Atlantis' leadership in s4 - Spoilers and speculation

[Willow'sCat]

On this very forum there is a huge amount of animosity towards Carter joining Atlantis even from her own fans. The poll in this thread shows that over 75% of people want Weir to continue in command. If Carter doesn't join the show I am sure Wier would be in all of season four.

I don't think on-line polls, where people can call in "friends" or puppets to vote anonymously are any real indication of fan feelings.

I could take a poll of 100 people with a limited question (like this one) and start polling in a certain section of society a forum get a bias result it is the same thing political parties do all the time. The results mean nothing. Well they mean the pros are more willing to vote in nonsense polls.

Also if Carter is really the reason Weir is out then I repent, and am now 100% on board with Carter coming to SGA.

And if people don't want to watch.... Don't watch.

[Chrysalis]

Can you believe that my 8 year old son is a big fan of atlantis and he was just gutted when they killed off Carson Beckett. I hate to think what he will be like when Weir isn't in as much.
All my children have been brought up with stargate and watch it whenever it is on. However my 8 year old is the biggest fan and during the christmas holidays he sat and watched Atlantis again right from Season 1.
My hubby is more a Atlantis Fan than SG1, he is in Kazakhstan working just now, so he doesn't know that Carson has been killed off yet.

I think we forget how much things affect kids -- so much more than us. We can get angry about things and write letters, etc, but kids often don't have that outlet.

I remember a boy at a convention once being so upset that Christopher Judge couldn't go to a con. The other guests made a big fuss of him! The kid was probably about 8 as well...

[megmeyer]

I started reading this because I was looking for why Torri replaced Jessica Steen (who I happened to like a lot in Lost City). I just have to throw my two cents worth in.

It is amazing to me how people can confuse a fictional character with the people who create them! Sam Carter has nothing to do with ANY of the decisions being made. And NOWHERE has ANYONE said Sam Carter is taking over on Atlantis.

They just said she will be in 14 episodes.

Has it occurred to anyone that the decision to lessen Torri's appearances came BEFORE Carter was moving over? I certainly saw it talked about before that. Who knows why the idiots (oops! PTB) do some of the things they do. They effectively started the beginning of the end of SG-1 by killing off Janet. Now, they have changed the doctor on Atlantis (and another much-beloved doctor, at that!)

I love Sam Carter (or more accurately, Amanda Tapping), and I hope they can write her into Atlantis effectively. I don't hate Dr. Weir or Torri. I am one SG-1 fan who never really got in to Atlantis (though I watch it occasionly - just not the I can't miss an episode that I had for SG-1) who will now be tuning in to Atlantis BECAUSE Amanda is there. I am sure there are more like me.

If you could all just wait and see what they do before you do all this character/actor/PTB bashing, it would make more sense. See what happens. If you hate it when it starts airing, stop watching it. Eventually, they will either get the message and fix it, or it will get cancelled (which amounts to the same thing). Maybe they will surprise you and come up with some great stories, and you will like it better than you ever did!

I certainly think they got better with all the cast changes on SG-1. (of course, then Sci-Fi turned into morons and cancelled the series (after doing everything possible to get the ratings in the basement), but that's a whole different topic).

I suggest everyone take deep breath or three, and see what happens in the fall. (And why did they suddenly decide to air SGA against the network first runs!!?!?! What's with THAT!???)

Meg
Sam/Amanda fan soon to be SGA diehard!

[Uber]

It is not a SG1 fans vs Atlantis fans thread. I'm a huge Sam fan, but I just don't want her to come in Atlantis if it's going to reduce Elizabeth's presence, and it will be.

<<snip>>

What if Weir's role was going to be reduced regardless of what they did or who they added to the cast? In other words, whether or not Carter shows up and does whatever she'll do, TPTB have decided to reduce Weir's role and nothing would change that.

Because it is my belief that this is the case. It just so happens that they're bringing over my favorite SG-1 character onto a show I love, making me more interested in watching what they have planned.

Sure, I'm sorry they're reducing Weir's presence; but like I said, I think they were going to do that regardless.

[ElessarUSMC]

What I read was totally the opposite of what you just said - I read a Mallozzi comment in his blog that they were going to bring Sam over whether or not they downplayed Weir's role. That's because Amanda Tapping is still contracted for Stargate, but as we all know, SG1 was cancelled by surprise, and I guess Tapping was the only one who either didn't want to or couldn't get out of a contract. It's the only reason they'd say that "no matter what" she would be coming to Atlantis.

