Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[lucylou]

Hubby and i will be going to Gabitevents also, this will be the first con i have ever been to and very much looking foreward to meeting Amanda

Amanda is the sweetest, funniest most caring and thoughtful woman you could ever meet. She's got the most loveable personality and the cheekiest smile. I've met her twice and each time I've met her she's made me feel special. She really is a lovely woman and you'll love her to bits

Lucy

[Starfury]

spoilers for s8's gemini

Spoiler:

You've given me a lot of food for thought. I think Sam being tricked or manipulated by a version of herself is *very* interesting. If RC's as much Sam as she thinks she is, then she knows *exactly* what buttons to push to get Sam to do what she wants. Didn't it look like RC really wanted to die? Look how close she got to Teal'c killing her (on more than one occasion too). How could she have bargained on Sam running into that room to stop Tea'c? Because she know just how Sam was going to think. She knew Sam was in the other room (I thought she was at the SGC and was talking to RC via the MALP ) and would stop Teal'c if need be. Pretty good way of showing your intent if you're one breath away from being wiped out of existance. I think it's a bit unfair to judge Sam on being manipulated by RC, because RC knew EXACTLY how to do it because she knew EXACTLY how Sam would act/react. How can anyone win in a situation like that? This wasn't just any enemy, this was a ghost of youself with a major advantage. RC was always one step ahead of Sam. She planned this right down the line, and the only thing that could have stopped her is if she misjudged on Sam getting to Teal'c before he fired. How does one win in a battle of wills with someone that's basically yourself?

I love debates.

Sally

*crunching/chewing noises* Mmmmm....tasty brain food.

Gemini

Spoiler:

Yep, I think you're correct that Replicarter had an unfair advantage over Sam. Which, while it doesn't necessarily negate what I said, nor completely absolve her of responsibility (IMHO), does go a long way towards mitigating her guilt. And now that she's on to Replicarter, it's going to be a lot harder to fool her a second time. In fact, that affinity that you described will, in my opinion, work to the SGC's advantage in fighting Replicarter in the future, just as much as it worked to their disadvantage to begin with...because I think that just as Replicarter thinks like Sam and is therefore able to anticipate her moves, Sam is able to think like and anticipate Replicarter's moves, to the extent that she understands her goals. Of course, in order to do so, she's going to have to explore that darker side of hers. Personally I can't wait to see it!

[astrogeologist]

Gateworld has posted a review of Gemini which points out some of the very things we've been saying about the episode on this thread. Gemini Review

The reviewer notes that the plot development comes at the expense of Sam's character. Quoting from the review,
"The trouble is that when a story is written to serve the needs of a plot characters tend to get lost or twisted along the way, and this is precisely what seems to have happened with "Gemini." While the intention of the writers was clear after a little thought -- Sam was meant to have made a perfectly human mistake, trusting her emotions -- there was no need to malign Sam's character to achieve those aims..."

The review does go on to praise Amanda's performance in the episode.

Oh, and I just wanted to join the chorus and thank everyone for maintaining the civil tone of the thread. This thread is rapidly becoming one of my happy places.
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NearlyCircular, Thanks for the link! It's wonderful to know that there are folks our there who aren't condemning the character of Sam Carter for what happened in Gemini!
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[astrogeologist]

What do I think?!

KUMTRAYA (claps hands) for SAMANDA

Samanda is just ... B-E-T-T-E-R

ChopinGal...are you channeling Harlan? Scary thought...

LOL!
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[astrogeologist]

Hear Ye Hear Ye To All Who Live in the Realm of Samanda

A Royal Proclamation

Let the word go out from this date and time that, henceforth, all true followers of the esteemed character, Samantha Carter, and her honorable creator, Amanda Tapping, will be known as Samandans.

Furthermore, let all Samandans emulate the strength and dignity and poise of their respected namesakes.

Let Samandans be sure of foot and quick of mind.
Let Samandans be slow to judge and fast to defend.
Let Samandans be loyal of friends and faithful to duty.
Let Samandans be refreshingly real and uncommonly wise.
Let Samandans be confident in victory and humble in defeat.
Let Samandans be comfortable with self and tolerant of others.
Let Samandans be curious of thought but dubious of rumors.
Let Samandans be kind of word and generous of spirit.
Let Samandans be ready to laugh and open to wonder.

In order to counter the negativity that oft appears elsewhere, let Samandans be defenders of truth and integrity regarding all things Samanda.

