Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Agent_Dark]

Interview with Kate Hewlett (spoilers for SGA S3):

Spoiler:

“That first day I worked with David as well as Amanda Tapping (Colonel Samantha Carter) who is just so lovely. What a perfect person to meet right off the bat. Amanda was very welcoming and treated me like we had known each other for years. So it was a really good start for me.”

The episode is 'McKay and Mrs Miller. And if I'm reading that right, it was implied that Sam is on the Deadalus for whatever reasons :O

[MunchkinStar]

I'd have to say my favorite part was...

Spoiler:

The way Cam saved Sam. I got a good laugh has Sam babbled about getting hit with the ship.

[DEM]

ok, without horrendously explicit spoilers...what sam bits did everyone like in flesh and blood????

I liked

Spoiler:

• When she said 'Hello.'
• Teal'c's return
• When she kicked Vala out the airlock. Oh, wait...

hey, here's something I keep forgetting to ask. don't the USAF use metric lengths rather than feet/miles? that "2000 feet off the blahblah" sounded odd to me.

[astrogeologist]

Yes, and I can appreciate your reasoning; however, in terms of TEAMiness and MULTIPLE strong protagonists,

Spoiler:

the scene would have been much better like so:

CARTER: Uh, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, it's gonna be tricky.
MITCHELL: Hang on, Sam, we're coming to get you.
CARTER: (nervous) Oh boy. (sobers) Okay, listen. Col Emerson, the sublight engines don't have much control. If you hit me, even at minimum velocity --
MITCHELL: I am not going to hit you. (quietly) Not on purpose.
CARTER: Once you get me in past the shield, the artificial gravity will kick in. You're going to have to employ reverse thrusters and such-and-so to maintain a stable positioning.
MITCHELL: Understood, Sam; Kvasir's riding the controls manually.

Do you feel the difference there?

You see, even in Tangent, Teal'c ultimately had to do something to rescue himself. He wasn't a passive victim. Likewise, in all those other Carter's Crazy Idea episodes, Carter herself was also one of the people who was Going To Die! yet, in keeping with her character, she figured out what needed to be done despite her acknowledgement of and/or worry about the risks.

Wonderful post, DEM!

Thanks, bink and RoX. Ultimately, I'm resigned to the writers taking a left turn after all these years and going the Standard Manly-Man Hero route with Mitchell. Whatev.

What I do NOT like or want to see, however, is other characters being made weaker in order to further that agenda. It Does Not have to happen that way. Carter can still have her strength and capabilities, Emerson can still be a frickin competent Full-Bird Colonel in command aboard his own ship, everyone can still be seasoned warriors who've seen every trick and strategem in the book twice over and, thus, know how to adapt, etc. etc. If I lose strong Carter, the show has lost me.

i can see the point. it would have been nice had sam been something other than the 'damsel in distress'

time will tell if she takes a more active role or if she's nothing more than the exposition girl kept in the background to facilitate TWTIV (teh wonder that is vala) and lt colonel Hewo

I don't think it's anything malicious done by the writers. they're not sitting down 'how can we frak up sam today'...i think they're just so preoccupied by their two shiny and new toys that they keep forgetting that there are others and they k eep leaving htem lying carelessly around.

cam and vala are carefully tucked away atnight while sam, daniel and teal'c get left out in the yard or lying on the floor and oops, i hope no one steps on them

This analogy is perfect!

i've been *very* down recently (blame the meds i've been on more than anything), but i'm ready to give my review of 'flesh and blood'.

Spoiler:

it was alright. not bad, but nothing grand.

i'm *very* glad to see that they wrote mitchell as an effective leader. i'm not glad, though, that he's still the leader. i'm going on record here to say that it'll *always* effect the way i see him because of the leadership issue. BUT, if he's going to be the leader, write him well and respectable.

vala wasn't bad, but i saw last season that they'd worked on her.

i was very surprised that daniel came into the story so late into the ep. (he's like rda -most men- that he's gotten better looking with age)

please stop writing teal'c getting tortured. please. writers, please let teal'c be more than the alien. let him grow *beyond* that. maybe chris likes being wallpapered, but i don't like teal'c being the token alien that they never 'really' change.

i felt this dread seeing bra'tac... he was kind of weird in the ep... why do i see a skull and crossbones over his head?

adria was alright. i'm not interested in that storyline (or i might have warmed to it more if they hadn't had it start out as a baby).

last, but not least, my precious sam... the number one thing that was going through my mind while watching the ep was... sam's part, her floating out in space, waiting to be rescued... before season 9, just that part of the story alone would have been a major plot point of the ep. but with soooooo many ppl being in the cast now, it wasn't highlighted the way i wanted. and that's sad, and i feel it's the way things are going to be now. i wonder if sam will ever, EVER have another 'grace' type storyline again?...

as for the story itself; like i said, it was alright. i wasn't in a very good state of mind while watching it, so i'm sure on a second view, i'll enjoy it more. BUT, i'll be fast-forwarding through many scenes to get to the sam scenes. i'd never have done that before season 9 (or not as a rule, depending on what the story was). *my* stargate is over and done. i have to get used to this. but i fear i won't. on some days, i just want this show over with. i might be *still* getting my sam/amanda fix, but she's been watered down and is no longer the big highlight she used to be... or maybe things will change. *shrugs*

<i'm still on those blasted meds, so please excuse the down attitude>

sally

((((Sally))))

Here maybe this will cheer you alittle. It did for me.
I really need to stop reading this thread because it gets me all riled up and then I have to find ways to vent my frustration. Please be forewarned that Mitchell takes the brunt of my irritation in my new demotivational poster.

