Whats your opinions on Carter's tenure as Atlantis team leader?

[kayone]

This is really a season 4 specific topic, but in general what do fans think about Sam Carter's job as Atlantis leader during the majority of season 4. She seemed kind of secondary in most of the eps and more of a character in the background than a main cast member IMHO, and I dont know if that was because she was intentionally written that way as not to overshadow the Atlantis main characters, because she was getting tired of the SG Franchise after doing it more than a decade, or because her contract downplayed her role in SG:A even with main cast and opening title credits. In a way kind of reminded me of RDA's 'phoned in' performance in SG-1 during season 8.

[Infinite-Possibilities]

I believe it was both ill conceived and improperly executed. She never really fit into the role well at all in my opinion. Between Woolsey and Weir she was definitely my least favorite. She didn't really seem to do anything. Especially since we are supposed to know she could. I think probably because she was an already established character trying to be forced into a roll that didn't suit her. Whereas the other two might not have been introduced first for the role, but are able to be developed more on the show. We came to know both Elizabeth and Mr. Woolsey most during their tenure on Atlantis and that cemented their positions as leaders of the team in my mind.

With that said , I think there was still a certain amount of potential in the idea. I do kinda like Amanda Tapping and Every so often I thought there were some decent scenes with Sam. I did kind of like her friendship with Shepard. If I somehow had the ability to rewrite Season 4 I probably would have left her in there, but tried to figure out a way to have situations that make better use of her more. Preferably something that showed her doing "leadershipy things" or overcoming unexpected adversity because i don't think the show really had enough of that. Maybe then she would have connected with the rest of the cast of characters better, because while I never thought it was "bad," I thought she the least overall chemistry all of the rest of the cast.

[Osiristi]

I think it was a good start. She was getting more... Carter-y towards the end of the season, but her tenure was abruptly cut by the Sanctuary pick-up decision... I believe Carter would've been a great commander for the fifth season, though I liked Woolsey a lot as well.

[Saquist]

I think she was good...nothing special...I think the best part of her tenure was bringing Teal'c and Ronnen together....

[boxeddreams]

Season 4 probably is my favourite season because of Carter being there, but that said she was really under utilised as a character. I've read that they couldn't have her really being Carter-y as McKay was there for that and Amanda's said somewhere that Carters leadership style is laid back. Even so she could have been shown to be doing more leadership things. There was one episode where people were reporting everything to Teyla - I'd like to know where Carter was for that as she wasn't on the offworld mission.

[kayone]

I think it was a good start. She was getting more... Carter-y towards the end of the season, but her tenure was abruptly cut by the Sanctuary pick-up decision... I believe Carter would've been a great commander for the fifth season, though I liked Woolsey a lot as well.

Ah so her departure from SGA coincided with season 1 of Sanctuary, makes sense. I never watched that show until season 2 was over, so I couldnt figure out why she had long brown hair in SG:U

[majorsal]

This is really a season 4 specific topic, but in general what do fans think about Sam Carter's job as Atlantis leader during the majority of season 4. She seemed kind of secondary in most of the eps and more of a character in the background than a main cast member IMHO, and I dont know if that was because she was intentionally written that way as not to overshadow the Atlantis main characters, because she was getting tired of the SG Franchise after doing it more than a decade, or because her contract downplayed her role in SG:A even with main cast and opening title credits. In a way kind of reminded me of RDA's 'phoned in' performance in SG-1 during season 8.

i felt (and it was basically confirmed) that sam's role was downplayed, to not take away from the other characters (and cast to me).

[Pharaoh Atem]

second best leader atlantis ever had

[Saquist]

You know I too actually liked Woolsey better than Carter. I could never get the carter out of my head as the tech genius. Now I can easily see her in command of the George Hammond. She's kinda like Spock getting her own command. But in charge of the city....frankly I'm glad it was temporary.

[Beka]

My favourite leader was Woolsey and then Weir. Carter didn't really work in my opinion. She seemed out of place in Atlantis.