Let all who dwell in the land of Samanda, prosper and be well.

MajorSam coined a great new name... Samanda... for some reason I can't read it without smiling or chuckling...

ChopinGal... you're creativity is amazing me - great words above...
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[astrogeologist]

Throughout the time that we’ve been posting on this thread, many folks have commented favorably about the episode Death Knell and AT’s acting in that episode. So… I’ve been working on some Death Knell screen captures of Carter/AT’s highlights.

Hope you enjoy them!

Spoilers for, and photos from, Season 7's Death Knell below:
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Death Knell. What I enjoyed about Sam in this episode is that she was stripped of her computer models and her technobabble was in basic survival mode. Sam can hold her own - on a physical level - with the best of them and she really showed it here. Seeing Sam being less-than-glamorous. A real soldier. It all worked for me. And of course I love the exploration of the father/daughter relationship with Jacob and there were some really great scenes in this one.

Carter Favorites sounds inviting. On that note, let me add one of my favorite episodes to the list: Death Knell. Even Amanda, herself, says that she loved to get whumped in this one - do her Carter as soldier routine. And I hope she can do even more realistic episodes like this in S9. (I guess it speaks to the tomboy in me!)

I loved this ep too (have it on tape, like Grace and all the others mentioned). I liked seeing Sam coming up with ways of survival, without anything but her brains to work with. (I like your examples, so I'm adopting them for myself. ) The part where Sam thought she'd killed the super soldier, only for it to pop back up... it kinda bothered me a bit, because it looked like Sam was accepting her fate. I know she was totally and completely exhausted, but... I just didn't like seeing Sam seeing death coming for her (the look on Sam's face kinda haunts me). I also adored the end scene(s), with Jack comforting her and her goodbye to her dad. Both beautifully done and acted by all.

>> The scene in Death Knell where we first see Sam hiding from Anubis' drone -- AT had no lines, and the scene was very short, but AT's acting was exceptional -- as Chopin Gal stated, what AT can do with a facial expression! AT portrayed the exhaustion and relief so perfectly!

Death Knell


The first time we get to see Carter avoiding the SuperSoldier.
There is no dialogue - the expressions on ATs face simply *make* these scenes.
The relief on her face as he walks away is superbly acted.


AT portrayed the wounded and exhausted soldier perfectly.


Just getting a drink of water is dangerous!


Signalling the UAV.


MacGyvering the UAV's weapons into something she can use against the SuperSoldier.
This scene displayed Carter's technical expertise under pressure.


For me, this is one of the best AT acting scenes in the entire episode. She looks exhausted... there is no exhultation and no arrogance at having (apparently) nuetralized a SuperSoldier... AT portrays the battle-weary soldier superbly.


Love the part where she flips the weapon's special matrix crystal at Jack before he finishes asking for it. Of course, I have to be honest, I would have preferred for Jack to hand the weapon to Carter - then she snapped the crystal in and then she fired it at the SuperSoldier...


Is it...(dead)? More excellent acting by AT here.

AT, herself, has admitted that she loved doing "Death Knell" because she got to be a soldier in the midst of conflict - she got roughed up and thought that it was about time (listen to audio commentary for that episode) that Sam was portrayed more realistically in that manner. She wants more of those kinds of episodes.

>> The scene at the end of Death Knell where O'Neill asks her if she wants to get up (stupid question, btw - he should have started assessing her injuries). AT stated that she was uncomfortable with the way that this scene was written... it could easily come across as the weak woman collapsing against the strong male saviour (a cliched ending if there ever was one). So, I was blown away with how AT played the scene - she definitely did not come across as the stereotypical emotional woman who falls on the male... no, AT claimed that scene as she played the exhausted soldier - with no emphasis on her sex. She simply played it so believably

The part where Sam thought she'd killed the super soldier, only for it to pop back up... it kinda bothered me a bit, because it looked like Sam was accepting her fate. I know she was totally and completely exhausted, but... I just didn't like seeing Sam seeing death coming for her (the look on Sam's face kinda haunts me).

MajorSal -- I didn't like that little scene either... so I didn't take any screen captures from it. I would have preferred that the SuperSoldier truly died from Carter's missile.
AT sitting on the dirt after the smoke had cleared was a great ending scene to the SuperSoldier drama...

they didn't need to go for the 'horror movie cliche' of having 'the monster come climb out of the rubble.'

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The scenes with Jacob were wonderful!


I love the scenes with Sam and her Dad... Jacob is cranky and when Sam asks if he's had his coffee... he admits that Selmak doesn't like coffee...