Personally, I'm not categorically against the militarization of Atlantis as long as it's done intelligently. Carter, IMO, is not the person to be leading the expedition if it's going to be a military officer. The only problem is, the only other person I would want running it is Sheppard. However, Carter is a much more senior LTC than Sheppard, so they wouldn't give Sheppard the job if Carter was coming over. That just wouldn't jive with her superstar Stargate status porting over from SG1. Her existing fan-value will demand that she's on top if there's any kind of hierarchy in place between her and Sheppard.

They could always promote Sheppard to full Colonel so he can lead the base, but like I said, I don't see that happening because he's only been an LTC like a year and even Carter's promotions in SG1 were outrageous by RL standards, that one would be outrageous compared to Carter's even.

So that leaves it to either Carter, or someone else. Although this show isn't big into military realism (not always, I'll give it sometimes), there are JOBS people have in the military and in the Air Force. Sam, for example, is BY PROFESSION in the Air Force, a physicist, that much is obvious. She's not a command level officer like O'Neill, Sheppard, or even Major Lorne. There are scientists and then there are combat team leaders. In the Marine Corps it's the difference between an Infantry Officer and an Air Intel Officer. The Air Intel Officer isn't going to become CO of a Force Recon platoon 20 years down the road. Now, like I said they can do what they want, it doesn't always have to be realistic, but even when the showrunners had the chance to change Sam's role from a scientist to a leader (which I supported at the time!) when RDA left and she could have taken command of SG1, they brought in Mitchell, and she remained in the role of the physicist.

I don't see that having changed. I don't see her being the type of officer trained, ready and trusted to run that expedition, hell they wouldn't even let her run an SG team.

If it were up to me and the base HAD to be militarized, I would have Sheppard become the military commander (with or without Carter added to the cast), maybe promoted to Colonel (even though I said it would be outrageous, at least it would jive with their earlier comments that only a Colonel or above could run a team... and they're not exactly the same size operation as SGC so it shouldn't require a General), and I'd have Major Lorne take over command of Sheppard's offworld team. With or without a promo to LTC. Everybody else on the team is non-military, it's not like rank would really matter.

I love Carter, I do. But I've always felt that a part of her character was completely abandoned when they took RDA off the show. And yes, I'm a lovesick S/J, but the fact is that part of the plot commanded an entire aspect of Sam's personality that just disappeared when O'Niell left. She just isn't the same character to me. I like her and all, but if I got the choice, I'd rather seen Daniel go over to Atlantis. He'd be like a kid in a candy store 24/7.

I'd like even more to seen Daniel and Vala go over lol!

Oh and I'd like to mention that I don't think they "intend to replace Weir with Sam" like this was planned. I realize that, like I just said myself, these two decisions (downplaying Weir, introducing Carter) were independent of each other. But that doesn't mean TPTB won't see a convenient situation and jump on it.

[RealmOfX]

What I read was totally the opposite of what you just said - I read a Mallozzi comment in his blog that they were going to bring Sam over whether or not they downplayed Weir's role. That's because Amanda Tapping is still contracted for Stargate, but as we all know, SG1 was cancelled by surprise, and I guess Tapping was the only one who either didn't want to or couldn't get out of a contract. It's the only reason they'd say that "no matter what" she would be coming to Atlantis.

I don't suppose you could actually give us that quote could you? Because Joe has quite clearly stated on more than one occasion that the decisions about Weir and Carter were not related and that they had several options in regards to characters and that they eventually decided to go with Sam. see quote below

Oh dear yet, another person trying to infer that the only reason that Sam is going to Atlantis is because Amanda "was the only one" that wanted to or couldn't get out of the contract. You do realise how pathetic comments like that are, don't you? How about you give us the full quote from Mr Mallozzi so we can see in what context "no matter what" was used. After reading your first paragraph of misinformation I'd rather trust my own comprehension skills than take your supposed "only reason" at face value.

