Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Tracy Jane]

IMO, that's inaccurate.

Might be. It's just the other guys were saying they were impressed cos it wasn't the Cam and Vala show like they expected. So it really was Cam-a-lot?

[DEM]

Well, I thought it was but, honestly, it's not altogether clear to me whether I'm seeing things like most people see them. so... ::shrug:: ...grain o' salt.

p.s. There is a lot of Daniel, tho, too.

[Tracy Jane]

Just been reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and had a thought about Camelot (bear with me on this)

Spoiler:

from what you've all been saying about the girl pulling the sword, not only does it mimic the whole Arthurian idea of the weak being strong (in this case, the women are seen as the weak, rather than young boys) but it reminded me of the scene at the end with the mirror of Erised.

"You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life."

In the same way, the daughter was able to pull the sword from the stone because she did not want it for herself. She wanted to find it so that someone with the relevant skill could use it. Believing you can use the sword yourself is a form of pride, of arrogance, and, if you are not doing it in times of danger, it is being done to gain social stature and praise. These things are not true and pure.

Also, thinking back to Harry Potter... the Philosopher's Stone was meant to represent the Holy Grail. It had the relevant properties of wisdom and healing often associated with it, and it was no coincidence that in the books, it was created by Nicolas Flamel, known Holy Grail fanatic.

Why is this second part relevant to Stargate? Well, if you compare the two, along with the riddle that the weapon is right before your eyes, I have a feeling that the stone is probably in the hilt of the sword, in keeping with traditions like this.

Anyway I'm sorry but that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?

[the dancer of spaz]

p.s. There is a lot of Daniel, tho, too.

If I only have three choices, I'd take this over the alternatives at the moment (even though I like Vala, and I liked Cameron in this episode).

Spoiler:

Yeah, so this ep was kinda... bad. As in, nice as a cliffhanger, but otherwise pretty slow. I felt like the Sci Fi promo was so incredibly misleading, as all of the action they previewed happened in the last 20 minutes.

There were a lot of parallels between SG-1 and SGA tonigh, though I think SGA's crossover was better for some reason. Though I'll always hold a special place in my heart for the mother show, SGA is surpassing it in quality - which isn't to say that Atlantis was perfect. I just enjoyed it more. Camelot was cool, but not cool enough for a supposedly knuckle-biting crossover.

Still... Is anyone else completely FLOORED by how many new people are posting on this forum? And by how many people were on last night? It's crazy! And I'm sorry I missed it. Go David, Darren & Co.! That's definitely a testament of how great the website is, in my opinion. I can't wait to see how many come on in July.

Now, for Sam in S10, based on the spoilers,

Spoiler:

it would seem they're not going to waste any time milking her perilous situation. I'm not all that surprised or anything, it's just one of those... niggling things about their priorities. I wasn't expecting a Sam-in-peril scenario, but they kind of treated it as an afterthought, and it would appear they fully intend on keeping it an afterthought. A plot device of some kind, I suppose. Either way, AT did a great job at conveying her shock. That's the only plus. For now.

Those going to Vancouver Con should know that their mission is to find as much information about AT's involvement as possible next season. We're counting on you!!

[jckfan55]

BTW, I've never watched such an anti-climactic climax before ...

Spoiler:

and if the leader's daughter gets to pull the sword out of the stone, why doesn't she get to USE IT instead of throwing it to macho male, Cam?! Huh, huh?! And did Merlin dry clean Cam's uniform after his muddy fight? He sure looked laundered when he got back to the library with Daniel. And Rob Cooper "doesn't know what to do with Sam Carter for S10." I'm not surprised now that I've seen how he left her literally hanging at the end of S9!

So, let's see ... we learned that

Spoiler:

the Orii have big honkin' spaceships and, if we watched SA's finale, we know that the Wraith are also heading straight for Earth too

So you suppose the two shall meet and that's how some cross-over episodes will take place?!

Something came, and something went; I think all credibility has been spent. And on that note, I say good night. Praise be to the Orii, S9 is over!!

I thought the same thing about

Spoiler:

the girl and the sword. Why even have her if they're going Cam-centric on the thing? ( Edit: I like the idea that was mentioned that she could get the sword b/c she didn't want it for *herself*.) I'm hoping the fact that Sam got the crystal into the supergate means that it will kick on in a few minutes as she mentioned & so Sam will be saving the day after all. Everyone in jeopardy at the end did make me think "contract negotiations." The episode was mediocre overall & poor in terms of Sam usage.

Oh and on the real life situation--has anyone mentioned the guy whose parachute got stuck on the church steeple in the Battle of Normandy? I think it was St. Mere Eglise?

