Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[minigeek]

Hey guys... was wondering, how many of you are going to bridge AT2 with the AVALON event? Given it's only a week apart... I'm considering it. Was wondering if I'd have any Samandans to hang with/play with during the week in between, though...

[Tracy Jane]

Hey guys... was wondering, how many of you are going to bridge AT2 with the AVALON event? Given it's only a week apart... I'm considering it. Was wondering if I'd have any Samandans to hang with/play with during the week in between, though...

I don't *think* I'll be going to the Avalon event. Not unless some miracle happens between now and Saturday. Like a lottery win. But we'll see nearer the time regarding entertaining Samandans.

[minigeek]

I don't *think* I'll be going to the Avalon event. Not unless some miracle happens between now and Saturday. Like a lottery win. But we'll see nearer the time regarding entertaining Samandans.

I'm still checking to see if I can get off work for that long. It's production season, so it's iffy for me, too. I'm hoping, but... not certain.

[jckfan55]

Here are some photos from Other Side. They are quite large so I put them in spoilers.

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This is one of my absolute favorite scenes and to me it's yet another example of why S9 is so lacking in my opinion without RDA around.

According to an excerpt in the Stargate Illustrated Companion S4-3:

Although he[Brad Wright] agrees that Alar "had it coming", the writer is bothered by one choice Richard Dean Anderson made, which Wright feels made quite a difference to how the ending was viewed. "After he had deliberately closed the iris, knowing he was committing Alar to death, he was supposed to have said, "This is where we came in.' In other words, O'Neill's justification was the Eurondans were mortibund. They were an inch away from their own doom and then we came in and brought them some time. My feeling is that the line would have helped to make the episode more symmetrical but, you know, writers are like that and actors aren't."

Personally, I think the way AT and RDA played that seen at the end without any discussion about what happened was shocking and stunning at the same time. The looks they both give one another left me questioning what they were truly thinking at that moment in time. I seem to recall reading an interview with Amanda where she stated that she tried to play it that Sam being utterly shocked by what O'Neill had just done, but understanding why he had made that decision; although I'm not so sure if Sam really would have done the same if it had been her call. I was just very fascinated with the fact that Brad Wright suggested RDA had that kind of control over an episode. I mean it's not as if BW is just a writer as he suggests. He an EP as well as the show runner. One would think that he would have had a bit more say in the matter if he had truly wanted. Which leads me to suspect after watching S9, that RDA had much more say in the show's editing process than most of us may have realized.

I agree--it was better without the line. And the line might have come off as a flip comment, which I don't think was intended. I've heard that in a few cases AT & RDA said they could do it without as many or without any lines. I think at that moment Sam sees the "special ops" "distasteful jobs" side of things in O'Neill that she doesn't always see.

[jckfan55]

If this really is how the choice played out, then RDA knew what he was doing.

I don't miss RDA's presence as Jack (because I wasn't much of a Jack fan most of the time), but I do miss his presence as a producer.

What?!! How can that be possible?! Jack rules! Time to send you to the Samanda psychiatrist. (just kidding ) But I am called jckfan for a reason.

[jckfan55]

You know looking at all these pictures of AT that people have in their signatures it's cool how she can be "girl next door" or really glamorous. I bet she'd look great in 1940s styles in a period movie. Of course she probably looks great changing the baby's diapers.

[ChevronSeven]

If this really is how the choice played out, then RDA knew what he was doing.

I don't miss RDA's presence as Jack (because I wasn't much of a Jack fan most of the time), but I do miss his presence as a producer.

I completely miss RDA. He brough so much together. And I've said it from the beginning. His and Michael Greenburg's absence are glaring when watching Season 9. There was so much structure to it. I read an old interview once, where RDA was pointing out a seam in a backdrop and wondering if it would show through on camera (the episode where we first meet Jacob).

Also, take a look at the Behind the Scenes of "Frozen." Brad Wright wouldn't let RDA get away with a certain line and BW hit the roof when RDA slapped the Gate in, I think, "The Tomb," because it cost $5,000 to edit the effect in. So BW does have a certain amount of control. He's just now run amok with it.

