Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[majorsal]

(snip)

At this point, she was probably having some doubts about the wedding, but she’s so analytical that she might have blamed those doubts on normal second thoughts felt by many prospective brides and grooms. And she didn’t have anyone like Janet to confide in at this point.

Pete, most likely getting impatient, started up the whole process, and Sam must have felt it was spiraling out of control. Now it was getting real, and she finally realized that this wasn’t what she wanted right now. Who knows, maybe if there had been a longer engagement, it might have worked. Her experience with Jonas might have made her leery of controlling men. Not that I think Pete was controlling, just impatient and clueless about some things. But to Sam, it might have seemed that he was trying to run her life.

but we can't forget the 'jack' factor. whether you're a shipper or not, it's *canon* that sam loves jack (and jack loves sam). it shaped sam's decisions, right down to her going out with the guy and breaking up with him.

but i know it wasn't the 'only' reason for the results. but it was 'one' of the reasons...





sally

[sg-1fanintn]

Fly-by post!

I've been offline since Friday night. I was voting for AT on the site many of us had been visiting for several days, when suddenly, i lost my internet connection and couldn't get back on.

Wel, spank me, Rosie!!!!!

Luckily, Hubby's broadcast engineer (who is currently in Texas) got on the phone with us tonight to fix the problem. I think maybe someone got tired of how fast AT was moving up and [/spoilers] attached a worm of some sort to their site??? [/spoilers] At any rate, I'm using a borrowed laptop to post now, and hopefully, my main problem will be fixed by bedtime. Hope no one else encountered what I did, but I wanted all to know where the heck I had been since Friday!

Pardon the OT nature of the post, please. Hope to be back in safe GW waters with you tomorrow.

[L.A. Doyle]

Great posts people! You really get me thinking. I have my thoughts and opinions, then someone posts something that isn't what I originally I thought or even considered. Instead of disagreeing, most of the time I think 'huh, I see where they're coming from.' I love this thread!

[Chelle DB]

Thanks to Astro's great post giving us all the links, I've now done my royal duty and caught up with all three polls!!

And I see that I've just posted my 2500th message at Samanda (thinking that about 2400+ of my posts have been at this thread alone)! I'm proud to be a Royal Loyalist to Court and Queen!!

CONGRATS ON 2500 POSTS...WTG!!!

[Chelle DB]

Samandans are deep thinkers and make me think. Thanks, guys! When I come to this thread, it's like sitting down at a local pub or coffeehouse and engaging in some really good conversation with some really fine folks.

Thanks...and that goes double for me!! BTW...I'll have a machiatto thanks!!

[LaCroix]

I was looking for something to watch on the tube while waiting for Mom to go to sleep. I found the season premier of Whistler. Well I watched about a half hour of it and went looking for something else.

It kinda reminds me of 90210, the O.C. and the show Craig Sheffer was on. I thought Nick Lea was good (former X person myself). Can't see the Twin Peak thing, except for the High School.

Now I'm kinda glad that AT stayed with SG-1. I see this show lasting about a season and I'm being nice.

[Chelle DB]

I think it speaks volumes if you don't want your best friends around your boyfriend. Means something isn't right there, at least to me.

Oh yeah..I agree. And I think Sam knew that. I reackon she already knew it wouldn't last when he got narky when she wouldn't tell him about her job. She must have realised that it was going to be a lot harder than she thought to keep the whole SGC thing secret. (the fact the Pete treated it all as a joke irked me!!). He mocked her work and if I were Sam I would have been mighty peeved!!
As for the boys...given his reaction to her secret job, I would assume he wouldn't be happy with her working so closely with them and not letting him in on what goes on in her life when he's not around...does that make sense??

Besides, Sam's heart is with Jack and she knows it and Jack knows it and now it's time they did something about it...well that's what I think anyway!!

