Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[astrogeologist]

NAME THAT EP and SCENE!

By the way, are these presenting a challenge to ANYBODY?!???

Apparently they are only stumping me (quite consistently too). I love pics, but there are a lot of episodes that I have only seen once... and I apparently didn't pay as much attention as a lot of other folks! I have been absolutely blown away by how folks are able to nail the episode and the actual scene and dialogue (I have to look all that up).

Oh, and I'll guess (even though I'll be wrong ):

Spoiler:

Out of Mind?

[majorsal]

Yeah...overall Stargate is a pretty safe show to watch with kids of all ages.
There are some episodes that I just won't allow my four year old to watch.
Not because there is alot of blood or people dying, but simply because there is just too much action going on and she gets overwhelmed by it. I learned early on that children pick up on things even when we don't think they are even paying attention.

Lockdown

Spoiler:

One example...Friday night I was watching Lockdown and my daughter walked in playing with one of her dolls. During the scene where Anubis takes over Sam's body and zats the guard in the corridor, my daughter started pacing back in forth in front of the television. Then when Jack zatted Sam she just stared at the tv and kept asking questions...

"Mommy is Carter good or bad?"
"Mommy why did Jack shoot Carter? Doesn't he like her anymore?"
"Mommy is Carter dead or sleeping?
Is she sleeping? Mommy is Carter sleeping?"

She refuses to watch any episode with a Gou'ald in it. She's frightened by the glowing eyes and strange voices. She always asks before an episode if there are any bad guys in it. Luckily there are lots of episodes to choose from and we can avoid the heavier episodes.

Kat

my mom, dad, and myself were afraid of letting my mentally disabled brother watch that ep. whenever he sees a man hitting a woman, he starts asking questions like 'why is he doing that?!', and then can start acting out his frustration by screaming. autistic children are *very* affected by things, and my brother is especially affected by violence against women. maybe because a woman is more apt to vocalize her pain and fear (screaming and crying) than a man? anyways, i can relate to your sweet daughter for being worried about sam. they just don't understand it's pretend, and then they don't understand why someone would pretend something like that. how do you explain it to them, you know?

sally

[Uber]

Apparently they are only stumping me (quite consistently too). I love pics, but there are a lot of episodes that I have only seen once... and I apparently didn't pay as much attention as a lot of other folks! I have been absolutely blown away by how folks are able to nail the episode and the actual scene and dialogue (I have to look all that up).

Oh, and I'll guess (even though I'll be wrong ):

Spoiler:

Out of Mind?

Very close! So close in fact that one might say that it was actually PART of that same 2 PART episode...

Well it looks like the last pic I added (which NO ONE has gotten yet btw) will be the last for the evening for me...

One of my clients is having me move one of his websites to a whole new server so that's all that'll be uploading this evening!

So hopefully the last picture I posted here will present enough of a challenge for you all. (that is, if you actually care about the NAME THAT EP! game as much as I hope you all do... )

[astrogeologist]

Wow! It took a long time to catch up, reading such a wonderful and thoughtful discussion of Sam!!!

I wholeheartedly agree with Skydiver's sentiments above. One thing that is very clear from the thoughtful posts here and at some other forums, a very substantial number of fans really care about the character of Sam. Sam and AT are immensely popular. This is true whether one thinks the writers have made some major mistakes over the past two seasons, whether one thinks they have made mistakes and are mildy bothered, or whether one has actually enjoyed the storylines for Sam in the last two seasons. (And regardless of where one stands on this, AT has had the opportunity to show off her incredible acting range in the last two seasons, particularly compared to Seasons 5 and 6).

For me, AstroG's comments hit home----there hasn't been a balance for Sam in the last two seasons between Sam's exploration into some less travelled parts of her psyche and the Sam's kickass military scientist persona we all love. I did not mind the personal exploration actually, but this could have been balanced with Sam actually LEADING in season eight as well. And also as AstroG pointed out, the last two seasons lacked the balance between Sam's explorations and role in the scifi end of the show, compared to the three male leads. A great point.

But I still think there continues to be a double standard in how we perceive the female lead and the three male leads. The male characters get away with alot more (in terms of having feelings/relationships, making mistakes, their lack of feelings as well etc) than Sam, in my opinion. And if Sam seems at all "too feminine", she is accused of being "too girly." I have to admit, I hate that expression, as if girly is a derogatory word. But I digress.

My least favorite moments for Sam (I think I only have four, whereas I have countless favorite moments )

1) Fragile Balance---please, no way would the pilots be at all disrespectful to Major Carter---that was just poor writing, in this case poor writing from a male writer point of view. These pilots would know how often she saved the day, how brilliant she is, and how much experience she has had offworld. They should have been in awe! Here, the writers forgot to heed AT's words--just write my character as a person, not a female.

