Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[astrogeologist]

Re: the Fragile Balance flyboy scene...when I saw that, I always imagined one of two followup scenes: one is simply later during the same briefing when one of the pilots asks a dumb question, the other is during an actual combat flight training, where one of them makes a stupid mistake and gets taken "out," and O'Neill says "See, if you'd been paying attention during Major Carter's 302 tech briefing, you wouldn't look like such an idiot right now."

I would pay to see that scene!

On the good side though, we do have that REALLY fab scene in "The Warrior" where O'Neill asks Carter to demonstrate the P90. I ADORE that scene.

Great observations! What I really liked about that scene was that O'Neill acted just like a commanding officer would - directing Carter to demonstrate the weapon and standing back and watching confidently. It was cool to see that the writers didn't feel that the main male lead needed to be the one demonstrating marksmanship. I think that you are right, this is one of the scenes that shows how O'Neill's confidence in Carter had grown far beyond his expectations of a geeky scientist.
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[NearlyCircular]

... so I would have preferred if they had written it so that the briefing had been handed off to some male X302 engineer (who doesn't even know how to actually pilot a plane - and then the other pilots' objections would make sense)... and then O'Neill comes busting into the briefing, and Carter has to be called in to vouch for who he is - and then he takes over and Carter is seen off to the side soothing the ruffled engineer's feathers. That way, the writers could have had their Jack-O'Neill-has-to-be-himself scene, but it wouldn't have been at the expense of the female lead.
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What a great way that would have been to handle the scene! That way both characters could maintain the respect they've earned and should have been shown.

The scene was bad enough with the pilots disrespecting Sam, but then young Jack slightly undercuts her authority as well. Sam had just introduced the subject of inertial dampeners as follows:

CAPTAIN: "Major, no offense, but those aren't going to help me when I'm pulling 6 Gs in a dogfight against an alien ship."

CARTER: "As you should know, Captain, the 302 has inertial dampening systems..."

Then young Jack disrupts the briefing, gets their attention and as he begins his talk, he says

""Uh...oh, yeah...and the, uh, inertial dampeners only compensate 90% when pulling negative Gs. "

It was subtle and probably done unknowingly, but I felt it was just another bad moment in a bad scene. However, as has been pointed out in this thread, Sam acted professionally throughout. She deferred to Jack as soon as he came in. She didn't call the pilots on the carpet for their lack of respect, but her emphasis on the word Captain was a quiet way of trying to bring the pilot back in line, and maybe it reflects Sam's style of leadership.

Again, as has been pointed out in this thread, she's damned if she does, damned if she doesn't. Many women in positions of authority are considered witches (you know what word I want to use ) if they're too assertive, but are considered pushovers if they don't assert themselves. So think how bad it must be to be an officer. I'll quote one of our own for that.

..Regarding the whole women in military thing, in my little thing the top 3 out of the top 4 ranks are females (including me Oh yeah, I got promoted the other week! EEEEEEEEEEH) And I must admit I do see that the guys still don't pay as much attention to what we say than what most of the guys say. I think that has part to do with we actually try and get stuff done while all the guys just mess around and slack off, but...

Let me add my CONGRATULATIONS MajorSam! You go girl!

NC

[Skydiver]

From your post to TPTB! I absolutely detest that scene. It makes me squirm everytime I see it.
On a lighter note...spoilers for Threads

Spoiler:

I thought AT was great in this episode. I felt the scenes she played with Jacob were just right. She showed how sad she was without going overboard, but her eyes always had the glint of tears in them.

it was just right. I've had an issue in a fic or two where the author has sam breaking down into sobs in the gateroom...but that's just not sam.

now in heroes, yes, she did break down in a way, but it was more anger and frustration than simple tears

[NearlyCircular]

I agree. I think she's also so excited about how she's solved the scientific problem that she just wants to share. She's so involved in it that in a way she can't see why everyone else wouldn't also be interested. I've certainly regaled friends & family with something I've been working on (non scientific) and then realized, whoops, rein it in, they don't care.