[Uber]

I know I've said this before, but this is why out of all the stuff SG1 has put forth over the last nine years, I have the hardest time seperating Pete as a character and as a story arc from the production concerns that lead to his existence. Given the general flow and progression of season seven, given the giant lengths that TPTB went to in order to make Sam's and Jack's relationship a major part the last ten episodes of that season, I can't help but view Pete primarily as a functional tool in the story. Whether fans are for or against a Sam/Jack relationship, there is no questioning that the writers made a concerted effort to move the two characters closer emotionally in a very short space of time. These scenes exist in Evolution 2, surely in Grace, even in Chimera, Heroes 1, Heroes 2, Death Knell, Lost City 1, and Lost City 2. That's eight out of ten episodes. All of this comes at a time when the producers are yet again 99% certain that Lost City will end the series and everyone will move on to a SG1 movie that will segue into Atlantis. Alas, even Apophis is easier to kill than Stargate SG-1.

What I'm trying to get at here is that I believe that Chimera was supposed to end just as many fans expected it to. Sam was supposed to have this great relationship. Her job was supposed to get in the way and cause trouble. She was supposed to get to a place where she realized that keeping something like the SGC a secret from her would-be partner was an impossible burden to overcome. And she was supposed to cut Pete loose at the end of Chimera. Ultimately, I think all of this was supposed to highlight the inevitable compatibility of Sam and Jack. Otherwise, Chimera remains this niggling abberation in what is undoubtably a consistently drawn side-arc for Sam's character in season seven.

It was only the season eight pick up that led to Sam's continuing relationship with Pete. All of a sudden the writers needed a way to drag out the sexual tension for another year. Pete was the easy answer to that problem. He's purely a production concern, no different from replacing Martouf with Elliot in Last Stand, adding Mckay to Redemption to cover RDA's absence, or substituting Cameron Bright for Sean Patrick Flannery. It was one of those instances that I wish didn't happen so often where production concerns outweighed any desire for story or character consistency. I don't buy into the theory that Pete stuck around because he was played by Peter DeLuise's brother, mostly because I think David DeLuise was a last resort for casting Pete. He was actually helping them out when he took the role. I do, however, think that some of the writers *cough*Damien Kindler*cough* took exception to the fact that Pete was percieved by many fans (not just shippers) as an intruding, untrustworthy sort of fellow following Chimera. That perception of the character took the writers by surprise, and it can only be seen as an error in characterization that has its roots in the script. As such, it's hard to view that particular bit of writing as anything but shoddy. Certainly no one wanted Pete to be an unlikable character. But he was, and he was part of a storyline that most fans, whatever their fannish inclinations, wanted to end as soon as possible.

Anyway, that's why Pete exists. Sam and Jack couldn't wrap it up when it was orginally planned. Hence, an obstacle was needed. Don't try to read anymore into it. Further attempts to assign meaning or importance to anything about Pete always seem unsatistfying because they don't exist. When Amanda Tapping finds herself questioning why any of this is included in the show, it's time to throw in the towel, take it as a necessary evil, and move on.

And just to tack something else on here, I really like the dialogue and performances in the breakup scene in Threads. The "that's it?" line is entirely apt. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, knew that nothing about Pete's and Sam's relationship was going to end well. It's an uncomfortable scene; the characters are uncomfortable and wish it didn't have to happen, and same holds true for viewers. To end things any happier or easier would have been too easy. It would have been a cop out from the writers and it would have been too easy an out for Sam. Such a scene wouldn't even pretend to be realistic; it would have been a pitiful tableau. The scene as it plays out also allows you to see Carter at a slightly askew angle, one that none of the characters usually gets to be seen from. You learn a little more about Carter in that scene. How can that not be worth it?

*yet another standing ovation for golfbooy*

That's brilliant...and I agree on every level.

What I love about it is how Amanda chose to play out the story. The initial attraction to Pete...his quirky sense of humor, his good looks, his availability. How she showed Sam giving it her best dang effort to make something resembling a normal life that her father wanted for her and she, on some level, wanted for herself.

