Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Uber]

uber, i loved you fic

so.....when's part 3?

Well, I'm working on it but unfortunately I've got two...COUNT THEM TWO...video presentations to complete in the next 5 days for my clients. CURSE YOU RL!!!

By the way, this is where I normally put my standard " Please be sure to post reviews for both stories at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ubersg1fan " line... But I'm not going to type " Please be sure to post reviews for both stories at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ubersg1fan " this time. I'm just going to assume that you already KNOW to post reviews for both stories at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ubersg1fan and if I actually asked you to post reviews for both stories at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ubersg1fan, I might, just MIGHT be over emphasizing my desire to have lots of reviews posted...

...at http://www.fanfiction.net/~ubersg1fan

[Uber]

OK, I'll take your challenge.

I'm only picking this episode because in all honesty at the moment
I can't remember what the heck this episode is about without going up
and reading the transcript or watching the episode again so I thought I'd
ask. For some reason I'm drawing a complete blank.

Prove your point with "Crossroads"

Ooh. Tough one.

This'll take me a couple days...

[binkpmmc]

Astrogeologist - first, thanks for your understanding. Next, let me say that was an excellent, thoughtful, intelligent post and while I agree with some of it and disagree with some of it you have expressed your opinions in such a fashion as to really get to the heart of a lot of what this character brings to the table and the heart of what is perhaps a major part of the problem the past season and a half. (I actually commented somewhere weeks ago that based on what I heard about PU (maybe it was the PU thread) and how Vala would be back in S9 that they focus on the ruination of Daniels' character by dragging his a$$ thru the soapy-personal life mud by hooking him up with her (it is a cynical comment so to the Daniel fans I say - no need to jump all over me it is me venting with sarcasm and cynicism). The one thing you said, Astrogeologist, that really jumped out at me was:

"Lack of balance: In Season 8, they ended up spotlighting Sam's vulnerabilities and insecurities; e.g., New Order, Affinity, Gemini, Threads were strong episodes for showing Sam's personal vulnerabilites and insecurities.... without balancing that enough with strong scenes that reinforced her compentence, leadership and heroism (Reckoning pt 2 is the best for having competent Sam scenes)."

While I did not see her flaws in these eps, or others (the ones that I saw) as vulnerabilities or insecurities, I saw them much more as incompetence, unprofessionalism, lack of self-respect and lackof dignity (as carried over from mid-season 7) - basically a lack of most, or all, of the things Carter had come to exemplify (why did I see it this way? Simply because the positives of these characteristics are the very ones I had seen in this character for the the 6 1/2 seasons leading up to Chimera which is where, IMO, the fall began and continued to snowball). I think that TPTB were pathetic in their portrayal of Carter overall since mid-season 7 (again, I reiterate, not every episode made her look incompetent or unprofessional but, IMO, there were so many instances this season, and I did not even watch every episode, they seemed to overwhelm the ones where they did actually show the character being competent and in charge. Even in some of the ones where they actually, finally showed her in charge in a substantive way they utterly blew it at the end and left this character swinging in the wind - the character, AT (who hersef said she disagreed with the scene I am referring to), and the fans all deserved a he** of a lot better than that from, and for, this character.

Perhaps, if as you say, they had shown more of her competence and leadership in other eps it may have gone some way to balancing the, IMO, utter soap-dreck we got most of the time for this character. As I said earlier, Reckoning was one of the only eps in S8 that seemed to portray this character with the overall respect, dignity, intelligence and professionalism the character deserved. I do not want this character to be perfect but I also do not want her to be a doormat with no self-respect who all of a sudden seems to have her head up her a$$ acting so out of character at times I barely recognize the character, if at all. IMO, a lot of how they wrote this character and had her behave were ways that a younger, immature person, who does not have the life experience Carter had over 6 1/2, or more, years would have behaved. This type of behaviour may have gone over better in season 2 or maybe 3 but mid-season 7 and season 8 when this character is in her late 30s and is a well respected Lt. Colonel who is now in charge of SG1 - the elite team at the SGC?? It just does not work for me - it is a contradiction to what I had seen for so many years - it was digression to the nth degree.