Jacob: (Crankily) Where's the matrix crystal?
Sam: Next to the primaries.
Jacob: I can't find anything in here, I had a system back at the old Alpha site.
Sam: The location of the old Alpha site was compromised when Anubis used his mind probe on Jonas. You didn't really wanna' hang around there did you?
Jacob: I just want to be able to work as efficiently as possible. Anubis' drones are kicking the crap out of the System Lords and we're next. This prototype should have been done weeks ago.

Sam: It's done, it's just not finished.
Jacob: Interesting distinction.
Sam: We only got Telchak's device a month ago, I'm surprised we were able to come up with something so quickly.
Jacob: In its current configuration, the weapon is only 70% effective at countering the reanimation technology.
Sam: The power unit you were using hasn't been properly calibrated, this one will be better.
Jacob: Maybe.
Sam: Have you not had your coffee this morning?
Jacob: Selmak doesn't like coffee.
Sam: You gave up coffee for your symbiote? I didn't know that.

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Infirmary -Sam wakes up to find Jacob sitting there.

Jacob: Howdy kid. You were asleep for a long time. You gave me quite a scare.
Sam: I'm sorry.
Jacob: Jack told me what happened. I'm proud of you. Look Sam, I may not be able to come around as much for the next little while.
Sam: What do you mean?
Jacob: Things kind of got screwed up while you were out there. The alliance is in trouble.
Sam: I don't understand.
Jacob: You don't need to know the details right now. Let’s just say we're going our separate ways for a while. If I stay with the Tokra, I can at least try to mend some fences.
Sam: You sure?

Jacob: I'm not ready to give up on this just yet.
He kisses her.
Jacob: Don't worry, I'll be back eventually.
Sam: I'll miss you.
Jacob: I'll miss you too. Bye.
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I highly recommend the following Jacob-Sam online music video montage:

>>> 'In My Daughter's Eyes'
http://www.creative-insanity.net/voi...s/daughter.wmv
From the website: http://www.creative-insanity.net/voi...rgatevids.html

The video is superbly crafted and wonderful to watch and enjoy.
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Photos are screen captures from the episode Death Knell
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[chocdoc]

Samandans!! Sounds great, Majorsam!

Thanks, Astrogeologist, for the wonderful post/screen caps on Death Knell. One of my favorites. I hope we get to see soldier sam alot in season nine. I keep thinking about the extraordinary potential for sam's character in season nine (looking forward to the rest of season eight's episodes too). I really hope they play up her leadership skills.

[Skydiver]

you know, amanda might have been bothered by the whole 'i just need to rest bit' but i personally found it a ton more believable than if she'd just popped to her feet and said 'yep, i'm fine, let's go home'

she'd been ont he run for how long? Day or two, been blown up in the self destruct, chased halfway across the planet, hunted like a dog.....i'd expect her to be knackered out

DK was one of those rare eps where we got whumpage and comfort all in the same eps and it's nice to see

I didn't think of it as girly or weak, just real

[chocdoc]

you know, amanda might have been bothered by the whole 'i just need to rest bit' but i personally found it a ton more believable than if she'd just popped to her feet and said 'yep, i'm fine, let's go home'

she'd been ont he run for how long? Day or two, been blown up in the self destruct, chased halfway across the planet, hunted like a dog.....i'd expect her to be knackered out

DK was one of those rare eps where we got whumpage and comfort all in the same eps and it's nice to see

I didn't think of it as girly or weak, just real

Ifelt that way too. I had no problem with her saying that she needed to rest a minute either. I think your body would just feel total exhaustion after the adreniline rush for hours/days. And getting a little comfort seemed very real. She didn't ask for it--she just wasn't ready to get up yet!

Some fans said that they couldn't believe that she didn't ask about her dad right away. For me, I have never doubted that she loves her dad---that is shown over and over again. I think the writers assumed that the audience would know that she would do this---we just were given a moment to see her exhaustion.

[CUL8TRJACK]

Hello fellow Samandans!! (heh cute name)


I wanted to thank everyone for their kind welcomes.

I enjoy any episode with Carter in it, but my top three are probably:

Solitudes
Entity
Singularity

Grace, Serpent's Grasp, 2010, anything involving Jolinar...
the list is too long.

AT has such an endearing presence; she steals any scene
where she is smiling.

