Huggles and waves to everyone!
Ooh! So much to discuss! Forgive me as I basically ramble about 100 Days and Grace and Entity and Divide and Conquer ... also it's 1:00 in the morning so I apologize if things are incohernt! Thanks to RadicalDreamer and SaraBahama for spurring all of these thoughts!
It's been so long since I analyzed Jack and Sam! This felt really good! (Seriously I want to go to my graduate advisor and say, "Change of plans! I'm writing my master's thesis on the dynamics of a fictional sci-fi couple!" Easiest thesis ever!)
Warning: there's actually some Laira (gulp) appreciation below. Well maybe not appreciation, but at least justification.
I'm no fan of 100 Days, but I think I have a much better view of Laira than most. I think that if Sam had never been a part of Stargate and Jack had had no over love interest the fans were rooting for, I think that Laira would seem much more tolerable. She wasn't perfect (but then again, a perfect love interest is a Mary Sue, and no one wants that!), but I don't see her as selfish or possessive. She wasn't trying to replace Sam (which is super important to remember!); she was just an alien widow living a simple life who was attracted to Jack (and who can blame her for that?).
The plot for this episode is really about how Sam gets Jack home and how Jack adjusts to life on another planet for three months. The theme is grief and the grieving process, as shown by Laira's backstory. NOW! The critique could be that the grieving process is not an appropriate one for this episode because Jack wouldn't have given up on going home so quickly, but in that situation, I don't think he couldn't not entertain the idea that him may be stuck on Edora, and I do like that the conflict in the episode is more character driven (the male writers could have learned something from that...)
And here's an idea. Starting tomorrow, pretend in your mind that you are Jack, stranded from Earth, (you don't know if Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c were killed in the meteor storm), and the Stargate is gone (definitely buried, perhaps destroyed). Keep that thought in the back of your head for 100 days, and when you start to experience the episode in "real-time," you see just how long a time that actually is. (And how long Sam worked to get him home ...
).
But the point is that the conflict of the episode is not "How does Jack keep up hope to return home while a pushy alien woman pressures him to remain with her?" If that was the conflict, we'd certainly be justified in vilifying her. But personally, I don't think that is fair. Laira is pragmatic and simple by nature of her lifestyle. She doesn't know that Sam will be able to redefine physics and get Jack home. All she knows is that her village has been devastated and they must rebuild with fewer hands than they started with, so she insists that Jack help them with that task. But she never pressures Jack to sleep with her for those first three months even though she's attracted to him, because she knows that he's grieving.
It doesn't surprise me at all that Jack and Laira gravitated to each other. She helped him during that time, they both had a new purpose of helping to rebuild the town, and she went out of her way to advocate for him when other villagers blamed him for their missing friends and family. Yes, she does pressure Jack to get rid of the things that remind him of Earth, but she only did that on Day #100, and I think she was trying to help him through the grieving process (which Jack also seems to recognize).
The only problem I have with Laira is that she asks Jack to take their relationship to a sexual level once he's drunk enough to have a huge hangover the next morning. Kind of like Sam making important life decisions with a massive concussion, that's not a state that you should make major changes in! He does dance with Laira and seem happy before he gets drunk, but that's just not something you should push on a person after a night of heavy drinking.
A good observation and definitely something that I think plays out for Jack. It's also the reason why it ticks me off when people talk about Jack as being the Kirk of SG-1 (seriously!). Kynthia was, for lack of a better word, an accident, and Laira was the only other woman Jack had a relationship with until Kerry. And it's another reason why I don't vilify Laira, because I think that Jack likes women who are assertive about their relationship.
We're also looking at this episode twenty years after the fact, with the recognition of how much Jack and Sam share throughout the show, but three seasons in, there hadn't been any talk of Jack and Sam's feelings for each other (not counting alternate versions of themselves). The fact that the conversation between Janet and Sam implies that Sam does have deeper feelings for Jack than respect and friendship is actually pretty revolutionary, but it didn't change the fact that as Kawalsky mentions in Point of View, a relationship would be against regulations, and the writers, the Air Force, and Rick and Amanda were all very adamant that nothing could ever happen between them in our reality.
That was the intention behind-the-screen, and on-screen Jack and Sam don't seem to have talked about their feelings either. All we had up until this point was as an virus-induced kiss, friendship, and a little flirting in the line of duty. I feel like the confession in Divide and Conquer that Jack would literally rather give up his own life than live in a world without Sam was actually incredibly shocking considering the extent of their feelings had never before been explored on screen.
So before 100 Days, I get the impression that Jack recognized that his feelings went beyond attraction for Sam. His simple remark in Point of View that "Sam is a major in my world." tells me that he has at least thought about a relationship with her. However, it also shows that he believes that a relationship will never happen, either because of their working relationships or perhaps he doesn't know Sam sees him that way.
Though it's never shown onscreen, I agree with the many fanfiction writers who assume that Jack and Sam talked about their feelings when they were stuck off-world for a week between Seasons 3 and 4. Even GateWorld picked up on the implicit change in Jack and Sam's relationship after that, and on the overview page for "Small Victories," they say:
In that case, I would not be saying any of these positive things about Laira if 100 Days had taken place after the start of Season 4
So does Jack settle for Laira the way Sam settles for Pete? I personally don't think so, but you could make that argument. However, I think that Laira was very much in line with what we know about Jack wants in a relationship (she's assertive and pragmatic, a lot like Kerry and I think Sara as well). She makes her feelings known, which is something Sam has not done because she can't. Poor Sam just had a habit of choosing men who were possessive and manipulative until she and Jack got together.