I think one of the reasons I get so riled-up about it is because I connected with this character from the very beginning, I am near her age (actually a tad over it) and I just find it very hard to believe that anyone could digress to the point Carter did at her age, with her intelligence, her wisdom, her dignity and her competence as shown for 6 1/2 years.

I know a lot of people here are saying that how Carter acted and some of the things she did were the writers (and perhaps AT herself) trying to humanize the character and giver her flaws. Basically I don't disagree, it is fine to try and round-out a character, if it is done right. IMO, what happened with Carter was done horribly wrong and was over the top, poorly written dreck that dove way to deeply into the personal life and way too deeply into the soap-opera wannabe side of dreck. Stargate SG1 above all is sci-fi, it is adventure, it is excitement, it is about the bonds within the team and saving each other while saving earth, it is NOT about the love lives of the 4 characters and, Astrogeologist, your pointing out that TPTB focused most of this soap-cr$p on Carter while removing the character from the true crux of the show - the sci-fi part - is an excellent point that I was having a hard time articulating so thanks for making the point. I guess if they had focused as much of the soap stories on all 4 of the characters it may have taken some of the sting out of what they did to Carter - but maybe not, who knows.

I will say it again just so I am clear - I was, and want to be, a die-hard Carter fan and TPTB have an opportunity to fix this if they want - hopefully they have heard the many people who have expressed dissatisfaction with how this character has evolved since mid-season 7. Some may have very strong opinions about how badly it went, such as me, some may have more moderate opinions as to how it went wrong, as some of you do, some may have only slight misgivings about how things went with the character, and some may not have any at all and that is everyone's right, but I must say, from my review of this thread, as well as others here at GW, and threads across various forums, the negative connotations, of varying degree (setting aside the fan group that shall not be named as they are extremists who want nothing more than to see Carter dead or leave the show altogether and I never include them in my thinking or analysis of this show anyway), towards this character have indeed grown over the past season or so and TPTB will hopefully address this issue in an honest, open and mature fashion and not sweep it under the rug, or accuse fans of having "issues" as they have in the past.

We who see problems with this character are a legitimate group of fans who want to see Carter restored to the dignified, respected, professional, competent leader we all know she is very, very capable of being, the one that does, in fact exist, under that out-of-character facade we saw all too often (in varying degrees) since mid-season 7.

I would also like to say thanks to the many posters over the last few pages for some excellent posts that are well written, respectful and well thought out. It is enjoyable to read a lively back and forth about this character and get the opinions of others to put into the mix as I contemplate the fate of the universe and Carter . . . . Please do not take my comments personally, I feel strongly about what, IMO, they have done to this character, because I once felt the way many of you still do about the character and I would like to get that back.

[Uber]

Okay - another Guess the Ep...

However I must ban tsaxlady from participating...BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO GOOD!!!!! (On EDIT: This seems harsher than I intended...perhaps if you could just sit out this round...make me feel as though I'm presenting a challenge to somebody... )

Of course, no one has been stumped by my pics, so maybe I just need better pics...

At any rate, NAME THAT EP!

[binkpmmc]

I am replying to myself because my last post was so long - sorry about that - but I just had another thought. A lot of people praise AT and her portrayal of Carter through the years - I agree 100% that AT is phenomenal. I also, however, separate the character from the actress when I make my comments about the character. For example, AT did a phenomenal job in Gemini but that fact alone will never make me like Gemini or what they did to the "real" Carter with that epsidoe. AT deserves a Leo, an Emmy, a Gemini,all three as a matter of fact, for her work in that ep as "replicarter" but it still does not make what happened with the real Carter any less harmful to the character, IMO. That is just my opinion, I know a lot of people see Gemini differently and the real Carter's reactions and behaviour differently - I just say again, everyone is entitled to an opinion and mine is that I want the old Carter back so I can once again feel the way about this character the way I used to feel, the way many of you still do feel.

