Is it logical for Carter to go off-world?

[SG13-NightOps]

SGA would not get old if only those with experience in the Pegasus went on missions. We'd still get to see Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, Ronon, Lorne, etc. go on mission after mission after mission.

No you wouldnt, because Shep and McKay would never have that experience to begin with.

Hence my point. You learn by doing. If sitting behind a desk and reading reports is all she needs to be allowed to go on missions - then I guess the reports from Pegasus would have been enough, right?

What does she got to do by your standard to be allowed to go in the field, because currently - I am not seeing anything?

[prion]

I think TPTB wanted to show us that Carter cared about the team, that Carter was a seasoned pro in off-world situations, that Carter has proven herself to Atlantis. It didn't work for me. Leave the off-world heroics for a time when her expertise is specifically required by the circumstances.

Yup. It was a plot device to (note, much of this said with a hint of sarcasm)

1) toss Carter into the thick of things, as SG1 fans would expect that (don't want to tick off the fanbase that may not have watched SGA before and that you've spent oodles advertising 'carter is coming to atlantis' to)

2) show off the tight black leather biker/dominatrix outfit *cough*

3) give carter something to do other than her job of delegating and waiting back at the base as the leader should

4) show off the tight black leather biker/dominatrix outfit *cough*

5) bond with the team - rescue sheppard (so now he's 'okay, she's got her act together'), assure ronon she won't lock him up in the deep dark dungeons for daring to leave the city (although I loved someone's comment somewhere on the web that maybe there's hope for Carter/Ronon ship), mckay (well, we have no idea what he thought of the rescue)

[SG13-NightOps]

Yup. It was a plot device to (note, much of this said with a hint of sarcasm)

1) toss Carter into the thick of things, as SG1 fans would expect that (don't want to tick off the fanbase that may not have watched SGA before and that you've spent oodles advertising 'carter is coming to atlantis' to)

2) show off the tight black leather biker/dominatrix outfit *cough*

3) give carter something to do other than her job of delegating and waiting back at the base as the leader should

4) show off the tight black leather biker/dominatrix outfit *cough*

5) bond with the team - rescue sheppard (so now he's 'okay, she's got her act together'), assure ronon she won't lock him up in the deep dark dungeons for daring to leave the city (although I loved someone's comment somewhere on the web that maybe there's hope for Carter/Ronon ship), mckay (well, we have no idea what he thought of the rescue)

I actually think its the same reason that someone explained in the Zelenka thread.

Why make it some random extra that will cost them more and mean nothing to anyone when they have Carter there?
No one wants to see the top team rescued by a hand full of no name people that they have nothing invested in. Its always that way... Its Televeision. LOL

[Cautious Explorer]

If everyone with NO experience with Wraith and the Pegasus galaxy just stayed home at Atlantis and kept their noses clean, SGA would get old, very fast.

No you wouldnt, because Shep and McKay would never have that experience to begin with.

Ah. You meant to say if everyone with no experience in Pegasus had stayed home in the MilkyWay? Well of course, there would have been no show. Obviously you have to learn by experience if your the first explorers. Carter is four years too late for that.

Yup. It was a plot device to (note, much of this said with a hint of sarcasm)

1) toss Carter into the thick of things, as SG1 fans would expect that (don't want to tick off the fanbase that may not have watched SGA before and that you've spent oodles advertising 'carter is coming to atlantis' to)

2) show off the tight black leather biker/dominatrix outfit *cough*

3) give carter something to do other than her job of delegating and waiting back at the base as the leader should

4) show off the tight black leather biker/dominatrix outfit *cough*

5) bond with the team - rescue sheppard (so now he's 'okay, she's got her act together'), assure ronon she won't lock him up in the deep dark dungeons for daring to leave the city (although I loved someone's comment somewhere on the web that maybe there's hope for Carter/Ronon ship), mckay (well, we have no idea what he thought of the rescue)

Yes, they have to get their money's worth out of the leather number

It was all about convenience, not logic.

[Mack_1]

First. Doesn't matter what Carter do or don't, you are not going to like what she does, cause she is not Weir and some of you plain hate her.

