Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[AGateFan]

Carters a GREAT CHARACTER.

[Agent_Dark]

Spoiler:

The sad thing is when any member of SG-1 is written poorly or out of character it really makes the entire team appear unbelievable. The writers end up writing all of them in a way that is not true to their character in order to achieve the ending they wish for the story. It's like Sam accepting Pete's proposal and kissing him while on a mission. We all know that was not something that Sam would have really done, but in order to end the episode the way the writers had intended and without costing any more money they were willing to jeapordize Sam's work ethic and integrity for the good of the story.

In Prometheus Unbound, Vala would never should have been able to disarm the entire crew so easily nor would Walter have been able to fly the ship or Hammond been so disrespected by fighting over who would have to give him mouth to mouth, but in order to make the comedy they wanted, they were willing to allow the characters to look badly.

The same can be said for Gemini. In order to push the Replicator/RC arc along, they were willing to allow Sam, Teal'c and Jack to behave completely out of character.

And now they are doing the same thing with Mitchell and the other members of SG-1. Sam and Daniel supposedly allowed Mitchell to go up on the ship alone under the pretense that if someone did not stay behind to hold off the Jaffa they would all have been stuck on the Gou'ald ship. Unfortunately, I just don't believe this reasoning...wouldn't they have had a better chance at taking out the Jaffa on the ship if they had gone as a team? All of the other characters seemed to be minimalized simply to make Mitchell appear to be this great hero who would risk his life to save Teal'c, and yet we are just suppose to ignore the fact that Mitchell would probably be dead right now if it weren't for the fact that Sam and Daniel came to his rescue in the first place. And yet Daniel and Sam seemed totally accepting to Mitchell's behavior and Teal'c is now indebited to Mitchell for saving his life. I guess for me, I'm becoming highly discouraged because I find it rather pathetic that I'm spending my time trying to find things to like about each episode rather than truly enjoying them. Yes, Sam rocked in Stronghold, but as much as I enjoy Sam, that still doesn't make the rest of the episode any less of a disappointment. I've never expected to enjoy every episode of Stargate. I am fine with the idea that in every season there will be a few episodes that I may not completely enjoy, but in the past eight years there have always been more episodes that I've enjoyed each season than ones I disliked. With only six episodes left in season nine, I'm really beginning to worry that this will not be the case.

Kat

Yeah, I totally see where you're coming from
I guess I have just decided not to really expect that much from Stargate anymore. I mean I enjoy watching it and all but I just don't really hype myself up for compelling storytelling anymore. To be honest, I'm basically in it for Sam and Amanda. I enjoy watching the other characters of course but if Sam/Amanda weren't in it, I doubt I'd go out of my way to watch the episodes.
So when I come across large plotholes, poor characterisation, bad writing etc I just shrug it off and focus my attention on the Sam/Amanda eye candy I might ***** about it a bit on the forums, but come next ep I've probably forgotten all about it because I've found something new regarding Sam/Amanda to squee over I'm shallow like that (btw - can't wait for Off The Grid! )

After getting into shows like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, it's hard to come back to Stargate expecting great storylines and writing and characterisation. I mean, in the 15 episodes it aired, Firefly had more development of its characters than Stargate has in 9.5 seasons. And BSG totally blows Stargate out the water in pretty much every writing aspect.

As bad as it sounds, I aim low with Stargate now. I don't mean that in a 'Stargate is crap' way, just that I know it's not going to live up to Firefly or Battlestar. So I don't try to pretend otherwise And that means I can be pleasently surprised when a quality episode comes around

[Agent_Dark]

Carters a GREAT CHARACTER.

HELL YES!

[ChevronSeven]

i like sam's hair in this.


sally

I keep trying to get my hair dresser to cut my hair like this or the hairstyle from "Unnatural Selection."

[ChopinGal]

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR SAMANDANS
IT'S THE YEAR OF THE DOG!
PROSPER AND BE WELL

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11...CassieDawg.jpg

[Tracy Jane]

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR SAMANDANS
IT'S THE YEAR OF THE DOG!
PROSPER AND BE WELL

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11...CassieDawg.jpg

Thank you, Chopin. I love that image.

[ChopinGal]

OMG, I was just about to post the same thing! I've been humming ever since I saw the picture. So I'm not the only one old enough to remember that show.

Edited to add - for you youngsters Rawhide was a very old television western which would probably be long forgotten except for the theme song mentioned above and the fact that it starred a young Clint Eastwood.

NC

Psst, Royal Elder ... zip it! You're revealing the Samanda Repository of the Ancients!!

I once had a thang for Clint and wasn't he just fine as wine in Rawhide?! Now he's poster child for AARP ... and I'm a card-carrying member!

