As Jack Fans-- I am wondering....

[Goob'r55]

I have only just started to watch the Stargate Episodes.....and as I stated-- am hooked on Teal'c and the Teal'c/ Jack Friendship.

What I have found hard to understand in this world of Stargate is this seemingly endless fascination so many people have with Daniel? Now, maybe it is just my personality in general, my age, the way I see life -- but what little exposure to the show I have had---

(and in all fairness, I am watching the show in the sequence, as a fan, that all of you oldies did -- when it first came on the air)....I simply can not get into his character.

My friend, who is a major Jack fan, seems to be able to see more worthwhile stuff in Daniel-- but also finds him somebody she'd sooner smack upside the head than have around.

So-- anyway-- what I am wondering is-- for the other Jack fans-- (because I realize true blue Daniel fans will have endless reasons to love him) -- how do you perceive his character as to how he:

1. Fits into the SG1 team

2. Interacts with Jack -- meaning, when he refuses to obey orders, acts "superior" to Jack-- and also, when he is being a "nice guy" friend.

3. How he interacts with Teal'c -- In the early Episodes -- I always get the feeling Daniel does not have Teal'cs Back covered...ya know. Like he wants to get even for the "wife thing".

4. How his, "walk right up to," touch everything, get into trouble, get everybody else into trouble all the time, ways affect how you see him?

5. What do you think are his best qualities? His worst?

I don't want to do a anti-Daniel event-- just trying to understand him more, because I want to do fan fiction. And I am thinking that fellow Jack fans can given me insight....perhaps more balanced than my own.

I have also posted this question on the TEAL'C CHAT MB.

THANKS!!!!!


:rolly2:

 

[Status]

Originally posted by Goob'r55
I have only just started to watch the Stargate Episodes.....and as I stated-- am hooked on Teal'c and the Teal'c/ Jack Friendship.

What I have found hard to understand in this world of Stargate is this seemingly endless fascination so many people have with Daniel? Now, maybe it is just my personality in general, my age, the way I see life -- but what little exposure to the show I have had---

(and in all fairness, I am watching the show in the sequence, as a fan, that all of you oldies did -- when it first came on the air)....I simply can not get into his character.

My friend, who is a major Jack fan, seems to be able to see more worthwhile stuff in Daniel-- but also finds him somebody she'd sooner smack upside the head than have around.

So-- anyway-- what I am wondering is-- for the other Jack fans-- (because I realize true blue Daniel fans will have endless reasons to love him) -- how do you perceive his character as to how he:

1. Fits into the SG1 team

2. Interacts with Jack -- meaning, when he refuses to obey orders, acts "superior" to Jack-- and also, when he is being a "nice guy" friend.

3. How he interacts with Teal'c -- In the early Episodes -- I always get the feeling Daniel does not have Teal'cs Back covered...ya know. Like he wants to get even for the "wife thing".

4. How his, "walk right up to," touch everything, get into trouble, get everybody else into trouble all the time, ways affect how you see him?

5. What do you think are his best qualities? His worst?

I don't want to do a anti-Daniel event-- just trying to understand him more, because I want to do fan fiction. And I am thinking that fellow Jack fans can given me insight....perhaps more balanced than my own.

Speaking as a Jack fan I feel I should say something on this. Daniel is his own person and without the diversity of each charater there wouldn't be much of a team or show.

You have to remember Daniel didn't ask to be part of the team but was thrown into it. He was not trained in military ways and therefore shouldn't be expected to act as such. He is reacting as well as he can to a situation that wasn't his fault.

For #1: He fits into the team as the conscience and interpreter. Sometimes a buffer between the natives and the team and also a buffer between the team members themselves.

For #2: I have been watching Stargate from the start and yet to see Daniel ever act superior to Jack. You must be watching versions that I haven't seen. As far as dissobaying orders? Jack takes first place there

For #3: In the beginning all were leary of Teal'c, with good reasons. But he would never have done anything that would have deliberatly jeprodized Teal'c or any of the rest of the team.

For #4: He is supposed to be the courious one, and if someone didn't get them in trouble what kind of show would there be. I've always admired his childlike couriousity. Just makes the show more interesting.

For #5: I wouldn't presume to put his best/worst qualities on trial here without exposing all the others best/worst qualities, wouldn't be very fair.

Daniel is just Daniel as Jack is Jack, Teal'c is Teal'c and Sam is Sam. Each one individually makes up a great team. I've read both your posts and didn't get anything near being fair to Daniel from either of them.

Yes, we could use some more good SG fan fics and I hope you will let me know when you post one, I would love to read it

takes a deep breath Well, I'll step off the soap box now!

