Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[majorsal]

i just finished reading the latest goings-on on the 'browders character should outrank carter' thread. bink (((bink))) just posted a quip from an interview with amanda (tv zone special #64)

spoilers for s9's 'ex deus machina'

Spoiler:

In an interview in TVZone Special #64 Amanda Tapping said about Ex Deux Machina:


Quote: In this story we address the question of SG-1 getting back together. At the moment, Carter is just helping out, and so are Daniel and Teal'c. They're not a team yet, and Mitchell says something rather sweet and handles the situation in a very clever way. We filmed that scene yesterday and it turned out nice. I think the fans are really going to enjoy it. End Quote.

i like it!


sally

[sg-1fanintn]

Regarding portraying realistic female characters ... Astro and I chatted about this before she left. Slightly OT, but I was remarking that I find myself watching BSG more and more because I like how the women get whumped right along with the men. And Astro enlightened me by remarking that she thought the writers on Galactica are writing the characters as "soldiers/warriors" and not as gender-based. This is so true ... we have never seen Sam portrayed as realistically as Starbuck and Boomer and it's a shame. We know AT is ready for more Death Knell scenarios ... equal opportunity so to speak. I may have strayed a little here, sorry but I am wishing that Sam and Vala are placed in situations where they are shown as competent and overcoming great odds, not just showing their cleavage! (Yes, I'm starting to fear for Sam's dress code when she gets back too.)

ChopinGal, I was very skeptical when I heard that the character of Starbuck would be a woman. I remember the original, very campy BSG and the very bad boy Starbuck, and I really couldn't imagine the character any other way. But I warmed to the character instantly. Katee Sackhoff is doing a fantastic job.....and I applaud TPTB at BSG for not falling back on sterotypical sexual cliches in portraying their characters. It's very refreshing, and I think it's a big part of what has made the new BSG such a success.

Welcome, Miz Gatez!
Welcome, PsychoPenguin!

Newbie here delurking...
[snippet]
I'm feeling a moment of validation because this is *so* close to what I posted about in the thread discussing how so many of the "SG1" related news stories have chosen to focus on the "Farscape" crew coming to the party. I responded with the following.

And now here I see you backing up the very point I was making. This makes me so happy...especially since I got "Redded" for it by someone who shall remain nameless, but whose screenname starts with a "K" and ends with an "E" and who probably considers me a heretic since I used to be a Scaper too...

Don't worry about those occasional red dings from some of the less polite people who frequent Gateworld. With observations like that, you'll be getting plenty of green from your new family here!

[the dancer of spaz]

Things I like about season nine so far:[*]Daniel, is still the same old, curiosity killed the cat, Daniel whom we all know and love. I may not always like what Daniel does or agree with his philolosophy on things but I really feel he, like Teal'c and Sam bring something to each episode and it's always fun to see how he he'll react. I must admit though, I'm a bit curious to see how many people will actually blame Daniel and Vala for Earth's new found enemy, because in my opinion the Ori probably had no knowledge of Earth or our galaxy until Daniel and Vala opened up the doorway. So basically by using the alien device without fully knowing what it did, they inadvertantly bring a brand new threat to the entire galaxy, and we all know if this had been Sam, she would be skinned alive for this sort of mishap.

Nice, Forever. This was a great list, and you made a very good point about Daniel and Vala. I never thought to "blame" them for what's about to happen, so I can only imagine how much Daniel/Vala fans would abhor the thought. Very interesting. All I ever ask of fans is equal treatment of characters, and this is an example of a double standard that some people will never be able to understand.

By the way, ChopinGal, I so agree with you! I really hope to see some kind of relationship develop between AT, LD and CB's characters! That would be so neat. I like how LD interpreted Carolyn's character, only because it's different from what we've seen. She comes off as callous, but you can tell that there's something going on inside of her head, along with the history she has with her father. If she were like Janet, I wouldn't appreciate her as much. And for so long, we had our moments with Sam and Janet, but we could have done with so many more over the years. Seeing three strong characters get together like that would be great!

That's also why I hope that Atlantis' Weir and Teyla interact more. They're the only two female leads, and I don't think we've really seen them together in a "friend" sort of way, unfortunately. Maybe that will change this season. In a perfect world, in a perfect season (perhaps seasons 10 and 3), maybe Sam, Vala, Carolyn, Elizabeth and Teyla could get together to kick some major butt, with all of them using their various specialties.

Spoiler:

And I definitely can't wait to see Sam on Atlantis. Not only because Daniel would be insanely jealous and it would be an opportunity for banter between them, but also because AT and DH are brilliant together and seeing how they play off of each other after two years would be a treat.

[sg-1fanintn]

Just checked my control panel...

