stargateficrec | "Debrief", by Cofax (G)

Rec Category: Cameron Mitchell
Pairing: None
Category: Gen.
Warning: none
Author on LJ:

cofax7
Author's Website: alchemy mouldiwarps and cophrophagy
Link: Debrief

Why This Must Be Read: See, I love the way the show introduced Cameron; they didn't make him perfect and accepted right away. He had to work to earn his place, which is interesting considering that he was the one to get everyone else back -- but just because he's 'in command' doesn't mean he fits into the gestalt the rest of the team took so long to build, and this story is a perfect example of what I mean.

Cofax sets this relatively late in season 9, at a point where Cam's starting to settle in on the little things -- but the huge things still elude him, and he's still making mistakes based on his idealized, romanticized view of the rest of SG-1. She brings in a familiar face to give Cam a bit of a wake-up call after a very bad day, and on the surface it looks like a fairly standard situation.

Until you get to the end, and realize that there's more going on here than meets the eye, and that's when I really feel sorry for Cam -- because he didn't just inherit a team; he inherited what sometimes feels like a lifetime of connections and re-connections. But somehow, when he fucks up, he fucks up for the right reasons -- or the same reasons everyone else used to, at least.

So this is a story about being out of place, but the thing I like most about it is the way that, by the very act of being out of place, Cam's showing how in-place he really is. Or has the potential to be. I like the way Cofax shows Cam's doubts, and she brings his empathy to the forefront with a very rich, deft touch.