His team, definitely. Strangers, not so much. I'm thinking here of "Letters From Pegasus", where he's the one who wants to stay hidden and let the village be culled, while Teyla's the one who pushes to save her friends. There are a few other scenes -- e.g. "Irresponsible" where he wants to shoot Kolya despite the risk of hurting civilians, with Teyla arguing for caution, or "Underground" where he carries out his mission on the hive ship rather than stopping to rescue people.
Ah, true. I'd forgotten about those. But I think (like in the case of Letters to Pegasus and Underground) this goes along with him doing what needs to be done. He accepts what can't be changed, but I think it hurts him inside more than he lets on.
But I definitely think he's been shown to be capable of making ruthless decisions in a tough situation, and one of the things he seems to be really good at is compartmentalizing.
Yes! Definitely! The man knows how to process and it keeps him going. That's one of the things I like about him, the balance he has with his compassion and ruthlessness.
The thing with the strangers, though - I feel - is more one on one. He can't save them all and he knows it. But I think that if he was forced to watch the execution of innocent people as a way to get him to talk, he wouldn't talk, but it would tear him apart inside. Given time, with people executed one after the other because he won't divulge the where abouts of Atlantis, though he'll still keep his mouth shut, I can see him ending up emotionally shattered. So, in other words, it depends on the situation.
However, if he's going to have a full-on breakdown, it'll be because of something that had happened to his team.
"Hot Zone" is a good example -- he killed the plague carrier rather than trying to save him (if I remember the sequence of events correctly) in order to stop him from infecting everyone else. I think Carter would've understood the necessity of that in a way that Elizabeth didn't.
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chiming
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Date: 2008-01-17 10:44 pm (UTC)From:Ah, true. I'd forgotten about those. But I think (like in the case of Letters to Pegasus and Underground) this goes along with him doing what needs to be done. He accepts what can't be changed, but I think it hurts him inside more than he lets on.
Yes! Definitely! The man knows how to process and it keeps him going. That's one of the things I like about him, the balance he has with his compassion and ruthlessness.
The thing with the strangers, though - I feel - is more one on one. He can't save them all and he knows it. But I think that if he was forced to watch the execution of innocent people as a way to get him to talk, he wouldn't talk, but it would tear him apart inside. Given time, with people executed one after the other because he won't divulge the where abouts of Atlantis, though he'll still keep his mouth shut, I can see him ending up emotionally shattered. So, in other words, it depends on the situation.
However, if he's going to have a full-on breakdown, it'll be because of something that had happened to his team.
Yes, excellent example.