Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Uber]

Glassner left because he and Wright had "creative differences." I certainly don't trust RC this season. And I'm not too certain about Wright coming back. I'm just very weary about the remainder of this season and next season.

I rewatched Lifeboat last night...ostensibly a "Daniel centric" episode written by Brad Wright and I was stunned by all the nuances, the moments, the team beats that are there.

First time I saw it, I had kind of a "meh...it's an okay ep" sense about it. Now I see it as gold. Go back and see it again and look at it through new eyes.

Michael did a brilliant job taking on the various personalities of course, from the arrogant sovereign to the innocent boy...but look beyond even that.

See the dynamic between the team.

See Jack's concern for Sam and Daniel when he first wakes up and from Hammond for his two finest officers and for Daniel. See how Hammond knew that they'd go back to the Stromos to try to help Daniel, knowing they were putting themselves at risk.

See Teal'c motion for Sam to stop talking because he hears something and she knows to play along immediately.

See Teal'c and Sam talking to the perpetrator Pharrin on the Stromos...Sam's resolve to make him help Daniel no matter the cost.

SAM: We know of a device capable of transporting all your people, instantaneously, to any number of worlds. We call it a Stargate.
PHARRIN: Such a device is not possible.
SAM: Come back with us and I'll prove it to you.
TEAL'C: However, we will only consent to do so if you return our friend to his former state.
PHARRIN: He is preserving life.
TEAL'C: (angry) At the expense of his own, against his will!
PHARRIN: Please...do not ask us to do this.
SAM (strongly): WE'RE NOT ASKING.

See Sam's reaction when she learns one of the lives to be lost is his son...as she understands how great the sacrifice he'd have to make.

See Janet in her compassion and love and friendship for Daniel struggle with responding to the various personalities within...her maternal nature with the boy and her hardline with the sovereign.

MARTICE IN DANIEL: (VERY aggitated now) And you still don't realize who you are talking to!

FRAISER: (equally aggitated) I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! You don't belong in that man's body and I INTEND TO TAKE IT BACK!!!

See Jack's concern for Daniel throughout the episode and how he demanded that the man do what was best for his people and ignore the demands of the arrogant and self important leader.

See at the end how they each huddled around Daniel to see if he's okay and the beat where they all look at him and each other and smiled with relief.

So many team moments in an episode that I enjoyed back then as nothing more than a great showcase of Michael's talent and now I see it as so much more.

[Uber]

DUDES. I got post 30,000!!!! (and I wasn't even trying).

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Eoin]

Good...so much hotter

[Terrah]

Spoiler:

Just finished watching SG1 tonight, thoroughly enjoyed it and I have not said that for a while, although it did creep me out a bit, I'm not a fan of bugs, (replicaters don't count) especially as I have just finished reading
Night Terrors. I particularly liked Sams interaction with Woolsey. I agree with everything jckfan55 and Myrth said about Sams command style tone. She is cool calm and collective

[Ancient 1]

I think that Replicarter's uncaring and callous nature is much sexier, but who can say no to Ancient1's pictures of good Sam?

The more the merrier.....

This pic, nor the last are my creations, but not remembering where I picked them up, I cannot give the credit due.

[Coley]

Happy Birthday Chevr0n 7!!!!

[rarocks24]

Though she is hot as hell in those pics ...Why is she wrapped in the American flag if she's Canadian?

[Coley]

I rewatched Lifeboat last night...ostensibly a "Daniel centric" episode written by Brad Wright and I was stunned by all the nuances, the moments, the team beats that are there.

I loved Lifeboat too - I thought MS performance was excellent!!

[JuliaR]

Ok so now I'm blushing furiously. That is a total and complete honor. Thank you guys. I'm terrified already!

Congrats hun! There's no need EVER to be terrified of meeting Amanda - she'll put you at your ease immediately, and remember you'll have someone with you, and I'll be right there to help.

Julia
G4

[ann_sgcfan]

Mini I read your post on the said thread and though it was excellent. As well as your response to LS which I thought was a classic.

I'm in total agreement.

Astrogeologist posted a couple of days ago about being totally amazed about what they have come up with for season 9.

I for 1 wasn't amazed and saw the writing on the wall long ago - including the issue of Vala possibly taking over from Sam as the female lead. I'm just hugely disappointed that the Sam is not SG1 leader route has been chosen.

Sam was the obvious lead. She's strong and decisive, a quick thinker competent at spitting out a range of very clear commands to numbers of different ranking and specialising command personnel. We have seen it numerous time at the SGC when Hammond was happy to sit back and let Sam take control of the situation.

There is no doubt in my mind that she would make the difficult choices she would need to in a position of command (An issue which LS thinks the opposite) I doubt very much if Sam would accept a command position if she felt she couldn't make the hard choices. She's had 8 years of intensive off world experience being second in command to Jack O'Neill. There is not excuse insofar as Carter's character is concerned not to make her the leader of the team

The only possible excuse I could think of for this offensive situation is another point which LS came up with. It was the fact that Sam Carter may start to dominate the show if she was made the lead of SG1. This is because she would be the person required to give scientific explanation and also she would be the person in command leading the team, so her role may begin to outweigh that of the other team members.

