The man with the plan was one of the greatest ways to describe John Hannibal Smith since the guy knew how to think roughly four or five steps ahead of his opponents and kept his team together and working like the well-oiled unit they were. The kind of leader it takes to create something as awesome as the A-Team is something that is possible and has been seen many times throughout history, both in fiction and in the real world. While they’re never entirely perfect from every angle, such individuals tend to be those that are aware of the world around them, their place in it, and of how they can bring about the betterment of those that they choose to associate with. For Hannibal, his team was important, but they were also expected to be capable of taking his direction and becoming one of the most elite fighting teams around. These were the guys that made the impossible possible and were also some of the toughest soldiers around. The fact that they were fugitives from justice didn’t really matter to those they helped, but to the military, they were an embarrassment that needed to be put away.
It’s funny how that works since one can honestly say that there’s a big hope that this would never happen in real life. It probably wouldn’t since there are heavy repercussions for taking on the kind of jobs that the A-Team did, and the group would probably be a pretty heavy priority even if they could expose the military in some way. But on the flip side, a guy like Hannibal might be able to find several different ways to work a situation to his benefit without being too flashy or noticeable. Hannibal and his team were specialists after all and unless things went sideways that quickly it’s likely that such an individual could operate in a manner that might feel impossible to others.
Hannibal was the type of leader that a lot of people would love to serve under while others might think that he was too reckless and should have been locked up as a criminal. It’s always a matter of perspective that determines how people think of situations and other people when it comes to pretty much anything since there are probably veterans that loved the idea of the A-Team while there are others that think that the whole team should have been locked up. Plus, it’s easy to think that anyone that was in the military or still is would look at this show and just shake their head at what the team managed to do and what they got away with. Obviously, The A-Team was a lot of wishful thinking on the part of Hollywood and a lot of ridiculous ideas that wouldn’t work in the real world, but it was entertaining and it was fun to watch, which was the point. Hannibal was the type of guy that a lot of people couldn’t help but look up to since he wasn’t the stiff and unyielding leader that did everything by the book, he was the guy that cared about his team and would do anything to keep them in one piece, and would go the extra mile to humble the opposition.
One of the many reasons to call him the best character on the show was because he was often written in as the guy who had everything together and who might have been a little obsessive about the plan but who managed to see it through and get his people to safety when it was all said and done. In other words, he was the type of leader that knew how to be adaptable and how to be flexible enough that he could see his people to safety when the situation warranted it. Hannibal was the kind of leader that inspired people to the point that they actually wanted to serve under him because he’d go the extra mile with and for them without being asked to do so. That’s the kind of leader that a lot of people tend to like and it’s the type of person that many folks will do just about anything for.
During the course of the show it’s easy to see how Hannibal is what a lot of people would call a ‘toxic’ male as well, but the trick here is that those toxic males that people love to call out are also the kind of men that tend to get things done, whether it’s on a TV show or in life. The toxicity level of a man tends to fluctuate quite often, which is what makes characters like Hannibal so great, since they’re not always the hard-charging, ‘act like a man’ types, given that they do care about the welfare of others. Otherwise, the point of The A-Team wouldn’t have made much sense.
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