BTW, Goob'r55, thank you... I've never been inspired to write this much at one time before. Guess I just needed the right provoking , and welcome to ASciFi :wave:

takes another deep breath and steps down

 

[ray gower]

Some observations.

The SG team are specialists, put together so they can confront whatever they meet.

Jack, supposedly an experienced field officer; Sam, an Air Force all round scientific smart arse; Daniel an arcologist (and smart arse), Teal'c, a refugee. I doubt that any one of them would choose to team up with the others if they had the choice originally.

Time and circumstance has forced them into a close knit team.

Daniel, as an individual has a character. Often he has a child's singleminded and innocent view on the things that take his interest, to be honest almost stereotypical eccentric scientist. Suspect the others look out for him because of that?

As for being 'superior' to Jack- He is. In his fields of expertise and those fields are a lot broader than Jack's. It is something Jack has had to learn to live with.

 

[Goob'r55]

Thanks for responding

And you make tons of good points....

Somebody does have to get them into trouble-- and it isn't always Daniel, for sure. And I guess it may depend on how a person "hears" the way the lines are spoken during the show -- as to if it sounds like one character is being sort or rude or smarty-like to another?

I mean, we know Jack has his designated flippant responses and humor that cracks me up....but I guess I expect it and tolerate it because he is the Commander.

Teal'c -- well, he's pretty quiet--- a lot like Spock from Star Trek in that way. And when he does get some great line or moment out...it knocks one for a loop!

I will agree that I am being hard on Daniel-- perhaps an off-shoot of perceiving that the Stargate world at large seems to have placed this character on some pedestal (SP?) -- like he walks on water? But to me...in my own world of right and wrong, good and bad--- there are just times on the show when Daniel has crossed some major "okay" lines.

Also, I guess there is a part of me that judges the show based on being a TREK fan....

Now I know that the Stargate makes fun of TREK -- which surprised me when I saw some of the shows -- and kind of bugged me too. I still don't get it. Seems to me that in the Natural order of things -- Stargate really would have "happened" prior to Earth's expansion into the Universe -- and into the TREL years.

But, anyway -- from watching TREK -- and being into stuff like the Prime Directive -- non-Interference --- and the use of Scanners to check things out BEFORE they were touched, eaten, etc....I guess it really does drive me batty when ANY of the SG team members just charge right on in and start handling things without any thought of contamination/infection etc.

And even Daniel, as a scientist should be thinking along those lines...and SAM -- even more so than JACK or Teal'c.

I'm adjusting --sort of-- but for sure at least one of my fan fics will eventually deal with that bee-in-my-bonnet.

Maybe when I can get my darned DVD player figured out again -- and can go back to each Season by Episode-- I can post on the Season MB's...and try to explain what I mean? And then I would love to discuss the shows with anybody who is interested.

:rolly2:

 

[captaincarter]

I don't like daniel either.

 

[Kaz]

Hmm.... I haven't seen anywhere near all the episodes and I haven't seen them in order, but I can tell you my observations so far.

First, it takes all the team members to make it SG-1 and they are all distinctly different. That's fine.

After Jack, who is without question the character with the most depth and the most interesting, Teal'c is next on my list of Stargate characters I admire and love to learn more about.

Daniel then Sam swim on the bottom half of my selection list.

I love the fact that it is a close knit team and they are all friends.

It is strictly a matter of preference among fans, but Daniel does annoy me a great deal of the time (even though I admit he has made significant contributions to the team).

The way I look at it, just about every series, there has to be someone young, reckless, with a frequent dose of "It's all about me" attitude who has a hard time stopping to think about others.

To me that is Daniel. In spades. As I said - he's not all bad. His character at least has depth and dimension, and he's done some great things in episodes. I absolutely loved him in "The Fifth Race" for example. And he did the right thing in "Thor's Hammer".

But there are a lot of times I don't like him. My number one reason would be how he recklessly endangers the team and other people. In COTG he established that pattern by jumping right out in front of that band of merry men on Chulak (?) without waiting to find out if they were friend or foe. In Broca Divide he ignores Teal'c's wise assessment of the situation and mercifully only gets himself captured, not Teal'c too (or I would've been even madder!).

Then there's Torment of Tantalus where he nearly gets Jack killed because he hasn't brains enough to leave when they're supposed to (and showing a total lack of respect for the man who'd been marooned there for 50 years and ought to know what the he** he's talking about).

Or Beast of Burden where he yet again unnecessarily endangers Jack's life.

Or Cor'ai where Daniel at the drop of a hat was willing to turn Teal'c over to those people w/o having any idea whatsoever what they would do to him (and as Jack so wisely pointed out).

Maybe it's a guy thing. Maybe you guys don't care if your buddy repeatedly endangers your life. But I care. Jack's hide is my utmost concern.