Spoiler:

I also made a manipulation of one of the Stargate Party photos. I'm not really sure who it was, I think it was Mullie, but I removed him from the photo.

Spoiler:

Wonderful pics, Kat!

All- AT needs some help -- she still has a big lead (approx. 7000 votes) but has lost about 40 in the last 30 minutes or so - they can fall quickly).

Astro is voting

[stargate barbie]

Spoiler:

I liked the Sam/Vala locker room scene at the end. That was hot








Or maybe that was just in my version of Flesh and Blood

you mean

Spoiler:

the one you filmed yourself with lookalikes?

i liked

Spoiler:

the bits with teal'c, yes all of them.

i liked the rescue, and how she was all concerned. although i had no idea fighter pilots were capable of flying battle cruisers with such excellence, but whatever.

i liked how she was quite comfortable with vala immediately (AD, don't answer this, just go watch your home made scene again. i'm guessing next week they have a pillow fight or somthing?

i liked how she seemed to be an equal in this one. and in the same scene, i liked how she and emmerson seem to get on really well. they seem like friends and the actors seem to have a pretty good chemistry there and not in the same way as with teal'c or jack or daniel, so its nice to see another different dynamic there. hopefully they won't just decide that he has a crush on her. maybe he's married or gay or just not interested in her like that, something. anything!

i liked, that the episode starts with sam. thats always good for me.

[stargate barbie]

umm, hate to break it to you

Spoiler:

but unless sam kissed vala's boo-boo better, there was no locker room scene

maybe you were watching the cable version???

Spoiler:

whats a boo boo? sorry. thats not even funny.

[Deejay435]

Yes, and I can appreciate your reasoning; however, in terms of TEAMiness and MULTIPLE strong protagonists,

Spoiler:

the scene would have been much better like so:

CARTER: Uh, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, it's gonna be tricky.
MITCHELL: Hang on, Sam, we're coming to get you.
CARTER: (nervous) Oh boy. (sobers) Okay, listen. Col Emerson, the sublight engines don't have much control. If you hit me, even at minimum velocity --
MITCHELL: I am not going to hit you. (quietly) Not on purpose.
CARTER: Once you get me in past the shield, the artificial gravity will kick in. You're going to have to employ reverse thrusters and such-and-so to maintain a stable positioning.
MITCHELL: Understood, Sam; Kvasir's riding the controls manually.

Do you feel the difference there?

You see, even in Tangent, Teal'c ultimately had to do something to rescue himself. He wasn't a passive victim. Likewise, in all those other Carter's Crazy Idea episodes, Carter herself was also one of the people who was Going To Die! yet, in keeping with her character, she figured out what needed to be done despite her acknowledgement of and/or worry about the risks.

I do feel the difference, and I would have liked her to be more "here's how to do it right", but I still don't have as much of an issue with the scene that you do.

Spoiler:

(Well I do, but mine is that MITCHELL was the one saving her, and not Emerson, or piolot-guy-whose-name-I-don't-recall.)

Because in the past, when Sam was relying on wacky ideas to save her butt, or someone else's they were always her wacky ideas. I think it's a lot easier for her to believe in, and get behind her own crazy plans-because they're hers; and because she really is that much smarter than most other people so she has more faith in her own ideas than she would in say, Mitchell's. (AND who can blame here there? Not me.) All 'I-hate-Mitch' facetiousness aside, Sam's a very independent person, and used to being the person with the plan. It's hard to let someone else be that person when it's your neck on the line, especially someone who she hasn't had eight years of serving with to learn to trust. Especially when that person has a track record like Mitchell's. I think if it had been Jack, or Teal'c, or Daniel suggesting the manuver, she'd have been a lot calmer, and more able to guide them through the details.

Spoiler:

I am apparantly never letting go of my animosity for the "Mitchell flies the ship" part of the scene. Ever. And I freely admit my animostity toward the Mitch must be the hero song the B@B are propagating probably colors my view of the scene. If I were Sam, and I heard Mitchell planning this rescue, and heard HIM doing the flying, I'd be nervous too. She calmed right down when she heard Kvasir was handling the touchy "don't drop me 30 feet in a very heavy space suit" part of the manuver.

Anyway, that's just how I see that scene. It doesn't feel, to me, that Sam is being dumbed down, or cowarded down at all.

[Deejay435]

Yeah there were quite a few fans at Shore Leave wearing these T-shirts.

I heard. The person who designed them is on my flist...though apparantly she wasn't lucky enough to go to Shore Leave. (She is also a fan of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, do you know how delighted I was to find an Amanda Tapping fan who also loves SMK? I had someone to trade SMK icons with.)

