would you have liked to have seen focus on Sam?

Was Woolsey a logical choice to replace Sam?  Was he a good choice?  Do you think John and Rodney and the rest of the expedition would have 'corrupted' him in the end?  Do you think he would go back with Atlantis to Pegasus?  What if Atlantis was 'stolen' by the expedition and returned to Pegasus.  Would he go then?

Who do you think would have made the best expedition leader?  Who would you like to see as the next expedition leader?

Comments

[kimboosan.livejournal.com]

Given how little I've seen of the show, I don't think I can say much to Elizabeth or Sam; I like both actresses and Sam is my favorite character from SG-1, so I'm sure I would not hate either; from what few eps I've seen, I have to say that I kind of agree that Sam was written poorly and came across as very flat, which is too bad. I agree that having her mix it up more with John would have made sense, and added an interesting element to the mix. After all, Sam knows crazy - O'Neill, anyone? - and probably has a low threshold for bullshit because of it. I did not see that in the eps I've seen with her in it.

I can say that what I know of Elizabeth's character, I liked - given her diplomatic background, she was surprisingly unique choice to head the expedition, and it seems a shame that was not explored as much in the show as it is in fanfic! LOL!

As for Woolsey - I really liked him in Inquisition, and I think he would totally side with an independent Atlantis. See, everyone views Woolsey was a bureaucrat, but he's just a professional bureaucrat. At heart he's a LAWYER. I remember a law friend commented to me how politically-motivated appointment of judges usually backfired, simply because the majority of law students - particularly the smart ones - will always, always stay true to the law more than to politics. Sure their personal opinions count, but when it comes down to it, they hold themselves to a higher order and up being surprisingly uncontrollable, as I think is exactly the case with Woolsey.

Which doesn't make sense, at first, until you think about the IOA. What law are they held to, really? I totally think that if Woolsey believed that the founding charter of the Atlantis expedition was being corrupted by the IOA, he would have no problem moving against it. Yes, in inquisition he bribed one of the panelists, but again, the charges were being levied by an unrecognized body and sort of randomly applied. He simply played by the "set of laws" given to him. The man was a genius.

So while I can't compare him to the others in good conscious, I think Woolsey was an excellent expedition leader. /my 2 cents

[tygtig.livejournal.com]

I liked Woolsey in inquisition too, I liked him showing up with that "Hah - this is MY backyard so kindly shut up, boys and girls" in his very bureaucratic way. I've never thought about that lawyer/politician dicotomy though (probably since we don't have that system in Sweden) but it makes sense.

I liked the fact that he bribed the panel because it showed that he, too, had that ability to adapt and change in Pegasus. And I kind of like the "I'll stick to the rules. Until I really need to break them."-attitude.

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

I liked the fact that he bribed the panel because it showed that he, too, had that ability to adapt and change in Pegasus. And I kind of like the "I'll stick to the rules. Until I really need to break them."-attitude.

I just would have liked for them at some point during the episode to have presented a stronger case for themselves. Much of what occurred in canon *is* indefensible, but the way the defense was handled during the 'trial', well, they needed better lawyers! ;-)

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Yes, in inquisition he bribed one of the panelists, but again, the charges were being levied by an unrecognized body and sort of randomly applied. He simply played by the "set of laws" given to him. The man was a genius.

You make a good point about the conditions as presented to him in Inquisition. I just had a problem with the way the whole ep was written in the first place.

To start, it was a clip episode, which are problematic to begin with. Clip eps tend to be sketchily written with lots of review of previous shows as a money saving bid towards the end of a season. But they took this great idea, launched it and let it fall flat.

Sheppard took a 'but we're the good guys' approach to self-defense and trotted out the worst responses to all of the accusations. Everything he said was shot down and he was not given a legitimate opportunity to present a counter argument.

TBF, one could argue that the Atlantis expedition is guilty of enormous crimes against humanity, for which there is little adequate response. This is where we get into a 'either/or' situation for me. Either the expedition is guilty with no redeeming value (and there is no defense) or they have done some good in Pegasus and let's hear the defense.

We never got to hear any decent defense as far as I can tell and then Woolsey sweeps in an makes in a political win instead. I just found that incredibly depressing--gave me a bad taste for the expedition and Team Sheppard.

It's not that I think Woolsey had very many options here. But I would have liked to have at least *one* person give an accounting of some of the good the expedition has done. You know?