The anti Cam Mitchell thread

[ReganX]

He got his ass shot down during The Lost City, yet the flashbacks we saw, especially with Jack's reaction to him made it seem like he did something monumetally amazing, especially in earning any spot he wanted.

If he had single handedly did something then great, but he did nothing and earned the greatest spot anyone could ever ask for.

I have to ask - what about the other pilots, the ones who technically would have done more to defend SG-1 as they would have continued fighting after Mitchell crashed? Were all of them offered their choice of posts? What makes Mitchell so special, besides the fact that the writers needed/wanted to pimp him to make him worthy of a spot on the team? He wasn't even in command during the fight, Hammond was.

The CMOH was just a terrible idea.

Not only would the formalities have taken a heck of a lot longer, anyone awarded the medal must distinguish him or herself "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States".

During the battle of Antarctica, Mitchell and the other F-302 pilots were ordered to defend the scout ship "at all costs", therefore nothing could be considered "above and beyond the call of duty".

[SaberBlade]

That's the thing, he seems to have been overhyped, yet he's did nothing at all. He may have lead the 302 wing into combat, but as you said Hammond was in command. It just seems he was shot down early in the fight, froze his ass off for the largest part of the fight which means the rest of the pilots did most of the work. If he had done a kamikaze run or had flew his 302 into incoming fire so he'd be destroyed rather than the Prommie then you'd have something to work with, but he didn't do any of that. He froze his ass off and they made O'Neill act like Mitchell was the next best thing.

Mitchell has management material written all over him, he gets the credit while others below him do all the work. I have never seen one thing to ever suggest Mitchell's work earned him the SG1 spot. His piloting skills should have left got him and his squad onboard a 303 or 304 (so I wouldn't be surprised if some died with the Prommie) but that's all he really seems suited for. it's one of my biggest problems with the character, as he doesn't have a reason to be there. We know why Jackson is there, Sam is there, Teal'c is there, but why Mitchell?

SG1 would have been better off without him, bringing back an older character to join SG1 would have been a better choice (like Feretti, or another well known SG unit member)

[ReganX]

That's the thing, he seems to have been overhyped, yet he's did nothing at all. He may have lead the 302 wing into combat, but as you said Hammond was in command. It just seems he was shot down early in the fight, froze his ass off for the largest part of the fight which means the rest of the pilots did most of the work. If he had done a kamikaze run or had flew his 302 into incoming fire so he'd be destroyed rather than the Prommie then you'd have something to work with, but he didn't do any of that. He froze his ass off and they made O'Neill act like Mitchell was the next best thing.

I imagine TPTB hoped that making Jack give Mitchell his seal of approval would make the viewers like and accept Mitchell. It didn't work for me. I still hate Mitchell, although I am concerned about Jack's health - it seems as though the stress of being "the man" has led to a few lapses in judgement.

it's one of my biggest problems with the character, as he doesn't have a reason to be there. We know why Jackson is there, Sam is there, Teal'c is there, but why Mitchell?

Mitchell is on the team because he asked to be on the team. When offered his choice of posts - and I think that Jack, along with whoever made the offer (unless they were General Magwitch) could be forgiven if they expected that, given his previous career, he would ask to either continue working with the F-302s or for a post on one of the Earth ships - he was the one who decided that he was better suited to and more deserving of the last spot on SG-1, the spot that everybody at the SGC seemed to want, than any of the people stationed at the SGC or any of the officers who had been selected as potential SG team members. It wasn't a case of Jack approaching him, telling him that he had read his file and thought that he'd make a great addition to the team. Mitchell is on SG-1 because he decided that he should be there.

SG1 would have been better off without him, bringing back an older character to join SG1 would have been a better choice (like Feretti, or another well known SG unit member)

Better off without the Mitchell we have seen, certainly - at least in my opinion. Major Mitchell (without the CMOH or post of his choice bit) could have been a decent addition to the show, although I like the idea of bringing in an already established character.

[SaberBlade]

he was the one who decided that he was better suited to and more deserving of the last spot on SG-1, the spot that everybody at the SGC seemed to want, than any of the people stationed at the SGC or any of the officers who had been selected as potential SG team members. It wasn't a case of Jack approaching him, telling him that he had read his file and thought that he'd make a great addition to the team. Mitchell is on SG-1 because he decided that he should be there.

And that is one of my problems with Mitchell, he wanted SG1 and when was promised any spot he wanted he went straight for it. it wasn't a matter of earning it, it wasn't a matter of him being better suited for it, it wasn't a matter of him being needed. He got his ass shot down, was promised any spot he wanted for god knows what reason and he went after it all because he thought he was good enough for SG1.

Considering SG1 had already broken up at that part it makes sense that he received it without much difficulty, but of course once again he wanted SG1 which included Carter, Jackson & Teal'c. The team had saved the world so many times before, yet Mitchell had done nothing to deserve being added to a team with those three.

He's very arogant (for lack of a better word at the moment) as all that seemed to matter was getting what he wanted. He got SG1, but it wasn't the SG1 he wanted so he never shut up until he was able to get the other members back because it was what he wanted.

Better off without the Mitchell we have seen, certainly - at least in my opinion. Major Mitchell (without the CMOH or post of his choice bit) could have been a decent addition to the show, although I like the idea of bringing in an already established character.

