Endgame (810)

[Major Fischer]

They had that information, but if you recall, they said that their information was 6 months out of date.

I guess my problem is that I feel like they are protrayed as powerful and influential enough that their information shouldn't be that out of date.

[Skydiver]

What I still don't understand is, if the Trust is as powerful as we're led to believe, with the access that we are led to believe, how come they didn't have information from the SGC computers about which were tok'ra/rebel Jaffa worlds and which were not. Even if you were going to launch on them, wouldn't you launch on the target first, and put the "acceptable losses" at the bottum of the list in case you were interupted.

Like by SG1

They had some intel, just nothing recent. Thus suggeting that they'd lost thier source. I have my own theories as to who that is/was...but I can't spoil here

At one point, the black guy, jenkins or hoskins says 'her intel is more up to date than ours'

[Liebestraume]

Like Sam said, this is all they've known from childhood, and they're doing it at the command of the goa'uld, who they believe are gods. They aren't doing it of their own free will.

This is very true. However, I wonder if this episode ever made a distinction between an "civilian Jaffa" and one that serves in a Goa'uld army. For the latter is an enemy capable of great harm. If I-was-just-following-orders is not a valid defense for any human, why should it then be any different for Jaffa?

[DarkQuee1]

However, I don't see why Daniel's role as an archealogist precludes him from doing what he did in this episode. He's a very intelligent and competent guy, he can learn and grow. I'd hate to put him in one box and leave him there, it isn't fair to the character. He's been going on raids with SG-1 back since in the first season, and I think the reason his interrogating British guy didn't bother me is that they needed someone with comprehensive knowledge of the SGC and all of the aliens we've met up to this point. There are very few candidates. Jack obviously trusted Daniel enough for him to do this.

It is not a matter of intelligence or competence. It is a matter of expertise, skills (that is, learned skills) and training. Daniel doesn't have them. At least, we've never seen that he's gotten them. And when RDA was pulling a full load and Hammond was on the base, we never saw Daniel do this (which also means he wouldn't have gotten any experience). Why stop at this stuff? Maybe he should fix the gate next time? After all, he's intelligent and competent and we don't want to leave him in a box.

But he wouldn't. Because it would be unbelievable. But it isn't really any more unbelievable than his conducting interrogations. The latter also requires certain expertise and training; they don't just send anyone in to do it. I can't agree with your statement that there aren't many candidates with "comprehensive knowledge of the SGC" and of the aliens. First, I don't know how "comprehensive" Daniel's knowledge of the SGC is. I mean, he knows his area and he knows offworld procedures, but why would he know administrative or military details?

Second, I submit that every member of any of the offworld teams, esp. the military officers, would easily have as comprehensive an understanding of the workings of the SGC and of the aliens, including the Goa'uld, as would Daniel. Why wouldn't they? In fact, the CO's of these teams would probably have certain knowledge that Daniel, who is a team member but not command level, would not have.

Dani raised a good point that Weir, a civilian with no knowledge whatsoever of the program was chosen to run the SGC, a military operation.

Weir was put in charge to placate Kinsey, who expected her to basically gut the program completely, throw out the military and turn the whole operation over to him. She wasn't put in charge because it was believed that she could handle what is currently a military operation.

Why couldn't Daniel, who's been with the program from the beginning, interrogate a prisoner? He's been part of lots of negotiations, is very verbal, can think on his feet, and knows as much about the SGC as anyone. Yes, others might have more experience, but it doesn't mean Daniel wouldn't do a good job.

But Daniel wasn't very good at it. He got the guy to help by basically letting him off the hook and letting him keep the $2,000,000 that he got for selling us out. Do you really think that Hammond, Jack, Davis, heck even Teal'c, would have done that? No, they would have let him know that treason is a capital offense in this county and it carries the death penalty, and if he didn't want to end up being stood in front of a wall and shot, then he better cooperate. Want to bet the weasel would have? Without getting to keep his ill-gotten gains? We saw the same thing in 48 Hours--Daniel gave the Russians everything they wanted. That's capitulation, not negotiation. And he wasn't having any success getting the Kelownans to do anything; it wasn't until Jack kicked butt that they began to exhibit some common sense.

Why can't Daniel have additional skills outside of his academic ones? He'd be dead for real by now if he hadn't learned to handle a gun. I wouldn't want to see Daniel become GI Joe, but I can take a little bit of ActionJackson as long as we don't completely lose the civilian and his unique perspective. We've seen enough of sensitiveDaniel this year to make me feel this isn't the case.