"Allow me to clear up a assumption on your part, specifically the fait accompli belief that any creative decision made with regard to Weir was a result of Carter joining the show. In fact, the opposite is true. After a decision was made with regard to Weir, we entertained a number of possibilities - three in particular come to mind. In the end, we decided on Carter because - a) it’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while, and b) her strengths and backgrounds make her well-suited to the Atlantis environment. Holding the Samantha Carter responsible for any upcoming changes would be akin to holding the Cameron Mitchell character responsible for O’Neill’s departure or blaming the General Landry character for Hammond’s exit."
Joseph Mallozzi, 23rd Feb 07
http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2...y-23-2007.html

Her existing fan-value will demand that she's on top if there's any kind of hierarchy in place between her and Sheppard.

I don't suppose you could define what a fan-value is and how it or they can demand anything?

They could always promote Sheppard to full Colonel so he can lead the base, but like I said, I don't see that happening because he's only been an LTC like a year and even Carter's promotions in SG1 were outrageous by RL standards, that one would be outrageous compared to Carter's even.

ROFL you sure do not have a clue about RL military otherwise you'd know that there was nothing outrageous about Sam's promotions, they are within the range and quite common for personnel involved in front line posts.

She's not a command level officer like O'Neill, Sheppard, or even Major Lorne. There are scientists and then there are combat team leaders.

Yep, Felger's in the lab

Too bad O'Niell and Hammond wouldn't agree with you, and lots of fans and years and years of canon.

In the Marine Corps it's the difference between an Infantry Officer and an Air Intel Officer. The Air Intel Officer isn't going to become CO of a Force Recon platoon 20 years down the road.

Who cares about the Marines, Sam Carter is Air Force and is not an intel officer. It's canon that Sam is a front line officer who is also a genius scientist whether you want to recognise it or not.

Now, like I said they can do what they want, it doesn't always have to be realistic, but even when the showrunners had the chance to change Sam's role from a scientist to a leader (which I supported at the time!) when RDA left and she could have taken command of SG1, they brought in Mitchell, and she remained in the role of the physicist.

ROFL did you miss Season 8 or are you going to ignore it (and other earlier and post occasions) because it doesn't fit into your illogical meanderings? Sam didn't remain in the role of the physicist because she wasn't in that role to start with - bugger! there goes that theory!

I don't see that having changed. I don't see her being the type of officer trained, ready and trusted to run that expedition, hell they wouldn't even let her run an SG team.

Sam has run an SG team. Perhaps you haven't actually watched the show?

I realize that, like I just said myself, these two decisions (downplaying Weir, introducing Carter) were independent of each other.

And that is what Oooober was saying and yet you disagreed with her? Perhaps you are a bit confused?

[Alipeeps]

I don't want Atlantis militarised and I happen to like Weir just fine as leader. I don't know what Season 4 has in store for her but my own personal preference would be to keep her on as leader.

[Ace]

They could always promote Sheppard to full Colonel so he can lead the base, but like I said, I don't see that happening because he's only been an LTC like a year and even Carter's promotions in SG1 were outrageous by RL standards, that one would be outrageous compared to Carter's even.

Actually Carters promotions have been amazingly accurate... She was promoted from Capt. to Major in Season 3 and then from Major to Lt. Colonel in Season 8. The 5 year difference is the norm of most people who are promoted from Maj. to Lt. Col.

However if they decided to promote her to full bird Colonel in Season 4 of Atlantis then yes that promotion will have been outrageously fast and a bit unrealistic.

Ideally she should be promoted to full Colonel in Season 5 or 6 of Atlantis. Though technically she can be promoted to Colonel at any time as she has passed the minimum time-in-grade to be promoted it would be a far-fetched.

Unless they were fast-tracking her career...if that was the case then it would actually make sense.

Ace

[ElessarUSMC]

I don't suppose you could actually give us that quote could you? Because Joe has quite clearly stated on more than one occasion that the decisions about Weir and Carter were not related and that they had several options in regards to characters and that they eventually decided to go with Sam. see quote below

Oh dear yet, another person trying to infer that the only reason that Sam is going to Atlantis is because Amanda "was the only one" that wanted to or couldn't get out of the contract. You do realise how pathetic comments like that are, don't you? How about you give us the full quote from Mr Mallozzi so we can see in what context "no matter what" was used. After reading your first paragraph of misinformation I'd rather trust my own comprehension skills than take your supposed "only reason" at face value.