That I have to agree with, because remove the medal, the post of his choice, his whining about getting the original SG1 back, plus the idea he thinks he did something to earn it then it could have been a better character, but that didn't happen so i'd have much prefered an older character.

[ReganX]

He's very arogant (for lack of a better word at the moment) as all that seemed to matter was getting what he wanted. He got SG1, but it wasn't the SG1 he wanted so he never shut up until he was able to get the other members back because it was what he wanted.

I consider that extremely childish behaviour on his part.

He had just been given a post that nearly everyone at the SGC would have given their right arms for, passing over every SG team leader in the place and, rather than doing what he was ordered to do and selecting a team to work with, he insisted on pestering the former members of SG-1.

Daniel was going to Atlantis, as he has wanted to for quite some time and Teal'c was helping his people build their nation after thousands of years of slavery. Did Mitchell honestly think that the opportunity to serve with him and let him have his dream would entice them to give that up? If they had wanted to stay on SG-1, they would have done so. Rather than respect the choices of people he claimed to admire, he made a nuisance of himself.

With Sam, he went a step further, trying to persuade her to give up a command position at Area 51 to rejoin SG-1 under his command. His "What if the world needs saving because I screwed up 'cause you weren't here in the first place?" struck me as emotional blackmail. If he genuinely thought that there was a chance that his inexperience could lead to that, then he had a responsibility to go straight to Landry and explain that he wasn't ready for command of an SG team yet.

I do, however, rather enjoy the irony that Vala, of all people, succeeded where Mitchell failed and brought the "band" back together - with a little help from the Ori.

[ReganX]

That I have to agree with, because remove the medal, the post of his choice, his whining about getting the original SG1 back, plus the idea he thinks he did something to earn it then it could have been a better character, but that didn't happen so i'd have much prefered an older character.

Major Mitchell, introduced as either a member of SG-Pick-A-Number to take the vacant slot on SG-1 because Landry wanted each team to have four members or Major Mitchell the Trust (or similar) spy/pawn could have worked really well.

With the first scenario, Major Mitchell would have been given the post every one at the SGC dreamed of. He could have been excited, but also a bit overwhelmed at the thought of working with the legendary SG-1, very eager to prove himself, maybe a bit reckless at times. While Sam was away (due to injury, illness, temporary assignment to Area 51, etc) he would have been in command and then, just when he was settling into the role and feeling more comfortable leading, Sam would return and retake command so that there could have been some drama and conflict over that as the season progressed.

With the second scenario, there would have been a nice subplot for Mitchell and room for character development when the guy who had been put on SG-1 to spy on them, even to harm them if the opportunity arose, came to genuinely like his teammates and to respect them and the work they were doing. He would then have a choice; tell SG-1 about the people who pose a threat to them but risk losing their respect and friendship or keep quiet but leave them vulnerable to his employers.

[SaberBlade]

I think with Alias, the new character being a spy or having a shady past has been done to death.

I'd rather have him in the first scenario, although having him get executed for treason would have been a nice twist if he was a spy.

having him as an experienced soldier and pilot but having him just realise how much things ae different would have been a nice way to show him, like with Jonas when he first came to earth and couldn't stop eating food or getting excited about everything, only for him to develop and evolve into a better character thanks to the experience.

Instead he got full of himself thinking he knew best and could do anything, getting very arogant about it.

[ReganX]

I'd rather have him in the first scenario, although having him get executed for treason would have been a nice twist if he was a spy.

What I think would have been really great would be if Major Mitchell had just been a normal guy; a member of an SG team but not one that ever would have stood out as outstanding, someone who did his job well (for the most part) but who wouldn't have stood out from the herd... and then this person finds himself, through chance or otherwise, getting the much sought after fourth spot on SG-1, working with Sam, Daniel and Teal'c.

Major Mitchell is just a normal guy - I'm not saying that he's mentally deficient, or entirely devoid of skills, but he's not somebody anyone would have pointed to and said "he's one of our best people - somebody who, until now, has only gone on straightforward survey missions and the like (no planet saving, daring rescues, etc), now all of a sudden he's on the flagship team, working with three people who, until now, have virtually been living legends to him.

There would have been plenty of material for the writers (and BB) to explore with a character who felt that he didn't deserve to be on SG-1 - and opinion that, perhaps, quite a few others at the SGC might have shared. He would have been making up the numbers on a team that didn't actually need him for any particular reason, and we could have seen his feelings about that, his worries about letting his new teammates down, his desire to prove himself worthy and his efforts to carve out a niche for himself.

The situation would have been complicated by the fact that he would have temporarily commanded the team in Sam's absence, with the role of team leader being pretty much the only one he could fill and then, just when he was more or less comfortable with that position, Sam would return and Mitchell would find himself without any real role to play. His frustration at this, and conflict with Sam over command if he ever felt that she was making a wrong call could have made for some great drama.

However, instead of taking the opportunity of having an Average Joe type character, it seems to me as though the writers were trying to push Mitchell up on a level with (or even slightly above) his teammates and so brought in what I consider to be an abysmal storyline about him saving SG-1, earning the CMOH, bringing the band back together, etc.