[llp]

There are several facts that need to be mentioned. First, of all the SG1 actors, Amanda was the only one that had signed a two-year contract. And then SG1 was ended.
Second, she agreed to do SGA because they offered her a deal that only had her act in about 14 episodes and less hours. It gave her more time with her family. And third they offered her a new contract for year five that was actually a full contract again, but at the same time she was being told she needed to put her time into Sanctuary if they ever wanted it to go. Sanctuary was her baby and she had to (sadly) turn down the new contract in order to get Sanctuary up and running. A very wise decision it turns out.

None of this is from my own imagination. All of this is info I have gotten from interview she has given over the last several years. And personally, I thought she was great in Atlantis and would have loved her to remain in the show. However, I am glad she decided to go to Sanctuary because it's a great show.

[bluealien]

i felt (and it was basically confirmed) that sam's role was downplayed, to not take away from the other characters (and cast to me).

I remember the writers saying this... they didnt want to upsurge any of the other characters but I think it ended up with her role being a little inconsistant.... but overall I thought she did a great job... and she was amazing in Search and Rescue and showed true leadership skills which imo Weir somtimes lacked.... I would have liked her to have remained in season five and think she had the potential to be the best leader of Atlantis... she had a great rapport with Sheppard especially with them both being military...

[Snowman37]

She seemed kind of secondary in most of the eps and more of a character in the background than a main cast member IMHO, and I dont know if that was because she was intentionally written that way as not to overshadow the Atlantis main characters, because she was getting tired of the SG Franchise after doing it more than a decade, or because her contract downplayed her role in SG:A even with main cast and opening title credits. In a way kind of reminded me of RDA's 'phoned in' performance in SG-1 during season 8.

Amanda Tapping was willing to return for an 11th season of SG-1, but when the show was cancelled; it seemed she was ready to move on to something different. She didn't seem thrilled about moving over to Atlantis, but she didn't seem bothered by it either. Note that after the fourth season, she left to star in Sanctuary. To be honest, I think she wanted to get Sanctuary up and running after SG-1 ended. Moving to Atlantis meant that Sanctuary had to wait. I think it had more to do with wanting to play a new character than being bored with Carter. If she was bored with Carter, she wouldn't have returned for the Atlantis finale nor a recurring role on Universe.

As for Carter having a smaller role than Weir... I think the writers had a hard time writing Weir into every episode of earlier seasons. Come Season 4, they reduced the role of the expedition leader so they could focus more on the team.

[jelgate]

Amanda Tapping was willing to return for an 11th season of SG-1, but when the show was cancelled; it seemed she was ready to move on to something different. She didn't seem thrilled about moving over to Atlantis, but she didn't seem bothered by it either. Note that after the fourth season, she left to star in Sanctuary. To be honest, I think she wanted to get Sanctuary up and running after SG-1 ended. Moving to Atlantis meant that Sanctuary had to wait. I think it had more to do with wanting to play a new character than being bored with Carter. If she was bored with Carter, she wouldn't have returned for the Atlantis finale nor a recurring role on Universe.

As for Carter having a smaller role than Weir... I think the writers had a hard time writing Weir into every episode of earlier seasons. Come Season 4, they reduced the role of the expedition leader so they could focus more on the team.

Sanctuary wasn't even an option during S4 of SGA. At time it was just a web series. It wasn't until the end of Tapping's time on SGA that SyFy decidied to broadcast the show.

[kayone]

Sanctuary wasn't even an option during S4 of SGA. At time it was just a web series. It wasn't until the end of Tapping's time on SGA that SyFy decidied to broadcast the show.

You can never be sure of the exact behind-the-scenes production timeline vs what they say in the press release, but santuary season 1 webisodes was released 2007, SGA season 4 aired 2008 and so was the first televised season of Sanctuary, so presumably Amanda was working on BOTH series at the same time, then able to fully commit to Sanctuary season 3, then the occasional cameo in SG:U during this time.