2) Chimera--- crazy how she dealt with Pete's childish behavior---why oh why didn't they pick a boyfriend that made sense to the scifi aspect of the show!! Nice to see Sam being a little lighter, but because Pete was written so poorly to me, seeing this side of Sam was ruined. And I agree with others---did not need or want to see the bedroom scene. But the scenes between Daniel and Vala in Prometheus Unbound, mixing violence and sexual remarks, was way worse for me!!

3) Affinity---no way would Sam accept Pete's proposal while still doubting what was going on inside her, but also particularly not at a stakeout, as AT also protested.

4) Lost City I and II, Affinity, and Threads--- I got quite tired of Sam trying to talk with Jack about her feelings---Sam looks worse than the male lead and again this was written from a male biased point of view. I do think Jack has feelings for her as expressed in Threads later, but why is she the one that has to look awkward and insecure. AHHHHHHHHH

There were remedies though to some of these---telling Pete it won't work out BEFORE she knew that Kerry broke it off with Jack---and interaction between Sam and Jack that was not awkward, such as their interaction concerning her father, the fishing scene, and really the whole beginning of Meobius as well.

Season nine provides a beautiful opportunity to bring Carter back into balance. No pete, a chance for more natural interaction with Jack if RDA makes guest appearance later in the season, a mission far far away for professional reasons, and a large fan base that posts their heartfelt sentiments about the development of Carter's character as it is so far, and where it should go. Woohoo!!

What a five-star post, chocdoc! I agree with your 'least favorite' Sam moments wholeheartedly and I am impressed by how cleanly and succinctly you expressed things. I completely agree with your last 'least favorite' - I too was tired of seeing them writing Sam as trying to go to Jack... and having it fail... the word pathetic keeps coming into my mind and I hate thinking of that while watching Sam scenes .

Also love your last paragraph - 'Season Nine provides a beautiful opportunity to bring Carter into balance'

And to touch back on something that I mentioned earlier - I still marvel at how we are having such a great discussion on this thread and we are doing it without tearing down the other characters (this is not what I've seen on other threads or websites). On this thread, folks are expressing constructive criticisms and critical evaluations as well as hopes and suggestions for the future development of the character of Sam Carter -- and doing it without being nasty or degrading about the other show leads. Very impressive, and I think it's a tribute to both the character of Sam Carter and that of Amanda Tapping.

[Uber]

I'd put money on that being a 6.

I was thinking more of a 2.

*ÜberSG-1Fan ducks tomato lobbed by AstroG*

[Carterslave]

Hey, it worked on me...it was a good show and I got to know the characters a bit better...

Oh, I quite agree. It was the episode that got me hooked on SG:A. (Damn those crafty PTB!) But the much-ballyhooed Amanda guest spot was rather a bait-and-switch gambit.

As for Carter being pushed up against a wall and Getting Busy, yes, that's awfully racy for SG-1—if not quite as kinky as Daniel fathering symbiotes in Hathor. Mind you, it wouldn't bother me if Sam were Doing It with Martouf or Jack (or—best of all—with Janet) ... anybody but the emetic Pete. Only seeing Pete drawn & quartered by RepliCarter will satiate my bloodlust.

[astrogeologist]

AT likes the idea of Sam riding motorcycles... and didn't we have a quoted (or linked to) post where she said that she'd jumped out of plane (parachuted) before she'd completely read all of the things that she's 'not supposed to do' because of the insurance coverage?

I don't remember seeing this? Details?

I think it was in that Australian convention interview/transcript? Hmmm... goes off muttering to self and searching through bookmarks... nope, apparently didn't bookmark it.. but I think I remember the base website... goes to find that... mhmmm... and now...interview... Amanda Tapping... woohoo.. got it!

AT at Australian Convention

Excerpt:

Audience member: (question hard to hear, but has something to do with motorcycle riding)

Amanda: Wouldn't that be fabulous? It so funny, they have this insurance policy, so... at the beginning of every year, you go for your cast medical, and you have to sign off saying you won't ride motorcycles, you won't, ah, jump out of planes - and it's very funny because the first year I had jumped out of a plane, and so I saw that and went, "okay, I guess I won't be doing that anymore" - and you have to say if you're gonna ski, you have to say... it's just insane cos they have to insure you right, cos if you break something or, God forbid, even worse the insurance policy goes through the roof, so they're really strict.