Jester

[minigeek]

Yeah, I totally see where you're coming from
I guess I have just decided not to really expect that much from Stargate anymore. I mean I enjoy watching it and all but I just don't really hype myself up for compelling storytelling anymore. To be honest, I'm basically in it for Sam and Amanda. I enjoy watching the other characters of course but if Sam/Amanda weren't in it, I doubt I'd go out of my way to watch the episodes.
So when I come across large plotholes, poor characterisation, bad writing etc I just shrug it off and focus my attention on the Sam/Amanda eye candy I might ***** about it a bit on the forums, but come next ep I've probably forgotten all about it because I've found something new regarding Sam/Amanda to squee over I'm shallow like that (btw - can't wait for Off The Grid! )

After getting into shows like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, it's hard to come back to Stargate expecting great storylines and writing and characterisation. I mean, in the 15 episodes it aired, Firefly had more development of its characters than Stargate has in 9.5 seasons. And BSG totally blows Stargate out the water in pretty much every writing aspect.

As bad as it sounds, I aim low with Stargate now. I don't mean that in a 'Stargate is crap' way, just that I know it's not going to live up to Firefly or Battlestar. So I don't try to pretend otherwise And that means I can be pleasently surprised when a quality episode comes around

AD, wow, you just put into words exactly the way I feel now too (well, except for the "eye candy" part, I just really like the Sam Carter character, wasted though she may be of late).

And it's so sad, isn't it? That the bar's so low? Every once in a while, I'll have an attack of conscience and just get really FED UP with the juvenile lack of true idea-sharing and storytelling that goes on on SG-1 (pathetic writing, whatever you want to call it), but then I tell myself not to expect more. Tell myself it's not going to get any more compelling so there's no use ragging about it.

I was watching BSG yesterday and thinking, gosh I wish there was a (dark, BSG style version of) "Sam Carter" on this show; it'd be just perfect then.

mini

[ChopinGal]

... I was watching BSG yesterday and thinking, gosh I wish there was a (dark, BSG style version of) "Sam Carter" on this show; it'd be just perfect then.

mini

Actually, I love the newest version of Six, as the radical peacenik activist in her green khaki uniform ... she actually reminded me of a dark Sam Carter!

Of course, the whole RepliCarter arc could have been taken forward ... with Sam and her evil twin meeting once again ... would the RepliCarter be redeemable or still able to wreak destruction?

Spoiler:

I'm so hoping that RC was beamed up by the trying-too-hard-but-my-heart's-in-the-right-place Oma as the replicator ship was destroyed ...

If I had to choose between slash-and-run evil Carter and whackamole Mitchell, my vote goes to RepliCarter! Yes, I know this is not a balanced analogy, 'cause Cam is a good guy. I'm talking about whom I'd like to get more screentime! I feel that AT just began to develop this fascinating alter ego and would continue to play it so well. IMHO. Do I know? I'm outside the respected demographic, carrying my AARP card and all ... as to screentime, form over content seems to be the more preferred prescription these days.

[jckfan55]

It's a spoiler pic from an un-aired episode There are people who try to keep clear of those type of things (not to mention part of GW's spoiler policy ).
MajorSam would rip your arms off if she stumbled across that!

Ha ha. I would rather not stumble across pics from unaired episodes either.

[Skydiver]

In my mind, this is no longer in question.

Well said. I think that a lot of the criticism of Carter's believability or efficacy as a commander has to do with implicit sexism. Carter talks and behaves, in general, differently from some of the more prominent male commanders. Her style of communication is, IMO, more 'feminine' (in the psychological sense), and most people tend to associate leadership with 'masculine' (and not feminine). In addition, Carter seems to be held to a higher standard: As best as I can discern, she's 'not very good' because she doesn't defeat the bad guys by the beginning of Act II. Or something.

Needless to say, I think Carter's great. Diversity of style is a good thing.

part of it is, well men and women tend to lead differently. just speaking in borad generalizations here but, men tend to lead by, well 'mine is bigger' syndrome. they lead by achieving the status of and maintaining the status of the Alpha Male. thorough acts of prowess or strength or skill htey prove that they are 'better' than the others, and thus the leader

while women, well they don't exactly have the means to compete in a 'mine is bigger' contest, so they tend to lead not by 'force' but by eliciting cooperation. no, i'm not suggesting that females use thier wiles to lead, but i'm saying that, well while jack would say 'daniel, do it' and have force and authority in his voice, sam's force and authority is often laced with 'come on, i need you to do this, so cooperate'

this difference often leads people to think that females lead by weakness, but they don't. they lead by getting their subordinates to cooperate wtih them

[jckfan55]

Spoiler:

The sad thing is when any member of SG-1 is written poorly or out of character it really makes the entire team appear unbelievable. The writers end up writing all of them in a way that is not true to their character in order to achieve the ending they wish for the story. It's like Sam accepting Pete's proposal and kissing him while on a mission. We all know that was not something that Sam would have really done, but in order to end the episode the way the writers had intended and without costing any more money they were willing to jeapordize Sam's work ethic and integrity for the good of the story.

