Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[RepliCartertje]

Spoilers for Season 9

Spoiler:

I'm sorry but that doesn't really wash with me in terms of Sam. Because in my mind they could have easily moved Collateral Damage or Babylon up in the filming schedule when AT was gone. There was no reason why Sam had to be in either of these episodes because she did absolutely nothing in them. Then they could also have chucked the The Ties That Bind episode which to me is a complete waste of money and forty two minutes of my life. Then they would have had the time to write an episode around Sam's return and explain why she was no longer leader of SG-1. It's was a matter of personal preference and the writers preferred to go with the romp around the galaxy rather explain Sam's return.

Spoiler:

Yeah you are right about that but I think TPTB prefered to give their attention and all the eps to the new cast instead of the old. Cause they thought that the old fans who where watching for Sam/Daniel/Teal'c would still stay and watch. I think they didn't expect to loose that much viewers because of the changes. But I know what you mean. But I think if we did not have the arcs for Vala and Mitchell we would be even more upset about the fact that he is the leader...

I think my good mood from yesterday is over...I can not see anything positive anymore about the whole new stargate anymore!

[RepliCartertje]

I don't mean to be rude or insulting in anyway, but how can anyone suggest that Mitchell was the best man for the job? Ok, I get that Sam was gone, but come on are you telling me that every other SG member quit as well? I know for a fact we have at least 23 SG teams now and many of them are lead by Colonels who probably have much more experience than Mitchell so I just don't understand why because Sam leaves the SGC that noone else was deemed qualified enough to lead SG-1 other than Mitchell.

In terms of bringing in a new lead character yes, but in terms of the Stargate universe it makes absolutely no sense at all to me. Just as it makes no sense to me that Sam would leave SG-1 for a position at Area 51 only to be asked to be transferred back six weeks later and willingly take a demotion in the process. I'm no military know-it-all, but what AF officer in their right mind would do something so idiotic? How can this possibly look good on her record? She's leader of SG-1. She requests a transfer to Area 51 and takes a position as head of Research & Development and then six weeks later asks for another transfer to be 2IC of SG-1 again. On paper, wouldn't that look like Sam just couldn't cut it as head of R&D and willingly took a step backwards? I understand all the reasons that have been given for Mitchell having the lead, I just don't believe they are good reasons.

Spoiler:

I was not saying that he is the best man...not by a change. It is just that they saw as him as the best man. Cause otherwise they would have had anyone else to lead SG1 and off course it was also a little present for Mitchell to be leader of SG1 after what he had done in Antarctica. I think if he didn't get injured he would never had given the position.
As for Sam moving to area 51... I still got some issues with that too.. Still don't get it why she left for area 51?!? I mean you got everything at SG1 than you just don't leave for area 51. I don't think that is that excited to be there...but than again maybe she wanted to go there because after Threads (and after her father died) she realised that there is more to life than her job and the SGC and she wanted to take a break from it. So she could have more of a personal life. I mean she did mention in Ex deus Machina that she was busy...She mentioned Cassie and that she was not quit single. So maybe that is why she was at area 51. Cause she wanted to build up a life next to SGC. That would at least partially explain her being at area 51.

[RepliCartertje]

I don't know if we'll get any substantial Sam moments beyond...

Late S10...

Spoiler:

Sam being the damsel in distress.

But if you're looking for great acting on AT's part...

Spoiler:

PegPro, Line in the Sand and The Road Not Taken will probably be our best bets, though I'd like to wait until it gets closer to when they air. In March.

I know what you mean, though. I don't want Sam or any character to dominate the series. I just want to see each character used to their full potential. When it comes to Sam, that hasn't happened in a year.




ETA: OK, here's a nice vid that made me smile, if no one's posted it here before:

Whenever You Remember

It'll either cheer you up or make you depressed all over again!

That vid is really great and want me to go back to there!! To season 1-8 and just forget about season 9. I want that back!!!!
Ok I have to go and look to see something positive in things...