This stuff is not even close to being within any of Daniel's area of expertise. Instead of this, they should find something closer to home for him to do. Why turn him into Jack-lite or some generic soldier? It's failure of imagination that they can't find something more "Daniel" for him to be involved in.

And I would have a problem now if suddenly in a future ep Daniel started being offered as the other perspective and different approach person: he's been too much Rambo Jackson. For example, he didn't even suggest trying to talk to Soren and/or his followers. Could we see him playing it that way a couple of years ago?

Yes, I do expect Daniel to be better at taking care of himself after all this time in the field. And he is. I have no problem with that. But what we are seeing goes way beyond this.

(BTW, we never saw that Sam was trained in ops, either. In RL, it's probable that things like the raids on the warehouse would be handled by specialized troops. I realize that this is a TV series and they are going to use the main characters as much as possible. It's just that there has to be some effort to remain in the realm of believability).


Part of the problem is that I see this as failure on the part of the writers. They have not been able to utilize Daniel properly since he came back. They don't have anything "Daniel" for Daniel to do. They haven't even been able to write him so that ascension had some effect on him. That he was, in some way, different from who he had been before. (I don't think that becoming Daniel "Terminator" Jackson was quite the difference that ascension was supposed to make).

In this ep, if you took out all the non-Daniel stuff that he was doing, he wouldn't have been in the ep, or only minimally. And you can say that about most of the eps since the return. Daniel is not my favorite character, though I like him. But if he were, I would be royally ticked that they were basically washing out the character. He's a nice guy, and nothing more. They are using him more as a Jack stand-in (because they don't have Jack to do the stuff) than as Daniel.

(Heck, right now, Daniel could be both halves of the Jack-Daniel friendship! <<g>>)

The following is not directed at you personally, because I've seen a lot of posts (not only on GW, but on other lists and forums) that think there's nothing wrong with Daniel's doing all this stuff, arguing that he should be able to do other things and that he's fully capable of doing things outside of his original areas of expertise--even going so far as to suggest that he is the base 2IC, which is patently absurd. I find this to be a bit of a double standard.

Think back to some of the complaints that some fans have been making about "SuperSam". I never really agreed because, for me. Sam's abilities always remained in the original parameters they set for her--military scientist, frontline officer, brilliant hard scientist--just that some of them got better over the years (it would be hard to be around Jack for 7 years and not get better at being a field officer). For example, there were complaints that she was great with computers. Well, most hard scientists are; they do a lot of theoretical work on computers.

But if that was SuperSam, then what is Daniel at this point? Suddenly, he conducts interviews with SGC personnel to see if they did their jobs right. He does negotiating. He conducts interrogations. He goes off on missions on his own. Etc Etc. Why is this not SuperDaniel? While I don't think that Sam really did expand into areas that were not within her initial character description, let's say she did. Why wasn't she allowed to step out of the box without being criticized while it is somehow both OK and believable for Daniel?

I think Sam's catsuit bothered me more than anything else in this episode. It was unnecessary and took me out of the flow of the episode because I was distracted by the outfit. The woman is gorgeous, she doesn't need clothing like that to look good. She looked fantastic in jackets and combat boots for years.

We are in complete agreement here. There was absolutely no reason why she would be dressed like that in a raid, esp as everyone else was in combat gear.


J.

[Liebestraume]

What I still don't understand is, if the Trust is as powerful as we're led to believe, with the access that we are led to believe, how come they didn't have information from the SGC computers about which were tok'ra/rebel Jaffa worlds and which were not. Even if you were going to launch on them, wouldn't you launch on the target first, and put the "acceptable losses" at the bottum of the list in case you were interupted.

Like by SG1

Perhaps they had some old list that had been leaked by Kinsey, back in his VP and Intelligence-Committee days, and they were actually firing according to that priority list. However, it was still quite inconceivable of them not to anticipate any change after all this time.

[Major Fischer]

But if that was SuperSam, then what is Daniel at this point? Suddenly, he conducts interviews with SGC personnel to see if they did their jobs right. He does negotiating. He conducts interrogations. He goes off on missions on his own. Etc Etc. Why is this not SuperDaniel? While I don't think that Sam really did expand into areas that were not within her initial character description, let's say she did. Why wasn't she allowed to step out of the box without being criticized while it is somehow both OK and believable for Daniel?

