Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[ForeverSg1]

Ok...here's my first stab at the new game

Rename That Episode - "Sight Unseen"

"Now you see 'em...now you don't"

[ChopinGal]

I gotta agree with what you say about peter and rob. maybe, and i'm just guessing here, i've never really met either of these guys, but maybe the 'issue' is that when they write sam, they get hung up on writing this female and they write her how they'd LIKE her to be. in other words, maybe peter's dream woman is forgiving when he keeps leaving the seat up or when he calls her at work 10 times a day or things like that.

however, while that view of sam as a rather bideable, malleable person just isn't who we've seen on the screen. Sam on the show is a rather self possessed person, so doesn't seem to like to take crud from anyone. (how many times have we seen her glaring at Jack when he's being annoying? rank doesn't allow her to say anything, but she certainly speaks volumes with her eyes)

I guess what i'm trying to say, while the boys can write soldier/scientist sam, when it comes to personal sam, their interpretation of a woman isn't quite what we've seen, so they write her like she's got a massive concussion or something.

they seem to concentrate so much on writing the woman that they forget to write the character

like the kiss at the end of affinity. yeah, cool filmmaking and a nice predictible shot to end the show with....but Sam????? the commander of the mission???? she's gonna snog Pete with her whole crew looking on?
yeah, i don't think so. Sam would cringe at the next two week's worth of 'i saw carter giving the cop a tonsilectomy'

they sacrificed the character for the sake of the shot....which has been happening a lot lately and has certainly opened amanda up for some unearned criticism largely because it's not Sam doing this...it's sam being the victim of some guy's opinion of how she should act.

the actors know the characters better than the directors and it shows when the directors don't listen

Great post, Sky! And I think you're on to something here ....

[ChopinGal]

I second the vote for Brief Candle
...and then I lay down the challenge for such folks as MajorSal, ChopinGal, Skydiver, Coley, etc, to the game created by MajorSal and named by ForeverSG1 'Rename That Episode' - come up with an 'alternate' title... something that still fits the content of the show... but something more...fun... (something like MajorSal's 'Snaked Again, Dammit!' for Nightwalkers )

Okay, I'll play your silly game ... but, are we allowed to just put a caption to the scene in the photo or do we have to rename the entire episode? And what about Naomi?!

[ChopinGal]

... the reprocussions of a perfect, flawless character (i.e., how BORING is that?!??)

I've given a little bit of thought to this as well as something that's been bothering me about Atlantis. More specifically, Elizabeth Weir and what my problem is with her (as opposed to the first Elizabeth Weir, who I thought was great). My problem with Weir is quite frankly, she isn't Sam - she doesn't emote like Sam, she doesn't have a sense of humor like Sam and she doesn't seem to have the depth of Sam.

Let's take for example one of my favorite Sam eps "Singularity" and use it as a case study on the Sam Carter character.

... This was a superb bit of work both for the actress as we see her emotional range and the character because we get to see a side of her we don't normally get to see... we know that she has a strong maternal instinct and a soft, compassionate side in addition to being the scientist/soldier.

We don't get to see her as a soldier in this episode (no butt kicking) but that's okay because we learn more about her character (we already know she can wipe the floor with the bad guys).

With Weir, I haven't seen much emoting at all... I wish she were more like Sam - a commanding presence with a softer side...

You're right ... Sam Carter is a three-dimensional character ... AT has the talent to go deep and reveal the many faces of Sam.

Thanks for such a great synopsis of Singularity - this episode really did get to showcase Amanda's tremendous acting range. I'll repeat again: she's one of a few good actors who can run the range of emotions from A to Z.

I do not watch Atlantis regularly; however, the episodes I've seen do seem to back up your observation that the new Dr. Weir appears to be less three dimensional than the character of Sam. The S1 scripts and the directors may be telling her to portray the character in that manner ... that may be a topic of discussion on another thread ... it could be that the actor needs to get comfortable with the character first in order to go deeper into what makes her tick. However, because of how she's acting, I find myself not as interested as I am in watching what happens to Sam.

To Amanda's credit, she managed to reach that point sometime early in Seasons 1 and 2 and really made Sam Carter come alive. The vulnerabilities and conflicts she feels (as you show in Singularity synopsis) add to the richness of the character.

Isn't there a saying about "growing into the role"?

[jckfan55]

I guess what i'm trying to say, while the boys can write soldier/scientist sam, when it comes to personal sam, their interpretation of a woman isn't quite what we've seen, so they write her like she's got a massive concussion or something.

