Grace (713)

[charliejaneway]

As an S/J shipper, I loved it as well. Never will forget that kiss of all kisses!

Hell yeah!

[Jeril]

I just saw this episode and wow. I really liked it. It was all introspective and in Carter's head most of the time and that stuff really draws me in. The character development was awesome, of course, and I loved how they delivered it. Nothing like having a good rousing conversation with yourself to come to understand why you act the way you do.

The little girl was kinda creepy at first though and when I first heard her singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star I thought I was the one hallucinating but after awhile, I liked her. She was just a cute chubby-cheeked cherub running around with bubbles. Loved that touch!! It was real cute.
And the last scene where her voice was heard singing again. That was interesting and an excellent end. Kinda a bit spooky because it makes you wonder if the little girl was really a physical personification of the cloud or just all in Carter's head.

Definitely liked Carter's interaction with the O'Neill her mind made up and the real one. Especially when she woke up and said, "Jack?" Silly Sam.
I had to chuckle a bit when the dream O'Neill said, "Let's face it; I'm not that complex."
That kiss though... all I think I can say about it is "rawr!" Lucky, lucky Carter... even if it didn't really happen...

To me Daniel's suggestion came off as a total Star Trek reference/ joke. They're always encountering sentient clouds or rocks or something. Especially with his delivery of the line.

Lol. I completely thought of Star Trek too when I heard him say that. It also reminded me of that sentient water that they encountered in season four, in the episode Watergate.

[¤Denial-OF-Life¤]

I was thinking the ship slightly appears achen design due to looking at the harvester.........could it be uh oh.

[kashi]

I thought the exact same thing when I saw it. perhaps the "new enemy" for season 9?

[astrogeologist]

KID IN A CANDY STORE
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The opening scene in Grace.... I love this scene and how it shows Major Sam Carter. She’s walking with Colonel Ronson along the corridors of the Prometheus and they are talking about stopping for a little scientific observation of a nearby nebula while the alkesh engines cool down.

What I loved about this scene was how comfortable Carter and Ronson are with each other. They treat each other as colleagues – Ronson kids around with her a little and Sam just seems to be at ease. I loved seeing Carter interact with professional ease with colleagues outside of SG-1.

The scene also highlights Carter’s scientific enthusiasm – which hasn’t been highlighted with the same sparkle since the early seasons… ‘kid in a candy store!’

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audio clip for this scene

Grace opening scene: The Prometheus flies in hyperspace.
RONSON: So this thing's different from a nebula? How?
CARTER: Well that's what makes it so exciting, Sir, we don't know exactly.

RONSON: And it just so happens that this formation is in the vicinity of our next cool down co ordinates.
CARTER: It'll only be a little bit out of way, Colonel, I promise. All I ask is 2 hours tops.

RONSON: If only so I can see the expression on your face first hand.
The words kid and candy store come to mind.
CARTER: I'll try to retain my composure Sir.
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I also loved how Sam returned his kidding with her own humor - again, this short scene came across to me as Sam interacting with ease and humor with a colleague - just a short little scene that spoke volumes about the character to me. I really hope that we get to see more of this side of Colonel Sam Carter in Season 9 - professional, comfortable with her military position, attitude tinged with humor and a pleasure with what she'd doing! We need more AT smiles!
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Grace post 1 (#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
Grace post 4 (#3287): Hallucinations and Reality
Grace post 5 (#3306): Maybe It's Alive?
Grace post 6 (#3313): Who Are You?
Grace post 7 (#3341): Bubbles
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The audio clip above is my first ever audio capture -- special thanks to NearlyCircular for the directions! Unfortunately, the sound quality probably isn't as good as it could be - I had to use my laptop to run the DVD and recording software as my main computer is busy with RL work!

The screen captures were also difficult as both actors were in constant motion as they walked along the corridors; consequently, the screen caps are all just a little blurry. In addition, the corridor was dimly lit (they seem to go for dramatic mood lighting a lot), which also made clear screen caps difficult to catch.
Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[astrogeologist]

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Grace

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Good shot of Sam through the starchart with the ship's course plotted on it

.......................................................Sam opens the hyperdrive crystal panel.


Ouch! I can't help thinking about AT getting knocked out in the elevator by Kawalski!


AT does a *fantastic* job of acting in this scene as she wakes up with the concussion.


Sam's first noticeable delusion... the first time she sees Grace.




The sublight engines won't work and all of the escape pods are gone.


Sam tries to get the engines online, but nothing works.
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Sam then experiences another hallucination...

Audio clip for the following scene:
TEAL'C: Major Carter.
CARTER: Teal'c?

TEAL'C: Hear me. You must remain conscious at all costs.
CARTER: I just need to rest for a while.

