It seems to me that a lot of people on this thread are missing what I believe is the point about Woolsey. You are not supposed to be happy, from an in universe perspective, about Woolsey. At this moment he is the wrong choice. That is what makes him the perfect choice from a out of universe perspective.
I think it goes back to the perceived problems with Carter this season. From an in universe point of view she was the perfect choice. A brilliant scientist who also had a strong military background. A person with a storied and respected history who either already had the respect of many at Atlantis or would quickly be able to gain it. Heck from a career point of view she had long since been ready to move up the chain of command in the same way Riker was on Next Gen. The problem is from the point of view of writing her into episodes she was almost to perfect. She did not have the fish out of water element that Jack had when he was put in charge. She was used to leading in a variety of situations even if never on this scale. If would have rang false for her to be stumbling or overly uncertain of herself. Nor did she have the untested newcomer vibe that served Landrey so well. If anything she was so well established as a character that trying to change her would have been disastrous. Add into this the fact that she was coming from a show where she usually played a far more active role in the plots. Finally there was also the fact that the writers had to be affected by the uncertainty of her long term role on the show. They basically needed to take a few episodes to build around establishing her a new character arc.But they faced the dilemma of potentially wasting that time if she just going to (justifiably) move on to bigger and better things come the end of the season. Time that could have been spent on characters whose continued role in the show was more certain. I sympathize, if not excuse, with the writers for basically fluctuating as writing her as Elizabeth lite or rehashing SG-1. In many ways there was little else they could do with Carter as commander of Atlantis especially in view of her limited availability.
Now lets look at Woolsey. Yes he has been a butt of the joke before but I would remind everybody that so was Rodney the first few times we saw him. As a matter of fact I remember reading similar comments being made about him when Atlantis was first announced. I hear Caldwell being thrown around but I do not believe he would work as well. Putting Caldwell in charge would be little different than putting John in charge. At the very least he does not bring the same instant drama that Woolsey does. Think about it. For at least the first few episodes (if not longer) every time a crisis comes up it will be accompanied by a type of tension that has never existed before. Namely is this moment that Woolsey gets us all killed or worse. Sure in the beginning there doubts about if Elizabeth could handle being leader of this experiment of an expedition but nothing like what Woolsey will bring to the table.
Also there are so many directions they could go with his character. They could go pull an early MASH with the humorous leader who manages to just squeak through when the chips are down in thanks to large part his staff. They could go the McKay way and turn him into the lovable nutbag who at times makes you crazy but is good enough at his job to make putting up with him worth it. They could go the evil jerk route ala Romano from ER where you have a real sob who never seems to get what is coming to him and you actively root for him to die. Heck they could even recreate some of the dynamic from the pilot that existed briefly between Robert Patrick's character and John. Imagine a Woolsey who is not all that impressed with the great John Sheppard and brings in some one to supplement him as the highest ranked military officer on Atlantis. Or they could go someplace else completely. And remember people it is not like it is now writ in stone that Woolsey is charge of Atlantis now and forever. If there is one thing Atlantis has proven, far more than SG-1, the only constant is change. That is actually what I love about this show. The downside of course is that I loose characters I deeply, deeply loved like Carson and Elizabeth (for the record SHE would have been my first choice for new commander
. The positive is that we get a show that is more realistic than many of its brethren in the way characters come and go from it.
Ultimately Woolsey is a character with lots of possibilities who also opens even more possibilities for the dynamic and plot of Stargate Atlantis. I write this as someone who has already seen these writers take characters and situations that might seem less than ideal and make them work. Rodney, Vala, and Landry are proof of that. Maybe this will work. Maybe it wont. I do not know. What I do know is this franchise has for more than decade brought me enjoyment and entertainment. What I know is this is a show I talk about in the same breath as Firefly, Farscape, and DS9. What I know is I love this show. Finally what I know is that sometimes I need to just repeat to myself, "It's just a show,I should really just relax..." Best wishes for all and thanks for the time.