Second: Going with the rescue team, maybe a mistake (we don't know were Lorne or any other high rank military is) But she had the experience as a tactical and field soldier, either the replicators, goud'l, super soldier (ups sorry SG-1) or in this case the Wraith, an enemy is the same doesn't matter were you are they going to kick your behind either way.

She can't send foot soldiers to retrieve her second in command and her first scientist and leave it to the chance that such foot soldiers get kill or apprehend, she wasn't alone.

Third: She had the Intel from Ronon, he knows the lay out of the place and knows how to fight them, she knows how to take care of her self and her team mates, we can't not ignore the fact that she's all ready have a military background and war experience, just because she is in Atlantis she is not going to act like she forgot all about that.

4) If the hive or what ever that ship was, had been full of Wraith, Sheppard and com. wouldn't have been there in the first place, to me it was a lab, so there weren't to many enemy to fight against (to me) it show that, when only two darts? were send after the firsts jumper.

5) She had a plan, as stupid it may seam to some, she had have a plan,

This is her first command of a whole base/city not a team, I agree she shouldn't left her command but give her a break, she is first of all a soldier and her people were in trouble, so maybe it wasn't logical for her to go on the rescue mission, but it was probably necesary

[SG13-NightOps]

Ah. You meant to say if everyone with no experience in Pegasus had stayed home in the MilkyWay? Well of course, there would have been no show. Obviously you have to learn by experience if your the first explorers. Carter is four years too late for that.

No.. Stayed back at Atlantis. You Know. Not go to Athos. Not wake up the Wraith. Not have any adventure.

They had to get to Atlantis because if they didn't, then there would be no show at all.

You didn't answer my question though. What does Carter have to do? If not experience (Being too late for that apparently) and not reading reports (which is all she would do behind a desk) - where does this miraculous expertise to allow her to go off world come from?

[Cautious Explorer]

No.. Stayed back at Atlantis. You Know. Not go to Athos. Not wake up the Wraith. Not have any adventure.

They had to get to Atlantis because if they didn't, then there would be no show at all.

You didn't answer my question though. What does Carter have to do? If not experience (Being too late for that apparently) and not reading reports (which is all she would do behind a desk) - where does this miraculous expertise to allow her to go off world come from?

Carter will have plenty of valid opportunities to go off-world, in her official capacity to meet and negotiate with other leaders, in instances where her scientific expertise is necessary, in emergency situations when there may not be anyone else qualified on hand.

Certainly she may want to gain off-world experience in Pegasus. But that should come gradually and not start out in an emergency situation where there are already experienced and capable personnel ready and available to deal with the situation. I would think a team dynamic would come into play as well. You've got teams of people used to working together. An emergency comes up. Is the middle of a rescue mission really the time to throw new people into the mix? As long as the people available are experienced and capable, let them handle it. Worry about getting off-world later.

I think Toaster on Fire put it very well:

IMO, it's logical for Carter to go on away missions if there's a skill needed that she can perform better than pretty much everyone on Atlantis. Replicator problems? Check. Super difficult think-on-your-feet scientific problem? Sure, she can back up Rodney. Stomping through a wraith facility to save a team member? Eh, I don't see how Carter is that better equipped than the other military people on Atlantis, especially since they've likely fought wraith and/or been in wraith facilities and she hasn't.

They just lost one leader on an away mission. Is it really that smart for the new leader to jump right into another?

[SG13-NightOps]

Carter will have plenty of valid opportunities to go off-world, in her official capacity to meet and negotiate with other leaders, in instances where her scientific expertise is necessary, in emergency situations when there may not be anyone else qualified on hand.

Certainly she may want to gain off-world experience in Pegasus. But that should come gradually and not start out in an emergency situation where there are already experienced and capable personnel ready and available to deal with the situation. I would think a team dynamic would come into play as well. You've got teams of people used to working together. An emergency comes up. Is the middle of a rescue mission really the time to throw new people into the mix? As long as the people available are experienced and capable, let them handle it. Worry about getting off-world later.

I think Toaster on Fire put it very well:

This is where I have to revert back to SG1 because well - I do. Whether its liked or not.