[Skydiver]

umm...

Spoiler:

zero hour?

[majorsal]

i can't say that sam has been irreparably damanged by eps such as gemini, i jsut think, in that one, we got a glimpse into just how messed up fifth left her.
I do think that most of the negative feelings stemmed from folks who will dislike everything and anything she does and things were blown out of proportion.

i know, i was shocked when i read some of the views about sam in gemini. but then i realized they were prob by some of the same ppl that thought sam killed janet in heroes 2. and i don't think i'm standing up for sam so much because i adore her character and the actress that plays her. i read a post one time that cut into daniel about some of the choices he'd made in certain eps, and how that all lead to the bad guys getting so-and-so, etc. his trusting nature isn't a flaw, but an attribute that's endearing and realistic. just like sam's. i like characters acting like real ppl, and i thought sam's actions and reactions in gemini were true.

i also think there are some fans that will dislike sam no matter what (damned if she does, damned if she doesn't). i know there were some shippers that were against pete before he even was in his first scene (ME!!! ).

and, well it's just m e, but i have yet to read a spoiler for any of the first few eps that has any other reaction beyond me raising my eyebrows and wondering what's in the water up there

i don't watch stargate anymore for just scifi (that stopped some time ago). i watch for sam, sam/jack, and jack. i don't know what i'm going to do concerning the first five eps, but i might very well just skip them until sam/amanda comes back on. i've never missed one ep...

ooh, and also, bear this in mind, Joe once said that REvisions was his ultimate favorite episode of season 7......one of the many that i personally found boring, dry and totally anti-dramatic

so tastes obviuosly vary and if nothing else, Joe is the master of posting a lot and not saying a single thing

i was *very* surprised (pleasantly) when joe answered some questions last night. and i mean 'really' answered. hope this continues.


sally

[astrogeologist]

OK, Skydiver has posted the Best Ever Carter Episode Poll
- it's a runoff poll of the top episodes voted for in each season
(see bottom of post for link)

As the Royal Archivist, I have integrated the results from all 8 Best Carter Polls and then sorted the results. Because there were a different number of votes cast for each Season Poll, I sorted the results first by percentage and then by votes cast. Of note: Grace stands out no matter how the results are sorted.

The first table is sorted by the percentage of votes cast for that episode's season. The second table is sorted by the total number of votes cast for that episode's season. Sorry this image is so large, I usually can keep them smaller, but this one wasn't readable when I downsized it.

.
.
To vote for your top Sam Episode: The Ultimate Sam Episode Poll

And I'm reposting these links if anyone wants to refer back to any of the episode pics and such that were posted earlier in the thread for these top Sam episode vote-getters.
Best Carter Episode Poll Results by Season:
Season 1: SaGC Thread page#43, Post#846
Season 2: SaGC Thread page#50, Post#983
Season 3: SaGC Thread page#70, Post#1389
Season 4: SaGC Thread page#88, Post#1751;
.....Season 4 Episode comments from SaGC members: Post 1752, 1753, 1754
Season 5: SaGC Thread page#117, Post#2338;
....Season 5 Episode comments from SaGC members: Post 2339, 2340, 2341
Season 6: SaGC Thead page#147, Post#2921
....Season 6 Episode comments from SaGC members: Post 2926, 2927, 2928
Season 7: SaGC Thead page#182, Post#3621
....Season 7 Episode comments from SaGC members: Posts 3625, 3626, 3627, 3628, 3629, 3630

Season 8: SaGC Thead page#213, Post#4241
....Season 8 Episode comments from SaGC members: Posts 4243, 4244 , 4245 , 4246 , 4247, 4248 , 4249

.
Great Sam lines and quotes
SaGC Thread page 167, post 3321
.
Top Episodes from Best Carter Episode Polls by Season
Click on the episode titles to view Sam-highlight episode pics

