Favourite SGA commander?

[SG-Rocks]

Mister Johnny-Cab #1

I hate to say it but Woolsley/Picardo. I think he really did a bang-up job in the character. Weir was good until they screwed around with all that replicator-Weir nonsense. Carter was fluff. She was good in Midway as a tech with Bill Dow. But really who was afraid of Carter as a boss-lady? I remember Gero taking flak about it at a fancon.

I really hated Picardo up until this role. Never say Never. And my two favorite scenes with him were where he was ditched by the scrambled elevators at the top of a tower alone, and where the Wraith had him in a headlock saying he would feed on Mister Woolsley first. Funny as hell. Of course he was about as far away from Jack O'Neill in SG1 as you could get. I think that says something about the way the show evolved.

 

[Tropicana]

For me I'm for the classic Commander and that is Weir.

I liked her eagerness to learn all she can about the Ancients and the city, she developed this emotional bond to the city and everything inside it. Not surprising after her ex-BF Simon fell in love with another woman, (though she did give him permission to back in the series premiere).

Anyway, she was clear about what was right and what was wrong and remained diplomatic whenever possible, in an attempt to avoid conflicts. I was so devastated when Repli-Weir was told the original was killed by Oberoth and also, equally as painful was when she was "assimilated" into the Replicator society.

 

[SerenityS]

My fav turned out to be Woolsey too. I think he was excellent as the civilian leader of Atlantis.

I never thought they used Weir effectively, IMO she should have been one of the sociologists or translators or something - give her something to do because she was wasted as an administrator.

Carter just seemed thrown in there to give Amanda a way to finish out her time, she wasn't allowed to be the brilliant scientist or show any military skills- really a waste of her character. Although I did like her in SG1 and didn't mind her presence on SGA, she just didn't really make an impact.

 

[shavedape]

In retrospect, I think they should have had Woolsey from the start. There would have been some great opportunity for character growth with him since he started off as a real by-the-book paper-pushing asshole who didn't have a clue what the away teams dealt with on a regular basis. He was good for the brief time he was commander but since they didn't bring him in from the start they should have had him come in instead of Carter.

Weir would be my second choice and Carter I wouldn't have picked. She has her area of expertise and I never cared for how the writers made certain characters perfect in any area they dropped them in (Daniel Jackson suddenly being a papparazzi photographer for instance).

Unlike others I didn't mind the replicator Weir storyline because I felt it finally gave the character something to chew on.

 

[shavedape]

Bah, there was only 1 real Atlantis Commander, and that was Elizabeth Weir. Beware of imitations, replicators and other assorted fakes, bogus guys, and last minute substitutions.

Weir, Forever.
(in case, no one noticed, I am a Huuuuuge Weir Fan)

Elizabeth Weir asks that you A.) stop looking at her perky breasts and B.) stop stalking her -- in that order. :weir:

 

[PegDIG2004]

I know it's not the most popular choice, but I have to choose Sam. As I always seem to with great shows, I came into Atlantis well into it's run. I started at the very end of season 3. Sam really was the first commander for me. I didn't know anything about Weir until I watched the previous seasons later on. So for me, I will always love season 4 and I will always think of Sam as my favorite commander.

 

[Rac80]

love weir

For me I'm for the classic Commander and that is Weir.

I liked her eagerness to learn all she can about the Ancients and the city, she developed this emotional bond to the city and everything inside it. Not surprising after her ex-BF Simon fell in love with another woman, (though she did give him permission to back in the series premiere).

Anyway, she was clear about what was right and what was wrong and remained diplomatic whenever possible, in an attempt to avoid conflicts. I was so devastated when Repli-Weir was told the original was killed by Oberoth and also, equally as painful was when she was "assimilated" into the Replicator society.

tropi baby I must agree with you - I loved the original weir. hated the way the writers dropped the ball with the character. I felt she was a good choice to lead since she was an expert at negotiations and they were supposed to be cut off from earth. I actually like sga best when it was cut off from earth. I felt she should have had more interactions with the people of the pegasus galaxy- even if it was merely the team passing an obviously alien group coming to meet with weir in the gateroom Repliweir had it's possiblities and I always thought she and oberoth had a thing going.

 

[Frumenta]

My order would be Woolsey, Weir and then Carter. I liked Weir, it is just that I liked Woolsey just a little bit better even though he was only there for a year. Carter didn't do much and wasn't a good choice. They should have brought Daniel. He would've been perfect.

 

[Robbie_Rocket_Pants]

My order would be Woolsey, Weir and then Carter. I liked Weir, it is just that I liked Woolsey just a little bit better even though he was only there for a year. Carter didn't do much and wasn't a good choice. They should have brought Daniel. He would've been perfect.

In what way would Daniel have been perfect? He is awesome as a character in SG-1. As an archeologist, his skills are irreplaceable, but I don't see how he could ever be considered a good SG team leader - he always seemed (to me at least) to be way too nervous & stammering even at his most confident. It just wouldn't have worked IMHO.