SG1 Episode 1 - Carter is involved in a resuce mission against aliens she knows nothing about with no Intel. (and does that a whole lot in SG1 too)
SGA Episode 1 - Shep is involved in a rescue mision against aliens he knows nothing about with no Intel.
Reunion - Carter is involved in a rescue mission against aliens she has read about, actually encountered (Pegasus Project) and has all the intel she needs on both the aliens and the facility.

And yet - she is apparently inexperienced. If you have not seen SG1 you assume inexperience. Just because you dont know a persons history, doesnt mean it doesnt exist. She picked Airforce over Scientist. She is a soldier first. And a veteran at that!

[Mitchell82]

In my perspective yes IF the situation calls for it. In the epsisodes that Weir went offworld it made sense.
HOME- THe team thought they found a way back to Earth. Logical for the base commander to go.
The Seige II- Made sense to try and get the nuclear bombs.
Intruder- Obviously made sense. She went to Earth to relay info aobut the recent seige of Atlantis and the state of affairs on Atlantis.
Condemned- She went to negotiate her teams release from a penal colony.
Epihany- It made sense for someone fluent in Ancient to accompany the team to try and find Shep.
Inferno- The team was responding to a distress call from a Ancient outpost and she was fluent in Ancient. She spent most of the ep however at the base.
Misbegotten- She was called back to the SGC to explain her actions and why she put Earth in danger. Very real life.
Progeny- They thought they found a colony of Ancients she is an Ancient expert. Simple.
Submersion- I don't know why people count this she didn't go offworld she went with the team to explore an Ancient geothermal drilling platform on the planet. Makes sense to me.


Now as to Carter. So far we have seen her do it once. Now while some don't think it made sense it did. She was just put in command. Her main duty is to maintain the secrecy of Atlantis's new postition. She also was very qualified for the mission. She didn't want to risk a team on an obvious ambush. She also needed to gain the trust of the rest of the expedition as well as Ronon. She mad the right call.

[rarocks24]

It's hardly a smart move as the leader of an operation to, on your first day (or at least first day with things to do) in said position, make a horribly stupid decision.

You don't demonstrate you're committed or that you're brave or whatever by jumping headfirst into battle. The only thing you're demonstrating is stupidity. What if she'd been fed on? What then?

How many times have we seen in fiction commanders going off on rescue missions? Captain Janeway, Commander Sisko, Captain Picard, Captain Kirk...

I mean, my god, if we want to be so realistic, lets do away with the wormhole, because it's beyond belief. Let's do away with the ships and the Asgard and the Goa'uld.

To answer the actual question, no.

[Cautious Explorer]

This is where I have to revert back to SG1 because well - I do. Whether its liked or not.

SG1 Episode 1 - Carter is involved in a resuce mission against aliens she knows nothing about with no Intel. (and does that a whole lot in SG1 too)
SGA Episode 1 - Shep is involved in a rescue mision against aliens he knows nothing about with no Intel.
Reunion - Carter is involved in a rescue mission against aliens she has read about, actually encountered (Pegasus Project) and has all the intel she needs on both the aliens and the facility.

And yet - she is apparently inexperienced. If you have not seen SG1 you assume inexperience. Just because you dont know a persons history, doesnt mean it doesnt exist. She picked Airforce over Scientist. She is a soldier first. And a veteran at that!

Why did Carter charge in on the rescue mission in SG1 Episode 1? Because there was no one else with prior experience? Or did she decide to bypass a team of people already familiar with the situation and perfectly capable of handling it?

Sheppard led the rescue mission against the Wraith because there was no one else. No one had ever encountered them before. There was no one more experienced to defer to.

There's a world of difference between Sheppard leading a rescue mission in Rising and Carter jumping in on the mission in Reunion. I'm sure you can understand that there's a difference between not deferring to prior experience when there is no one with prior experience (Rising), and not deferring to prior experience when there is a already a group of seasoned veterans available (Reunion).

I didn't see Pegasus Project. Are you telling me that Carter came face to face with a Wraith in that episode? Or did she sit in a ship that fired on a Wraith ship?