I am (for once, it happens ) in total agreement with you on this. I'm of mixed feelings as to why I think this happens, and my best guess is that it is a combination of two factors.

The Daniel Jackson fans are very loyal (not a bad thing), and very defensive (not always a good thing), towards their favorite character. There are people that believe that Daniel can do no wrong, and that whatever is presented in the show is reasonable for him. To me this harms the character. I like Daniel when he's not Wonder Daniel. The ascension buisness not withstanding, part of the fun of the character is that he does not look at the world the same way that the military officers do. That is the essential merit of his character in the show as originally constituted.

Daniel is not the base deputy commander (and IMO, there should be a real deputy commander, someone in charge of operations for the SGC, it's patently absurd that neither Hammond or Jack seem to have either aides or staff). That is not the strength of Daniel's character. In intelligence work there is a phase: James Bond is a lot of people. There are highly skilled specialists in the jobs they threw Daniel into doing in this episode. If they wanted to use the main characters the way they did, they needed to have had Daniel be the one to be captured first, and let Sam be the military officer.

She's the one that gets payed for it. But again, only if you must use the main characters in roles that they aren't suited for.

The second thing that I think contributes to the idea that it's okay for Daniel to step so far outside of his role, and not okay for Sam to grow from hers is sadly that Sam is a woman. I have been loathed to mention this, especially given the very important roles that Sam and Janet have played over the years, but the series doens't give a good feel for women in the US military. Especially in the air force (which has one of the highest percentiages of jobs open to women). Yes, we have Sam and Janet, but when you look at the other guest air force characters there is a decided lack of female characters. There have been a few SFs and a few techs, but with the exception of Hailey and Satterfield not many real episode significant female military characters

I think that gives some fans--especially those unfamiliar with the changes that the American military has undergone in the last two decades, but especially in the last decade--an extremely unrealistic impression. For the most part, IMO, the show could have been set in 1984, had women in the same roles, and been about the same.

There are some fans who do not want to see female soldiers. Who don't believe in female soldiers. Arguements about women in combat aside, this is the US military these days. I think that these fans take those feelings out on Sam, claiming she is unrealistic, when from my viewpoint, it is they themselves who are being unrealistic.

[Grumpyguy]

Just a thought. Won't the Jaffa blame Earth for millions of deaths? And wouldn't any System Lord worth his salt as a would be god, rally the Jaffa around these mass deaths? Also, don't you think that this human attack on the Jaffa, might cause Teal'c to at least reassess his alliance with humanity? Finally, might not the Tokra also view the actions of the Trust as a threat and plot some actions, at least some retalitory actions against Earth.

If the writers take this episode seriously, and follow up on it, there could be a number of interesting plot twists.

[kiwigater]

Finally!
Was hijacked from Stargate by other committments for the weekend, but I have finally seen Endgame.
I've read thru everyone's comments, and I there's one thing I laughed at that no one else has mentioned.....
For weeks we've been complaining about how they NEVER go thru the Stargate anymore and that the dang thing is collecting dust! Well, here in the first 2 mins they take care of that by taking away the Stargate completely I was sitting here thinking, "well, now the writers don't have to make excuses about Earth based eps"

*cough* OK, apparantly I'm the only one finding that amusing....... and we're walking......

As for the rest ..... overall I enjoyed it.
Things I liked:
1. Walter, and the use of humour
2. Daniel's translation from Convenant coming back to bite him on the ass - all of a sudden that hokey line "oh, and by the way we'll know if you're lying to us" makes much more sense.....
3. Cute interaction with Sam and Daniel when they meet up on the Alkesh
4. Sam kicking ass, despite the fact she was tied up

Things I wasn't so fond of:
1. Daniel doing the interrogating. I have no problem with expanding the roles of the cast, but to me this felt like a scene written for someone else that they just decided to use MS in.
2. Sam dressed up to the nine's for a raid To me this feels like gratuitous pandering to a certain demographic. Fine for them if they choose to do that, I'm just not that demographic.....
3. Sam and Daniel seemed a little too laid back about the whole capture thing. Especially since Daniel must have been aware that because he didn't disable the hyperdrives blowing up the ship was about the only option.