[ReganX]

Spoiler:

OTG
JACKSON: *clear throat Mitchell turning* What the hell was that?
MITCHELL: What was what?
CARTER: We're suppose to stay under the radar.
TEAL'C: I doubt this world possesses such technology.
MITCHELL: See when he's right…he's right
JACKSON: Sam has a point. We're not equipped to take these guys on right now.
MITCHELL: I have no intention of taking anybody on. I'm just going to pose as a buyer.
JACKSON: *disbelieving* You?
MITCHELL: Well no offense Jackson, but you do not strike me as the drug dealer type. In fact, you're not even close.
JACKSON: *little pissed* I think I'm as close as you are.
CARTER: *to Mitchell* Come on you're miles away.
MITCHELL: Teal'c…which one of us is closer?
TEAL'C: *Jackson looking at him* I believe the three of you to be equal distant.
MITCHELL: *looks at Carter* Oh please! Mary Poppins is not even in the running.
CARTER: Hey!
MITCHELL: *points at Jackson* and neither are you... because I'm going.

The Scourge

MITCHELL: I'm telling you, today it's escorting foreign delegates on off- world tours. Tomorrow it's comic book conventions and supermarket openings.
JACKSON: I know how you feel but if we can somehow reassure the IOA of the job Stargate Command is doing the-
MITCHELL: Daniel Jackson. The problem is not the IOA.
JACKSON: Ok, if we can somehow reassure the Chinese Government.
MITCHELL: Oh, I think they're looking for more than reassurances
JACKSON: Well can you blame them? I mean, three years ago we promised to share all off-world technology.
MITCHELL: ...of a non military nature.
JACKSON: That wasn't in the original wording of the agreement.
MITCHELL: Hey look. I don't want to argue about this. I'm right. We'll leave it at that.

Arthur's Mantle
MITCHELL: We've lost contact with Teal'c… Landry's sending SG-3 and 22 to check on him at the sodan Village…I figured I'd tag along…
CARTER: Off world?!
MITCHELL: Yeah well Jackson was able to travel through the gate when he was out of phase so…yeah.
CARTER: Well…that's my point. You're out of phase, What do you hope to accomplish?
MITCHELL: Sam. Teal'c could be in trouble…I want to check it out. No one can see me…I can't get hurt. I can gather Intel that no one else can
JACKSON: *reaching the end of the book with his finger…* Sam…? Mitchell…? did you see it?
MITCHELL: *Before Carter can say anything*… Listen…I promise I'll come back through the Gate when they dial to check in. I'll only be gone a couple of hours…
JACKSON: Hello? You guys still there?
CARTER: Cameron…
MITCHELL: Sam… Teal'c may need help…and I have friends among the Sodan. I'll be back soon… Promise *he leaves*

I mean why would Sam and Daniel respect or trust a man who disregards their opinions so regularly? You're probably correct in that if Sam did argue with him, she'd just be made to look like a b*tch or the one who was wrong.

Spoiler:

I would love for Mitchell's refusal to listen to those with far more experience than him to come back to bite him in the butt. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c advise him against a course of action, Mitchell does what he wants regardless, bad things happen and there are actual consequences.

Mitchell and Landry both need wake-up calls.

[ReganX]

Spoiler:

I absolutely agree that Sam is the better choice to lead SG1 but from Landry's perspective at Beachhead, Mitchell, while inexperienced in gate travel, hadn't done anything to suggest at that point he wasn't fit to lead a team. His performance had been pretty solid, and presumably however justified the reason for the removal of the assignment it still wouldn't have looked good on Mitchell's record.

Spoiler:

Putting Sam back in command once they knew of the Ori threat wouldn't have been saying that Mitchell had done a bad job up until that point, only that the conditions of the job had changed and it was in everybody's best interests to bring in somebody with more experience.

When Mitchell was given the job, there was no threat out there that they knew of. SG-1 would be going on (hopefully) peaceful exploratory missions and keeping up ties with people on planets already explored.

