Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[chocdoc]

i think they are. I think they're tweaked and leaked to gague reactions or generate a response

i personally think that the s10 promotion will be so heavily valaified that the spoilers will match that...emphasize vala and cam and the farscape connection to the exclusion of all else...even to the point of 'tricking' people to watch a vala centric eps that may not really be one

to someone, she is the end all and be all of the show

Well, so far, that is the case in regard to the spoilers. I don't see tons of enthusiasm so far in general for the episodes, but I'm sure some fans are excited.

If they are using this plan, I find it very amusing. I would think that they would have learned from the reactions and ratings of season 9 that this would be the worst move they could make. If they were really thinking about getting people enthusiastic and watching the show again, they would try to balance the episodes (and spoilers). There are so many reasons why fans are watching this show--Mitchell and Vala only represent a fraction of this set of reasons. I would think they would know this by now, but perhaps they don't really care.

[Skydiver]

i think whomever is calling the shots doesn't care

what they want to do is the 'right' thing adn the rest doesn't matter

i'll just enjoy what i get of sam and 'good' stuff and ignore the rest

like i've done with s9

[Skydiver]

ok, i've now got 12 votes for 5 diferent episodes...and one vote still separates #1 and #2

so the best sam eps of s5 is a neck and neck race

[majorsal]

Spoilers and speculation for Season 10:
(not for those who want to stay on the 'glass half full side of things today'... so open the spoiler with caution)

Spoiler:

Sam getting promoted to full Colonel is certainly a possiblity - she is 'on the ship that gets captured' in 'In The Company of Thieves'...

what didn't sit well with me was

1) that the episode spoilers are all about Mitchell's heroics as he attempts to save the rest of SG1

2) the spoilers don't refer to Carter by her rank. She's just 'Samantha Carter'... with no honorific or title. If they'd just said Carter, it wouldn't have sent my radar twitching. But to call her Samantha Carter without the reference to her rank... I think that they are up to something. Are they going to write it so that Carter is no longer in the Air Force? Or is she getting promoted - and they don't want that to leak yet? Whatever they are doing, it's already decided - and probably written, scripted and maybe even already filmed and in the can. I do think that they are going to do something to address the 'leadership issue of SG-1'. Mitchell is going to get full command of SG-1, and he's the new hero. What they are going to do with Carter's character... I haven't sussed that out yet. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see her written as resigning from the Air Force... taking some special 'consulting' position... etc. I was hoping that she'd be given a promotion and command of one Earth's new ships... but if it's going to result in having her ship taken over by the enemy... and then Mitchell rescues her (and her crew)... oy!

3) or maybe there's something else in the works that we haven't considered. Why is 'Samantha Carter' on that ship when it gets captured? Maybe it's not 'our Carter'? Could it be.... RepliCarter? An AU Carter?

??

Spoiler:

mitchell isn't always listed as 'colonel' either. i don't think there's anything to worry about.

sally

[ForeverSg1]

Well... will leave you with some 2010 caps... and get an hour or two's worth of writing in....

Some of the many moods of Sam:

*sigh* I really love this episode.

[ForeverSg1]

This could be very true. It is odd that when Daniel came back the ratings really didn't do that great at all -- that is go higher than season 6 on average. It wasn't until the second half of season 7 that the ratings started to get better and better, and continued on an upward swing in season 8.

But I have a question about spoilers. What do people think is the motivation behind the spoilers---in other words, are they strategically given out to various people so that the larger online audience gets them, or do they just reflect the casting sides that are distributed publically, and really don't reflect any PR motivation? The casting sides are just a few pages of the script, right? And they reflect more about when the regular characters may be interacting with guest stars? So, are spoilers strategically distributed or not?

Honestly after reading several sides recently and seeing what was posted up on Gateworld, almost everything in the spoiler information was in the sides I read. The only difference is that the sides actually have the dialogue between the different characters, but all of the basic spoiler information can be found in the casting sides that are distributed publically. It's all a matter of who is willing to pay for them.

[Myrth]

*double sigh* me too

*sigh* I really love this episode.