I LOVE that he didn't die and I LOVE that Sam didn't tear into him for tailing her. It showed that she was at a point in her life where she was willing to overlook some pretty big mistakes. I can relate to that. I had a list when I was younger of what I wanted/expected from a future husband and it was quite long and detailed. Well after dating some men, being engaged to one of them, I've whittled my list of expectations down quite a bit. I'm now down to the following expectations..."human, male, sense of humor, respectful/considerate of others, shares beliefs."

I think the Sam of 8 years ago would have decked Pete for what he did...but the Sam of just a couple years ago decided to let it slide. She whittled her list down too I imagine because she realized she'd never have that life if she strictly adhered to the "best case scenario."

I think Sam took the ring for a few reasons. First, she really wanted a life/love/personal fulfillment/etc/yadda. Second, although that "thing" continued to be there between Jack and Sam, the barriers were still there so he was simply off the plate and not an option for her getting that life. Third, Pete proved he could handle the craziness of her work and wasn't overwhelmed by the oddities associated with it.

I love how, as light as things seemed to be between them in Affinity, we started to see the cracks. Well, we saw the cracks way before then...but I think Sam started to really see them as well. After the proposal, they lost some of that ease they had before. Some of that lightheartedness. Things became a little tighter...more awkward. Sam throughout that episode is rethinking some of her notions of having a life...what's "expected" of her by society...what she expects of herself and how some of this conflicts with her personal goals. But in the end, she takes the ring and dives in...hoping that her misgivings will pass and she and Jack can both move on to new emotional entanglements.

Then for Threads...the yarn has completely unravelled by this point. Frankly WAY before this point if you interpret scenes from Citizen Joe and Reckoning as I did...showing that Jack still has feelings for Sam, that she is lightly flirting with him. That tension between them in Reckoning when she wants to spend time with him and he's short with her. Someone who's emotionally fulfilled by their fiance wouldn't appear to crave the presence of the guy she's supposedly moved on from...and that's eminently clear in Threads where she practically avoids Pete like the plague, cringes from his show of affections, groans when her dad teases her in front of Jack about the wedding, etc.

Pete knows something's wrong...he sees it coming but continues to push on, hoping things would change. Thus the house, the talk of the dog, etc. Push, push, push. And Sam finally sees that this just isn't right for her. I think the house and the dog simply flipped that final switch in her mind...the last straw, as it were.

So why did she break up with him? Well, first I think it was because she just didn't want to have THAT conventional a life. Sure, she has a cute little cottage and a car and an answering machine and a coffee pot. But I don't think she really wants to be a soccer mom. Yet. Maybe in the future, but I think she's too much of an adrenaline junkie that she'd not be fulfilled by a truly "normal" life. Second, there's the Jack issue. While I believe she still wants a fulfilling emotional/physical/romantic relationship like her parents had, I think she wants that with the "right" man. The one she really wants...not a standin. I think she wants to have her cake and eat it too...have a "normal" relationship, but within her parameters.

So that's my longwinded take on it. Thanks for reading.

[Uber]

see, i don't see jackmaking the first move.

IMHO, he's already done that.

in D&C, she found out that he had feelins. And that they were still there in BTS, and are still simmering under the surface.

and she keeps him at arm's length. she's set the boundaries

he's also made a step or two with his 'always'.

in fact, all those tha say that she's pining for him...heck if anyone's pining, it's jack. he's waiting for her and is apparantly in no mood to move on

so i think that sam needs to make the first move. She needs to open the door to that room. because he will respect her decision even if he hates it

I think that's what she started to do in Threads and I believe has done in the interim.

[Uber]

Kat, this is so well said. That was what bothered me too. Instead of opening Sam up to her personal life and choices, the writers boxed her in with one relationship which seemed like a dead-end from the start as soon as Pete rushed out of the bedroom and got on his cell phone for a background check.