[prion]

Why did Carter charge in on the rescue mission in SG1 Episode 1? Because there was no one else with prior experience? Or did she decide to bypass a team of people already familiar with the situation and perfectly capable of handling it?

Sheppard led the rescue mission against the Wraith because there was no one else. No one had ever encountered them before. There was no one more experienced to defer to.

There's a world of difference between Sheppard leading a rescue mission in Rising and Carter jumping in on the mission in Reunion. I'm sure you can understand that there's a difference between not deferring to prior experience when there is no one with prior experience (Rising), and not deferring to prior experience when there is a already a group of seasoned veterans available (Reunion).

I didn't see Pegasus Project. Are you telling me that Carter came face to face with a Wraith in that episode? Or did she sit in a ship that fired on a Wraith ship?

Being in a ship fired on by a Wraith ship is no different than being fired on by a Gou'ald ship or earth ship, etc. Coming face to face to someone who, can by force of sheer will, make you drop your weapon, and suck the very life out of you, is a lot different. Don't believe Sam has had a a face-to-face with a Wraith yet.

But like some have pointed out, where's the fun in the no-name characters doing the rescue.

I honestly don't think Sam had any more knowledge of the situation than Lorne or any other military person on Atlantis (the latter of which have had experience with Wraith). All that was required was for Ronon to lead a team back to the base/ship/nest and blow the hell out of it and rescue their people. The wraith really should lock their doors. Any ole' riff-raff seems to be able come in and pillage the place; )

[Ruffles]

Is it logical? Hmmm.... Maybe not. But sometimes the smart answer isn't the right answer. She has stepped into a sticky situation replacing a well-liked leader lost in horrible circumstances. These people (and non-SG1 viewers) don't know her. She has already had a heated confrontation with Ronon over his Satedan friends. He pushed, and she pushed back. Hard. His first instinct on reaching Atlantis was to head straight to see Carter.

In my happy place, she made the decision to go on the op at that moment. Was she risking her life? Yes. Could she be replaced if she were killed? Yes. She had been there a day, maybe 2. The IOA hadn't thrown that short list away yet.

She took a big chance heading off-world, but Ronon and the rest of Atlantis learned something valuable by her actions: she would risk her life for them. She'll fight with them and for them. She has the background and know-how to lead a rescue operation. She had Ronon's guidance and Zelenka's technical expertise along with some Marines for back-up. Sheppard didn't seem one bit surprised when she showed up at that cell door.

Pretend for a moment that Sheppard was in charge and Lorne had been captured. Can you see Sheppard assigning the rescue to someone else, or would he run straight to the jumper bay?

[SG13-NightOps]

Why did Carter charge in on the rescue mission in SG1 Episode 1? Because there was no one else with prior experience? Or did she decide to bypass a team of people already familiar with the situation and perfectly capable of handling it?

Sheppard led the rescue mission against the Wraith because there was no one else. No one had ever encountered them before. There was no one more experienced to defer to.

There's a world of difference between Sheppard leading a rescue mission in Rising and Carter jumping in on the mission in Reunion. I'm sure you can understand that there's a difference between not deferring to prior experience when there is no one with prior experience (Rising), and not deferring to prior experience when there is a already a group of seasoned veterans available (Reunion).

I didn't see Pegasus Project. Are you telling me that Carter came face to face with a Wraith in that episode? Or did she sit in a ship that fired on a Wraith ship?

You are saying she has no expertise. I am showing you that she has plenty of expertise in facing off against an unknown enemy on a S&R mission.
Plus - the wraith are not unknown. I am sure you can understand the difference between Unknown enemy and an Enemy you have lots of Intel on.

On the peggy project thing.. How many teams ON Atlantis can you guarantee me have gone face to face with the Wraith?

[Jumper_One]

nope it's probably not logical for Carter to go off-world. she's the leader of Atlantis and as such stay there and just send Shep or another team to do the job. having said that i don't think we'll see her heading out anytime soon (except for Earth maybe). except of course if they're in a desperate situation which calls for desperate measures. however Reunion is is the first episode with Carter in command and TPTB probably just wanted to show her in action, her initiative and leadership skills. that's it IMO