Speaking of which, isn't the gate capable of surviving any sort of earth based weapon the Prometheus could launch at it (I know the Asguard installed shields and a hyperdrive, but no mention of weapons). And considering the gate survived an uncontrolled entry in the Earth's atmophere, and the DHD last week survived 2 missiles (the list goes on....), I would consider that compelling evidence the gate would have been recoverable.

4. Jack. I adore Jack *cough Thunk thread cough* but I was not feeling the anguish and torment he must surely have been in making this enormously important decision. And I'm still not sure about the "tough decision" line

Having read the rest of this thread I'm gonna preface this with a IN MY OPINION!: having watched Endgame and then Atlantis, I really feel like SG-1 is getting the short end of the stick With the time of the production crew being split between the series I can't help feel SG-1 is losing out. I hope if season 9 eventuates they make some effort to remedy this. JMHO.

OK, now looking at this post you'd think I didn't enjoy the ep. I did. And looking forward to new eps in Jan!

[Livi2Jack]

Just a thought. Won't the Jaffa blame Earth for millions of deaths? And wouldn't any System Lord worth his salt as a would be god, rally the Jaffa around these mass deaths? Also, don't you think that this human attack on the Jaffa, might cause Teal'c to at least reassess his alliance with humanity? Finally, might not the Tokra also view the actions of the Trust as a threat and plot some actions, at least some retalitory actions against Earth.

If the writers take this episode seriously, and follow up on it, there could be a number of interesting plot twists.

The Tokra don't know it was earth. The Tokra who knew about the deaths died. But the Tokra know we have it.
The Jaffa don't know it was Earth. They don't know about the poison. A Goauld would have to tell them and admit it kills gods.
The Goauld don't know it was earth. They just know Tokra have it.
If the Tokra know about the Trust, then they know it is specific to a subgroup. Action would be against the subgroup.
Teal'c knows about the Trust and knows humanity as a whole is not responsible. He knows he has to get the Trust.

Subplot would be to make an antidote.

[Jonisa]

The following is not directed at you personally, because I've seen a lot of posts (not only on GW, but on other lists and forums) that think there's nothing wrong with Daniel's doing all this stuff, arguing that he should be able to do other things and that he's fully capable of doing things outside of his original areas of expertise--even going so far as to suggest that he is the base 2IC, which is patently absurd. I find this to be a bit of a double standard.

Think back to some of the complaints that some fans have been making about "SuperSam". I never really agreed because, for me. Sam's abilities always remained in the original parameters they set for her--military scientist, frontline officer, brilliant hard scientist--just that some of them got better over the years (it would be hard to be around Jack for 7 years and not get better at being a field officer). For example, there were complaints that she was great with computers. Well, most hard scientists are; they do a lot of theoretical work on computers.

But if that was SuperSam, then what is Daniel at this point? Suddenly, he conducts interviews with SGC personnel to see if they did their jobs right. He does negotiating. He conducts interrogations. He goes off on missions on his own. Etc Etc. Why is this not SuperDaniel? While I don't think that Sam really did expand into areas that were not within her initial character description, let's say she did. Why wasn't she allowed to step out of the box without being criticized while it is somehow both OK and believable for Daniel?

Hmmm. Well. I snipped a lot of your post, hope that's okay. I did it so this wouldn't turn into a long "What's wrong/right with Daniel discussion", which probably doesn't belong here. (If I'm feeling ambitious tomorrow I'll take it to the Daniel thread, or maybe someone else out there is ambitious and wants to do it. Anyone? Anyone? ) So rather than type out a long reply, I'm going to go straight to the old "agree to disagree" chestnut, because that's where we're going to end up anyway. I'm with the other posters who didn't have a problem with his role in this episode. You did.

As far as SuperDaniel, don't see it. In your list of what might make him SuperDaniel, there's only one thing mentioned that he's never done before, and that's interrogation. He's negotiated and gone off on missions on his own before. He hasn't always been successful, but one of the things I like about the character is that he's flawed and he screws up sometimes. That's what keeps him from being SuperDaniel, for me, anyway. He messes up a fair amount.

That's the only way I could see SuperSam, btw, although to be honest I haven't really thought that much about it. It isn't so much her knowledge, as the fact that she can solve anything, and rarely, if ever, screws up. Part of me would love, love, love to see an episode where Sam really messes up and how she deals with it, but the other part is afraid that she'd be judged way too harshly by the fans if they did that so perhaps it's better not to go there. I do think it's extremely unrealistic that she can do all she does, because the hard sciences are a huge field and I find it's unlikely that she's such an expert in all of them. However, I also find it strains credulity that Daniel is fluent in 23 or more languages. But I buy it, because these two characters encapsulate the sciences, both hard and soft. They know more than they should because the writers need them to.