I thought this was an interesting and plausible point, though I still think the writers could have managed this conundrum without too much difficulty.

Also if Sam is never to lead SG1 in my opinion the other person who would naturally fit the bill would be Teal'c. He also has got far more experience than Mitchell. The only problem then would be the politics of a Jaffa leading the flagship SGC unit. I like this scenario though and think it would have made excellent watching. There is a great deal of respect between Sam, Teal'c and Daniel.

Having said all that the very fact they have a newcomer stepping in taking the lead really just beggars belief. They have got his back story all wrong to my mind and their attempt to introduce him to the team as leader has totally failed in my eyes - primarily because int he first 5 eps the whole storyline focused on Daniel and Vala - a totally unnecessary distraction which has added nothing monumental at all to the season storyline - from the eps I have seen. Since when the writers have failed to give him anything to work with.

Reading Ben Browder leading SG1 into season 10 on the cover of a magazine just totally offended me. All the other cast members have worked their socks off for 8 season, but BB somehow gets the "lead" role treatment. It would be laughable if it wasn't so disrespectful to the other actors - all of whom would be equally as capable as BB as leading the show.
Even if TPTB wanted to attract BB fans - I'm sure they would have come on board if Ben was made the new member under the command of Sam Carter.

I'm afraid the only way I'm reading it is TPTB didn't want a female leading SG1 and potentially being tagged as being the lead actor. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but the niggle is there.

In my opinion Amanda is the strongest actor on the show - on the whole a well liked member of SG1, the very thought of not only removing Sam from the command of SG1 (Which was the writers decision), but thinking of limiting her time on the show by having her cross over to Atlantis and bringing in V, just has me shaking my head.

There is a motto "If it ain't broke don't fix it"

Lets see what happens to the show in season 10. My feeling is that everything that the viewers loved about SG1 will have been removed or diluted and that the show isn't well written enough to capture a whole new audience in the volume required to keep the show running. I'm quite prepared to ditch the thing now. I think if Sam takes a back seat to V in season 10 a lot of other general viewers will stop watching.

Well done to mini for a fantastic post on the who should lead thread!!

I agree with you, especially the highlighted parts above. I would love for tptb to undo all the mistakes I have seen them make this year and maybe they will next season, but I'm not really holding my breath.

Should Sam be the leader of SG-1 absolutely! As we all know she has trained for and became the leader last year. Helllloooo! Why the sudden 180?

[minigeek]

Congrats hun! There's no need EVER to be terrified of meeting Amanda - she'll put you at your ease immediately, and remember you'll have someone with you, and I'll be right there to help.

Julia
G4

LOL Thanks Julia, I'll probably need to take you up on that. And thank god there'll be two of us from Samanda. I'm not terrified of meeting Amanda so much as I'm terrified of acting like a dolt! It's *me* I'm afraid of. Might have ended up standing there unable to speak or something nutty like that! Uhh Duuuhhhhrrr... lol

minigeek (Well, there's a first time for everything, right?!)

[Deejay435]

To most of us, of course, the choice is rather obvious. But beyond even that boolean indicator, Carter's character is at a point now where I think she couldn't be second to Mitchell.

Now that's an aspect of this debate that I haven't seen pointed out as of yet. Having a second-in-command on a team where the leaser doesn't have the breadth or depth of knowledge and experience that the 2IC has is, imo, dangerous.

It would be very difficult for Carter to not be the de-facto leader of the team, even if Mitchell was clearly stated as leader. The others are going to look to her, because she's been the one to get their butts out of the fire more times than not. Even if Mitchell hadn't been shown to be a bumbler, they'd still do this. This is SG1, frontline team. It's not the place for someone to "learn" how to lead an SG team. Carter being second to someone who is trying to learn puts Carter in a difficult position. She has to be both leader, and the leader's "right hand", and that's just not acceptable when their lives are on the line every day.

And then there's Sam - whom the writing team says they're "finished exploring, as of season eight". What? How is that possible? Stick a fork in her, she's done? No more character development? How can we have a character continue to exist who has nothing further to gain, no further growth to attain? It's simply not possible.

This was one of the reasons I suggested a letter-writing campaign to TPTB upthread a ways. I think they need a reminder of how many Sam fans there are out there, and how many people watch SG1 specifically for Sam.

[Tracy Jane]

DUDES. I got post 30,000!!!! (and I wasn't even trying).

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well done, babe. *huggles*

[deepspace]

I rewatched Lifeboat last night...ostensibly a "Daniel centric" episode written by Brad Wright and I was stunned by all the nuances, the moments, the team beats that are there.