From then on, every scene having to do with Pete began to reflect a more and more uncertain Sam ... and her vulnerability was used against her by many of the fanbase. AT had to deliver on the scripts presented her and loved working with DDL so she tried hard to provide lemonade. Unfortunately, the lemons were way too sour for my taste!

To make matters worse, the writers began to show a somewhat disinterested/aloof Jack in the scenes with Sam and AT's worst fear came true: she never wanted Sam to be seen as some "girly girl pining for her CO". It should never have come to this.

S9, Sam returns. Lots of changes and new dynamics. AT, being the professional she is, finds her groove and once again makes lemonade. This time, though, she sweetens it up by confidently inserting a quiet but commanding presence in each scene as the season "wears" on ....

She is not given much to do but, wow, does she deliver by the end of the season. She has her character nailed down pat. She has had nine years to live in Sam's skin, whereas the newbies are floundering all over the place trying to become whoever the writers want them to be. Can we say identity crisis here?

We, Amanda's fans, are disillusioned and disappointed at the Sam-light version of S9 but we start to discover that Amanda is still invested in Sam and sending out subtle signals. Carter's sense of self as dependable, mature and in control gives us hope. She has loved and learned, experienced personal loss and loss of command, but maintains her composure and stature throughout. In S9, she personifies "grace under pressure".

Let's see if S10 brings her back full circle to the Sam Carter of the early seasons - the Sam Carter we all so admire and so sorely miss!

We saw Amanda do what Amanda does best...take scenes with a little potential and shines in them.

My standard example for Season 9 was that Scourge scene with Woolsey. She turned those few sentences into gold. To me, that just proves her caliber and why I think she'll move on after Stargate is over and will do really well. She proved beyond any shadow of a doubt to me that she is THE leader. Period. Sam exudes leadership and poise...and she does it without breaking a sweat.

And we have Amanda to thank for that.

Excellent post ChopinGal.

[LaCroix]

Lovely post ChopinGal. Have to love AT for working with what she had to do at the time.

Good night all. I've been voting when and where I can.

[Chelle DB]

AT is generous and so are her fans. We helped out other voters that needed a hand. How many of us knew who Lacuna Coil was before this week? And how many more people know about Amanda Tapping thanks to her fans' hard work?

Ok LA...what does this mean? Have I misunderstood what you were trying to say here??
Thanks LA!!

[ReganX]

While I believe she still wants a fulfilling emotional/physical/romantic relationship like her parents had, I think she wants that with the "right" man. The one she really wants...not a standin. I think she wants to have her cake and eat it too...have a "normal" relationship, but within her parameters.

She could have had the wedding and the dream house and the white picket fence but I think she realized that the trimmings weren't nearly as important as who she shared them with.

[L.A. Doyle]

Ok LA...what does this mean? Have I misunderstood what you were trying to say here??
Thanks LA!!

It means thanks to us(her fans) voting and promoting her, many more people know about Amanda. Just tonight, we've had two people come to our board at celeeb and ask who Amanda was. See, it's working!

[Chelle DB]

see, i don't see jackmaking the first move.
IMHO, he's already done that.
in D&C, she found out that he had feelins. And that they were still there in BTS, and are still simmering under the surface.
and she keeps him at arm's length. she's set the boundaries
he's also made a step or two with his 'always'.
in fact, all those tha say that she's pining for him...heck if anyone's pining, it's jack. he's waiting for her and is apparantly in no mood to move on
so i think that sam needs to make the first move. She needs to open the door to that room. because he will respect her decision even if he hates it

I don't think either of them are pining for each other...that's kinda kitch..uhm..not them..if you know what I mean.
I think that they both wanted something more but they both didn't want to risk either ones career..but now that he is no longer in her chain of command or vice versa, I think they just want to be very careful that they're doing the right thing by each other. I get the impression that as much as he loves her and she him, they just don't seem to know what to do next...like who's gonna take that next big leap...it's a doozy!!
Pining just sounds wrong...especially when you refer to Sam and Jack.