And yes I agree, recently Daniel has taken on more of Jack's former role, for plot reasons again I would guess, and RDA's reduced schedule. As I've already said, I don't have a problem with someone who's been on a frontline team for 8 years and is a close and trusted friend and advisor of the general to assume some of these duties. Would I like to see more episodes where he uses his linguist/archaeologist/anthropologist skills? Of course I would. However, as long as he doesn't lose his essential "Danielness" (And he hasn't...yet...to me. If he does I'll be complaining loudly. ) I'm with those who don't have a problem with his role in Endgame.

Obviously, your mileage varies on this.

[lord-anubis]

i like this ep it was ok

[Dani347]

Well, I'll be defensive. I didn't see Daniel trying to see if the SGC personnel "did their jobs right" but he was asking what happened. Are their special skills involved in that that go way out of Daniel's possible skills that he's learned since he's been at the SGC? It didn't even seem like he conducted it in the manner of an interrogation, a word which has a lot of baggage, but like he was simply taking a statement. I think it's already been established that civilians can take on major roles in a military operation at the SGC. I don't believe there was no military officer other than Jack who had the rank to command when they had Weir command the SGC. Once they made it canon that a civilian could command a military operation, I feel they made it acceptable for a civilian to assume larger responsibilities around a military base. And, there are no civilians that I think Jack trusts more than Daniel or Teal'c, and I really think Daniel is more skilled at asking questions than Teal'c.



As far as Daniel going to rescue Sam, there was nothing military about his involvement, except that he was armed, but that's been canon since the start. It was because of his particular skills in knowing the Ancient language (even though he wasn't able to use them, but he didn't know it when he proposed getting on the ship). And, couldn't only one person use the beaming device at a time? If more than one could have, I could see having a military officer in charge of the operation, with Daniel going along for his skills with the Ancient language. I would object if Jack had ordered a rescue mission and put Daniel in charge. That would be something I see as particularly military, within the way the show has been set up. I've said before that if the show establishes certain rules that are different from real life, I'm willing to accept it. The rules in the universe of Stargate, at least how I see it, is that off world (unless out of the ordinary circumstances happened) Daniel wouldn't lead missions or rescue efforts. It wouldn't be protocal. Daniel coming up with an outside the box rescue effort? That sounds very like Daniel. Jack reluctantly agreeing to it, but only because there was no other choice, I can see.

Any objections I have with Sam have nothing to do with her being a woman. Well, except when being a woman seems to be synonomous (bah. My spelling sucks) with being a simpering girly -girl. But, that's neither here nor there in this argument. Sam taking on a role that hasn't been spelled out as one of her normal duties? I have no problem with, in general. I'd assume it was that she was given more responsibilities, and they let the scene show us her undertaking them. Which means I don't need to see Jack tell her that she's been appointed to do something that she hadn't done before, or that don't fit into the narrow confines of being a Lt. Colonel (not that I know exactly what confines those are) or an astrophysicist. In Lockdown, when Sam questioned the Leutinent, was that really something she would do? Yes, she's military, but in the real world, aren't there other military officers who would have been more likely? Like Reynolds, or whoever it was working with Jack in Zero Hour? To me, that didn't seem to fall under Sam's regular duties, and yet, I had no problem with it. And, I'm sure Sam has other skills and has learned more stuff than what directly pertains to her role as being part of SG1 or being an astrophysicist. And, as long as it wasn't something blatantly impossible for her to do, it wouldn't bother me to see her being asked to do them, even if it wasn't something that directly related to her role before.

In fact, I expect all of SG1 to take on larger roles beyond what we're used to seeing, because I expect Jack to give them larger roles, because he trusts them and their abilities more than anyone. And, I think there are times when they might have to do things that go even beyond what might be deemed as a promotion, simply because circumstances thrust them into it.