I can so relate to you on this. I see a little of myself in Sam when she goes on a littttle longer than necessary in explaining things. I sometimes have to catch myself and think " Ok, time to lighten up a little; maybe this isn't as important or fascinating to others as it is to me." Since I'm a professor, being long-winded is almost a job requirement, but the glazed eyes and slack jaws are usually a sign that it's time to move on. And, since I don't have a Jack to cut me off, I have to rely on self censorship. Not nearly as much fun.

NC

[Skydiver]

the season 2 poll is closed and the very clear winner is


drum roll


ITLOD

Serpents Lair 2 0.60%
In the line of Duty 106 31.74%
Prisoners 2 0.60%
Gamekeeper 0 0%
Need 0 0%
Thor's Chariot 6 1.80%
Message in a Bottle 14 4.19%
Family 3 0.90%
Secrets 22 6.59%
Bane 0 0%
Tok'ra 1 46 13.77%
Tok'ra 2 50 14.97%
Spirits 4 1.20%
Touchstone 1 0.30%
Fifth Race 5 1.50%
Matter of Time 32 9.58%
Holiday 1 0.30%
Serpents Song 1 0.30%
One False Step 1 0.30%
Show and Tell 1 0.30%
1969 18 5.39%
Out of Mind 19 5.69%


and the s3 poll is now up and will stay up until next friday night, so head on over and choose your 3 favorite sam eps

[the dancer of spaz]

rda is a flirt. from all i understand, he is well aware of his natural charisma and had fun flirting

a lot of thier natural byplay is what led to some of the ship that folks see on screen. both rda and amanda have a natural chemistry and they play well off each other. and i think she was safe to flirt with...she's married so that's all it ever was, fun flirting

but that flirting became what some saw as ship.

personally, i see a lot of rda's adlibs as his efforts to crack amanda up. if you watch sometimes when he comes up with his zingers, he glances at her, like he's trying to crack her up

i think it's a game between them

Yeah. That's when we fans have to be able to discern between the actors and the characters. I never saw behind-the-scenes stuff before I saw the show's "ship factor" or what have you, but I CAN understand how fans could totally eat that up. Now that I've seen a multitude of RDA/AT footage, I laugh because it really is kinda funny and endearing.

I think it's cool that it's a game, though, you know? I mean, obviously the relationship's platonic, but the chemistry between all of the actors is really cool. There's a freedom on that set that I don't think is really NORMAL for typical television shows (see the debacles that occurred on the "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "CSI" sets, IIRC - talk about TENSE!).

And, also, being able to just mess around and have the finished product still be so well-done is definitely a plus!

[NearlyCircular]

and the s3 poll is now up and will stay up until next friday night, so head on over and choose your 3 favorite sam eps

Whoo Hoo! New poll! New excuse for watching old SG1 episodes. Is it just me, or is it getting harder with each season to pick just 3?

NC

[astrogeologist]

the season 2 poll is closed and the very clear winner is
drum roll
ITLOD

And the Blue Jello Awards go to.....


The top three episodes chosen
In The Line of Duty,
Tokra 1&2, and
A Matter of Time.


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Again, thanks to Skydiver for creating and managing the polls for us all - they are inciting wonderful comments and critiques of the early episodes... so many wonderful Sam moments I'd forgotten - you folks are all so wonderful!
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[astrogeologist]

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For our top three choices for Best Carter Episode of Season 2, I had already made some screen caps from Tok'ra and A Matter of Time..., so I decided to see what I could get from In The Line of Duty to go along with the wonderful comments that folks have posted for that episode.

I remember from way back that there was a behind the scenes thing that Showtime did for Stargate between seasons 1 and 2. In it, Amanda said (concerning what was coming up for Sam in season two) something like, 'And something happens to Sam that's really big. *she stares into the camera* 'Reeeally big'. That last part, with her saying 'really big' was so cute, because of the look on Amanda's face and the way she said that phrase. I can't remember exactly how she stated the first sentence, but the 'really big' thing I remember well. I wish I could find that segment (somewhere on the net) to keep. Sally

In The Line of Duty Sam getting Goa'ulded! Wow! What a scene when her eyes glowed at the beginning! And the ramifications for her character development after that... just wonderful.

