I am definitely not looking forward to finishing off this series now. The majority of Atlantis has been good quality but why would anyone high up in power really want to replace Carter with someone who has never led even a team before?
I know it's Stargate and stupid stuff happens all the time but come on, how is Woolsey even fit for the role of leading Atlantis at ALL?
Got that off me chest, now for episode 2.
Ahhh I see where it's going, he's gonna turn into a sound fella am guessing. Was going to say I could not be bothered with a whole series of him moaning about rules every second
shareYeah, I was upset about it at first, too. But later I got used to him and even liked him a lot :) The frequent replacements and other *beep* that the IOC (or what was that international committee's acronym?) are responsible for got on my last nerve. I hated them more than the Wraith!!
shareAs someone who watched SGA first, and is now watching SG-1:
Woolsey was my least favorite SGA leader, and having now seen his *origin* on SG-1, how in the HELL did he end up in charge of Atlantis?!?!? I dislike him even more.
Atlantis was a civilian operation, Woolsey represented the people who chose Weir for the job. They brought in Carter because they needed a strong leader in Weir's absence after they had declared war with the replicators. Once the replicators were no more and things settled down they went back to being lead by a civilian.
shareYeah I understand that like but Weir already had experience leading teams and missions (scientific ones). From what I remember Woolsey never has.
Am just a few episodes off finishing S5 now anyway and I don't mind Woolsey
I think you've got Weir's history a little bit wrong there...
Weir was some sort of negotiator/diplomat who helped negotiate difficult treaties between nations, she had absolutely no experience leading teams and missions and she didn't even knew stargate was real.
Then they basically dropped her as commander of the SGC a military operation no less, in the middle of a war right when Anubis an ascended all powerfull Goaul'd had his sights on earth, THAT made no sense at all but it's the only reason she had any experience leading teams and missions before Atlantis.
Now Wolsey had been part of the IOA for a long time, so he knew about stargate and how things worked, unlike Weir who barely knew what a Goaul'd was on her first day back at SCG.
Wolsey was responsible for conducting personnel evaluations in SGC and Atlantis for years and probably helped making decisions about SGC and Atlantis a lot of times, considering the IOA has apparently the last call in big decisions if they wish so (although most of the time they just hide and let others decide for them so they can blame them when things go wrong).
Anyway it's actually easier to understand Wolsey as head of Atlantis than it ever was Weir in SGC.
I wasn't too happy when they put Wolsey in charge either, he works for the IOA which makes me dislike him as a matter of principle.
But the truth is that before he was put in command of Atlantis in more than one occasion he shows that he is willing omit certain facts regarding the actions of Weir/Carter/Sheppard (this are the ones i can remember at least, but i think he did it in SGC too) from his reports to keep the IOA from their backs.
Example from 04X08:
Richard Woolsey: How did you *know* the two Wraith ships would fire on each other?share
Colonel Samantha Carter: I didn't. Are you going to put *that* in your report?
Richard Woolsey: It probably would be better if I didn't. There may be such a thing as being too thorough.
Colonel Samantha Carter: Right.
The reason Woolsey got the job was because he was considered someone who could be controlled. It wasn't about who was best for the job, it was about politics. Very simply, the international community and the U.S. government had been sparring over control/access for quite some time. The idea of a U.S. military officer in charge of Atlantis therefore concerned them. It was one thing to make such a concession when they were afraid of an Asuran attack, but as soon as they weren't shaking in their boots over a possible imminent attack, they reverted to their standard mode of operation and decided to make a power play for increased influence over the Atlantis expedition.
Could they have selected the most qualified civilian candidate for the position? Sure, but they already did that with Weir and she stood up against them and their agenda. Hence, the best option, for their intentions, seemed like the weaselly, by the book pencil pusher type. Thus, Woosley got the job. So all the reasons that people cite over why they don't think he should have been the leader are exactly why he was put in charge. Of course, he did end up standing up to them so that didn't work out so well, but that's a different matter.