However, Sam doing complex medical procedures? *Dani cries foul* Because it would be something that there's no way she *could* do. Sam explaining some archeological feat with Daniel right there? No way, because Daniel is the expert. Daniel being placed in charge of a military mission above Sam? Or, above any military officer? Totally out of the realm of what Daniel would be allowed to do. Daniel doing a complex medical procedure? Again, foul. Non complex being bandaging a wound or something, which I think either one could do. Either one doing something that is Teal'c's area of expertise? No way. Even though Daniel is fluent in Goa'uld, if they were strategizing with Jaffa, I wouldn't expect Daniel to lead it with Teal'c there, because Teal'c is the expert.

I can see criticizing Daniel's method of interrogating (and that instance really felt more like an interrogation that talking to Walter and the other guy) the Area 51 guy. Which some of you already have. Saying that his methods show he doesn't have the skills. I'm not saying I agree, but I understand. But, I do think the idea that a civilain would never assume that large a role at the SGC was unestablished once Weir was in charge of the whole kit and caboodle of the SGC. All those military officers having to answer to a civilain, and what's more, having to follow the orders of a civilian (theoretically, Weir could have been in charge of the SGC a lot longer than she was) but a civilain can't get a statement from military officers?

As far as Daniel's attitude and viewpoint being different from the military, I think that's a separate issue from what responsibilites he assumes. His attitude had nothing to do with him questioning or interrogating anyone, since I don't think he took it upon himself without permission to do so. Just like his attitude or viewpoint never had anything to do with him dialing the gate back when SG1 used it. It was just him doing what he was told. And, there was nothing in those scenes that would make me think Daniel would object to conducting the questioning, because it went against his viewpoint. I'm not talking about whether he would be allowed to conduct them (I discussed that above in this long winded essay) but whether he wouldn't do it because it went against his personality. And, I don't think it did. Finding information? Not something Daniel would object to. Daniel going to rescue Sam? Strictly going by whether Daniel would do it if he could, he'd be the first to volunteer. Nothing there said to me that Daniel would never do this in a million years, even if given permission. Everything said to me that if he hadn't been given permission he'd do his best to get permission.

I have no problems with any of them doing things beyond the roles that were established in season 1, because I think this would happen over the course of 8 years. With the exception of things where another major character is there and clearly would be the one doing it instead, or things that are totally impossible for them to do. And, when I say impossible, I don't mean merely that they wouldn't do it well, but that they are completely unable to do the job at all. I also don't have a problem with things that aren't strictly like real life provided (and please keep the provided in mind) that the show establishes that in the Stargate universe, the rules are different. If it seems to me that they're breaking the laws of the tv show universe, I object.

I'll stop here, because this is way too long. But, I think I'll answer some other criticisms in another post, because I have other comments to make.

[Major Fischer]

Dani, I really wasn't talking about your concerns, but more a feeling that i have that there is a certain vocal subset of fandom that simply doesn't like female characters, and who also seems to demonstrate a knowledge of the workings of the military based entirely on hollywood.

It's unfortunate. That these small minorities can and will dominate a discussion to the point that you and I feel the need to write such detailed reponses to them.

[Dani347]

The latter also requires certain expertise and training; they don't just send anyone in to do it.

Okay, see, that kind of criticism for why Daniel couldn't do interrogations I can understand. It has to do with the specifics of the job, not some blanket "he's a civillian, no way could a civillian do this" Saying that you don't feel Daniel has the skills or that it hasn't been shown that he had the opportunity to learn the skills (I would say that it isn't out of the realm of possibility that Daniel could ever learn them) makes more sense. And, long post earlier explains why I don't buy the civillian argument in and of itself.

Maybe he should fix the gate next time? After all, he's intelligent and competent and we don't want to leave him in a box.

But he wouldn't. Because it would be unbelievable.

Yes, it would be. There's no reason to think that because some of us don't object to Daniel interrogating we wouldn't object to anything.


I don't agree that Weir wouldn't have stayed on as head of the SGC, or that she would have gutted the program, even if Kinsey wanted it. The President didn't want it, and he would have kept her there even after it was clear that she wasn't going to gut the program. If Jack hadn't been defrosted and Weir hadn't gone on to Atlantis, I don't think the President (blanking on his name) would have allowed her to be forced out. So, she still could have been in charge for a long time. And, while I believe that Kinsey probably wanted it to happen, and hoped it would go that way, did he ever instruct her to "gut the program"? Because unless he did, and unless Weir was willing to follow those orders, they wouldn't play a part in what actually would go on at the SGC. I think Weir took her post very seriously, and while she was there, the military officers did have to answer to her. In fact, why put her in charge at all? It's not like Kinsey could think she especially would want to gut the program. After all, she did have a choice on whether or not to take the job. If he wanted someone to gut the program, there could have been a lot of other people to put in charge of it, which would have gotten that job done a lot faster. Probably military officers. But, until the time when she did shut the SGC down (if she had done it) she was in charge, and those military officers would have to answer to her.