"Allow me to clear up a assumption on your part, specifically the fait accompli belief that any creative decision made with regard to Weir was a result of Carter joining the show. In fact, the opposite is true. After a decision was made with regard to Weir, we entertained a number of possibilities - three in particular come to mind. In the end, we decided on Carter because - a) it’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while, and b) her strengths and backgrounds make her well-suited to the Atlantis environment. Holding the Samantha Carter responsible for any upcoming changes would be akin to holding the Cameron Mitchell character responsible for O’Neill’s departure or blaming the General Landry character for Hammond’s exit."
Joseph Mallozzi, 23rd Feb 07
http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2...y-23-2007.html




I don't suppose you could define what a fan-value is and how it or they can demand anything?



ROFL you sure do not have a clue about RL military otherwise you'd know that there was nothing outrageous about Sam's promotions, they are within the range and quite common for personnel involved in front line posts.



Yep, Felger's in the lab

Too bad O'Niell and Hammond wouldn't agree with you, and lots of fans and years and years of canon.



Who cares about the Marines, Sam Carter is Air Force and is not an intel officer. It's canon that Sam is a front line officer who is also a genius scientist whether you want to recognise it or not.



ROFL did you miss Season 8 or are you going to ignore it (and other earlier and post occasions) because it doesn't fit into your illogical meanderings? Sam didn't remain in the role of the physicist because she wasn't in that role to start with - bugger! there goes that theory!



Sam has run an SG team. Perhaps you haven't actually watched the show?



And that is what Oooober was saying and yet you disagreed with her? Perhaps you are a bit confused?

What the **** is your problem? Take a chill pill, you're WAY unnecessarily defensive about this. For one thing, I didn't disagree with you in the first paragraph, jesus christ I reaffirmed that JM said the two were unrelated, ONLY, YOU said that "Weir's role would be stepped down regardless of whether Sam was coming over" whereas I SAID I thought I read was "Sam is going over, regardless of whether WEIR's role would be stepped down". Which thing was actually inevitable is what I was arguing, not whether or not they're related, I know they're not related, that's not what I was arguing AT ALL.

I know enough about the military to know an officer doesn't go LTC to Col in a few years. We don't know how long she spent as a Captain but how many years did she spend as a Major? I know it's 4 or 5, and Capt->Maj might work for that, but not LTC->Col.

I'm not even going to respond to the rest of your little Sam tirade because I'm pretty sure what's happening here is that you think I'm anti-Sam so you're just freaking out about everything. I'm not even close to anti-Sam, she's just not the right person to lead a base. She is NOT a command officer, period. And when you say she's "lead SG teams" you mean on individual missions as a result of O'Neill or Mitchell being indisposed, or for that year in Season 8. I'm talking about as a long term job. And I never said she wasn't a genius scientist, obviously she is. That has nothing to do with command.

Your comment about "Sam isn't Marines" or whatever isn't relevant. The point was that in a branch, an officer is not going to go from a non-combat arms MOS to a combat arms one 10 or 15 years into their career, doesn't matter if they're on the front lines. The fact that Sam initially went on offworld missions at all bothered me, but I got over that because she clearly could handle herself in the field. But AF, Marines, Army - it doesn't matter, Ace ought to back me up on this. If you go into a branch in a support field - which the sciences are - you are very unlikely to switch over to a combat arms job, on top of that a high level command job, just like that.

Go cool off and take your defensive Sam posturing with you. I don't have a single problem with Carter, but she isn't some uber officer who does-it-all.

[Killdeer]

<deleted because I didn't see that Ace had already said what I did >

As far as the promotion to Colonel, there has been some speculation, and I emphasize speculation, that there may be some sort of time-shifting going on. I think AT said something about there being no conflict between her work on the movies and Atlantis because the timeline was different. I don't know where I saw that, so I can't check the reference. But if there is indeed some sort of time shift in the early episodes of Season four and Carter comes after that point.... well, depending on how much time it is might put the promotion in a little more realistic timeframe. That's if indeed the promotion happens. Personally, I can't see it not happening, realistic or not, because whether Carter is going to be ship or base commander, they'd probably push her up to Colonel for either position. They MIGHT have a Lt Colonel as ship commander, but.... I would be a little surprised.

[ReganX]

Actually Carters promotions have been amazingly accurate... She was promoted from Capt. to Major in Season 3 and then from Major to Lt. Colonel in Season 8. The 5 year difference is the norm of most people who are promoted from Maj. to Lt. Col.