I think it goes back to the perceived problems with Carter this season. From an in universe point of view she was the perfect choice. A brilliant scientist who also had a strong military background. A person with a storied and respected history who either already had the respect of many at Atlantis or would quickly be able to gain it. Heck from a career point of view she had long since been ready to move up the chain of command in the same way Riker was on Next Gen. The problem is from the point of view of writing her into episodes she was almost to perfect. She did not have the fish out of water element that Jack had when he was put in charge. She was used to leading in a variety of situations even if never on this scale. If would have rang false for her to be stumbling or overly uncertain of herself. Nor did she have the untested newcomer vibe that served Landrey so well. If anything she was so well established as a character that trying to change her would have been disastrous. Add into this the fact that she was coming from a show where she usually played a far more active role in the plots. Finally there was also the fact that the writers had to be affected by the uncertainty of her long term role on the show. They basically needed to take a few episodes to build around establishing her a new character arc.But they faced the dilemma of potentially wasting that time if she just going to (justifiably) move on to bigger and better things come the end of the season. Time that could have been spent on characters whose continued role in the show was more certain. I sympathize, if not excuse, with the writers for basically fluctuating as writing her as Elizabeth lite or rehashing SG-1. In many ways there was little else they could do with Carter as commander of Atlantis especially in view of her limited availability.
Now lets look at Woolsey. Yes he has been a butt of the joke before but I would remind everybody that so was Rodney the first few times we saw him. As a matter of fact I remember reading similar comments being made about him when Atlantis was first announced. I hear Caldwell being thrown around but I do not believe he would work as well. Putting Caldwell in charge would be little different than putting John in charge. At the very least he does not bring the same instant drama that Woolsey does. Think about it. For at least the first few episodes (if not longer) every time a crisis comes up it will be accompanied by a type of tension that has never existed before. Namely is this moment that Woolsey gets us all killed or worse. Sure in the beginning there doubts about if Elizabeth could handle being leader of this experiment of an expedition but nothing like what Woolsey will bring to the table.
Also there are so many directions they could go with his character. They could go pull an early MASH with the humorous leader who manages to just squeak through when the chips are down in thanks to large part his staff. They could go the McKay way and turn him into the lovable nutbag who at times makes you crazy but is good enough at his job to make putting up with him worth it. They could go the evil jerk route ala Romano from ER where you have a real sob who never seems to get what is coming to him and you actively root for him to die. Heck they could even recreate some of the dynamic from the pilot that existed briefly between Robert Patrick's character and John. Imagine a Woolsey who is not all that impressed with the great John Sheppard and brings in some one to supplement him as the highest ranked military officer on Atlantis. Or they could go someplace else completely. And remember people it is not like it is now writ in stone that Woolsey is charge of Atlantis now and forever. If there is one thing Atlantis has proven, far more than SG-1, the only constant is change. That is actually what I love about this show. The downside of course is that I loose characters I deeply, deeply loved like Carson and Elizabeth (for the record SHE would have been my first choice for new commander
. The positive is that we get a show that is more realistic than many of its brethren in the way characters come and go from it.Ultimately Woolsey is a character with lots of possibilities who also opens even more possibilities for the dynamic and plot of Stargate Atlantis. I write this as someone who has already seen these writers take characters and situations that might seem less than ideal and make them work. Rodney, Vala, and Landry are proof of that. Maybe this will work. Maybe it wont. I do not know. What I do know is this franchise has for more than decade brought me enjoyment and entertainment. What I know is this is a show I talk about in the same breath as Firefly, Farscape, and DS9. What I know is I love this show. Finally what I know is that sometimes I need to just repeat to myself, "It's just a show,I should really just relax..."
Best wishes for all and thanks for the time.
. People have buried Stargate in no time, but if we count a little, we'll find, that there was still five more seasons of SG-1 and four more seasons of Atlantis to come.
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