Ooh! So much to discuss! Forgive me as I basically ramble about 100 Days and Grace and Entity and Divide and Conquer ... also it's 1:00 in the morning so I apologize if things are incohernt! Thanks to RadicalDreamer and SaraBahama for spurring all of these thoughts!
It's been so long since I analyzed Jack and Sam! This felt really good! (Seriously I want to go to my graduate advisor and say, "Change of plans! I'm writing my master's thesis on the dynamics of a fictional sci-fi couple!" Easiest thesis ever!)
Warning: there's actually some Laira (gulp) appreciation below. Well maybe not appreciation, but at least justification.
I'm no fan of 100 Days, but I think I have a much better view of Laira than most. I think that if Sam had never been a part of Stargate and Jack had had no over love interest the fans were rooting for, I think that Laira would seem much more tolerable. She wasn't perfect (but then again, a perfect love interest is a Mary Sue, and no one wants that!), but I don't see her as selfish or possessive. She wasn't trying to replace Sam (which is super important to remember!); she was just an alien widow living a simple life who was attracted to Jack (and who can blame her for that?).
The plot for this episode is really about how Sam gets Jack home and how Jack adjusts to life on another planet for three months. The theme is grief and the grieving process, as shown by Laira's backstory. NOW! The critique could be that the grieving process is not an appropriate one for this episode because Jack wouldn't have given up on going home so quickly, but in that situation, I don't think he couldn't not entertain the idea that him may be stuck on Edora, and I do like that the conflict in the episode is more character driven (the male writers could have learned something from that...)
And here's an idea. Starting tomorrow, pretend in your mind that you are Jack, stranded from Earth, (you don't know if Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c were killed in the meteor storm), and the Stargate is gone (definitely buried, perhaps destroyed). Keep that thought in the back of your head for 100 days, and when you start to experience the episode in "real-time," you see just how long a time that actually is. (And how long Sam worked to get him home ...
![Frown](https://forum.gateworld.net/core/images/smilies/../gw_smilies/frown.gif)
But the point is that the conflict of the episode is not "How does Jack keep up hope to return home while a pushy alien woman pressures him to remain with her?" If that was the conflict, we'd certainly be justified in vilifying her. But personally, I don't think that is fair. Laira is pragmatic and simple by nature of her lifestyle. She doesn't know that Sam will be able to redefine physics and get Jack home. All she knows is that her village has been devastated and they must rebuild with fewer hands than they started with, so she insists that Jack help them with that task. But she never pressures Jack to sleep with her for those first three months even though she's attracted to him, because she knows that he's grieving.
It doesn't surprise me at all that Jack and Laira gravitated to each other. She helped him during that time, they both had a new purpose of helping to rebuild the town, and she went out of her way to advocate for him when other villagers blamed him for their missing friends and family. Yes, she does pressure Jack to get rid of the things that remind him of Earth, but she only did that on Day #100, and I think she was trying to help him through the grieving process (which Jack also seems to recognize).
The only problem I have with Laira is that she asks Jack to take their relationship to a sexual level once he's drunk enough to have a huge hangover the next morning. Kind of like Sam making important life decisions with a massive concussion, that's not a state that you should make major changes in! He does dance with Laira and seem happy before he gets drunk, but that's just not something you should push on a person after a night of heavy drinking.
Originally posted by RadicalDreamer
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We're also looking at this episode twenty years after the fact, with the recognition of how much Jack and Sam share throughout the show, but three seasons in, there hadn't been any talk of Jack and Sam's feelings for each other (not counting alternate versions of themselves). The fact that the conversation between Janet and Sam implies that Sam does have deeper feelings for Jack than respect and friendship is actually pretty revolutionary, but it didn't change the fact that as Kawalsky mentions in Point of View, a relationship would be against regulations, and the writers, the Air Force, and Rick and Amanda were all very adamant that nothing could ever happen between them in our reality.
That was the intention behind-the-screen, and on-screen Jack and Sam don't seem to have talked about their feelings either. All we had up until this point was as an virus-induced kiss, friendship, and a little flirting in the line of duty. I feel like the confession in Divide and Conquer that Jack would literally rather give up his own life than live in a world without Sam was actually incredibly shocking considering the extent of their feelings had never before been explored on screen.
So before 100 Days, I get the impression that Jack recognized that his feelings went beyond attraction for Sam. His simple remark in Point of View that "Sam is a major in my world." tells me that he has at least thought about a relationship with her. However, it also shows that he believes that a relationship will never happen, either because of their working relationships or perhaps he doesn't know Sam sees him that way.
Though it's never shown onscreen, I agree with the many fanfiction writers who assume that Jack and Sam talked about their feelings when they were stuck off-world for a week between Seasons 3 and 4. Even GateWorld picked up on the implicit change in Jack and Sam's relationship after that, and on the overview page for "Small Victories," they say:
Sam's relationship with Jack seems to have changed over the past week - perhaps as a result of them nearly being killed on the Beliskner, or because of something than happened while on P3X-234 (or both). She seems to have let her guard down, and is more open - more free in showing how much she enjoys him.
So does Jack settle for Laira the way Sam settles for Pete? I personally don't think so, but you could make that argument. However, I think that Laira was very much in line with what we know about Jack wants in a relationship (she's assertive and pragmatic, a lot like Kerry and I think Sara as well). She makes her feelings known, which is something Sam has not done because she can't. Poor Sam just had a habit of choosing men who were possessive and manipulative until she and Jack got together.
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