However if they decided to promote her to full bird Colonel in Season 4 of Atlantis then yes that promotion will have been outrageously fast and a bit unrealistic.

Ideally she should be promoted to full Colonel in Season 5 or 6 of Atlantis. Though technically she can be promoted to Colonel at any time as she has passed the minimum time-in-grade to be promoted it would be a far-fetched.

Unless they were fast-tracking her career...if that was the case then it would actually make sense.

Ace

Given Sam's achievements, I don't think that it would be beyond the realm of possibility for her to progress from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel faster than the average. If she has passed the minimum time in grade for promotion, I don't see a problem.

If she is being sent to Atlantis, then it is better to promote her and ensure a clear chain of command rather than repeating the problems they had on SG-1 with two lieutenant colonels.

[ReganX]

Okay on one forum today, I can't name it for obvious reasons lets call it the other side, there are fourteen seperate members posting that they will no longer watch Atlantis when Carter joins the show. There are three people posting repeatedly that they will. That's almost five times more people responding in the negative than the positive. On my LJ there are over thirty posting against and seven for, three are waiting to see just how Carter is introduced before giving up on the show. So even if those three decide to stay with the show they are still out-numbered three to one. In my own family there are three people who watch Atlantis two in my house and one away at Uni, none of us will watch an episode with Carter in.

The online fans make up only a tiny fraction of the viewer numbers Even if the feelings of handful of people you mentioned were an accurate representation of the feelings of the online fandom - and I think you'd need to poll a heck of a lot more people and to be able to guarantee that each vote was being cast by a different fan if you were to have a hope of getting an accurate reading - it is impossible to predict the reaction of the rest of the viewers.

On this very forum there is a huge amount of animosity towards Carter joining Atlantis even from her own fans. The poll in this thread shows that over 75% of people want Weir to continue in command. If Carter doesn't join the show I am sure Wier would be in all of season four.

Just a sec: first of all, a vote for Weir to lead the Atlantis expedition does not necessarily translate to the voter being opposed to Sam in any way, shape or form. Sam is my favourite character and has been since I started watching, but I would prefer to see Weir continue to lead the Atlantis expedition. If Weir is not going to be able to be in charge, then I would love to see Sam lead.

Secondly, I have yet to see what I would refer to as "animosity" towards Sam joining Atlantis from her fans. Concern about how well her character and her integration on Atlantis will be handled, yes, but there is a big difference between the two.

[vaberella]

The online fans make up only a tiny fraction of the viewer numbers Even if the feelings of handful of people you mentioned were an accurate representation of the feelings of the online fandom - and I think you'd need to poll a heck of a lot more people and to be able to guarantee that each vote was being cast by a different fan if you were to have a hope of getting an accurate reading - it is impossible to predict the reaction of the rest of the viewers.


Just a sec: first of all, a vote for Weir to lead the Atlantis expedition does not necessarily translate to the voter being opposed to Sam in any way, shape or form. Sam is my favourite character and has been since I started watching, but I would prefer to see Weir continue to lead the Atlantis expedition. If Weir is not going to be able to be in charge, then I would love to see Sam lead.

Secondly, I have yet to see what I would refer to as "animosity" towards Sam joining Atlantis from her fans. Concern about how well her character and her integration on Atlantis will be handled, yes, but there is a big difference between the two.

I agree with everything stated above. But what's said in bold is the most interesting to me. How do people take bloody demographics over the net? And how can you be sure it's accurate if you don't have special comps reading IP addy's but on top of that, making sure the online comp person is not able to change said IP just to vote again?

I think the net is the most unreliable place to be spouting demographics. I have said in the past some demos, but I count Hate/Kill threads on different forums for each character. Not the actual polls that are listed. The easiet way is to take 100 random fans who like the show but don't know one another, let them know of the changes and make a calculated assumption based on that.

You can't just take a poll with the amount of skins people have all over the place and say...okay this is definite. You can't do any real logical mathematical deductions. There are millions of viewers not 14 and not just thousands.

[Ace]

Given Sam's achievements, I don't think that it would be beyond the realm of possibility for her to progress from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel faster than the average. If she has passed the minimum time in grade for promotion, I don't see a problem.

If she is being sent to Atlantis, then it is better to promote her and ensure a clear chain of command rather than repeating the problems they had on SG-1 with two lieutenant colonels.

