Could we stop putting all of our eggs in the same basket?

[FallenAngelII]

I'm no medic or doctor...

But if I was Keller, and I'd been dragged to somewhere that was supposed to "cure" my patient, I'd want to know why. After my initial scepticism, when I see I'm going anyway, I'd assume it would work and then think "so WHY is it working" can I USE this to cure him?" that's what I thought whilst watching. Personally I think they shoulda brought the med stuff straight off.

If I was CMO of Atlantis, I wouldn't have flied off into Wraith territory (two Hives) on the off-chance of a magical cure in a holy shrine existing. I'd have, at most, sent one of my subordinates.

Because I'm friggin' CMO and the best doctor currently on Atlantis. If I die and the Wraith attack tomorrow (or even in my absense), then, whoppitydoo, good luck injured soldiers!

I like it when I see my favourite characters get to do important stuff too. I, however, dislike it when they do stupid stuff.

[PG15]

By your logic, it's stupid to send any of the experts offworld unless they are absolutely required.

That'd be boring.

[EvenstarSRV]

If I was CMO of Atlantis, I wouldn't have flied off into Wraith territory (two Hives) on the off-chance of a magical cure in a holy shrine existing. I'd have, at most, sent one of my subordinates.

I agree, it probably would have been a bit more realistic for a combat medic to accompany McKay and the team instead of Keller. Although since they all thought they were saying goodbye to McKay, I think Keller would have wanted to be there for that and not just send a subordinate.

But, do I as a viewer want to see Keller, a character I have seen struggle with this situation from the beginning and formed an emotional connection with, perform the operation on McKay, or do I want to watch an unknown medic do it?

I think in the context of the show, Keller had to go on the mission and perform the operation to complete her dramatic story arc in the episode: guilt at missing the parasite, frustration at not being able to remove it, and finally redemption in jumping on the opportunity to save her patient.

I think it is similar to Sheppard going on the rescue mission in Search and Rescue. Realistically he should have stayed in the infirmary and let the healthy and capable Marines rescue Teyla. But his arc in the episode began with guilt at not being able to save Ford and Weir, so it made dramatic sense for it to conclude with him being able to save his teammate. Again, do you want to see Sheppard flying the dart while holding baby Torren or an unknown pilot?

Is it as realistic as it could be? Probably not. But it makes for a far more dramatic story, in my opinion.

[Zamboni]

DS9 was the worst. Most of the time whenever the Defiant went anywhere, the station's entire command staff - and often Quark - would go on it. I swear they must have left Morn in charge...

Hey don't you dare diss Morn's commanding abilities... He's the man... Well, actually he's uh... what species is Morn? The only thing we know about him is that he drinks and that he likes latinum...

Anyway, Woolsey never goes on missions, and Major Lorne is still there. Even if we lose McKay, Shepard, AND Teyla and Ronan, we still have Zelenka, Lorne, Sam, and that new chick that shot down a dart with her gun... where is she? We need a new female soldier...

As for Ronan, well we did fine for a couple seasons without him. Worst case scenario just grab a young Jaffa from the cultural exchange program.

Or just inject Woolsey with tretonin or something...

[perkin127]

In my opinion if your going into wraith territory your going to want your best team, thats shep, ronon and teyla, also the whole idea for going was to say goodbye to Rodney, for his friends to be there, what would be the point of him feeling better for a day with a load of marines? They knew it was dangerous but have always put their life on the line before, and as for Keller she was also his friend as well as a doctor, i mean hes just told her he loved her she has just as much right to be there as the others even if she wasnt a dr!

[FallenAngelII]

By your logic, it's stupid to send any of the experts offworld unless they are absolutely required.

That'd be boring.

No... but it's stupid to send them into confirmed hostile environments for something that's not even a mission.

It had two Hives on it. Not one, but two. They got lucky that the Wraith somehow didn't detect the Jumper through the magic smoke that somehow shielded them from sensors.

You know what would've prevented this whole discussion from taking place? Better writing. They didn't have to shoe-horn the Wraith in there. It's not like the Wraith were important to the storyline. They could've just said there were hostile natives around who hated the expedition. Or better yet, just say nobody really knew where it was, despite people having looked for it recently, and that they didn't want to spend (more) resources looking for a magical shrine that might not even exist.