[Lys]

I thought the same thing about

Spoiler:

the girl and the sword. Why even have her if they're going Cam-centric on the thing? I'm hoping the fact that Sam got the crystal into the supergate means that it will kick on in a few minutes as she mentioned & so Sam will be saving the day after all. Everyone in jeopardy at the end did make me think "contract negotiations." The episode was mediocre overall & poor in terms of Sam usage.

Oh and on the real life situation--has anyone mentioned the guy whose parachute got stuck on the church steeple in the Battle of Normandy? I think it was St. Mere Eglise?

Yes, it was in Sainte Mère Eglise, nice little town on Normandy. The poor guy was stuck there during all the night and watched all the battle going on the ground during all this time. And because there was a huge fire in one of the houses in the village, the bells kept ringing all the night and he became deaf because of all the ringing.
Since then, a parachute has always been kept hanging on the church steeple.

[jckfan55]

So no matter which dimension we're talking about, it's clear that Samantha Carter is essential to SG1 in Season 10.

[DEM]

re: Camelot

Spoiler:

poor in terms of Sam usage

Yes! Gah!

I've been meaning for some time to review S8 for a variety of reasons, one of which is to analyse M&M teleplays. I'm trying to figure out whether they have a problem with 'seeing' scenes as they're writing. In an ensemble show, one has to remember all of the people inhabiting a scene, not just the ones who are its 'central' characters. In Camelot,

Spoiler:

during 'Daniel' or 'Cam' or 'Daniel/Cam' scenes, they seemed to forget Carter and Teal'c were also there. Thank Heimdall for Martin Wood, who, IMO, does great with AT and tried to make up for the script deficits thru reaction shots.

So now I'm watching S8 and I'm at Covenant. ("Soldier Sam." eee!) I really, really liked the Sam&Daniel scene at Colson's place with Carter in the heels and Carter's red Mustang. Vroom, vroom. (Ironic because, often, I find civvies!Carter much too AT-ish; yet somehow Carter in that skirt and heels still 'felt' like Carter.) <-- AH! AH! Wood directed Covenant! AH! It's all coming together!

Another reason I'm watching S8 is to examine the popular(?) notion that Carter didn't actually lead much in S8. IMO, that's not an accurate description of events. I think that Carter's less authoritarian leadership style and the larger proportion of Earth-based stories made Carter's stint as sole-CO (sigh) less obvious. And then there was Reckoning with too much Jacob and those final 3...unusual episodes. Retroactive interference....

Tracy Jane, I believe you're onto something, but I don't have the mental wherewithall to respond intelligently right now. Oh, but

Spoiler:

What about the sword-stone (does that have a proper name?) itself?

[jckfan55]

Yes! Gah!

I've been meaning for some time to review S8 for a variety of reasons, one of which is to analyse M&M teleplays. I'm trying to figure out whether they have a problem with 'seeing' scenes as they're writing. In an ensemble show, one has to remember all of the people inhabiting a scene, not just the ones who are its 'central' characters. In Camelot,

Spoiler:

during 'Daniel' or 'Cam' or 'Daniel/Cam' scenes, they seemed to forget Carter and Teal'c were also there. Thank Heimdall for Martin Wood, who, IMO, does great with AT and tried to make up for the script deficits thru reaction shots.

Interesting project and I think you're right about Martin Wood. Maybe you could post your M&M conclusions on the Blue Jello Thread for us?

Another reason I'm watching S8 is to examine the popular(?) notion that Carter didn't actually lead much in S8. IMO, that's not an accurate description of events. I think that Carter's less authoritarian leadership style and the larger proportion of Earth-based stories made Carter's stint as sole-CO (sigh) less obvious.

I think you may be right that Sam's less obvious leadership style is what made some less astute? viewers to the erroneous conclusion that Sam wasn't in command in S8.

[Lida]

Just a quick thank you again to everyone who wrote to me about my mother. She passed away Wednesday evening, very peacefully, with my husband and I at her side. It was what I wanted, to be there, holding her hand, and letting her know she wasn't alone.

I'm still not ready to return here.....I didn't fully realize how great a loss I'm experiencing, but knowing you are all here, is truly making it easier for me. I never knew that people I've never met could be so full of love and understanding. Thank you again, and I do hope to make it to Vancouver to meet some of you and definitely, I'll be at Gabit2.

Hic Comitas Regit

[stargate barbie]

Yes! Gah!

I've been meaning for some time to review S8 for a variety of reasons, one of which is to analyse M&M teleplays. I'm trying to figure out whether they have a problem with 'seeing' scenes as they're writing. In an ensemble show, one has to remember all of the people inhabiting a scene, not just the ones who are its 'central' characters. In Camelot,

Spoiler:

during 'Daniel' or 'Cam' or 'Daniel/Cam' scenes, they seemed to forget Carter and Teal'c were also there. Thank Heimdall for Martin Wood, who, IMO, does great with AT and tried to make up for the script deficits thru reaction shots.