[Deejay435]

i didn't have that much of an issue with it since sam doesnt take not being in control well. she's a bit like rod in grace under pressure, she had to trust someone else to save her tush, when she's usually the savior...and to make matters worse, she had to trust lt colonel cambo

sam's always been a glass is half empty girl

Yes, that was my take too. Only you just said it so much more succinctly than I managed to.

[Skydiver]

Spoiler:

whats a boo boo? sorry. thats not even funny.

a boo-boo is an owie, an ouchie, an injury.

not meant at all in 'that' context

[Uber]

Spoiler:

I liked the Sam/Vala locker room scene at the end. That was hot

Or maybe that was just in my version of Flesh and Blood

Hmm. Sounds more like "the show according to Agent Dark" to me.

Besides...there's only one hot Sam lockerroom scene in the series...and that was with Jack.

*sticks tongue out petulantly*

[Deejay435]

Great (if depressing) analogy. Maybe they need to go back and look at some of their old episodes to see how cool the Big 3 have been. They've got great raw material to work with in those characters but they seem to have forgotten that.
It's not a matter of making Sam the center of attention, for me it's giving fair time to everyone (including those that gave 8 years to the show before the shiny new toys arrived) and having those characters act in line with how we know they should. They're so hot to push Cam that they've got him being able to do everything and pushing his way in.

Spoiler:

As far as the pushiness, did anyone else notice the look Bra'tac gave him? he seemed annoyed. Anyway, Jack flew F302s but you wouldn't have seen him trying to do a move like we saw in Flesh and Blood.

As much as I hated it when they overdid the "jack is dumb" thing, at least he was never written as a one man band. And no, PTB, this isn't about "I can't handle Jack being gone."

I'd have made that line I emphasized above freaking BLINK if I could have, that's how stronly I agree with it.

As I said above, Sam's part actually rang true to character for me.

Spoiler:

But I do agree with whoever said that Bra'tac and Teal'c were acting out-of-character in the scene in the Mother Ship. I couldn't figure out why, at first, then I realized that Cam had planted a beaming token on Bray. This is what I wrote on my LJ about that bit: Bray'tac seemed a little off to me. Yes, I know he's Jaffa, and really focused and all. But...he's always been the Jaffa, aside from Teal'c, who has been the most reasonable. I just didn't buy his "I'm going to slam my mothership into the toliet ship because I have to do SOMETHING even if it's destined for failure, and by the way, sorry about killing you all" attitude. And-again with the Odyssey beaming technology saves the day. So glad that Mitchell just happened to have an extra beaming tag with him, and just knew that Bray was going to act so out of character that he needed to be secretly planted with the beaming tag to save him later. It's too bad Mitchell needs such poor writing to come off as a hero.

ETA: Dangit! I meant to add this reply to one of the ones above, so I wasn't spamming the thread. Sorry for hitting send too soon guys. Spent the day in the parents' pool with 6 kids from 0-10. Am a wee bit tired.

[Gate gal]

ok, without horrendously explicit spoilers...what sam bits did everyone like in flesh and blood????

Spoiler:

i liked it that cam & co seemed to give a damn that she survived - maybe he's afraid of what a certain general will do if sam gets owied???

i liked the infirmary bit with sam

i LOVED the sam/teal'c bit - notice that she stayed with him in the infirmary

i liked how sam played sensor array

i like how she put her foot down and 'i'm going with them' to emerson

I lked those, too.

Spoiler:

Adding to your first one, Cam knew he had to save Sam since no one has saved the planet more times than her.

I also liked the line about Daniel to Emerson. "You don't know him like we do."

Someone pointed out on the episode board that Sam was the most optimistic member of the team. She pointed out that things seemed hopeless with the Go'auld at first, too. I like that confidence.

[Chelle DB]

here's something i posted on the shipper thread that i thought was appropriate here as well.

(was replying to this post: http://forum.gateworld.net/showpost....ostcount=37282 )


sally

Hey...that was me!!
I haven't been in GW since Saturday...Sunday was just too full on..daughter had dance competitions...to which she came 3rd in her section!!...so I spent nearly the entire day out...then by the time I got home I was knackered!
I haven't read your reply yet...but I'm getting there!
So far..I've managed to read most of the posts since Saturday...nearly done...very entertaining reading!!! Love the pics that have been posted too!
Ok...well back to the posts...have a nice day everyone!!

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

Just popping in quickly to recommend a Samfic: (probably already been posted here, but, hey, who has time to sift through 2306 pages?
)
http://www.gateworld.net/fanfic/arch...oints.html#007

Warning: this one is deep, with much real science, literature, art, poetic and just plain not what we're used to, but it is most definitely worth the read. The author suggests you read the notes at the end of the fic first. I didn't, and for the most part, I'm glad of it, because now that I have read them(they are quite extensive and interesting) I'll probably find a dozen more delightful insights.

Oh, and, if anyone knows the author could you pm me his/her e-mail? I can't access e-mail on my comp. It's me,. I'm an idiot about e-mail servers. I only know how to use hotmail. :/