Yes, it does seem like they do best in the action episodes. Love the concussion comment.

[Uber]

Ok...here's my first stab at the new game

Rename That Episode - "Sight Unseen"

"Now you see 'em...now you don't"

How about for "Beneath the Surface"...

..."Buried Alive"

[jckfan55]

How about for "Beneath the Surface"...

..."Buried Alive"

How about: "Take this job and shove it"

[astrogeologist]

Okay, I'll play your silly game ... but, are we allowed to just put a caption to the scene in the photo or do we have to rename the entire episode? And what about Naomi?!

Just a caption is great! Or an episode re-title... either!

[ForeverSg1]

Unfortunately my internet connection is really bad tonight so I'm not sure
if this will even make it through or I'll be on later. But I've been
working on some season 6 renames for our game.

Rename the Episode
The Other Guys
"Hey look...it's tweedle dee and tweedle dum"

Allegiance
"I know you are...but what am I?"

Unnatural Selection
"I can't get you outta my head"

Metamorphis
"My kingdom for a sponge." *cringe*


I know they are silly but I think I was in an O'Neill frame of mine
tonight... nothing but sarcastic humour. *LOL*

ForeverSG1

[MajorSam]

"Rename that episode"

How about, "Let's establish our show's token sex-appeal" for Emancipation

(Ok, some might find an *ahem* pattern, in the next few ones, I will refrain myself from adding SEVERAL other eps involving a certain Colonel/General for I am biased in my opinions regarding him...)

For Entity: "Why am I the one who always gets the alien suckers?"

Emancapation again: "Freaky evil dude in love with me..."

FirstCommandement: "Oh no, my ex is dead! "

Enigma: "Random alien guy in love with me..."

TBFTGOF: "AU Sam's husband dead "

Message in a Bottle: Random young dude in love with me...

Tokra part one: "Random Alien Guy in love with me..."

Tokra part two: "Random alien guy still in love with me..."

Out of Mind: "Naked for CO. Not good..." (couldn't resist that one!)

Point of View: AU me's Husband dead

Jolinar's memories/Devil you know: "Freaky evil dude in love with me...is dead "

Pretense: Random guy in love with me shows up again.

Divide in Conquer: Random guy in love with me taken over by evil and dies

2010: Married to random guy in love with me. I die!

Double Jeapordy: Two O'Neills.... hm... (coudln't resist again!)

Ascension: Random guy in love with me. Dies

Between Two Fires: Random guy in love with me pops up again. Dies! (Am starting to see pattern)

2001: meet random guy, who might possibly be in love with me...possibly dies! Damn.

48 Hours: Arrogant scientist attracted to me. Calls me dumb blonde :|

Last Stand: Random guy in love with me NOT dead! No, wait, dies again...

Redemption one and two: Arrogant scientist guy still attracted to me...

The Other Guys: Random scientist possibly in love with me...

Unnateral Selection: Evil random guy possibly in love with me...is caught in crazy time bubble

Smoke and Mirrors: Slight suspicion of feelings from NID man...

Forsaken: Random evil guy in love with me...put in jail, hm, yup, pattern...

Space Race: Random trash guy wants to get with me...almost dies

Avenger 2.0: Random scientest in love with me back. Wonder if he will die...

Chimera: Set-up guy in love with me...

Resurrection: NID Random Guy asks me out...

New Order: Random evil guy definately in love with me...

Affinity: Set-up guy proposes he IS a risk taker...

Gemini: Random Evil guy in love with me pops back. Dies! Why am I still suprised

Spoiler Threads:

Spoiler:

Set-up guy about to marry me. But gets DUMPED! Probably for his own good...

I hope I covered most of them... I'm sure there were more in there somewhere...! But i'm sure you intelligent people got the gist of it *Sarcasm drips from voice*

[NearlyCircular]

I've given a little bit of thought to this as well as something that's been bothering me about Atlantis. More specifically, Elizabeth Weir and what my problem is with her (as opposed to the first Elizabeth Weir, who I thought was great). My problem with Weir is quite frankly, she isn't Sam - she doesn't emote like Sam, she doesn't have a sense of humor like Sam and she doesn't seem to have the depth of Sam.

