Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[MickSpeed]

didn't see Quest I yet, but there's an other thing about Amanda

today Amanda and Alan have there 12th Anniversary! They married on September 23 1994.
So all the best to Amanda, Alan, little Olivia and the whole family!

[ann_sgcfan]

The problem I have with the suggestion that Sam left because of Cassie is that only a very short time passed between when Sam left for Area 51 and when she returned in ‘Beachhead’, just a matter of weeks. During this time, between the hassles involved in changing jobs and getting caught up to speed on the projects she would be responsible for overseeing at Area 51, Sam’s work on the bomb and her stint on the Prometheus, I don’t see her being able to spend much time with Cassie.

Cassie is probably in college at this point so I doubt that she is living with Sam this year, although I am sure that they are in contact and that Cassie lived with Sam after Janet’s death until she went away to college.

If Cassie was having trouble adjusting to college, or was undergoing a brief crisis, I don’t see Sam having trouble obtaining a few weeks, even a couple of months of leave to help her, not after all she had done for the SGC, especially when things were quiet. If Cassie’s problems were more serious, if she was suffering from severe depression, for example, Sam would have been able to offer her very limited support while working at Area 51 and I don’t see her retaking a position on SG-1 if Cassie had needed her badly enough for her to leave it in the first place.

Yes I had a problem with this too! See I had similar questions/ thought hence the reason for my last fic and on going fic idea. What would cause Sam to leave SG-1 permanently! That is essentially what the writers were saying when she left to take a job at area 51 so she could be closer to CAssie and help her deal with some personal issues she is going through. The job didn't last more then a couple of months and now the writers do not mention Cassie at all. If Sam gave up command on SG-1 and her career at the SGC. I would expect a back story!!

I don’t buy that Sam would have leave the SGC permanently only to come back a couple of months later. Ba’al was still out there and a number of other system lords. Yes it was a transitional period. Daniel was going to Atlantis, but it wasn’t permanent. Teal’c was trying to help the free Jaffa, but even he said he wasn’t going to leave his friends at the SGC, so why did the writers choose to have Sam leave permanently?

I was thinking something more was going on. My idea was that Cassie was having problems (maybe those problems are both emotional and also somehow related to the SGC or something only someone with clearance from the SGC could help her with). This to me would make since why Sam worked really hard at Area 51 when she was also helping Cassie.

EDIT: I will say the two episodes I recorded yesterday and the Quest" from last night a total of 4 episodes I have seen in s10 is a lot better than the majority of s9 that I saw last year. And Last nights episode was actually a TEAM episode!! Go figure. So while I am upset with the direction the show took in s9. what little I have seen of s10 shows there is hope in a movie or whatever if the writers will actually think about it and take into consideration the history of the series.

[jckfan55]

Yeah, the lack of any plausible explanation makes me almost wish for the fake "preview" I threw out there last year when we were coming up with crazy "explanations" for Sam's absence for the first few episodes--that Cassandra spun out of control after her mother's death and had an unwed pregnancy scare.

[Lizlove]

Didn't she tell Barret in Ex Deus Machina that one of the reasons why she took the Area 51 Joke was so she could have flexible hours and spend time with Cassie? She was apparently going through a hard time?

you're right, she does


that eps was so unremarkable i seem to have forgotten most of it

BARRETT: yeah… pretty good…can't complain *smiles, she nods, carries
on, he looks at screen* what's new?

CARTER: uh… lets see…I was leading R&D for a while there

BARRETT: *he nods, smiles* well…I never figured you the type to
settle for a desk job…

CARTER: I needed something with more flexible hours. Janet's adopted
daughter Cassie was going through a hard time…

BARRETT: oh I see…

CARTER: spent some time on the Prometheus…away on deep space
reconnaissance.

BARRETT: mmmhmmm

CARTER: oooh. *grins* Help stopped a dangerous new enemy from
getting a foothold in the galaxy

Okay, thanks
And isn't there something mentioned in Ripple Effect too?
Or

Spoiler:

was that the story about another Samantha going to Nevada because Cassie's university was there?

[scarimor]

The Quest:

Spoiler:

OH EM GEE!!1!!1!one!!!1eleventy!!!!11!11!!

Spoiler:

man, Vala was really hitting on Sam tonight. Juicy!

Oh yeah, and I posted this in March

Spoiler:

http://forum.gateworld.net/showpost....6&postcount=25

[ChopinGal]

You are right about that, Kat. Hmmm....is it on purpose or not? Maybe he feels so uncomfortable in those dress blues that he would like to retire. Hmmm.....

I think it may be RDA just trying to subtly imply that formality is not Jack's strong suit.

[stargate barbie]

I just watched Avalon Part 1 and

Spoiler:

noticed Sam said she had 'good reasons' to have moved to Area 51. She didn't mention Cassie being one of them. So.... will that happen later on? Are people imagining it? Or did I miss it?