Anything that didn't make the mission an automatic S-Class mission where it'd be moronic to send 3 of your senior officers to possible doom.

[PG15]

Actually, the only thing that could've prevented this discussion is if you never hit "send".

[Flyboy]

Oh come on, two senior officers are sent out on every mission, the most brilliant scientist on base, and the military commander. By rights, NEITHER Shep or McKay should be going on missions. I highly doubt Sumner would have. He'd have had a nice little office in Atlantis, which is where Shep belongs. NOT out in the field, because of the very reasons you've stated. I don't see why now is suddenly the time to question an obviously stupid mistake. McKay is exactly the same, arguably so is Keller. But hey, the flagship team repeatedly sends out two senior officials so why cry about one more...

[EvenstarSRV]

By rights, NEITHER Shep or McKay should be going on missions. I highly doubt Sumner would have. He'd have had a nice little office in Atlantis, which is where Shep belongs. NOT out in the field, because of the very reasons you've stated.

I kinda agree, and when I was watching season 1 for the first time, I was hoping they'd go this route with Sheppard. I think letting Ford lead the offworld team would have been a better use of his skills and given him some good character development.

[Flyboy]

I kinda agree, and when I was watching season 1 for the first time, I was hoping they'd go this route with Sheppard. I think letting Ford lead the offworld team would have been a better use of his skills and given him some good character development.

Well... I wouldn't let Ford lead a team. Realistically when he was with Shep he was in exactly the position a team 2IC should be. However, it's my personal opinion that on the Atlantis expedition, the highest ranking member of a recon unit should be Major, with Shep staying on base. Major Lorne should be running the flagship team.

[FallenAngelII]

Oh come on, two senior officers are sent out on every mission, the most brilliant scientist on base, and the military commander. By rights, NEITHER Shep or McKay should be going on missions. I highly doubt Sumner would have. He'd have had a nice little office in Atlantis, which is where Shep belongs. NOT out in the field, because of the very reasons you've stated. I don't see why now is suddenly the time to question an obviously stupid mistake. McKay is exactly the same, arguably so is Keller. But hey, the flagship team repeatedly sends out two senior officials so why cry about one more...

One of the major points of my argument is that this was not a mission. This was merely an opportunity to say "goodbye"... in Wraith-infested territory... with two Hives present.

This was not something that was necessary to do. It was not imperative for anyone's survival (that they knew of). There have been cases before where missions have been denied when there were actual lives in danger because the lives were few and the risks far too big... and that's on SG-1 where there were no senior officers on the off world teams.

Again to reiterate: Not a mission.

That's one of the most important points here. They sent 3 senior officers into Wraith infested territory for the purposes of having a picnic and saying goodbye.

[Cryowolf]

You have to suspend belief a lot of times in Stargate to be able to enjoy the show fully...For example, no military command would allow 'aliens' to join a team just like that (Teal'C, Teyla, Ronon.) I suspended that much belief though, cause the show is enjoyable if you don't care about things like these

[EvenstarSRV]

Well... I wouldn't let Ford lead a team. Realistically when he was with Shep he was in exactly the position a team 2IC should be. However, it's my personal opinion that on the Atlantis expedition, the highest ranking member of a recon unit should be Major, with Shep staying on base. Major Lorne should be running the flagship team.

True, Lorne would have been a better choice than Ford because of his rank. I mentioned Ford because of cast scheduling, since they had Rainbow Sun Francks as a regular while Kavan Smith was just reoccurring.

[PG15]

I've always thought Lorne only came on the Daedalus when Atlantis made contact with Earth again at the end of Season 1, so there's no overlap between Lorne's time and Ford's time.

[EvenstarSRV]

I've always thought Lorne only came on the Daedalus when Atlantis made contact with Earth again at the end of Season 1, so there's no overlap between Lorne's time and Ford's time.

Oh, didn't know that. I remember seeing Lorne in Runner, so I kinda assumed he'd been there in season 1 too. I've still only seen about half of season 1 and that was a long while ago.