Originally posted by AGateFan
To build or remodel a home, there should be a strong foundation laid. The firm foundation of Stargate SG-1 is the team itself as portrayed by the veterans of eight previous seasons: Sam, Daniel and Teal'c. These guys have done a heckuva job and deserve to be in the forefront.
Then, bring on the new characters and situations and set them within the context of the original team. Loyal fans will watch as the original team reacts to the changes going on around them. We care because the focus is on our stars and we have history with them. We are curious and interested in seeing how Sam, Daniel and Teal'c respond to all the changes in their lives and at the base. As we watch the new characters absorbed into the Stargate mythology/arcs, we start to care about them too because Sam, Daniel and Teal'c are involved with them. Bingo! Synergy and sympathy start to develop.
This was the direction needed when Jack was written out and S9 began. Instead (and I know some take offense at my metaphor) the baby (concept of original team as still consisting of Sam, D and T with Sam as leader) was thrown out with the bathwater (Jack gone). The writers disbanded the group and sent them off in other directions so they could bring in a quasi-leader. Change is hard; it's a fact of life. Fans did not need the double whammy of Jack leaving and team gone too in the first episode back. We were looking for a constant, not a confounding variable!
Rather than Sam giving up her leadership status for R&D at Area 51, how much more intriguing it would have been if they had Sam somehow captured or injured off-world the first five episodes, maybe declared MIA. This arc would have understandably added an extra member to their team (Mitchell as interim leader) and then provided a reason for off-world adventures the first five episodes: the search for the missing leader, Sam. These adventures sans Sam would have introduced them to Vala, other aliens and the Priors ... finally, finding Sam and bringing her back, perhaps injured at first and not so active (so that AT had some initial time to get back on camera after her maternity leave and get in shape and stronger towards end of S9). Point is: Sam would have been welcomed back as the respected leader of her team and promptly reinstated after her recuperation. By now, we would be feeling good about Mitchell too because he held the team together and helped in finding Sam.
How I would have loved to have seen this kind of plot development at beginning of S9. Yes, you could make the argument that maybe AT would change her mind and not fully commit to the new season. Who knows? Just sayin' ... in the best of all worlds, Sam Carter would have been written as the fallen, missing hero lost somewhere in another galaxy. The stuff of myth, eh?! And don't tell me that would not have kept the fans tuning in, riding out the suspense each week. I am getting carried away but I so hoped for "the quest for Carter". Instead, I'll have to read some Samfic and hope that Amanda is given due respect and adequate screen time in S10.
I just feel so bad for Amanda that it went down the way it did. She is a trooper and one classy lady and is riding it all out with style and grace. And I enjoy every scene with her in it just because she's still hanging in. Amanda lights up the screen and adds so much because she is not a prima donna and carefully stays in character even when the focus is not on her. She works so well within an ensemble cast; yet she can stand alone on her acting merits. I think some of TPTB don't know what a gem they have.
This is the part that bothers me the most: Sam Carter was seen as a role model for what women could become, rising to the top of their professions. Taking command away from Carter was a slap in the face for all the Sam Carters who have felt the sting of injustice in their own lives.
Amen.
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