[Deejay435]

If she's out there, she's on AF time, which means she doesn't get to make that choice. She doesn't get to many any choices other than the ones that comply with her orders. She's out there for a reason and she'd need special permission to leave that assignment and gate elsewhere for a spot of fun. If it's not already part of a mission and she just chooses to go off and gate somwehre else on her own, she'd be absent without leave (permission) - that's AWOL. Is what I meant. And somehow, I can't see Sam doing that in canon.

I think you missed the point of my post.

She could easily do it with permission. "General Landry, I've been invited to participate again, in the Loop of Kon Garat on Hebridan. It's on the 23rd of this month. I have two weeks leave coming, and I can ship out with the supplies for SG16 to PX6-909, use that get to get to Hebridan, that way we don't have to power up our gate unnecessarily, and I can be back on the 25th."

[ForeverSg1]

Hey guys... was wondering, how many of you are going to bridge AT2 with the AVALON event? Given it's only a week apart... I'm considering it. Was wondering if I'd have any Samandans to hang with/play with during the week in between, though...

If I manage to get tickets, I'll be going to Avalon. My husband is psyched about spending a few days in Gastonbury Tor so he's been pushing me to go.

[the dancer of spaz]

I think you're right. I think he did, and based on the fact that he [Rick] was the proverbial lynch pin whereby the network would often agree to renew the series (based on his participation), that power was pretty great. Rightly or wrongly. I also think Brad probably looked at Rick as an equal, both of them senior participants (vis-a-vis their respective backgrounds and input) on the series. So I could see Brad acquiessing to Rick in that regard. Frankly? I liked the silent approach, too. I think it was the right choice, especially given the impact it had. To write more in there would have lessened the impact of that scene, in my personal opinion. So I guess it really is subjective.

mg

Definitely loved that scene. Thanks, atlantisbabe for posting the pics I lurve (in my top ten fave moments in S4, by far), and thanks Kat for posting that little tidbit from the book.

It would seem that the most poignant moments between two characters (or even one) happen when there are no words at all, when the actor is allowed to simply act. As a writer, I can understand Wright's need to explain away Jack's feelings with a relatively clear and concise closing line. Varied interpretations of the script aside, there's always that question in the back of your head, "Will the audience get it? Does it make sense? Is the moment clear?"

And I guess, if you have confident, competent actors you don't have to ask yourself that question very much.

Those moments don't seem to happen anymore. The exposition seems to be very much dialogue-driven now, as if those in charge have neither the time nor the inclination to trust their actors or the audience to get what they're trying to get across. It's a shame. Those moments in SG history went over quite well, iirc, and I'd love to see them again before the series ended.

[Myrth]

I'll be with you in spirit Mini... tho I'd dearly love to go I'm pathetic with money (pats shiny new xbox) and somehow doubt I'll pull it together between now and then.

Hey guys... was wondering, how many of you are going to bridge AT2 with the AVALON event? Given it's only a week apart... I'm considering it. Was wondering if I'd have any Samandans to hang with/play with during the week in between, though...

[Mandysg1]

If you think about Death Knell, AT didn't have many lines until the end of the show! It was a Sam episode but she didn't need to say much, her actions and reactions said it all.

[Lizlove]

If you think about Death Knell, AT didn't have many lines until the end of the show! It was a Sam episode but she didn't need to say much, her actions and reactions said it all.

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/3...l5f04546ow.jpg

That episode was pure survival and thinking about a way to kill the Kull Warrior. Words weren't need, you saw her despair, strenght and will to live clearly. And she could find it difficult to talk to herself no?

[RepliCartertje]

If you think about Death Knell, AT didn't have many lines until the end of the show! It was a Sam episode but she didn't need to say much, her actions and reactions said it all.

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/3...l5f04546ow.jpg

yeah that is really one of the best acting of her... the way she acts and reacts the way she tries to escape. She tries everything to save herself... she has no idea of what is happening to the rest... she has to take care of herself.
I really like her in that episode mainly cos she is a little dirty and makes of her a good soldier. YOu see her tacticts of surving it.

[the dancer of spaz]

I'll be with you in spirit Mini... tho I'd dearly love to go I'm pathetic with money (pats shiny new xbox) and somehow doubt I'll pull it together between now and then.

I'm with Myrth in the cha-ching department. The odds of me going are on the astronomical side...

And I'm pretty sure I'm waaaay closer to Gastonbury than she is.