Favourite Stargate Colonel

[Mage]

He was a career military guy who lost a son to gun violence. He was not supposed to be making jokes in almost every scene..

Personally knowing people who lost children at a very young age, you can give that a place in your life again and enjoy and laugh. It's not as if you must be a depressed maniac for the rest of your years. Granted, I became tired of the always joking O'Neill after a few years, and his performance did become routine. But saying that he was not allowed to have a happy life after loosing a child......

 

[Claudia]

Samantha Carter, though there is much to like about the character, her time in the Colonel ranks was a bit of a disservice to her. When she got promoted to Lt. Colonel things started out okay with her rightfully taking command of the SG-1 team. Then she gets shoved back to second as Mitchell takes command and when the character gets promoted to "full-bird" Colonel and transferred to Atlantis, she's basically reduced to being a substitute Dr. Weir.

And let's not forget the way she was unsure of whether she'd ascend to team-leader in season 8 after O'Neill was promoted (and in turn promoted her). Any male second-in-command would have naturally succeeded without discussion - so why make it an issue with Carter? (And not give her a second in command? Because military guys would have troubles following a woman's lead?)

And after being reduced to being a substitute Dr Weir she was replaced by Woolsey... I mean he grew into the role and somehow left more of an impression on me as commander of Atlantis than Carter, but in the narrative of Carter's character it's another low blow.

Personally knowing people who lost children at a very young age, you can give that a place in your life again and enjoy and laugh. It's not as if you must be a depressed maniac for the rest of your years. Granted, I became tired of the always joking O'Neill after a few years, and his performance did become routine. But saying that he was not allowed to have a happy life after loosing a child......

Hm, but O'Neill didn't just lose his child, he was in fact responsible for it. It was his gun that apparently wasn't locked away securely enough. So while I don't agree with EmoBorg's general statement of "He was not supposed to be making jokes in almost every scene", I'm not sure how anyone can really get over something like that. O'Neill, for all his sarcasm and witty remarks, kept his pain buried, and it did resurface quite a bit (Window of Opportunity, Lost City etc). So I wouldn't reduce him only to his jokes, that would do the character a disservice IMO.

 

[Mage]

Hm, but O'Neill didn't just lose his child, he was in fact responsible for it. It was his gun that apparently wasn't locked away securely enough. So while I don't agree with EmoBorg's general statement of "He was not supposed to be making jokes in almost every scene", I'm not sure how anyone can really get over something like that. O'Neill, for all his sarcasm and witty remarks, kept his pain buried, and it did resurface quite a bit (Window of Opportunity, Lost City etc). So I wouldn't reduce him only to his jokes, that would do the character a disservice IMO.

One could argrue people actually use jokes and humor and sarcasm to hide personal trauma.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm still wondering how a smartass like O'Neill can rise so high in the military with an attitude like that. I'd have thought that he'd piss someone off along the way and get cashiered out of the service.

 

[The Wormhole]

And not give her a second in command? Because military guys would have troubles following a woman's lead?)

I always interpreted that as an extension of O'Neill's attitude that the team doesn't need a fourth member, an extension of what we saw in the S6 premiere where he was against Hammond's wishes to add a replacement sociopolitical expert due to Daniel's absence. Back the he thought SG-1 was just fine with himself, Carter and Teal'c, and in S8 he again felt the team was fine with Carter, Teal'c and Daniel.

I'm still wondering how a smartass like O'Neill can rise so high in the military with an attitude like that. I'd have thought that he'd piss someone off along the way and get cashiered out of the service.

O'Neill of the early seasons was a lot more serious than O'Neill seasons 6-8 was, and as I pointed out when General Michael Ryan was on the show in season 4 he admitted that Colonels similar to O'Neill are quite common in the USAF. Even in the later seasons you can explain the attitude away as someone who knows he has it made in the shade, Hammond was willing to tolerate his goofiness, and he's a personal favourite of the Chief of Staff, the Secretary of Defense and the President. The only threat to his position was a meddlesome senator, but even he was handily dealt with by an alien fleet supreme commander.

 

[B.J.]

And let's not forget the way she was unsure of whether she'd ascend to team-leader in season 8 after O'Neill was promoted (and in turn promoted her). Any male second-in-command would have naturally succeeded without discussion - so why make it an issue with Carter? (And not give her a second in command? Because military guys would have troubles following a woman's lead?)

Personally, I didn't have any issue with Carter taking command. It did seem realistic for the character that she was unsure about taking command since that wasn't her area of expertise, not because she was a woman. But I do remember discussion at the time about how fast she ascended through the ranks, as many thought it was too fast. Here's Carter's promotions:

Captain: pre-1997 (time in rank 2+ years)
Major: 1999 (time in rank 5 years)
Lt Col: 2004 (time in rank 3 years)
Col: 2007

Comparing that against what I've found on the internet (and based on my own brother-in-law's promotions), it's really not unrealistic. It's a bit faster than average, but still possible.

