Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Tracy Jane]

Hi guys. I don't think it'd be possible for me to go to Shore Leave. Student Budget and a pretty long way away.

I'm hoping to go the AT2, though, the Gabit event. That sounds pretty cool. But we could (at least for UK fans) just have a mad weekend in London or day out at a theme park (Alton Towers?) anyway. It doesn't even have to be a convention. We could have some fun regardless. I once went to a Fan day for a pop band at Legoland which was great great fun.

Anyway......moving on.

[ann_sgcfan]

So what have we learned about the latest episode for Atlantis ... there is a fifty-fifty chance we'll like GUP, but watch at your own discretion.

Sorry I couldn’t resist. I’m enjoying the banter going back and forth. It’s much needed laughter after a long day at the office.

[minigeek]

It was an enjoyable episode, and worth it for that one scene alone

Spoiler:

Ah yes. The imminent wet bathing suit scene.

*snork*, lotsa substance there!! Annnnnnd I rest my case.

So what have we learned about the latest episode for Atlantis ... there is a fifty-fifty chance we'll like GUP, but watch at your own discretion.

Looks like a one third chance ya won't like it, to a two thirds YA WILL, actually. I'm the only one thus far (I think) who didn't have a positive reaction.

And since Uber's probably never speaking to me again, next time I don't like an episode Amanda's in, I should probably just keep my yap shut, eh? Rut Roh.

[SG1Poz]

I vote Shore Leave as an official US gathering for Samandans.

I'll be there!!!!!!! I consider myself a lurking Samandan.

[Agent_Dark]

Spoiler:

Ah yes. The imminent wet bathing suit scene.

*snork*, lotsa substance there!! Annnnnnd I rest my case.

Well it was a good scene

Looks like a one third chance ya won't like it, to a two thirds YA WILL, actually. I'm the only one thus far (I think) who didn't have a positive reaction.

Well, one quarter chance - MajorSam loved it as well

And since Uber's probably never speaking to me again, next time I don't like an episode Amanda's in, I should probably just keep my yap shut, eh? Rut Roh.

Not speaking to Uber again... Could that be considerded a good thing?
/me hides

[Tracy Jane]

Whether you enjoy it or not depends on whether you take it as a cheapening of Sam's character, or as a funny ongoing Stargate joke, where it isn't the REAL Sam, but a figment.

[Agent_Dark]

Whether you enjoy it or not depends on whether you take it as a cheapening of Sam's character, or as a funny ongoing Stargate joke, where it isn't the REAL Sam, but a figment.

Hmm, see I can't really see it as a cheapening of Sam's character. Certainly having some fun with her, but since she is an imaginary hallucination, I can't really understand why anyone could say otherwise

[minigeek]

Hmm, see I can't really see it as a cheapening of Sam's character. Certainly having some fun with her, but since she is an imaginary hallucination, I can't really understand why anyone could say otherwise

Okay, take Sam out of it for a second. Imagine it's ... anyone else. Any other female character. Did you honestly like the script??? See if you can be completely honest with yourself here. I mean no disrespect, but would you have enjoyed the episode and considered it well done if Amanda wasn't in it? Or is most of your enjoyment based on the fact that AT was in it? Because for me? That was the only thing I liked about it. Amanda was great. The script; the story; was weak.

To me, there's a difference between liking something because your favorite character is in it, and liking something because it actually has a good story to it.

[Tracy Jane]

HHhhhm. There have been mentions of intergalactic Stargate Barbie slutting round the verse and so on. So some people don't seem amused.

[Tracy Jane]

Some brainy SAmandan will know this....

I was really excited about getting to 800 posts, because I thought that's when you get your extended avatar choice, but I haven't got one.

Have they upped the limit, or are people just being nasty to me personally?

Tj xx

[ForeverSg1]

Here are some screencaps from Grace Under Pressure.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4083/pdvd0322oz.png

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7318/pdvd0398zc.png

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http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8058/pdvd0430ah.png

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8058/pdvd0430ah.png

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6479/pdvd0627oi.png

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http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4442/pdvd0633wv.png

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8936/pdvd0731yt.png

[minigeek]

Whether you enjoy it or not depends on whether you take it as a cheapening of Sam's character, or as a funny ongoing Stargate joke, where it isn't the REAL Sam, but a figment.

Frankly, I don't think they cheapened Sam Carter's character either. She was, after all, a hallucination of Rodneys. I do however think they (mis)used her character in a particularily cliche way to get cheap ga-ga eyes out of certain scenes. I wouldn't have even minded that if the script itself had more depth and those scenes were comic relief (as they should have been).

I was looking very forward to this episode for just that reason. Perhaps I shouldn't have been looking forward to it, perhaps I was expecting too much.

As it was...

The character-revelations alluded to (with respect to Rodney) simply didn't happen; he left that Jumper the same selfish petty man he went in as. They paid lip service to him 'realizing' Carter was wiser than him, but even that was nothing more than a trite one liner that had no emotional impact.

In every way that GRACE was thoughtfully and intelligently written (including the humor and innuendo), GUP fell short. Like so many other 'sequels' I've seen, the original was far more provocative and compelling (for me, at least).