First time I saw it, I had kind of a "meh...it's an okay ep" sense about it. Now I see it as gold. Go back and see it again and look at it through new eyes.

Michael did a brilliant job taking on the various personalities of course, from the arrogant sovereign to the innocent boy...but look beyond even that.

See the dynamic between the team.

See Jack's concern for Sam and Daniel when he first wakes up and from Hammond for his two finest officers and for Daniel. See how Hammond knew that they'd go back to the Stromos to try to help Daniel, knowing they were putting themselves at risk.

See Teal'c motion for Sam to stop talking because he hears something and she knows to play along immediately.

See Teal'c and Sam talking to the perpetrator Pharrin on the Stromos...Sam's resolve to make him help Daniel no matter the cost.

SAM: We know of a device capable of transporting all your people, instantaneously, to any number of worlds. We call it a Stargate.
PHARRIN: Such a device is not possible.
SAM: Come back with us and I'll prove it to you.
TEAL'C: However, we will only consent to do so if you return our friend to his former state.
PHARRIN: He is preserving life.
TEAL'C: (angry) At the expense of his own, against his will!
PHARRIN: Please...do not ask us to do this.
SAM (strongly): WE'RE NOT ASKING.

See Sam's reaction when she learns one of the lives to be lost is his son...as she understands how great the sacrifice he'd have to make.

See Janet in her compassion and love and friendship for Daniel struggle with responding to the various personalities within...her maternal nature with the boy and her hardline with the sovereign.

MARTICE IN DANIEL: (VERY aggitated now) And you still don't realize who you are talking to!

FRAISER: (equally aggitated) I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! You don't belong in that man's body and I INTEND TO TAKE IT BACK!!!

See Jack's concern for Daniel throughout the episode and how he demanded that the man do what was best for his people and ignore the demands of the arrogant and self important leader.

See at the end how they each huddled around Daniel to see if he's okay and the beat where they all look at him and each other and smiled with relief.

So many team moments in an episode that I enjoyed back then as nothing more than a great showcase of Michael's talent and now I see it as so much more.

Wonderful post! I too thought Lifeboat was a great Team episode (though definitely Daniel heavy). While I think this is possibly one of the best Daniel episodes, it really showed his acting abilities to their fullest, it was also the other characters interaction with his multiple personalities that made it so brilliant.
Overall I think it was a very good episode, it just seemed much more polished than some.

[ann_sgcfan]

I rewatched Lifeboat last night...ostensibly a "Daniel centric" episode written by Brad Wright and I was stunned by all the nuances, the moments, the team beats that are there.

First time I saw it, I had kind of a "meh...it's an okay ep" sense about it. Now I see it as gold. Go back and see it again and look at it through new eyes.

Michael did a brilliant job taking on the various personalities of course, from the arrogant sovereign to the innocent boy...but look beyond even that.

See the dynamic between the team.

See Jack's concern for Sam and Daniel when he first wakes up and from Hammond for his two finest officers and for Daniel. See how Hammond knew that they'd go back to the Stromos to try to help Daniel, knowing they were putting themselves at risk.

See Teal'c motion for Sam to stop talking because he hears something and she knows to play along immediately.

See Teal'c and Sam talking to the perpetrator Pharrin on the Stromos...Sam's resolve to make him help Daniel no matter the cost.

SAM: We know of a device capable of transporting all your people, instantaneously, to any number of worlds. We call it a Stargate.
PHARRIN: Such a device is not possible.
SAM: Come back with us and I'll prove it to you.
TEAL'C: However, we will only consent to do so if you return our friend to his former state.
PHARRIN: He is preserving life.
TEAL'C: (angry) At the expense of his own, against his will!
PHARRIN: Please...do not ask us to do this.
SAM (strongly): WE'RE NOT ASKING.

See Sam's reaction when she learns one of the lives to be lost is his son...as she understands how great the sacrifice he'd have to make.

See Janet in her compassion and love and friendship for Daniel struggle with responding to the various personalities within...her maternal nature with the boy and her hardline with the sovereign.

MARTICE IN DANIEL: (VERY aggitated now) And you still don't realize who you are talking to!

FRAISER: (equally aggitated) I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! You don't belong in that man's body and I INTEND TO TAKE IT BACK!!!

See Jack's concern for Daniel throughout the episode and how he demanded that the man do what was best for his people and ignore the demands of the arrogant and self important leader.

See at the end how they each huddled around Daniel to see if he's okay and the beat where they all look at him and each other and smiled with relief.

So many team moments in an episode that I enjoyed back then as nothing more than a great showcase of Michael's talent and now I see it as so much more.

Lifeboats has always been in my top ten favorite SG-1 episodes. I agree it showed MS great range of acting. I also saw it has a team episodes. As you pointed out they all had something to do and were involved with the story. It was a Daniel centered episode, but it was still a good team episode as well. There were no one holding up the wall in the background. That's what I miss.