Oh and... Teal'c is such a tease

ooh i had a theory about that the other day!
its wrong, but i liked it

Spoiler:

i thought, what if her "reasons for wanting this job" were that she was hoping to get command of one of the ships?

its not, because i doubt the writers would have given any further thought to it than a thow away line just to get rid of sam for a few episodes, but i liked the idea of it.

i think cassie was mentioned in a later episode though. i might be wrong about that.

[NearlyCircular]

I know some of you are fans of Law and Order SVU, and even if you aren’t, you may be aware that the star Mariska Hargitay recently had a baby. IMO, the way that they chose to handle her character’s absence during Mariska’s maternity leave was extremely well done, and it made me even more disappointed with the way that SG-1 dealt with Amanda and Sam’s similar situation. I’ll use spoilers in case you haven’t seen the first episode of SVU yet.

Spoiler:

Olivia spent the first episode this season working with an FBI agent tracking down an eco-terrorist organization. At the end, after going undercover to stop a bombing, the FBI wants her to stay with the group, since no one’s been able to infiltrate them. So she’ll be gone for an indeterminate amount of time, and no one in her squad knows what she’s doing or where she’s at. (except maybe the captain)

They filmed the first episode of this season last year, before Mariska was too far along. They did have the advantage of knowing that the show would be renewed, so they knew well in advance that they’d have to do something, unlike SG-1, which was unsure of the status of the show until late in season 8. But I know all of us were hoping that they would come up with a good reason for Sam to be gone, not the extremely vague explanations that we got. I remember our discussions before season 9 with our hopes of the heroic or exciting things Sam could have been doing. SVU showed me how it could have been done, if the writers at Bridge had put any effort into writing a solid reason for Sam to be gone.

I didn’t expect a whole show devoted to it, or even a minor plot line, just a satisfactory explanation of why she left the team. When Daniel and Jonas and Jack left, they left to do bigger and better things (ascension, helping to save his planet, heading up Homeworld Security), and we were told that's what they were doing. With Sam, it's "Well you know, Area 51, Cassie, something along those lines." I know that Coop told Amanda that they didn't know what they were going to do with Sam in season 9, but they certainly could have made up something interesting which had occupied her during her absence from the team. Isn't an imagination a requirement for a writer?

NC

[majorsal]

I know that Coop told Amanda that they didn't know what they were going to do with Sam in season 9, [...]

did he say that to her about season 9 or 10?




sally

[Lizlove]

did he say that to her about season 9 or 10?




sally

I would go for S9. But I'm not sure anymore. There was the whole thing with her doing eps on Atlantis too so... . Wasn't there something about that at Gabit?

[stargate barbie]

I would go for S9. But I'm not sure anymore. There was the whole thing with her doing eps on Atlantis too so... . Wasn't there something about that at Gabit?

i thought it was season 10. hence the confusion this year as to how many eps she was going to do and if she was splitting her time between the two shows.

[NearlyCircular]

Now that you mention it, I think you're right, but it sure seems like they've done a better job of working Sam into the plots this season than they did last year.

NC

[Gate gal]

Spoiler:

So has anyone else noticed how differently RDA acts when he's wearing the dress blues and BDU's? I don't mean to be rude, but when he's in his dress blues, he always comes across as a bit stiff to me... like he's extremely uncomfortable wearing the uniform. I've noticed it in the 200th, in the Real World and again last night. When he's in his dress blues, he's General O'Neill, not Jack and he always acts strangely, but as soon as you get him in BDU's his entire personality changes. I'm not really sure if it's played that way on purpose or not, but it's rather odd to watch.

]

I'm betting it is on purpose.

Spoiler:

RDA puts a lot into his scenes, so he probably feels he has to distinguish between Jack the diplomatic general and Jack the soldier. Give me black ops Jack any day of the week.

Now more importantly, The Quest

Spoiler:

Sam rocked! I loved the maze scene. I loved the Sam and Cameron discusions about how Ba'al and Adria could be useful. I loved the little bits of friendship adlibs between Sam and Vala. It is so obvious that Amanda and Claudia are winning that battle. Very good to see the whole team together and nice to see that Daniel remembers that Sam is his best friend. (Adria's threat to kill Sam and Daniel's immediate response.)

[the dancer of spaz]

Spoilers just in case (I don't want to incur the wrath of scarimor)...

Spoiler:

Loved the deliberate framing of Sam and Vala in various shots, and the deliberate interaction between Sam and Vala (I'm assuming), thanks to AT and CB. Good for them for taking the initiative after seeing that the writers weren't. Compare this to Morpheus, and you'll see two completely different dynamics.

[gatenv]

Didn't she tell Barret in Ex Deus Machina that one of the reasons why she took the Area 51 Joke was so she could have flexible hours and spend time with Cassie? She was apparently going through a hard time?

I always wondered how working at area 51 would give her flexible hours, unless it's just because she is staying on earth. It's not like it's in the middle of town where you just pop home for lunch. If you believe it exists

I'd rather they just said same was assigned to another project, or spent all her time on the Prometheus.