I truly missed seeing Carter in tonight's episode of PU and found
myself a bit miffed when I saw Valla use the healing device on
Daniel. I was once again forced to watch yet another ex-host
use gou'ald technology and found myself getting irritated that
we have yet to see Carter really learn to take advantage of
this ability.

I'm assuming that Carter's short time as host didn't give her
enough knowledge to efficiently control these devices, but I
question why this can't be taught by a Tok'rah. I just think
it would add a lot more depth to Carter to have her delve into
this aspect of her life a bit more than being forced to watch
her be used as a lab rat again.

Am I alone in these feelings?

[astrogeologist]

you know, amanda might have been bothered by the whole 'i just need to rest bit' but i personally found it a ton more believable than if she'd just popped to her feet and said 'yep, i'm fine, let's go home'

she'd been ont he run for how long? Day or two, been blown up in the self destruct, chased halfway across the planet, hunted like a dog.....i'd expect her to be knackered out

DK was one of those rare eps where we got whumpage and comfort all in the same eps and it's nice to see

I didn't think of it as girly or weak, just real

I don't think that AT was bothered by showing Carter as needing to rest... on the Director's Audio Commentary and in an interview, AT said that she was bothered by the way that the scene was written 'Carter lays her head on O'Neill's shoulder'... AT was worried about playing into female stereotypes - I think she was wondering if they would have written that last little bit if it had been Daniel and O'Neill instead of Carter and O'Neill - she said that she played it as two soldiers after a battle... I think it all goes back to AT's hope that Carter can be portrayed first and foremost a team member and a soldier who happens to be a woman and not the woman who happens to be a team member.

Being exhausted - perfectly reasonable and believable - and AT did it wonderfully. As you said, she definitely didn't look 'girly or weak, just real.'


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[Skydiver]

okee dokee, the poll is up.

go vote kids. you have one week, then we'll do s2 starting next friday

[the dancer of spaz]

okee dokee, the poll is up.

go vote kids. you have one week, then we'll do s2 starting next friday

Hee hee hee. It sounds like a mission. I voted!

[astrogeologist]

okee dokee, the poll is up.

go vote kids. you have one week, then we'll do s2 starting next friday

Skydiver, the poll looks great -- thanks for setting it up!
I added a post with a link to this thread (to make it easier for anyone who is new to the forum to find us)

For folks on this thread, click here to go directly to the poll
so you can cast your votes for your top three Best Carter Episodes of Season 1!!
After you vote, come back here and post your comments
about why you voted for which episodes.


I'll start the discussion...

I voted for Singularity, Enigma and Within the Serpent's Grasp.

Singularity - because it was simply a stand-out episode for both the character of Sam Carter and the acting range of AT. Sam's interaction with Cassie was wonderful to watch. The amazing elevator scene, where Sam is tortured with having to leave the small girl at the bottom of the facility.


Enigma - because it introduces Narim as a character who sees something special in Sam Carter. I made the following screen captures for Chocdoc

This is just a little Sam moment, but I liked when she gave her cat to Narim (in Season One). I thought it was a kind gesture because he missed animals on his planet.

And then there was that wonderful 'emotion recording device'
and Sam's surprise at feeling his feelings for her.


Within the Serpent's Grasp - for favorable comments made by other folks earlier in this thread; e.g., Carter going along with the team when they take over the gateroom to gate out against orders.

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[astrogeologist]

I enjoy any episode with Carter in it, but my top three are probably:

Solitudes
Entity
Singularity

Grace, Serpent's Grasp, 2010, anything involving Jolinar...
the list is too long.

Great choices Cul8trjack!

AT has such an endearing presence; she steals any scene where she is smiling.

I agree!

I truly missed seeing Carter in tonight's episode of PU and found myself a bit miffed when I saw Valla use the healing device on
Daniel. I was once again forced to watch yet another ex-host use gou'ald technology and found myself getting irritated that we have yet to see Carter really learn to take advantage of this ability.

I'm assuming that Carter's short time as host didn't give her enough knowledge to efficiently control these devices, but I question why this can't be taught by a Tok'rah. I just think it would add a lot more depth to Carter to have her delve into this aspect of her life a bit more than being forced to watch her be used as a lab rat again.

Am I alone in these feelings?

No, you are not alone with those feelings. I too am perplexed as to why the writers have not utilized Sam's abilities to activate technology such as the healing device - or ribbon devices - in the past many seasons. They are using Jack's abilities to activate Ancient tech (IGTBK) and they are revisiting Daniel's ascension in the last half of Season 8.

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