I see it as a similar situation to the end of the first season of Atlantis. Weir was assigned to head up the expedition team and to help keep peace among the representatives of different nations while they explored the city of the Ancients. When the threat of the Wraith became known, the SGC sent Colonel Everett to take command. It didn't mean that Weir had done a bad job - in fact, she was commended on "a job well done" - just that under the changed circumstances, somebody else was a better choice to lead.

[Linwelin]

Happy birthday, Tracy Jane !

Fourth Horseman

D'uh! Tell me about it!

Spoiler:

"There is no "us," Orlin," says it all, for me.

Yes ! I didn't remember that !

Ok for what it is worth my views on things:

Spoiler:

I don't think it was a lack of creativity or it wasn't even disrespectfull against AT...It was just a lack of time and a lack of ep. IMO
they had to deal with a lot of new characters...and that is never easy. especially cause IMO they knew that there would be fans who wouldn't like the changes that were unavoidable. I mean with RDA gone they had to have at least a new General. And maybe also again a 4 teammember. And with AT going for a few ep. they also needed a 4 teammember again and the preference was a woman. So they came up with it and while they were at it they also thought a regular doc would be nice. so that makes a lot of new characters that the fans didn't know about. And the rest of the characters already had a backstorie. So in their oppinion, they needed to give the rest also a backstorie. So that is what they did. I mean the relationship between Landry and Cam: I mean that was totally unnecessary but that makes them more human and the fans can better relate to them.
Than we get to know Vala and what she was...and how she still is.
Also Cam has his share of his personal life...
So not much time left for the old characters to let them have their backstorie. I think if there were more eps or more time for every ep. We wouldn't have that problem. I really don't think TPTB did it on purpose. they just want the explore the other characters to, and because we don't know a thing about them they tried to do it as quick as possible. So instead of just giving some hints about it they focussed on it...On their backstories. and that is why IMO stargate has so much changed. Because of the fact that it became more of the Cam/Vala/Landry/Lam show.
And I think with season 10 we have more change of that not being the case anymore because we know a lot about the new teammembers. So they just fit in like the rest of the team. they don't need that attention anymore.

Good point !

Season 9...

Spoiler:

But they could have tried to explain Sam's absence in a few more lines than they did... Or at least let the other members of SG1 welcome her back !

[nell]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACY JANE!!!

[kes]

Ep 2oo.

Spoiler:

Remember the pic discussion? Well anybody scene the trailer? It looks like Vala is in Oz, Mitchell in Star Trek, I cant tell where Teal'c is? (Shouldnt it be Star wars?But doesnt loook like it.) That would make the tent pic Sams fantasy and Lord of the rings
Of course that pic could be from Vala's fantasy and that would make her the good witch LOL

[ReganX]

to me that is the saddest statement of it all, whomever up there that said that, here is sam, the better qualified FEMALE being shunted aside so that the lesser qualified MALE can lead her, which is very blatant sexism, and has just been accepted as the natural order of things.

no questions, no wonder, no worries, it's just accepted as normal.

now, what if Sam was a 40 something man of color, who was transferred, then came back to find the lesser qualified, YOUNGER white man was now his boss. Would that have gone unnoticed? Or would the naacp be all over it decrying the racism on the show???

the saddest statement is that this discrimination is so accepted and 'normal' that no one even sees it

It never would have happened, TPTB wouldn't have dared and if they did, there would be an outcry and rightly so.

If it had been a case of Lt Colonel Samuel Carter being absent for a few episodes and Lt Colonel Carmen Mitchell temporarily taking command while he was away at Area 51, how many seconds do you think Carmen would have kept command after Samuel got back before (a) Landry put Samuel back in command, (b) Carmen insisted that Samuel retake command or (c) in the event that Carmen was selfish enough to try to hold onto the command that was rightfully Samuel's, Daniel and Teal'c objected and insisted that Samuel retake command?