Like I said if they were fast-tracking her... I wouldn't see a problem. However normally she still has another year or two before she should be promoted.

Ace

[RealmOfX]

What the **** is your problem? Take a chill pill, you're WAY unnecessarily defensive about this. For one thing, I didn't disagree with you in the first paragraph, jesus christ I reaffirmed that JM said the two were unrelated, ONLY, YOU said that "Weir's role would be stepped down regardless of whether Sam was coming over" whereas I SAID I thought I read was "Sam is going over, regardless of whether WEIR's role would be stepped down". Which thing was actually inevitable is what I was arguing, not whether or not they're related, I know they're not related, that's not what I was arguing AT ALL.

I know enough about the military to know an officer doesn't go LTC to Col in a few years. We don't know how long she spent as a Captain but how many years did she spend as a Major? I know it's 4 or 5, and Capt->Maj might work for that, but not LTC->Col.

I'm not even going to respond to the rest of your little Sam tirade because I'm pretty sure what's happening here is that you think I'm anti-Sam so you're just freaking out about everything. I'm not even close to anti-Sam, she's just not the right person to lead a base. She is NOT a command officer, period. And when you say she's "lead SG teams" you mean on individual missions as a result of O'Neill or Mitchell being indisposed, or for that year in Season 8. I'm talking about as a long term job. And I never said she wasn't a genius scientist, obviously she is. That has nothing to do with command.

Your comment about "Sam isn't Marines" or whatever isn't relevant. The point was that in a branch, an officer is not going to go from a non-combat arms MOS to a combat arms one 10 or 15 years into their career, doesn't matter if they're on the front lines. The fact that Sam initially went on offworld missions at all bothered me, but I got over that because she clearly could handle herself in the field. But AF, Marines, Army - it doesn't matter, Ace ought to back me up on this. If you go into a branch in a support field - which the sciences are - you are very unlikely to switch over to a combat arms job, on top of that a high level command job, just like that.

Go cool off and take your defensive Sam posturing with you. I don't have a single problem with Carter, but she isn't some uber officer who does-it-all.

LOL I am in no need of a chill pill, though your attempt at defensive posturing (complete with swearing) is amusing. You let loose with a lot of inaccurate waffle and I merely pointed out those inaccuracies. I also noticed you didn't address them but rather tried to make it all about me and my supposed "posturing". I simply called you on your wildly inaccurate statements and I noticed a lack of the requested supporting quotes and sidestepping of the points I raised.

So are you backing off from your stance that "Carter's promotions in SG1 were outrageous by RL standards" now that it's been proved that it is not? Are you now trying to refocus on the point, that for Carter, a promotion to Colonel now would be outrageous (or some other adjective)? Because once again you are on the wrong side of the facts, she meets the minimum time requirements and when you are in a front line post like she is and regularly saves Earth's and their allies butts then it is quite possible she has racked up the points to qualify for promotion. Fast tracking of certain officers is not unusual and if the SGC really existed then it would not be unusual for someone like Sam to be fast tracked.

She is NOT a command officer, period.

LOL you really do not have a clue. Just what exactly is your definition of a command officer?

I'm quite familiar with the military, it's why I've been calling you on some of your supposed RL military comments. You seem to have pegged Sam as being a physicist (which she is not) and that she is employed as one at the SGC (which she is not). Sam is a high ranking Air Force officer with a degree in astrophysics who has been on the frontlnes at the SGC for nearly 10 years. You seem to want to ignore everything we have seen her do that wasn't directly related to that degree of hers. It would be nice for you to be able to label her as just a scientist and therefore she is not allowed to command - unfortunately it simply isn't true. Sam is more than just a scientist, just like most officers, they are more than the degree they hold, they are the sum of their training, experience and actions.

And when you say she's "lead SG teams" you mean on individual missions as a result of O'Neill or Mitchell being indisposed, or for that year in Season 8.

There you go trying to minimalise her experience, 7 years as 2IC on the top SGC front line team is most definitely a lot of experience whether you want to recognise it or not. Trying to infer that she only gets command when O'Niell or Mitchell is indisposed is just another example of your outrageous claims. Leading SG-1 is a command position, Head of R&D is a command position, being put in charge of either one or more SG teams for a mission is a command position, being in command of the Odyssey for a mission is a commmand position, being temporarily in charge of the SGC is a command position. That's a lot of command for someone who "is NOT a command officer, period".