Cassie senses the naquadah in Jolinar.

Jolinar tries to escape and Jack injects her with a sedative that doesn't even seem to slow her down.
Janet says that it was enough to knock down 'an elephant'.

Then one of the SFs shoots Jolinar in the leg with a tranquilizing dart... and Jack knocks the gun out of her hands while she is distracted with the dart. She whallops Jack across the room... and then pulls out a grenade...

ITLOD which is such a showcase for AT's talent

Jolinar gives Sam control and Sam says that the Goa'uld is telling the truth.

Sam pleads with Jack not to leave her alone in the brig with a Goa'uld in her.

Jack leaves and Jolinar retakes contol, saying "What will it take?" to the now empty cell.

The ashrak finds Jolinar.

After the ashrak leaves, Janet and Jack rush Sam to the infirmary.

My favorite "Sam" moments....In the Line of Duty. Maybe Sam's best episode (to me). I loved the Jolinar arc and thought it introduced a whole new layer to Sam's character. The scene at the end - when she's laying in bed after Jolinar has died to save her. Just fabulous work from AT.

In the Line of Duty, cause it is one of my favourite episodes ever, let alone my favourite ep for season2. I have to say AT’s acting for this one was so good, I think even better than that for RC, and that is brilliant! My favourite scene in it though is at the very end, when she tells them that it gave up it’s life to save her. I remember when I watched that for the first time, it was just so amazing for me.

I voted for "In the Line of Duty" as first choice. Lots of character development for Sam in this one, Amanda showed Jolinaar as haulty aloof but not brutal, she came across as a desperite freedom fighter that was sorry that she had to take Sam along with her.

The sceenes in the infirmary when Sam came round and said that Jolinar had gave her life for her was very intense and tptb did good imho
in following that up with Cassie gently touching her arm and forcing Sam to turn round and look at her, Sam looked so lost and so devestated that it was heartbreaking to watch.

For the second season poll I picked In The Line of Duty as my favourite episode. I chose this because I thought Amandas portrayl of Jolinar was amazing. The bit which clinched it for me was, like someone else here has mentioned, the part where Sam comes round in the infirmary and tells Jack that the symbiote gave its life so she could live. I just loved how Amanda delivered the line and the emotion in her eyes and on her face was heartbreaking. I loved the Infirmary scene at the end too with Cassie. Amanda didn't have to say anything but you could just feel the turmoil that Sam was going through as she dealt with everything that had happened to her. When actors dont need to say a word but so much is still conveyed to the audience that's an amazing display of talent and Amanda really shone in this episode. Lucy

I loved In the Line of Duty and the whole Tok'ra arc which brought Jacob in as her dad ... wish we could have more of that again. Sigh!

[majorsal]

I have a question. How many posts were lost here on the day Gateworld crashed? Wasn't it on Tuesday? I want to know what we/ME missed?

Sally

[majorsal]

Just had to brag:

Sam-centric ep makes Front page news at Gateworld:

I know! *smiles proudly for Sam and Amanda*


Sally

[majorsal]

I remember reading that story about her and RDA onstage the first time too and am still LOL ... she set the tone from the beginning and he seemed to respect that.

IF I'm remembering right, the 'babe' line wasn't when they were first auditioning together on stage. I 'think' it was in one of their first eps they'd filmed together, and Rick turned to Amanda and asked her how this or that was and then called her Babe. After she replied about calling him 'Dick' *snicker*, I believe he laughed. I think she said that's when she knew he would be cool to work with.

Sally

[majorsal]

Re: the Fragile Balance flyboy scene...when I saw that, I always imagined one of two followup scenes: one is simply later during the same briefing when one of the pilots asks a dumb question, the other is during an actual combat flight training, where one of them makes a stupid mistake and gets taken "out," and O'Neill says "See, if you'd been paying attention during Major Carter's 302 tech briefing, you wouldn't look like such an idiot right now."