*Eyes bug out*

This is a very classy thread. I didn't mean to fish and I certainly didn't expect that kind of a response. You ever need anyone to defend Lady Amanda's honor anywhere, y'all call on the Penguin, Y'hear?!
*Still amazed...*

Come back often, PsychoPenguin! The better you get to know the people here, the more disgusted you'll be when you encounter people in fandom who aren't this friendly!

Trust me, Mitchell vs. the Black Knight doesn't do it for me either. Overall my take on this part of the story is more, "On second thought, let us not go to Camelot, tis a silly place."

Yeah, I have a "Been there, done that" attitude about the Camelot thing too. Golfbooy, you always have something snarky to say that gets me laughing!

"Let us not go to Camelot, 'tis a silly place."

ROTFLOL!

Again, my post wasn't intended as a personal attack at anyone in particular, just my thoughts on what I'd been reading. Like PyschoPenguin said, the reason I started posting here in the first place was that this is one of the few threads that I've found where frank, somewhat in-depth discussion takes place on at least a semi-regular basis. At the very least, I'm thankful that opposing viewpoints aren't automatically dismissed as specious here.

I didn't read anything rude in anything you or Strix said, golfbooy! You were just expressing divergent opinions, as we do so often here. And you both do it so very well! (*smiles contentedly, feeling happy to be a Samandan*)

[Myrth]

Found a couple of pics from the Comic Con cocktail party and felt compelled to share with the kingdom






*squee* she's wearing thongs (flip flops to the yanks)...

[Agent_Dark]

Found a couple of pics from the Comic Con cocktail party and felt compelled to share with the kingdom


*squee* she's wearing thongs (flip flops to the yanks)...

Haha, she is too... and jeans... now we just need her in a flanny and we have Bogan!Amanda

[Agent_Dark]

I just hate that I've never really been an "SG1" fan and it was "SGA" that sucked me in. From everything you kind folk have said about AT/Sam Carter, both actress and character sound pretty wonderful. I wish we "Atlanteans" had something we could offer for her. Maybe later we could work something out...

Well you have got McKay. Sam + McKay = lots of funnies

[SEREN LWCH (MAL)]

Found a couple of pics from the Comic Con cocktail party and felt compelled to share with the kingdom

nice pictures!! thanks for putting them on here

[Myrth]

LMAO.. weirdly I can see that... she'd be a cute bogan tho

Haha, she is too... and jeans... now we just need her in a flanny and we have Bogan!Amanda

[ForeverSg1]

would you be irked if sam ran the atlantis base???

i don't watch atlantis, but i know who weir is. don't want her out of a job, though, so... *tries to think of another job for sam on atlantis*

sally

You mean other than being the object of McKay's dreams? He probably fantasizes about Sam discussing naquadah generators and wormhole theory.

[ChopinGal]

LMAO.. weirdly I can see that... she'd be a cute bogan tho

AD and Myrth ... what's a bogan?!

[ChopinGal]

OMG, Carter was spotted in Washington the other day by a GateWorld member! :O

ROTFLOL Sam's everywhere ... she's everywhere!

[ChopinGal]

Wow, this place is damn depressing. I must say that while I expected some gnashing of teeth over Sam's absence in the earliest parts of the season, this level of doom and gloom is still a shock.

We've all known for many, many months now that Amanda Tapping wasn't going to be around for the first few episodes, so I'm not really understanding why it's being treated as if all that was great and good about Stargate is no more. I've read posts lauding Amanda Tapping, piling praise upon praise for her abilities, and gushing over her pregnancy and subsequent delivery of a healthy newborn by nearly all of the regular posters in this thread. She has decided to stick with SG-1, and the way I see it, if folks were really supporting her, then they would support SG-1 as well. TPTB have been rather eloquent in their accomodation of Amanda's wants and needs both during and after her pregnancy, so holding it against them that she's not there for a chunk of season nine seems quite unfair to me.

As for Carter, well, Sam will return, and what's more, TPTB are playing her return for high drama. She is apparently the cog around which SG-1 will actually reform, so I suppose my question to you all is what greater compliment could possibly be given to her character? This is a not so subtle nod to the fact that there really can't be an SG-1 without Sam, that she is too irreplaceable to do without. Maybe it's me, maybe it's you, maybe we're all just seeing what we want to see, but nothing about Avalon 1 & 2 comes across as different from what I've always expected from Stargate.

My thoughts on Avalon 2 are here and here, if anyone is interested, but I'll warn that they are decidedly at odds with the prevalent opinion expressed here.

I couldn't find a good way to quote the entire post, so that's all I got. Anyway, your sentiments toward season nine seem to echo mine, ForeverSg1. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's still enjoying the show.

Angst, angst, angst ... who woulda thought?! Jester/CG has put her royal foot in it ... and perhaps a non-poetic response is in order! But, first, an appropriate picture of how I am feeling ...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11...l/SamStuck.jpg

Now, forthwith, let us clear the air. I penned the poem about old and new as a way to inject some humour (er, hear that noise? Sounds like a backfire going off!) into a topic that I knew might draw many different, and possibly opposite, responses.