Singularity (S1) ............... Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #175, post 9)+ more screen caps (by Über)
Solitudes (S1)................. Brad Wright (Thread page #38, post 759)
Hathor (S1).................... D. Carren/J Carroll (Thread page #45, post 891)

In The Line Of Duty (S2) ..................... Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #50, post 984)
Tokra 1&2 (S2).................Johnathan Glassner (Thread page #6, post 105)
A Matter of Time (S2) ……...Misha Rashovich, Brad Wright (Thread page #6, post 110)

Jolinar's Memories/TDYK (S3).......S. Wareham, D.Stashower (Thread page #70, post 1390)
Foothold (S3).................. Heather E. Ash (Thread page #16, post 306)
Point of View (S3)............ J.Glassner, R.Cooper, B.Wright (Thread page #66, post 1320)

Entity (S4)...................... Peter Deluise (Thread page #88, post 1748)
Divide and Conquer (S4).... T. Valenza
2010 (S4)....................... Brad Wright (Thread page #78, post 1550)

Ascension (S5)................ Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #96, post 1917 and Thread page 11, post 201)
2001 (S5)....................... Brad Wright (Thread page #9, post 162)
......................................+ p#205, pst 4083 (by Uber) + p#206, pst 4111 and p#207, pst 4135 - by Nearly Circular
48 hours (S5).................. Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #117, post 2340)
Desperate Measures (S5) ….. Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie (Thread page #117, post 2339)

Nightwalkers (S6) ……… ...... Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie (Thread page #147, post 2926)
Paradise Lost (S6) ………..... Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #147, post 2927)
Metamorphosis (S6) ……… ...Jacqueline Samuda, James Tichenor (Thread page #147, post 2928)
Unnatural Selection (S6) ……Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright (Thread page #147, post 2927)

Grace (S7) ………................Damien Kindler (Thread page #182, post 3627)
Death Knell (S7) ….............Peter Deluise (Thread page #182, post 3629)
Heroes pt 2 (S7) ……… ...... Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #182, post 3629)

Threads (S8)………… Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #213, post 4249)
Gemini (S8)………… Peter Deluise (Thread page #213, post 4245)
Moebius (S8)………. Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie & Brad Wright & Robert C. Cooper (Thread page #213, post 4248)
Reckoning pt 2 (S8)…. Damian Kindler (Thread page #213, post 4246)

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And special thanks once again to Skydiver for creating and maintaining the polls for us!
.

.
To vote for your top Sam Episode: The Ultimate Sam Episode Poll

[majorsal]

<snip>

I also wonder how Sam would have come across if they had soaped the other leads the same way that they soaped Sam. If they'd shown Jack, Daniel and Teal'c wrestling with their personal lives in the same way that they'd shown Sam. If they had, the series would have had more balance... and Sam wouldn't be singled out for criticism and venom by those viewers who don't want to watch the soap-storylines... and if it had been spread out amongst the leads, then I think I could have shouldered it better. But having it so focussed on Sam makes me want to take Sam aside and hug her and hide her away.

While I understand what you're saying, I've never seen Sam's so-called soap opera storyline as a soap operish. If this had been something that Sam had been going through for years, and with different men, then maybe, but this storyline started from Sam wanting to see what's 'out there' for her life. Grace was her epiphany, and we saw the results of that all the way up to the last scene in Moebius. I know what you mean, though, about equalizing it out with the four of them, but the other three weren't really going through the life evaluation crisis that Sam was. While I didn't enjoy all of her journey (Chimera and Affinity's end results), I'm still glad she'd gone through it. It seemed realistic to me that she'd start questioning where she was in her life at that time. What was she missing? And after she figured it out and went for it, it was 'am I pursuing this with the right person?'. I guess what I'm saying is that while I understand what you're getting at, I felt this was Sam's puzzle to solve.