It's probably off topic for me to talk about Weir in this thread, but it's hard to avoid comparing her to the other lead female in the Stargate world, Samantha Carter, and she does come up short. I think most of the problem is once again, the way she's been written. I really didn't know what to expect when the show started, but I guess I thought she'd play more of an active role. I read an interview with Torri saying that she often only puts in a couple of days a week. It makes sense in a way, since she's playing Hammond's role, heading up Atlantis, but not going on missions. I'd like to see the writers give her a chance to show what she can do. Give her some funny lines, give her some angst, make us care about her! The writers made us feel involved with all 4 members of SG1 from the first few episodes, and I don't think they've done that with Weir. The last few episodes have made me hope that will change, and maybe the rest of the season will convince me.

NC

[Agent_Dark]

"Rename that episode"

How about, "Let's establish our show's token sex-appeal" for Emancipation

(Ok, some might find an *ahem* pattern, in the next few ones, I will refrain myself from adding SEVERAL other eps involving a certain Colonel/General for I am biased in my opinions regarding him...)

For Entity: "Why am I the one who always gets the alien suckers?"

Emancapation again: "Freaky evil dude in love with me..."

FirstCommandement: "Oh no, my ex is dead! "

Enigma: "Random alien guy in love with me..."

TBFTGOF: "AU Sam's husband dead "

Message in a Bottle: Random young dude in love with me...

Tokra part one: "Random Alien Guy in love with me..."

Tokra part two: "Random alien guy still in love with me..."

Out of Mind: "Naked for CO. Not good..." (couldn't resist that one!)

Point of View: AU me's Husband dead

Jolinar's memories/Devil you know: "Freaky evil dude in love with me...is dead "

Pretense: Random guy in love with me shows up again.

Divide in Conquer: Random guy in love with me taken over by evil and dies

2010: Married to random guy in love with me. I die!

Double Jeapordy: Two O'Neills.... hm... (coudln't resist again!)

Ascension: Random guy in love with me. Dies

Between Two Fires: Random guy in love with me pops up again. Dies! (Am starting to see pattern)

2001: meet random guy, who might possibly be in love with me...possibly dies!

48 Hours: Arrogant scientist attracted to me. Calls me dumb blonde :|

Last Stand: Random guy in love with me NOT dead! No, wait, dies again...

Redemption one and two: Arrogant scientist guy still attracted to me...

The Other Guys: Random scientist possibly in love with me...

Unnateral Selection: Evil random guy possibly in love with me...is caught in crazy time bubble

Smoke and Mirrors: Slight suspicion of feelings from NID man...

Forsaken: Random evil guy in love with me...put in jail, hm, yup, pattern...

Space Race: Random trash guy wants to get with me...almost dies

Avenger 2.0: Random scientest in love with me back. Wonder if he will die...

Chimera: Set-up guy in love with me...

Resurrection: NID Random Guy asks me out...

New Order: Random evil guy definately in love with me...

Affinity: Set-up guy proposes he IS a risk taker...

Gemini: Random Evil guy in love with me pops back. Dies! Why am I still suprised

Spoiler Threads:

Spoiler:

Set-up guy about to marry me. But gets DUMPED! Probably for his own good...

I hope I covered most of them... I'm sure there were more in there somewhere...! But i'm sure you intelligent people got the gist of it

ROFL Major

[jckfan55]

The writers made us feel involved with all 4 members of SG1 from the first few episodes, and I don't think they've done that with Weir.

NC

Of course, *I* feel that way about Atlantis generally. Fairly interesting stories, but I don't feel much connection to the characters yet. I think it may be the combination of (mostly) good writing and a talented cast for SG1. It has to be hard to repeat that. In one of the behind the scenes things on the DVDs I remember, I think, MS saying, he, AT and CJ all sort of bonded with each other personally from the time of the auditions. That may have made for a special chemistry too, that you can't write.
shrugs.

[jckfan55]

Name that ep:
Legacy--"I see dead Gou'aulds"

[MajorSam]

In one of the behind the scenes things on the DVDs I remember, I think, MS saying, he, AT and CJ all sort of bonded with each other personally from the time of the auditions. That may have made for a special chemistry too, that you can't write.
shrugs.

Yup, all three of them have said that before. In the auditions they just gravitated towards each other, spent the whole time hanging out together, supporting each other, wishing luck, etc. When they all showed up on set for the first day they were like You guys all go it to!? Now that's fate!

Definately was fate. Chemistry is a cherishable thing, which can't be written, acted, forced. I asked Amanda about it, and she definately stressed the importance of it. It's what makes them all want to go to work every day, and gets them through the sometimes ridiculous long days!!

I hope Atlantis becomes like this as well. I know on set they are definately bonding, (with the Sg-1 people as well!) So I hope in season two we'll start seeing their chemistry's coming out!