I wasn't that bothered by that scene until I read so many others being so. I didn't really see them dissing Sam, just questioning why a 'the' pilot wasn't giving them the lowdown on the plane. I do see what ppl are saying, though, but I thought Sam was handling it well enough by not making a big deal of it. But let's say that MiniJack didn't come into the picture right then, and Sam had to continue the lecture AND the comments from the pilots... how do you think she would have handled it? I think, and this is trying to go with how I think Sam's written; I think she might have said, "Gentlemen, Colonel O'Neill is unavailable at this time. *I*, on the other hand, am available, so I'm it." I could see her giving them the 'continue to question me and I'll write you up' look.

What do you guys think would have happened if MiniJack wouldn't have arrived?

Sally

[ChopinGal]

I can so relate to you on this. I see a little of myself in Sam when she goes on a littttle longer than necessary in explaining things. I sometimes have to catch myself and think " Ok, time to lighten up a little; maybe this isn't as important or fascinating to others as it is to me." Since I'm a professor, being long-winded is almost a job requirement, but the glazed eyes and slack jaws are usually a sign that it's time to move on. And, since I don't have a Jack to cut me off, I have to rely on self censorship. Not nearly as much fun.

NC

Amen, sistah! I'm still LOL ... yes, there are times in the classroom when I can see that my enthusiasm and lecture are going on way too long from the MEGO effect on the students ... MEGO? aka My Eyes Glaze Over! Jack seems to suffer the same effect when Carter gets too carried away with her theorems.

[Coley]

Darn it - I just pressed some key and my whole (long) post just disapeared!!!
I'll try again!!

Thanks to everyone for all the response to my Hathor post. As usual you all have very interesting takes and I'm seeing more in the round - cheers!!

Nearly circular I agree with your first response (mmm dare I admit I don't know how to cut and paste your comment in!!) Love your sig too - one of my fave Sam moments - and there were quite a few others in that ep'

Deepspace - thanks for your first response too (and others)

Skydiver - LOL!!! I'm an Accountant in the Highway Consultancy Section within the Local Authority - so Snap! Most of our Engineers are male, over 40 - old school and think they don't need to be advised about anything - even Accounting - until they do something illegal - like flying in the face of accounting standards - or ignoring standing orders (My hair has stood on end on a number of occasions). They seem determined to prove they don't need any financial advice - after all they are Engineers - I mustn't be that intelligent - or I'd be an Engineer too - right - so this financial lark can't be that specialised - and to be told how or what to do by a woman - women should be in the kitchen - not telling them how to do their job!?!
I've been there 3 years and only made slow progress. For the most part I find it amusing - though it does wear you down a little! I never want to be one of the engineer guys though - that ego thing is such a heavy load to bear!! LOL. It has to be said they do tend to treat each other in the same way too!!

I guess what I was also trying to hint at in my post - and failed - is that not all chaps necessarily want to treat a female differently. My male sporty/outdoor friends have a dig at my gender and things I do sometimes - but that is normal jibing and we all take the p out of each other - their egos provide me with much more p taking fodder than I provide them. In the most part they think its cool to have a girl that likes all the outdoor stuff - and they can show off in front of - which usually prompts a p take from me - in a nice way of course.

In my oldish age I have tended to accept that a lot of how men treat women is down to basic instincts from when we all lived in Caves - and they just can't help themselves. The worrying thing is that I don't think the male psyche had evolved as much as the female and I have a strong suspicion that up hear in the north they are actually regressing - LOL.

I can remember Amanda saying how the 3 chaps react when a female guest star comes on - *puff and ruffle* Amanda and Teryl used to call it - they all stand up straight and stick their chests out - go and make a fuss of them and offer their coats and concern when its cold - Amanda and Teryl used to get ignored when a female guest star came on. Yep basic instincts at work!! - Not that we women don't display our basic instincts too!!

MajorSam - Congrats on your promo!!!!!! Thanks for the Amanda quip to Rick - he asked for it!!

Starfurry - love your comments re the warrior - I loved that moment too. Yes we have to remeber the writers have provided much more positive Sam stuff than negative

Astrogeologist - as always you write things so much better than myself - thankyou!!!