 

[phronsie]

Boy this is a hard question....To be honest, I didn't really like Weir very much as a character in SGA, sometimes wished she was the blonde Weir we say in SG-1 who seemed to have more zest and charisma, but I did like what she brought out in John Sheppard. While she was on the show, we got to see the pull between military and civilian control, John was more likely to stand up or defy her, but you also felt that he respected her.*

I really liked the idea of Carter being there, but I couldn't see how that dynamic would work with Rodney and she just seemed much more subdued, not really who I would have thought Carter would be in that posting. Her presence also seemed to have a weird effect on John, felt like he suddenly put back on his "military mask" and deferred to her more, like he was trying to prove what a good soldier he could be to the brass....

Woolsey, didn't know what to think when he came on, especially considering the shitty way SGC pulled Carter out of her command, but I forgot that Picard is a pretty great actor, and I did come to like him very much, but John's relationship with him was even more off than the one with Carter. It seemed like the writers wrote John as much more subdued and meek around Woolsey, almost as if they wanted to buffer the change over of characters by making sure the Sheppard character acted in the manner they hoped fans would?

So, I guess while I liked the Carter and Woolsey characters better, I think the Weir character was the better catalyst for the other characters, especially John Sheppard.

*She also was a good foil for Rodney, letting him shine in his role as CSO but also helping to smooth over his poor social skills; Carter - Rodney interactions should have been more dynamic, and Woolsey - McKay? The social awkwardness, the up-tightness, the aloof or arrogant confidence -- they were just too much alike; they just didn't jibe or mesh well in any scenes they had together, if I'm remembering correctly.

Edit: oh, and Weir just *works* better in the fic!

 

[Mr. A]

Woolsey???

I love Picardo, but mostly when he was still saying "Please state the nature of the medical emergency!".

Sam seemed out of place there, and Woolsey was just too goofy. In spite of it all, Elisabeth Weir was the original and still the best commander of Atlantis. The show died a little when she was killed off...

 

[Frumenta]

In what way would Daniel have been perfect? He is awesome as a character in SG-1. As an archeologist, his skills are irreplaceable, but I don't see how he could ever be considered a good SG team leader - he always seemed (to me at least) to be way too nervous & stammering even at his most confident. It just wouldn't have worked IMHO.

If they had to bring someone from SG1 Daniel was the most logical choice. A civilian, unlike Carter and he actually wanted to go to Atlantis from day one. And Daniel would have focused on the scientific aspect and trying to find the Ancients and all that. Might have been a bit too weak to make decisions like eliminating the Asurans and turning the Wraith vegetarian but Daniel could step up and do what was needed in SG1 so he would have been great in Pegasus too. I liked Carter sometimes, esp. in Be all my sins remember'd, my all time favourite episode but she wasn't much of a commander.

 

[SG-Rocks]

I think after 5 years Woolsley would have gotten stale if they brought him in from the start. Maybe he should have been brought in mid season 3.

Remember NCIS are on their third agency head. It offered continuity of the series along with a change in cast to keep things from getting stale.

 

[Overmind One]

Im with you there.

I love Picardo, but mostly when he was still saying "Please state the nature of the medical emergency!".

Sam seemed out of place there, and Woolsey was just too goofy. In spite of it all, Elisabeth Weir was the original and still the best commander of Atlantis. The show died a little when she was killed off...

First of all, I didnt like the increasing evil role of the IAO, and to have Woolsey there after so many episodes of Voyager was disconcerting to say the least. Atlantis started with Wier and I liked her in the first two seasons a lot! Carter should never have been there at all. But Woolsey? If they had started with him from the beginning, I think he would have been perfect. But they didnt.

 

[Frumenta]

I enjoyed Weir for the most part but after watching the Sg1 episodes I had a hard time buying her character. I liked Jessica Steen's Weir a tad better but that was not my main problem. I think that the character was retconned into someone who had had better knowledge of the Ancients and the programme than Weir as we saw her in Sg1. Where did it come from that Weir was some sort of Ancient linguistic genius? We are supposed to believe that she learnt Ancient on a level comparable to Daniel Jackson within a few months from finding out about Ancients and then getting to command the expedition? Ridiculous! And there were times where she just felt very ineffectual just waiting for her people to come home. Not to mention that none of her decisions were particularly smart considering she nearly gave the Wraith Earth on a plate. Still, I think her scenes when she got the Genii to give her the nukes were probably some of the best Elizabeth moments. I wished I had seen her more in the field.

Woolsey's best moment for me wasn't as commander. I will just love him forever for standing up to the Ancients and telling Helia "And by your own admission, you are responsible for the emergence of the Wraith as a species. " (after she had blamed them for waking the Wraith) So much love for that scene!!! It's criminal that we never got a 6th season with Woolsey in charge.

 

[SexyDexy]

I'd actually never considered this question before, and to my own surprise I ended up picking Woolsey! However, it was almost a tie between all three for me, hard to pick.