*hugs*


Sally

[Uber]

I am replying to myself because my last post was so long - sorry about that - but I just had another thought. A lot of people praise AT and her portrayal of Carter through the years - I agree 100% that AT is phenomenal. I also, however, separate the character from the actress when I make my comments about the character. For example, AT did a phenomenal job in Gemini but that fact alone will never make me like Gemini or what they did to the "real" Carter with that epsidoe. AT deserves a Leo, an Emmy, a Gemini,all three as a matter of fact, for her work in that ep as "replicarter" but it still does not make what happened with the real Carter any less harmful to the character, IMO. That is just my opinion, I know a lot of people see Gemini differently and the real Carter's reactions and behaviour differently - I just say again, everyone is entitled to an opinion and mine is that I want the old Carter back so I can once again feel the way about this character the way I used to feel, the way many of you still do feel.

I think that Carter was stunned beyond words that there could be someone who looked like her, spoke like her and had her memories but didn't have her essence.

I think she made a huge mistake in judgment with massive ramifications (kind of like when Jack killed the mother of all replicators instead of letting Daniel talk her down or when Jack ordered Sam to lie about how long the timer was set for in Unnatural Selection (? I think that's the ep). Heck, there might not have been a Gemini if EITHER of these two decisions hadn't been made...we just don't know...

I think as a result of her experience with her other self, she gained valuable insight herself and saw the darkest of all possible sides to her personality...one with no soul.

I also think that she learned a valuable lesson that needed to be learned about trusting your initial instincts and not letting personal bias get in the way of facts you know to be true (in this case, that Replicarter was made by Fifth and more than likely had ulterior motives...)

Oh and btw, I hope you didn't disable your rep because of me or anything I said. I get passionate in my defense of Carter, as she is my favorite character but I have yet to red anyone (even those I felt deserved it) and I didn't even think you deserved it...you were voicing your opinion on the Sam thread which is exactly what this is for!

How dull would this place be if you and I and everyone else agreed on absolutely everything? Were that the case, this thread wouldn't have made it past page 2 because there would have been no back and forth...no debate.

And just cuz I feel like it, here's another cool Sam pic:

[astrogeologist]

While I understand what you're saying, I've never seen Sam's so-called soap opera storyline as a soap operish. If this had been something that Sam had been going through for years, and with different men, then maybe, but this storyline started from Sam wanting to see what's 'out there' for her life. Grace was her epiphany, and we saw the results of that all the way up to the last scene in Moebius. I know what you mean, though, about equalizing it out with the four of them, but the other three weren't really going through the life evaluation crisis that Sam was. While I didn't enjoy all of her journey (Chimera and Affinity's end results), I'm still glad she'd gone through it. It seemed realistic to me that she'd start questioning where she was in her life at that time. What was she missing? And after she figured it out and went for it, it was 'am I pursuing this with the right person?'. I guess what I'm saying is that while I understand what you're getting at, I felt this was Sam's puzzle to solve.

*hugs*


Sally

I agree with you about Grace - I think they did a wonderful job integrating Sam's personal life into the show in that episode. Grace was a five-star episode. What I didn't care for were the scenes in Chimera, Affinity and Threads where they didn't seem to even try to integrate the personal scenes into the main scifi storylines. And to be honest, I was actually OK with the scenes in Chimera, even though they left the scifi storyline... I was OK with the scenes in Chimera because Sam hadn't had scenes like that before, and they were new and different and fun. My enjoyment ended 'the next morning when Pete demanded to know what she couldn't tell him and then stormed out'... and to me that was like a poorly written soap-opera. And then how Sam was written in response to Pete... blech! From then on, I had trouble liking the episodes and scenes that focussed on Sam's personal love life without integration into the main scifi storylines.

But Grace - that was, for me, a five-star scifi episode that did a great job of integrating lots of appropriate personal glimpses into Sam.

Sally, you're wonderful, and thanks for helping us keep the fires lit for when Sam returns!

[astrogeologist]

And just cuz I feel like it, here's another cool Sam pic:

Astrog loves this pic!
(And the rest of Samanda is heard muttering D'oh!)