So now I'm watching S8 and I'm at Covenant. ("Soldier Sam." eee!) I really, really liked the Sam&Daniel scene at Colson's place with Carter in the heels and Carter's red Mustang. Vroom, vroom. (Ironic because, often, I find civvies!Carter much too AT-ish; yet somehow Carter in that skirt and heels still 'felt' like Carter.) <-- AH! AH! Wood directed Covenant! AH! It's all coming together!

Another reason I'm watching S8 is to examine the popular(?) notion that Carter didn't actually lead much in S8. IMO, that's not an accurate description of events. I think that Carter's less authoritarian leadership style and the larger proportion of Earth-based stories made Carter's stint as sole-CO (sigh) less obvious. And then there was Reckoning with too much Jacob and those final 3...unusual episodes. Retroactive interference....

Tracy Jane, I believe you're onto something, but I don't have the mental wherewithall to respond intelligently right now. Oh, but

Spoiler:

What about the sword-stone (does that have a proper name?) itself?

I agree about the leadership style misleading people into thinking she didn't do much leading. she definitely did some great team leading, but she's subtle and respectful of her team, and so accustomed to them by this point.

and as for covenant, the dvd audio commentary is really fantastic for this one.

Spoiler:

martin wood and amanda tapping do the commentary, and for the scene you mentioned with sam in the skirt and the car, they talk about how amanda gave martin some very specific directions for how to shoot her getting into the car . its very funny.

another gem in this one is during one of the scenes in colsons building, where its a really long oner, where the steadycam operator starts at one end of the building on a crane, and then steps off the crane to continue the shot. amanda teases martin about it, saying that he ripped it off from the opening shot of her episode, in which much the same thing happens, just going from outside to inside.

its very good. i love how these two get on so well. makes for some great material for the show, both behind the scenes and in the episodes.

[jckfan55]

and as for covenant, the dvd audio commentary is really fantastic for this one.

Spoiler:

martin wood and amanda tapping do the commentary, and for the scene you mentioned with sam in the skirt and the car, they talk about how amanda gave martin some very specific directions for how to shoot her getting into the car . its very funny.

another gem in this one is during one of the scenes in colsons building, where its a really long oner, where the steadycam operator starts at one end of the building on a crane, and then steps off the crane to continue the shot. amanda teases martin about it, saying that he ripped it off from the opening shot of her episode, in which much the same thing happens, just going from outside to inside.

its very good. i love how these two get on so well. makes for some great material for the show, both behind the scenes and in the episodes.

I like this commentary too. I much prefer it when we hear about the behind the scenes of the episode than the off topic "humor" of PDL. I read in a piece posted on GW that Gary Jones was told to just show up and have a laugh when he does commentary--don't worry about the episode. To me that's a rip off. AT always gets things back to the episode & is entertaining as well. I think that would be the only thing to get me to buy any S9--if AT does commentary. But they probably wouldn't do that for individual episode sales. No way I'm buying a s9 boxed set.

[ann_sgcfan]

I like this commentary too. I much prefer it when we hear about the behind the scenes of the episode than the off topic "humor" of PDL. I read in a piece posted on GW that Gary Jones was told to just show up and have a laugh when he does commentary--don't worry about the episode. To me that's a rip off. AT always gets things back to the episode & is entertaining as well. I think that would be the only thing to get me to buy any S9--if AT does commentary. But they probably wouldn't do that for individual episode sales. No way I'm buying a s9 boxed set.

I'm not big on the "humor" of PDL either. I wonder if he was the one that came up with the design of the ori ship? Does the ship look like toilet bowls to anyone else?

EDIT: I saw the ori ships for the first time

Spoiler:

in "Camelot".

Several people have made the toilet bowl comment. After seeing the ori ships I have to agree with them.


On another topic since it seems quiet here. In a Sam whumping fic... do you still consider it Sam whumping if she isn't physically hurt. If she is going through some tough emotional battle is it still Sam whumping or is it considered angst?? I'm taking a break from my fanfic.

[Skydiver]

i think that emotional whump is just as valid

just don't skip the comfort part. that's usually my bigest beef with whump fic

a) poorly rsearched whump (ie killing the character)
b) lack of comfort

[Mandysg1]

Ok, that's the original as posted by Mandysg1, but as we all know, Hailey pointed out that there was a mistake. I've attempted to make a correction, but since Sam's explanation of the mistake was a little ambiguous, I did three different corrections. (yes, there are differences between them, some more obvious than others )

NC

Thanks NC, I don't know how I let that glaring error get by me
but you forgot one of calculations

Editor's note: sorry I don't have any fancy program to do this on