[astrogeologist]

Hey all.
I know I posted before I officially said Hello.
Anyway, hello. Just checking out this thread and have to say I love it. I'm trying to read all the back posts, but as of now, I'm about 8% done. Lots of reading ahead of me! Thanks for this great place to talk about Sam and Amanda!

Welcome aboard, Mickey23!

Sky, I've just read this post out to Coley over a rather dodgy cellphone link, and she agrees with you 100% (as do I for that matter. )

She has experienced sexism at work herself, and it is both insulting and frustrating. She didn't just turn the other cheek, she got herself a new job (hence her now residing on a Hebridean island where the thunderstorms are, well, storming. )

On edit: Coley's just had her first Hebridean power cut!!! And the river's rising!!!

Way to keep Coley in the loop, 1speed!

And what's this about a power cut and a rising river? Where's her new abode??? Not right next to the river...right?? (remember... I *really* am a geologist... though not of the stars (darn))

Oooooh. I see a dark cloud of doom and gloom has descended upon our fair kingdom. Perhaps it's time to brighten things up again, eh?

Verrrry nice, Uber!!!

no one character will change the world...but every little bit helps to change perceptions and knowledge and works towards a change

Amen, Sky!

Can we not just agree that yeah the command situation sucked in season 9 and wait and see...?

Well put, Myrth...and the waiting is... tough....

Amanda seems to be happy doing what she's doing, let's not kill everyone's joy in watching her do it.

Or hers!

[COLOR="DarkRed"]

Wonderful, scarimor! Love your graphics!

This makes me think of how 2001 would have had such an effect on Sam, not only was she knowingly facing the pain of the landing she knew was coming, but she also had to deal with what was probably the most painful thing she has had to do...leave a man behind You can get over an injury, but can you get over the guilt? Joe was in her care and she had no choice but to leave him behind. That I think would haunt her for a very long time.

I agree, Mandy. She had to do her duty - which was get back to Earth and tell them what the Aschen were planning. Yes, she exposed them by having them open the iris for her, but she had to tell them what was happening - or they simply would have opened the gate at a later time to see what was up with her and the Ambassador. Maybe she could have told them over the radio without opening the iris, but... was there enough time... the Ambassador could only buy her a few moments while he tussled with the Aschen....

Well... will leave you with some 2010 caps... and get an hour or two's worth of writing in....

Some of the many moods of Sam:

Beautiful pics, SS!

[Myrth]

Casting sides are actually the bits of the script used to cast guest actors for the various roles, which means spoilers from casting sides will only ever contain information where guest actors are involved. To my knowlege sides are not really meant for puiblic distribution, but it is a paid service that distributes them.. so yeah.. it comes down to who's paying for them and why.

Any hardcore team interaction moments etc are not likely to be in the sides unless there's someone else in the room, which can be a positive thought and why I was saying earlier that the critical story points are probably not in the sides.

Honestly after reading several sides recently and seeing what was posted up on Gateworld, almost everything in the spoiler information was in the sides I read. The only difference is that the sides actually have the dialogue between the different characters, but all of the basic spoiler information can be found in the casting sides that are distributed publically. It's all a matter of who is willing to pay for them.

[ForeverSg1]

Casting sides are actually the bits of the script used to cast guest actors for the various roles, which means spoilers from casting sides will only ever contain information where guest actors are involved. To my knowlege sides are not really meant for puiblic distribution, but it is a paid service that distributes them.. so yeah.. it comes down to who's paying for them and why.

Any hardcore team interaction moments etc are not likely to be in the sides unless there's someone else in the room, which can be a positive thought and why I was saying earlier that the critical story points are probably not in the sides.

Exactly, which is why we probably won't get any real spoiler leaks for the 200th episode because I seriously doubt there will be any guest stars in the episode who will have many speaking parts.

[Agent_Dark]

Exactly, which is why we probably won't get any real spoiler leaks for the 200th episode because I seriously doubt there will be any guest stars in the episode who will have many speaking parts.