[majorsal]

Now for this one, I am WAY cheating and totally expect to be dragged off by Royal Security... But I'm going to do it anyway and risk the wrath of my fellow Samandans!



NAME THAT EP!

http://www.powerpromoz.com/stargate/name5.jpg

Is it from

Spoiler:

an Atlantis ep? I seem to remember a scene in a commercial for an Atlantis ep where Sam and Walter say there's a transmission from Atlantis. Right, wrong?

Sally

[ChopinGal]

I think the answer is 'balance'... we've talked about this before in the thread, but it's a topic that will resurface occassionally, and it's worth discussing with new folks and new opinions.

What brought me into the Stargate series was the 'balance' between the lead characters - as we've said before, Sam was treated as an equal amongst the lead characters... She wasn't 'the' lead, but she was one of the team, and she got to be in on the major heroics... they've written and shown her standing alongside the guys in firefights and yet she is smart and intelligent and comapassionate. Right from Season 1, they allowed her character to carry major storylines (e.g., Singularity and In The Line of Duty). They showed a solid, competent officer who had enthusiasm, passion and heart (Singularity). She was heroic and her character was involved in the scifi developments of the series (In The Line of Duty, Ascension, etc.). They also developed and integrated aspects of her personal life (Secrets, Tokra, Jacob, First Commandment). We also got to see some of her mistakes and vulnerabilities (Red Sky, 48 Hours, First Commandment, etc.).
To be honest, no other Stargate character was developed as well as Carter was. And, certainly, no other lead female scifi character has ever been developed as well as Carter was developed over the first 5 seasons. And they did it without Sam being 'the' lead. As we have worked our way through the seasons with the Best Sam Polls, the polls have consistently identified 2-5 really standout episodes each season that featured Sam. That's 2-5 out of 20-22 episodes... or less than 10-25% (which is not to say that she was left out of the other episodes - or didn't have good scenes). It's not the Sam Carter Show... it was actually closer to the Jack O'Neill show... and yet, look at what they accomplished for the character of Sam Carter! This kind of character development is typically only seen for the main male lead. (Although I am sure that there are exceptions, that doesn't invalidate the more general rule).

So...back to the 'balance'... for a series about a team of 4 lead characters, I think that our Sam-episode Season Polls show that Sam's character was treated fairly and equitably over the first 5 years. Great character development, a solid female lead and they were building a fairly well-rounded character.

Season 6 did not show the same type or level of development or enrichment for her character. AT has expressed the same evaluation for Season 6 and has stated that the writers and such admitted the same. AT however appears to hold no real rancor and took it in stride. Personally, I found Season 6 to be kind of blah and I can't say that any of the episodes get me very excited in terms of stellar Stargate Sam-episodes. The discussion on this thread has helped me identify and enjoy more of Season 6's Sam scenes, but when I want to go back and watch a good old Sam episode, I don't tend to find myself delving into the Season 6 DVDs.

Season 7 had Grace and Death Knell - simply standout Sam episodes. Season 7 also had the beginning of the soap-Sam story-arc. And it's here that the series loses it's 'balance' when it comes to Sam's character as well as the balance between the characters.

Lack of balance: They soaped Sam's character without doing a similar degree of personal scenes and arcs for Jack, Daniel or Teal'c.

Lack of balance: They soaped Sam's character and effectively removed her from the main scifi storylines of a couple of episodes. Examples are Chimera and Threads, where in both of these episodes, Daniel's character ended up dealing with the main scifi storylines while most of Sam's scenes were purely personal.

Lack of balance: In Season 8, they ended up spotlighting Sam's vulnerabilities and insecurities; e.g., New Order, Affinity, Gemini, Threads were strong episodes for showing Sam's personal vulnerabilites and insecurities.... without balancing that enough with strong scenes that reinforced her compentence, leadership and heroism (Reckoning pt 2 is the best for having competent Sam scenes).

What were some of the positive sides of Season 8?