As is my wont, and being loyal to my royal position of Court Jester/Bard, I feel compelled to thrust upon my fellow citizens some madcap merriment in the form of lyrical verse. All was not lost, however, as I thought there were among the lines of criticism a number of hopeful thoughts as to future trajectory of S9. (Bang ... another loud backfire, sorry!)

And so, humbly, I herewith submit my royal confession. Yes, the days of King Arthur just did not do it for me. I, like the Royal Bodyguard, have just fought one too many broadsword fight and could see, at a glance, that our hero was doing it all wrong. I'm sensitive to sharp objects that maim and kill and also sensitive to all kinds of medieval weapons of destruction (MWDs), especially since, as a Royal Hen, I have also heard the term "battleaxe" used behind my back. Thus, I try to stay with "sticks and stones" and leave the heavy-metal artifacts back in the period from which they've come. Maybe 'tis because I am a child of Camelot ... the Camelot ... some of you doth remember ... Julie Andrews as Guinevere, Robert Goulet as Lancelot, and Richard Burton as King Art, himself. Anything, yes, any show that smacks of imitation (serving wenches, tight bodices, codpieces) just turns me off. Nobody does it better than Julie, Bob, and Dick. Ah, those were the days ... sorry, I've digressed too much with this sing-song rhetoric.

SPOILER below ...

Back to our current-day heroes and the Stargate premiere. The newer cast members are performing aptly ... even the much-aligned Vala has, in some ways, been redeemed by her imitation of Joan of Arc at the climax of Part 2. (When she had first thrown herself madly upon the other wench's bed, I was fearing a climax of another sort.) It was refreshing to see her then become the damsel in distress, the denouement of the hour's drama, the crispy critter exemplaire! Bravo! Hoorah! Well done! (She certainly was, wasn't she? I, myself, prefer medium-rare.) And, the nuanced acting by Daniel Jackson as he tends to her was the first hopeful sign that there may be more, in fact, to these two characters to bond them together than just their hormone levels.

I must stand my ground, however, regarding the rapid speech emanating from Daniel. Perhaps it is my status as a Royal Hen and my own aging physiology, but I failed to understand many of the words spilling forth and, thus, the Ori and the Ancients and the Non-Ascendeds became even more of a cosmic puzzle, rather than less. I assume that the gent at the end (who applied the glow stick to the burning embers and made it all better) was one of the aforementioned races. That's nice.

I further confess that I am one of the staunchest defenders of our Queen. Yes, we, Samandans, take this duty very seriously and do try to practice tolerance of all those in her royal company. Because I was confused and disappointed by the Avalon effort, did not mean that I was dismissing the actors involved. 'Tis much too soon to make judgements on the state of affairs of the future season. On that, I think most of us agree.

I wish I could be as encouraged as you that the Queen is, indeed, "the cog" upon which TPTB are building the new season. Alas, I find that hard to believe, although I do consider her its heart. Her warmth and fine acting are sorely missed. However, when she returns, I am hoping that the show will blossom by allowing its ensemble cast to perform ably and believably with sterling scripts which take our minds and imaginations soaring into the realms of outer and inner space. I enjoyed the early seasons precisely because of this: SG1 was, indeed, a team.

You are correct in saying that we all come to Stargate with different expectations and perspectives. What I wanted from the first two episodes was not the same as you. Vive la difference! But my disappointment in no way takes away from what seemed to please you. On that note, may I reference the links above in gb's quote to his two excellent reviews of Avalon at another thread. I have read both and, in my opinion, you have written more insightfully than the critics. Oddly enough, I do share many of your sentiments along with those I've expressed in my ode. Contradictory, perhaps, but we poets and jokers thrive on paradox!

Hic comitas regit!

Jester

[Strix varia]

Trust me, Mitchell vs. the Black Knight doesn't do it for me either. Overall my take on this part of the story is more, "On second thought, let us not go to Camelot, tis a silly place."

LOL! Another Monty Python fan?

Hugs,
Strix

[Myrth]

Ummm... AD may have a better explanation, but a bogan is an Aussie term for someone who wears jeans, flanelette (wow.. who knew I couldn't spell that.. hopefully you know what I mean) shirts, ripple soled boots (or thongs with jeans) ummm.. usually they have a mullet for the guys, often have bits of old cars in the yard (or equivalent other crap). It's one of those things we find amusing in our culture I guess... the concept of Amanda as a bogan is funny anyway, knowing her she'd do a brilliant impression which would be funny as hell

For the record I think she was gorgeous at the party.. if anyone can pull off thongs & jeans it's Amanda, it was actually very cute.

AD and Myrth ... what's a bogan?!