Apart from that, Daniel's willingness to endanger others in general bothers me. Scorched Earth and Beast of Burden are two prime examples. By his spoken word in Scorched Earth, he seemed to care what happened to the Enkarrans, but he was terribly anxious to jump on board ship with Lotan and his lizard friends at the drop of a hat - and knowing what was going on down below.

Beast of Burden I have a difficult time watching because it really boils my hide - at Daniel for his absolute disregard for anything except his pet project of the moment (Chaka), and Jack for allowing himself to be led around by the nose by Daniel in this ep. Daniel seemed to not care one single iota about the lives of those villagers. Not that what they were doing was right, but Daniel was without a thought ready to sacrifice their lives both to get Chaka out and afterwards when Chaka pulled the ole "I'm not going with you after all" routine.

Granted, there are no easy answers, but Daniel was way out of line. And to my recollection, there was no demonstration of valuable minerals or technology on that planet to make it worth what Daniel was ready to sacrifice.

Daniel also comes across in those instances as the stereo type of someone who's supposed to have a high IQ but demonstrates little common sense.

But as Jack said, he saved Jack's life so that makes him grow on ya.

But I guess I could summarize by saying if I was on SG-1, I wouldn't be able to implicity trust Daniel 100% of the time to watch my back - only when it didn't conflict with his other interests.

Kaz

 

[ray gower]

Originally posted by captaincarter
I don't like daniel either.

Well at least you agree on something!

 

[Lonewolf89]

1. Fits into the SG1 team: Daniel is the humanitarian. He isn’t a warrior or a military officer, so he brings a different view point to the show. He is the one who questions the orders, who makes sure that the SG-1 does the morally correct thing.

He looks at the prospect of interplanetary travel with a sense of awe and respect that the other members of the team lack at times. He’s the one that keeps the other looking at the tree, not just the forest.

2. Interacts with Jack -- meaning, when he refuses to obey orders, acts "superior" to Jack-- and also, when he is being a "nice guy" friend: I don’t think he acts superior to Jack. There are times when I think he wonders if Jack’s getting everything he’s saying, which frustrates him, but Sam does that to.

The Jack and Daniel relationship is one of my favorites on the show Both of them have been through a lot in their lives, and lost loved ones, but they have developed very different outlooks on life. Daniel makes sure Jack doesn’t end up too cynical, and Jack makes sure Daniel doesn’t act too naive. They tend to balance out each others strengths and weaknesses well.

3. How he interacts with Teal'c -- In the early Episodes -- I always get the feeling Daniel does not have Teal'cs Back covered...ya know. Like he wants to get even for the "wife thing": Daniel and Teal’C have a complicated relationship, at least early on. First off, Daniel doesn’t really have anyone’s back in the beginning. He’s too new to the whole military fighting thing. However, deep down, I think Daniel has forgive Teal’C for the capture of his wife, it’s just that he’s not sure how to show it.

4. How his, "walk right up to," touch everything, get into trouble, get everybody else into trouble all the time, ways affect how you see him?: That’s one of the things I like about Daniel. He doesn’t takes the gate travel for granted like the other members of the team tend to. He’s a scientist, and he likes to touch things and see what they are. Sam is the same way when it comes to new technology.

5. What do you think are his best qualities? His worst?: His best qualities are definitely his loyalty and his passion. He’s fiercely loyal to his friends and team mates, and he has a real passion for his work. You know that if you give him something to do, he won’t quit until he’s finished the job.

However, those two things can also become his weaknesses. He makes friends easily, and so his loyalties to people can be used against him. Also, his passion for languages etc. can cause him to become very single minded, and he needs someone to keep him on track and help him see the big picture.

 

[captaincarter]

Originally posted by ray gower

Well at least you agree on something!

Ha, very funny!!

 

[pamie]

Originally posted by captaincarter
I don't like daniel either.

Feel like telling us why...a few times I have come across posts form you that state that you don't like Daniel but give no good reasons why.

Of course everyone has a right to have their own say..just that other people on here have given reasons why they don't like him but you never do!


It always gets me to thinking why a lot of people can't just like all the team of SG1...I mean of course eveyone has a fave of the show but most of the time people are saying oh I don't like him or I hate her. It really makes me wonder why.
I mean of course you can all tell that Im a Danny fan but Im also a Jack, Sam and Teal'c fan at the same time. There always seems to be this line in the sand when it comes to Jack and Daniel. I know we and I too vote on the polls of who is best in the general part of the SG forum here but that is just a bit of fun to me...not ment as I hate Jack coz I have voted for Danny.

Im not too sure I really have a point...just wanted to get that off my chest!