[Skydiver]

There is no way you can interpret what Orlin did with the glowy thing as being rape...firstly, Sam agreed to the...thing...and second...she did care for him. I think that the sex thing has just been interpreted that way by the PTB...personally I think it was done in poor taste.

them interpreting sam and orlin as sex was nothing more than teh writers indulging their inner frat boy (which they do far too often ihmo.)

it was cheap and tawdry and another example of rcc sacrificing the character (sam) for teh brief 'yuk-yuk' moment and the sly elbows in the ribs 'haha, that was funny, get it, get it????' 'joke'

[Skydiver]

I agree that it was an intimate experience, IMO. It was beyond sex...more intellectual, refined, not raw or passionate per se. It was a moment of shared beauty, knowledge...a philosophical field day. Just try to imagine a state of nirvana, as in Buddhism/Hinduism, and I think that's what they shared.

i think so too. and the writers should have had sam say 'it wasn't like THAT. He opened up his mind to me and...it was like nothing i've ever experienced'

but, like i said, that woulda meant that they couldn't have their little 'joke' and i think that's all they cared about it.

frat house humor

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

I agree that it was an intimate experience, IMO. It was beyond sex...more intellectual, refined, not raw or passionate per se. It was a moment of shared beauty, knowledge...a philosophical field day. Just try to imagine a state of nirvana, as in Buddhism/Hinduism, and I think that's what they shared.

Maybe Sam just got tired of trying to explain herself to so many men from Simmons - "And I dare say you haven't spent one minute of it studying weather anomalies, <smirk>" to whomever else up the chain of command misinterpreted Sam's illegally overheard, but not seen, "OMG!" statement when she and Orlin did the glowie.

[Skydiver]

It never would have happened, TPTB wouldn't have dared and if they did, there would be an outcry and rightly so.

If it had been a case of Lt Colonel Samuel Carter being absent for a few episodes and Lt Colonel Carmen Mitchell temporarily taking command while he was away at Area 51, how many seconds do you think Carmen would have kept command after Samuel got back before (a) Landry put Samuel back in command, (b) Carmen insisted that Samuel retake command or (c) in the event that Carmen was selfish enough to try to hold onto the command that was rightfully Samuel's, Daniel and Teal'c objected and insisted that Samuel retake command?

or we'd have had a sitation like in the old tv show Tour of Duty. It was a show set in teh viet nam war. and in it the LT was transferred in. green, wet behind the ears academy/college guy put in charge of a squad of folks that had spent time in the bush. and the SGT knew more than teh LT ever would.

IIRC - and it's been a few years - the SGT and LT had some issues. the LT being expected to make judgement calls that he didn't have the experience to make. so eventually the SGT and LT came to an agreement where the SGT would tell the LT what they should do and basically teach his superior and they ended up workign well together.

NOt exactly like sam and cam, but a bit closer to what should have happened. Let cam be the boss while sam was gone. it'd only make sense. then, just when cam thinks he's doing things well, hey wait, we want sam back. she comes back and cam has to step down.

there'd be tension, disquiet, mistrust and eventually growing trust between all of them

THAT tension would have made the wasteland of s9 a bit more enjoyable

think of babylon

Spoiler:

cam still gets to go off and get his super powers and sam...sam is conflicted. wow, she likes it with him gone. it's a bit of a relief. but also she's kinda missing him. she realizes that his arguing iwth her was a vital part of how the team worked and that his often opposing POV allowed her to question her own opinions and look at other sides of them

season 9's main theme is wasted opportunity and too much personal indulgence on part of the writers.

[Agent_Dark]

or we'd have had a sitation like in the old tv show Tour of Duty. It was a show set in teh viet nam war.

Good show that, Tour of Duty They used to show repeats after stargate here, so I'd catch the odd episode. Rolling Stones theme song for the win

[AmberLM]

them interpreting sam and orlin as sex was nothing more than the writers indulging their inner frat boy (which they do far too often ihmo.)

Lol Sky, I couldn't have put it better myself and I agree with you, they've been doing that far too often recently (I put it hugely down to the fact that RDA isn't around as EP to give them a clip round the ear when they get too carried away!)