They really 'worked AT' in Season 8; they allowed AT to show and demonstrate some of her wonderful acting range. And Moebius simply looked like they got to play around - let the actors have a little fun and cut loose.

-she played tortured and broken by Fifth (New Order)
-she played an evil supervillian in RepliCarter (Gemini and Reckoning)
-she played 'beside herself' in Gemini where she was both Sam and RepliCarter on the screen at the same time (Gemini)
-she played the continuing soap-opera drama (Affinity and Threads)
-and she got to play comedy with AU Geek!Sam (Moebius)

What amazing range and breadth... and.. simply.. what fun!

My 'favorite storylines that illustrated Sam's more typical strengths' were harder to define, because Season 8 mainly used Sam's character (and AT's acting) for other purposes. Reckoning, pt 2 does a good job at showing 'the old Sam'.

So, for me, it's all about balance... and Season 8 was 'out of balance' in terms of showing and developing the character of Sam Carter as a strong, competent female lead hero in a scifi series. If I take the events of Season 8 and think of them in terms of the 8-year-span of the series, then it seems more reasonable. But the soap-Sam and insecure-Sam came across so strong in Season 8, that I really find myself missing competent, heroic Sam.

I also wonder how Sam would have come across if they had soaped the other leads the same way that they soaped Sam. If they'd shown Jack, Daniel and Teal'c wrestling with their personal lives in the same way that they'd shown Sam. If they had, the series would have had more balance... and Sam wouldn't be singled out for criticism and venom by those viewers who don't want to watch the soap-storylines... and if it had been spread out amongst the leads, then I think I could have shouldered it better. But having it so focussed on Sam makes me want to take Sam aside and hug her and hide her away.

Balance. I like seeing the personal sides of the characters. And without the insight into their personal lives, the characters are flat and uninteresting and hard to relate to. I wanted to hear that Sam had a boyfriend... and I want to hear them refer to a trip she just went on with Cassie... and such stuff. But Stargate is a scifi series and the personal stuff must be cleverly interwoven into the stories. I think that Stargate did a fantastic job (on average) through the first 5 seasons of developing depth and breadth into Sam Carter's character.

In Season 8, I think they went too far all at one time, and because they did so much all at once, it pushed the heroic, competent Sam into the background. Out of balance.

So I've been trying to look on the positive side of things... (glass half full sort of stuff...)... In Season 8, they developed Sam as 'more human' and less of the 'perfect hero'...I'm trying hard to see that as a plus - and I really am trying... I know that AT was tired of Super!Sam...I wasn't, but I can understand that AT was... In Season 8, they allowed AT to play a range of roles - from supervillian to fallible Sam to emotional soap-and-ship Sam to comedy Geek!Sam... and AT has been so wonderful over the life of the series, that she deserves to take the character in new directions. And I really do believe that AT deserves that and more (as much as I may not like where they end up taking the character of Sam Carter).Binkpmmc - I understand your feelings, and you are not alone in your frustrations. Please don't stop posting here... we need healthy, meaty discussions to balance things out. There will sometimes be disagreements, but one of the best things about this thread is getting to see how things look from other folks' perspectives in a contructive and non-venomous environment. Because of this thread, I have come to appreciate a lot of Sam scenes that I had completely forgotten about. I mean.. geesh - you folks even got me to appreciate some of the better scenes in Emancipation and Hathor - 2 episodes that I originally couldn't stand!

The character evaluation that we've done over the past few months has been intellectually stimulating and nothing short of amazing.. To be honest, there are college courses with less content than this thread! (Not *my* college courses, of course! )
.

Absolutely brilliant post - give yourself a double helping of blue jello!

And a whole new verb form for our Samanda vocabulary: I soap; you soap; TBTB soap.

[Uber]

Is it from

Spoiler:

an Atlantis ep? I seem to remember a scene in a commercial for an Atlantis ep where Sam and Walter say there's a transmission from Atlantis. Right, wrong?

Sally

Well I said I was WAY cheating, didn't I???