Well,

Spoiler:

aside from Willie Garson of course

[astrogeologist]

Astronaut Sam

one of my absolute favorite aspects of Sam Carter

no matter how Season 9 went, it was great to see Carter in a space suit, and out amongst the stars

Everyone has the scenes that they love the best, well this is one of my favorite.
Just the image of Carter in a space suit and out in space.
And I want to say thanks to whatever writer, actor or director created this scene. Thanks!
(I'm ignoring the fact that she ends up apparently helpless in terms of dealing with the space battle).

There are many aspects of the character of Sam Carter that I like...

... that she has a non-traditional role for a female (military officer instead of... say team psychologist or doctor or secretary or wife/girlfriend of lead male). So I like Soldier!Sam - and I am grateful that AT was willing to play this role for us.

... that Carter was often written, and played by AT, as a competent, heroic member of a team that happened to be a woman (and not as 'the woman on the team')

... that she's smart... brilliant even... and that AT played Carter as someone who has a love and enthusiasm for her field. I like Scientist!Sam.

... Carter has 'astronaut aspirations' as part of her canon character backstory.
Sam originally wanted to be an astronaut.
She wanted to explore the stars.
She wanted to sail amongst the stars.
She wanted to be an explorer.

Adventurous exploring - what better role model is there for women?

And Carter is the only one of the original four whose character actually wanted to explore space before finding out about the Stargate. Carter fits my ideal of a scifi character - I love the idea of exploring space in scifi. Space battles and evil supervillians are apparently necessary to keep viewer interest... but I love the idea of space exploration.

... She has a 'need for speed' - and this shows a fun, daring side to her. A side that's willing to cut loose and have fun and ride the edge. It's so boring to have scientists always shown as stuffy and geeky in the TV and movie media. I'm nowhere near a Sam Carter... but I'm pretty sure that I was considered a geek by more than a few when I was in high school and college... and probably by a few of my friends even now (as my computer skills and knowledge.. and enthusiasm... far outweighs their interest).... however... I've managed to scuba dive all around the world - even in drowned caves and tunnels of the Yucatan Penninsula... I haven't been on a motorcycle since I was in college (and even then I was the passenger holding onto the driver), but I have hiked on all sorts of volcanoes... and there have been river rafting expeditions... and all sorts of backpacking trips. Folks that like science are *not* all geeky clutzes who don't know how to behave socially. I know that lots of folks liked Moebius... but I'd have really enjoyed seeing an AU Carter that *really* broke the geek mold - maybe Ripple Effect would have been a good place for it... For a Carter that ended up in the Marines... one with real attitude and discipline problems within the military... constantly busted back a rank - but they can't just kick her out, because she's too smart and talented and they don't want to lose that... She doesn't 'use her science aptitudes'... maybe she rebelled against traditional schooling early on (perhaps after her Mom died)....

At any rate, I really like the fact that our Carter can fly jet planes (and X302's, or whatever #'s they have) and likes to ride motorcyles. Fun!

There's more to my list, but I'll save it for another post.

What are your favorite Carter images or character aspects?



On edit: for the scene above, with Carter at the giant SpaceGate... it was cool to see that they used an idea that I'd been thinking of for some time. Lots of folks were complaining about the introduction of spaceships into Stargate - and the apparent inverse (reduction of the) use of the 'Gate in the episodes... and I kept thinking that they needed to create a story where there was some sort of SuperGate that allowed ships to transit large distances... so that they could combine the ships and the Stargate. It just seemed like a natural extension of the storylines developed so far.

[majorsal]

From the S7 Beyond the Gate DVD featurette

amanda's dog is so cute. it's like this giant, sweetie bear.




sally

[majorsal]

CAPTION ME:

sam: 'sir, i really don't think this is the right time to do line dancing.'

jack: 'why not? we've got girl, boy, daniel, girl... '






sally

[Uber]

Ooh AstroG. I swear I'm going to have to call upon Samandan Security to force the NPM Reputation Keepers to let me green you more. What say you AD and 1speed?

Until then I call upon the good hearts of Samanda to green her brilliante post!

As for my favorite Sam aspects, this will take work...so give me a little time on it.

While I'm thinking, (and this is for everyone) what is the best Sam fic out there? Shippy, non-shippy, whumpy, whatever...or maybe the best of the best in each category?