 

[Jayson1]

Personally, I didn't have any issue with Carter taking command. It did seem realistic for the character that she was unsure about taking command since that wasn't her area of expertise, not because she was a woman. But I do remember discussion at the time about how fast she ascended through the ranks, as many thought it was too fast. Here's Carter's promotions:

Captain: pre-1997 (time in rank 2+ years)
Major: 1999 (time in rank 5 years)
Lt Col: 2004 (time in rank 3 years)
Col: 2007

Comparing that against what I've found on the internet (and based on my own brother-in-law's promotions), it's really not unrealistic. It's a bit faster than average, but still possible.

She might have moved up through the ranks fast but considering some of the stuff she had done it makes sense to see that she would deserve those promotions.

Not to mention the fact that she has real world experience when it comes to offworld missions, being apart of SG1 for many years. Many Air Force people you might bring in might not have even been through a Stargate, yet they would be the first option as team leader over someone who has done it on many occasions?

Jason

 

[arch101]

O'Neill in the film. Loved the way Russell played him as an ass but tough. Anderson played him as just an ass, which was fine but Russell played the character much better.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

If it weren't for O'Neill's humor, there would be nothing to offset the cliche villain behavior of the gu'ald. That was one of the issues of the show without him, without the sarcastic responses to the big posturing speeches, the villains' clicheness became less fun and more just cliche.

One could argue that was a tactic to take the control of the conversation away from people, like a psychological attack against the enemy. A gu'ald is accustomed to unconditional deference and their big evil speeches being universally intimidating. Responding to a gu'ald in any other way than fear or praise makes them uncomfortable and angry. It takes control away from them and goads them into less clear rational thinking.

I disagree with the comments that he was silly all the time. When the situation called for it he was hardline military. Like when Carter suggested they watch the footage of the black hole killing the SG team for scientific purposes and he responded severely "We are watching good men die in slow motion CAPTAIN". This is the same guy who shut the iris on Nazi Odo, when he was surrendering unconditionally, just because of how bad a guy he was.

O'Neill is a dark character, he just learned the humor takes a sense of control away from bad guys and it stops the conversation from getting too emotional and leading him to any dark places.

And I don't think RDA was phoning it in until season 8.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

One could argue that was a tactic to take the control of the conversation away from people, like a psychological attack against the enemy. A gu'ald is accustomed to unconditional deference and their big evil speeches being universally intimidating. Responding to a gu'ald in any other way than fear or praise makes them uncomfortable and angry. It takes control away from them and goads them into less clear rational thinking.

That's a good point...

 

[Claudia]

I always interpreted that as an extension of O'Neill's attitude that the team doesn't need a fourth member, an extension of what we saw in the S6 premiere where he was against Hammond's wishes to add a replacement sociopolitical expert due to Daniel's absence. Back the he thought SG-1 was just fine with himself, Carter and Teal'c, and in S8 he again felt the team was fine with Carter, Teal'c and Daniel.

I always interpreted O'Neill's reluctance to add a fourth member to the team after Daniel's ascension that he just didn't want to replace Daniel and no one would be good enough to fill that spot. Of course, he said something about the sociopolitical nerd offsetting their coolness, and SG-1 not needing someone like that, but I don't think that this was a strictly business-motivation driving him.

Perhaps I'd have less troubles with the discussion in season 8, if at least one other teammember had been within the military chain of command (like O'Neill and Carter back in season 6). Of course, Carter, Teal'c and Daniel work together well and a team just consisting of these 3 would suffice, but it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

And I wonder generally about the wisdom of 3-person-teams - isn't the objective of a team so that no one would be left alone? So, how does a 3-person-team split up without leaving one person uncovered?

 

[Morpheus 02]

For me, O'Neill is # 1 -- I was just re-watching part of the pilot... and he's got command,compassion, and sarcasm is the right mix.

I picked Cam as second... he's someone who was inspired by the original SG team, and has an earnestness I appreciate.

I agree with those who believe Carter definitely deserved the promotions...but I don't think the writers gave her a good arc. So she didn't come off very well, despite her well-earned positions. So I loved the character, just not as how they showed her as a Colonel.

Sheppard was fun, but didn't make much sense. He was put in the position just because someone died and no one else was apparently available. Didn't make much sense to me, and he felt pretty young.

And speaking of Young, he just didn't interest me. I didn't feel like his arc was very redemptive. I know they wanted someone flawed and "stuck" in the position...but I didn't feel like he grew much during the show.

 

[The Wormhole]

Sheppard was fun, but didn't make much sense. He was put in the position just because someone died and no one else was apparently available. Didn't make much sense to me, and he felt pretty young.

Sheppard was originally sent because he had the strongest Ancient gene out of anyone tested. Yes, he was thrust into his position because of Colonel Sumner's death, and in the first year Atlantis was cut off from Earth meaning they couldn't get a replacement. By the time they re-established contact with Earth, Dr. Weir used her influence to make Sheppard's position permanent.

As for his age, assuming Sheppard is the same age as Joe Flannigan, he would have been 37 in the first season, and most typical Majors in the US military are between the ages of 33 and 39. This means Sheppard was actually 38 when he was promoted to Lt. Colonel, which typically doesn't happen for someone before 39, but there are extenuating circumstances.

Although fun fact. Sheppard's hair style is actually against USAF regulations.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I liked Shephard but the problem was he was such a generic hero type.

 

[Jayson1]

I liked Shephard but the problem was he was such a generic hero type.

You need him to be that though so he can play the straight man to McKay's more funny antics.

Jason