So when I got the Indian motorcycle for that one scene with the classic bike - and they originally had me digging in my garden... they said 'we need to see Sam doing something (a bit hard to understand) that's her own thing so we thought we'd have you digging in your garden. I said 'this woman spends half her time off-world, she doesn't have garden. She has, like, one dead basil plant in her kitchen window, and that's it. So I said 'can't she do something cool like fix a bike?' And they were like 'oh, okay'. And I said 'a classic bike'. And the props guys were like 'well, oh, I don't know'. And I said 'a classic Harley or Indian, that would be cool!' And they found this 1940 classic Indian motorcycle, so that's where it started. But I wasn't allowed to sit on it.

Much laughter.

Amanda: So I don't know that we'll ever see her take... yeah... but maybe Amanda will, on the last day. (makes motorcycle rev noise )

Interview Index website

Also, I keep trying to give you jello, but I keeping being told I need to "spread it around." Grrrrr... Never before have I had the urge to start random jello fights, but, by golly, it's becoming a daily occurrence. Thanks for posting all the season summaries!

ROTFLMAO at 'Never before have I had the urge to start random jello fights, but, by golly, it's becoming a daily occurrence.'

[NearlyCircular]

In case you missed it, David made a bunch of new avatars available. Check out the miscellaneous section for some interesting ones.

NC

[astrogeologist]

Very close! So close in fact that one might say that it was actually PART of that same 2 PART episode...

Well it looks like the last pic I added (which NO ONE has gotten yet btw) will be the last for the evening for me...

One of my clients is having me move one of his websites to a whole new server so that's all that'll be uploading this evening!

So hopefully the last picture I posted here will present enough of a challenge for you all. (that is, if you actually care about the NAME THAT EP! game as much as I hope you all do... )

I care! I'm just nor very good at it...lol... of course, I like to play Trivial Pursuit, too... and I usually get severely whumped! And I love the pics even when I don't know which episode they are from

[Agent_Dark]

In case you missed it, David made a bunch of new avatars available. Check out the miscellaneous section for some interesting ones.

NC

Oi, we both chose the same AV lol
*goes to change it to the other RepliCarter one

[astrogeologist]

I was thinking more of a 2.

*ÜberSG-1Fan ducks tomato lobbed by AstroG*

Huh? Astrog lost that 'thread'.... goes off to figure out what the reference was to...

[Strix varia]

I think it was in that Australian convention interview/transcript? Hmmm... goes off muttering to self and searching through bookmarks... nope, apparently didn't bookmark it.. but I think I remember the base website... goes to find that... mhmmm... and now...interview... Amanda Tapping... woohoo.. got it!

AT at Australian Convention

Thanks!

[NearlyCircular]

Oi, we both chose the same AV lol
*goes to change it to the other RepliCarter one

Ahh, I see that you've got access to one that I don't.

NC

[Strix varia]

Huh? Astrog lost that 'thread'.... goes off to figure out what the reference was to...

Dadgumit... I deleted it, but apparently not quickly enough. It was potentially inappropriate speculation about your age...
Sorry...

[majorsal]

spoilers for s7 and s8

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For me, AstroG's comments hit home----there hasn't been a balance for Sam in the last two seasons between Sam's exploration into some less travelled parts of her psyche and the Sam's kickass military scientist persona we all love. I did not mind the personal exploration actually, but this could have been balanced with Sam actually LEADING in season eight as well. And also as AstroG pointed out, the last two seasons lacked the balance between Sam's explorations and role in the scifi end of the show, compared to the three male leads. A great point.

i totally agree that sam-as-the-commander-of-sg1 *really* needed to be fleshed out more. i was jumping up and down literally in 'it's good to be king' with sam leading sg1. not that i wasn't happy that jack came along later, but... i still liked seeing sam 'in charge' without having to defer to someone of higher rank.

2) Chimera---crazy how she dealt with Pete's childish behavior---why oh why didn't they pick a boyfriend that made sense to the scifi aspect of the show!! Nice to see Sam being a little lighter, but because Pete was written so poorly to me, seeing this side of Sam was ruined. And I agree with others---did not need or want to see the bedroom scene. But the scenes between Daniel and Vala in Prometheus Unbound, mixing violence and sexual remarks, was way worse for me!!

i agree. i wasn't offended (i'm not easily), but it did make me a bit uncomfortable. it actually brought out a weird reaction in me because i wanted daniel to beat her up. i don't usually want a man to hit a woman, but vala was so obvious. i didn't like that episode. it felt off to me in many ways (putting aside that sam wasn't even in it).

3) Affinity---no way would Sam accept Pete's proposal while still doubting what was going on inside her, but also particularly not at a stakeout, as AT also protested.

i like the way you put that.


sally