He got the guy to help by basically letting him off the hook and letting him keep the $2,000,000 that he got for selling us out.

Okay, I'm not saying this is good negotiating skills, but I do wonder if Daniel was telling the truth about that. He told the guy they were going to let him keep the money, but it seems Brit guy gave up the info before finding out if Daniel was on the level. Again, I don't know if this was correct procedure, but it's possible that Daniel didn't actually let him off the hook.

This stuff is not even close to being within any of Daniel's area of expertise. Instead of this, they should find something closer to home for him to do. Why turn him into Jack-lite or some generic soldier?

Handling weapons isn't remotely within Daniel's area of expertise? Daniel has used weapons since the movie. Daniel's been on a front line team since the beginning of the show. He would have to stay earthbound if he didn't learn any battle skills.

For example, he didn't even suggest trying to talk to Soren and/or his followers. Could we see him playing it that way a couple of years ago?

Actually, he did suggest. "I can talk to them. Make them understand that it's not the end of the world." After things escalated and there were no other options, he was willing to use battle strategies. We gpt there mid battle. He didn't go there with the intent to fight. He went with the intent to talk. Which is what the scene with him asking Jack if he could go established. But, Daniel isn't so dumb that if fighting is the only way to stay alive, he wouldn't take the option. Soren wasn't going to listen to reason. It doesn't take a peaceful person to try to talk to someone like Soren by the end of the episode. It takes someone who's so stubborn they can't see they're hitting a brick wall. Daniel's stubborn, but he's not that stubborn. He went there with a very Daniel like plan, and only changed when that plan was no longer viable.
I also don't think that Daniel would only know stuff about the goa'uld that pertains directly to what SG1 has encountered. He can do research, question CO's of other teams (who would probably talk to him anyway at least as far as finding out the background of the gods the goa'ulds they encountered were impersonating). And, I think SG1 would have more knowledge anyway, since they're the ones who are the first contact team.

As far as skills that go outside just archeology and lingustics, Daniel was responsible for revisions to a treaty with the Tok'ra and earth. D&C. An inspired document. He had to have some skills to do that.

As far as Rambo Jackson, I just don't see him using weapons any more than he had done before. Or being any more willing, since he's never been unwilling if it was the best option.

eta: I also have no problem with Sam being in charge of a covert operation. I don't expect them to adhere with total strictness to real life. (For the possible "You bring up the regs about ship" argument, read earlier post about rules within the Stargate universe) Simply, while they'll occasionally use extras and smaller characters for things, any significant scene will always have a main cast member in a large part. It's how tv works.

eta: One last thing, then I promise I'm shutting up. I still find it funny that it appears that Daniel being an archeologist is the sticking point. Probably people don't mean it this way, but it's reading to me like him being an archeologist is a bigger strike than him being a civilian or not having the training. Like if he were military and an archeologist, he wouldn't be able to conduct an interrogation, or if he were a civillian but a historian, there'd be no problem with him doing it. Again, probably not what you all intend, but it reads like that (to me) when things like "and he's an archeologist, too!" come into the argument. Why not, "And, he's a linguist!"

[Madeleine]

I think part of it is that all of Daniel's 'Extra' tasks - firing a gun, asking an airman "so, what happened here then?", getting a treaty onto a table - are all things we can imagine ourselves capable of doing. Not doing well, perhaps; not necessarily as well as Daniel, but certainly we could have a stab at them. Sam's 'Extras' are stuff like fixing alien spaceships within hours of being introduced to their tech despite the aliens being unable themselves, or stuff like biochemistry or computer hacking government systems or other such stuff that most viewers know they wouldn't know where to begin with.

Anyone can learn to shoot, and you don't need special skills or training to do treaties and take statements. (You might need skills or training to do a treaty halfway decently, but that's neither here nor there.) You most certainly do need training to repair space-ships - at least in MaddyCanon you do. That's why I have a greater problem with some of Sam's tack-on talents than I do with any of Daniel's.