In Prometheus Unbound, Vala would never should have been able to disarm the entire crew so easily nor would Walter have been able to fly the ship or Hammond been so disrespected by fighting over who would have to give him mouth to mouth, but in order to make the comedy they wanted, they were willing to allow the characters to look badly.

The same can be said for Gemini. In order to push the Replicator/RC arc along, they were willing to allow Sam, Teal'c and Jack to behave completely out of character.

And now they are doing the same thing with Mitchell and the other members of SG-1. Sam and Daniel supposedly allowed Mitchell to go up on the ship alone under the pretense that if someone did not stay behind to hold off the Jaffa they would all have been stuck on the Gou'ald ship. Unfortunately, I just don't believe this reasoning...wouldn't they have had a better chance at taking out the Jaffa on the ship if they had gone as a team? All of the other characters seemed to be minimalized simply to make Mitchell appear to be this great hero who would risk his life to save Teal'c, and yet we are just suppose to ignore the fact that Mitchell would probably be dead right now if it weren't for the fact that Sam and Daniel came to his rescue in the first place. And yet Daniel and Sam seemed totally accepting to Mitchell's behavior and Teal'c is now indebited to Mitchell for saving his life. I guess for me, I'm becoming highly discouraged because I find it rather pathetic that I'm spending my time trying to find things to like about each episode rather than truly enjoying them. Yes, Sam rocked in Stronghold, but as much as I enjoy Sam, that still doesn't make the rest of the episode any less of a disappointment. I've never expected to enjoy every episode of Stargate. I am fine with the idea that in every season there will be a few episodes that I may not completely enjoy, but in the past eight years there have always been more episodes that I've enjoyed each season than ones I disliked. With only six episodes left in season nine, I'm really beginning to worry that this will not be the case.

Kat

Well said. We shouldn't have to do all kinds of gyrations to get our brains to accept the bizarre behavior of the characters.

Spoiler:

Such as why Sam let Cam go save Teal'c by himself. I was like, huh? I know there wasn't time to ream him properly, but a "what the **** was that?!" was certainly called for.

I really wanted to give Mitchell a chance. But as someone said he's just so *erratic.* Daniel isn't acting like Daniel either. I don't think it's "changing and growing" I think it's putting lines in his mouth that the writers think are clever/funny? regardless of whether *Daniel* would have ever said them.

[Strix varia]

AD, wow, you just put into words exactly the way I feel now too (well, except for the "eye candy" part, I just really like the Sam Carter character, wasted though she may be of late).

And it's so sad, isn't it? That the bar's so low? Every once in a while, I'll have an attack of conscience and just get really FED UP with the juvenile lack of true idea-sharing and storytelling that goes on on SG-1 (pathetic writing, whatever you want to call it), but then I tell myself not to expect more. Tell myself it's not going to get any more compelling so there's no use ragging about it.

I was watching BSG yesterday and thinking, gosh I wish there was a (dark, BSG style version of) "Sam Carter" on this show; it'd be just perfect then.

mini

I don't know, BSG borders on being too dark and edgy for me sometimes. Firefly was brilliant, but sometimes almost a bit too dark as well. But, I read a lot of young adult science fiction and fantasy as opposed to adult stuff, so I tend towards lighter stuff normally.

In some ways I think it's almost unfair to compare BSG with Stargate, because they've never tried for the same tone/feel. It's more fair to compare it with the various incarnations of Star Trek, because they have a more similar presentation. (Presentation/tone/feel... I don't think those are quite the right words I'm looking for but hopefully you'll know what I mean.)

Frankly, I don't want Stargate to become like BSG. But I don't think you have to up the gore factor and start dealing with darker themes to have good storytelling. I will agree that good storytelling is sadly lacking this season.

[Tracy Jane]

while jack would say 'daniel, do it' and have force and authority in his voice, sam's force and authority is often laced with 'come on, i need you to do this, so cooperate'

this difference often leads people to think that females lead by weakness, but they don't. they lead by getting their subordinates to cooperate wtih them

Which is exactly why, in Season 8, with Sam as team leader, it worked much better as a team show. It was about cooperation and teamwork as opposed to barking orders.

Well, that and the fact that having no lead forced the writers to get off their backsides and think a little bit.

[jckfan55]

I couldn't agree with this part of your post more if I had written it myself. The rest of the team is being dumbed-down for the sake of a character that is not fitting in. Mitchell just serves to make the team distant and out-of-character - he is, IMO, a mess and we have TPTB to thank for that.

Perhaps that's what's so disappointing. It's not just Mitchell--it's what (via the writers) he does to the rest of the team. If they wanted a hot head with a lot to learn, they should have made Mitchell clearly *subordinate* to Carter. Of course, we'd still have to stretch things to think he'd have ever made it onto the flagship team in the first place.