History Recap / TheATeamS2E22SemiFriendlyPersuasion

* ViolenceReallyIstheAnswer: Sykes makes clear that he will only be satisfied with the Society of Man run out of town or six feet under -- preferably both -- and when the A-Team manages to humiliate and scare them off through slapstick traps, they just come back a few hours later and burn the construction to the ground. [[WouldHurtAChild And they put Peerson's pre-teen son in the hospital]], [[KickTheDog to boot]]. So the only thing that will put a stop to them is the typical explosion-laden, car-crashing and [[ATeamFiring mad shooting]] mayhem the A-Team does.

* ShutUpKirk: A rare hero-on-hero example. At the end of the episode, Hannibal gives a big speech on the importance of freedom and how soldiers pay the price for others to live free. Face, who thinks it's foolish to wait around and risk a run-in with the cops, keeps interrupting him.

* TheBadGuyWins: Even though Sykes and his men [[PyrrhicVillainy end up in prison]], they still get what they want because Peerson is too closed-minded about his pacifistic beliefs to accept a victory obtained through "violence".

* PrinciplesZealot: Karl Peerson, who is utterly devoted to pacifism to the point where he won't even defend himself, and protests to the idea of allowing anyone else to defend him either, and would rather force his people to live their lives constantly on the run rather than compromise his ideals even once.

* PacifismBackfire: The Society of Man's policy of non-violence has apparently seen them run out of every community they've ever tried to settle in. In the episode itself, the A-Team tries to use less violent means themselves to beat the villains at first, in keeping with the Society's request. They even manage to drive them away once... but all that happens is the villains wait for half of the team to leave and then come back and burn down the Society's meeting hall. In the end, the only thing that works is violence.

* PacifismBackfire: The Society of Man's policy of non-violence has apparently seen them run out of every community they've ever tried to settle in. The A-Team tries to use less violent means themselves to beat the villains at first, and manage to drive them away once... but all that happens is the villains wait for half of the team to leave and then come back and burn down the Society's meeting hall. In the end, the only thing that works is violence.

The A-Team is hired on by members of the Society of Man, an Amish-esque commune of people sworn to non-violence. Despite posing no threat, the Society is being threatened by a gang of local thugs who view them as "freaks" and want them out of the area. The A-Team is put into the difficult situation of trying to fend off the bullies while also dealing with the demands of the Society's leader, Karl Peerson, a devoted pacifist who will not allow them to use violence to solve the problem.

--> '''Karl:''' ''(Seeing a crate full of assault rifles in the Team's van.)'' Are these the tools of logic and reason, Colonel?\\
'''Hannibal:''' In some circles, yes.

* GunboatDiplomacy: It's basically the CentralTheme of the episode: while peace is great, some people (ie. the episode's villains) really do only respond to violence. Also discussed by Hannibal and Karl early on.

* GunboatDiplomacy: Discussed by Hannibal and Karl.

* PacifismBackfire: The Society of Man's policy of non-violence has apparently seen them run out of every community they've ever tried to settle in. The A-Team tries to use less violent means themselves to beat the villains at first, and manage to drive them away once... but all that happens is the villains wait for the team to leave and then come back and burn down the Society's meeting hall. In the end, the only thing that works is violence.

* StupidGood: Karl Peerson, the leader of the Society of Man, falls into this. He runs an Amish-esque commune which is [[PerfectPacifistPeople sworn to non-violence]], but his community is threatened by a gang of local thugs who view them as "freaks." Karl fully intends to give in to the bullies and even openly insults the A-Team when his son calls them in, claiming their violent ways make them just as bad as the villains. He then asks them to protect his people while figuratively tying both hands behind their backs and calling them murderers and villains the whole time. Even at the end, when the actual villains have been defeated, he holds to his stance and makes it clear that he intends to leave town anyway, feeling that he can't possibly stay in his new home knowing that it was won by violence.

* PerfectPacifistPeople: {{Deconstruct|ion}}ed. The Society of Man do have a good society for themselves, with people who love and care for each other. However, without the ability to use violence in any form, not even in self-defense, they have no ability to protect themselves when other people come looking for trouble. Even using TechnicalPacifist tactics, which the team tries when they're told they can't use violence, doesn't actually work. They mention that they've been run out of their home multiple times in the past before they came here, and Hannibal mentions that until they take a stand for themselves, it'll just keep happening no matter where they go. A lot of their members are tired of living like this, which is why they go to the A-Team for help, but their leader, Karl, is a fanatical RecklessPacifist who would rather force his people to spend their entire lives on the run, rather than compromise his ideals even once, to the point that Hannibal straight up calls him "one of the most narrow-minded men I've ever met" at the end. Their chat at the end also has Karl reveal that he plans to squander everything they fought for by moving his people away again, even though they won.

* PerfectPacifistPeople: {{Deconstruct|ion}}ed. The Society of Man do have a good society for themselves, with people who love and care for each other. However, without the ability to use violence in any form, not even in self-defense, they have no ability to protect themselves when other people come looking for trouble. Even using TechnicalPacifist tactics, which the team tries when they're told they can't use violence, doesn't actually work. They mention that they've been run out of their home multiple times in the past, and Hannibal mentions that until they take a stand for themselves, it'll just keep happening no matter where they go. A lot of their members are tired of living like this, which is why they go to the A-Team for help, but their leader, Karl, is a fanatical RecklessPacifist who would rather force his people to spend their entire lives on the run, rather than compromise his ideals even once, to the point that Hannibal straight up calls him "one of the most narrow-minded men I've ever met" at the end.

* PerfectPacifistPeople: Subverted. The Society of Man have a good society themselves with people who love and care for each other, but without the ability to use violence of any form, even in self-defense, they have no ability to protect themselves from people who would hurt them. They've already been run out of their homes before in the past, and as Hannibal states, if they don't eventually take a stand it'll just keep happening no matter where they go. A lot of their members are tired of living like this, which is why they go to the A-Team for help.

* ActualPacifist: The Society of Man is sworn not to use any form of violence, not even to defend themselves.