I'm looking at this apart from the fact that I'm a fan of Amanda's and I love the work she does. I'm looking at this from the standpoint of what the dramatic narrative actually offered the viewers; and (imho) that wasn't very much.

I can't deny that (for me, and I'm sure for other SAmandans) the fact that Amanda was in the episode gave it a sparkle it wouldn't have otherwise had. But if Amanda wasn't in it, it wouldn't have been worth a second glance for me.

mini

[Agent_Dark]

Okay, take Sam out of it for a second. Imagine it's ... anyone else. Any other female character. Did you honestly like the script??? See if you can be completely honest with yourself here. I mean no disrespect, but would you have enjoyed the episode and considered it well done if Amanda wasn't in it? Or is most of your enjoyment based on the fact that AT was in it? Because for me? That was the only thing I liked about it. Amanda was great. The script; the story; was weak.

To me, there's a difference between liking something because your favorite character is in it, and liking something because it actually has a good story to it.

I guess you could see it that way. Would the episode have been crap if it had of been someone other than Sam? Probably - but because I couldn't imagine the episode with someone other than Sam in it. However, having said that, one of the big reasons I did like it was because of Amanda.
As for the script and story, well I thought it was definitely stronger than Epiphany's. And incidently, I didn't get much of a 'Grace' feel to it. In fact, if you want to compare it to an SG-1 episode, I thought it had more in common with Tangent.

[Agent_Dark]

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4083/pdvd0322oz.png

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7318/pdvd0398zc.png

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/3498/pdvd0340ls.png

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8907/pdvd0317um.png

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7696/pdvd0412oy.png

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http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8058/pdvd0430ah.png

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6479/pdvd0627oi.png

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http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4442/pdvd0633wv.png

How could you not include that certain shot!

[Uber]

Gah! LOL

Worst piece of script-writing DREK I've seen in a long time on either SG-1 or Atlantis. Were it not for the acting of AT and DH, I'd have been snoring before the second act.

The problem I had with it was that, it tried to pretend it was touching upon deep issues and psychological angst(s). It attempted to play at being erudite in its message, when in point of fact it came off as nothing more than a flat 2-dimensional facimilie of what it could have been. It began with the potential to delve into an intelligent character epiphany, yet it made no real profound point(s) by the time the curtain fell. We were left with ... nothing. Sure, some of the dialogue was cute and witty; certainly AT and DH did a marvelous job teasing and snarking at one another, but an episode based solely on AT and DH's characters flinging personal and professional innuendo(s) at one another does not (for me) make a particularily thought provoking piece of entertainment. It didn't stand on its own. It had no message OTHER than the snark-banter the characters threw back and forth. That kind of snark should support a good storyline, not entail it.

Most unfortunately, GUP did nothing significant to develop the character of Rodney. It pretended it was going to and then it fell flat on its face. To my point of view, you could turn off the sound entirely, completely ignore the dialogue and still get the same impact from the episode as if you had the sound on. That's a credit to the actors, and not the script.

So nope. GUP goes directly on my "suckage" list. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. We shall agree to disagree, your Uberness.

HOWEVER ... it was most definitely a joy to see AT on screen again, I do agree on that point entirely.

mini(themoderatelydisgustedwithGUP)geek

PS--> I should point out that I could care less about the 'ship factor or the fact that Sam was half naked, in fact I was looking forward to Rodney's little "fantasy", I really was. But in context. Within the scope of something resembling an intelligent narrative that had something meaningful to impart to the audience. A good story, perhaps? I saw none of that in GUP. I saw the ghost of a shell of a plot with contrived devices

Spoiler:

the pilot of the Jumper essentially "killed" himself just to further one particularly weak plot device *sigh*

- and that does not make a good piece of fiction. There has to be something BEHIND the episode, something that matters more than a snark-a-thon between two characters, regardless of how amusing it may be to watch said snark-a-thon. I really just wanted.... more.

Okay so you thought this would be more of a Rodney introspective where he'd make changes/decisions regarding his life based on his experience...kind of like Sam did in Grace?

The problem I think is that McKay is not Sam so to hope for a lot of growth for him by this one experience would be I think hoping for too much. So I didn't expect him to come to a deeper understanding of himself or desire to change things. He is at this point simply not capable of having the lifechanging experience that Sam did on the Prometheus and actually Sam wouldn't have been ready for it either a few years before it happened...but she was just at that right place for the kind of deep and personal introspective and was open to the revelations and experiences.

McKay is still too focused on himself and too unwilling to trust others. He's capable of little realizations, but not much. Had it been a longer episode and had the purpose of the episode been to serve as a catalyst to massive life changes like Grace was for Sam, I think we would have seen something different.

IMHO, Grace Under Pressure was a one up to give Carter/McKay banter fans like me something to squee about. And specifically since it wasn't Sam, they were able to take certain liberties that they couldn't have taken with the real Sam and even THEN it wasn't because of this mad love they feel for each other, but rather McKay's deep subconscious coming up with the ONLY thing that would distract him from finishing.

So I was hoping for a fun Amanda episode...and I got it. I also got some moments where McKay made those little epiphanies, but nothing earth shattering. But then if the realization that his arrogance caused that the anihilation of a large sector of a solar system didn't give him pause, I certainly don't imagine a bump on the head and some alone time with his Delusion!Sam would either.