TEAL'C: You cannot. Listen to me. You are injured. If you sleep, you will die. Do you understand?
CARTER: I know.
TEAL'C: If you sleep, you will die.
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I *love* AT's acting in this scene - it's superb! .. I also give kudos to the writers for interweaving SG-1 into Sam's concussed hallucinations - they stayed in character and played things so appropriately for Sam's delusions.
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Grace post 1 (#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
Grace post 4 (#3287): Hallucinations and Reality
Grace post 5 (#3306): Maybe It's Alive?
Grace post 6 (#3313): Who Are You?
Grace post 7 (#3341): Bubbles
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Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[astrogeologist]

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Grace: Hallucinations...some are annoying!
The following scenes contain some of my all-time favorite 'Sam lines'
and some of my all-time favorite acting scenes by AT.
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In spite of Teal'c's dire warnings, Sam passed out.

When she wakes up, she sets the Distress Beacon.
That last shot - AT does a superb job of looking 'done'... she's tried everything she can think of right now, and she realizes that she's stuck on this ship alone, drifting in space until someone can find her. She also looks bored... thinking of the long, silent days ahead as she has to simply wait.

The second time that Grace appears. "Play with me." (Click to listen to audio clip)

................................................................................ ..And then she's gone again.

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And then there's Daniel...
(I found this exchange to be hilarious!)

SAM: I've been trying to understand why the ship is unable to jump hyperspace. During my last jump attempt the hyperspace window seemed unable to stabilise enough for the ship to enter it. Thus far, sensors have been unable to identify the actual content of the cloud itself. It's more likely made up of a denser group of gases than that of a typical nebulae or gas giant. Bottom line is, it's preventing the hyperdrive emitter from transferring power at an even rate. Until that changes the Prometheus will remain trapped here indefinitely.
Click to listen to audio clip
DANIEL: Yep, I'd say you're stuck all right. Oh come on Sam, you're running the same diagnostic for probably four hours now. What makes you think the results are suddenly gonna change? Sam? Hello?
<<<AT does such an wonderful job at looking *so* annoyed by her 'latest' halucination!
Makes me LOL every time I watch this scene!>>>

SAM: Were you this annoying when you were ascended?<<<One of my all-time favorite 'Sam lines'>>>
DANIEL: I don't know, depends on who you ask. I thought I had a certain je ne sais quoi. Timing was so so.
SAM: No offence but I really don't have time for this. This is ridiculous, you aren't even real.
Click to listen to audio
DANIEL: Well I'm not so much me as I am you really. Part of your subconscious mind. So am I real? That's up to you I guess. Although the Socratic complications by my being here are quite fascinating.
SAM: Daniel.
DANIEL: Look, you just need some help, that's all. Can't you just try to go along with this?
<<<AT's acting and facial expressions are first-rate... she closes her right eye briefly to show the continued pain from the concussion's headache... quiet, no fanfare, just a quiet little eye movement - very well done, great acting. How did we get so lucky as to get an actress like this in a weekly scifi TV-series?>>>

SAM: You're *me* talking to *me*?
<<<Another of my all-time favorite 'Sam lines' delivered perfectly by AT!>>>
DANIEL: Yeah. Basically.
SAM: All right you have a point. I could use some help.
DANIEL: Thank you.

Click to listen to audio clip
SAM: Okay, what do you…I..want?
<<<LOL... What do you...I...want...(just how does one talk to one's-self?) LOL>>>

DANIEL: Well I think you're going about this all wrong.
SAM: This is helping?
<<<Again, ROTFL! Sam is having such a sarcastic, humorous internal conversation! *This* is helping? LOL! >>>
DANIEL: Wait a second, you've been looking forward to studying this gas cloud for weeks now. I mean isn't that the real reason you volunteered for this job in the first place? Now you're here, finally here and you're wasting your time running endless hyperdrive simulations.
SAM: In case you hadn't noticed, I've got a small problem on my hands Daniel. Mainly that I'm stranded.
DANIEL: Inside the very thing you've been looking at through a telescope for years. Come on, it's a chance to study something rare and exciting up close. Seize the moment.

SAM: Seize the moment?
<<<Love the incredulity on Sam/AT's face! >>>
DANIEL: I'm just saying, it's something new, something we've never encountered before, you're ignoring it. Does that sound like you?

SAM: Daniel, I can't even think straight let alone stay awake.
DANIEL: Look, Sam, you have to check this out. Trust me, it's important.
Daniel disappears.
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Grace post 1 (#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
Grace post 4 (#3287): Hallucinations and Reality
Grace post 5 (#3306): Maybe It's Alive?
Grace post 6 (#3313): Who Are You?
Grace post 7 (#3341): Bubbles
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Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[astrogeologist]

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Grace: Hallucinations and Reality
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GRACE: When the blazing sun is gone, when he nothing shines upon.
SAM: Who are you? What do you want?
GRACE: Then you show your little light, twinkle twinkle all the night. Come on, this way.
Sam follows.
SAM: Wait!

Sam rounds a corner and Teal'c is there.
TEAL'C: Samantha.
SAM: Teal'c, did you see.. of course you didn't.
TEAL'C: I am here to warn you.
SAM: I know, I have to stay awake.
TEAL'C: That's not all. Everything may not be as it seems.
SAM: Well thank you but the fact that I'm talking to someone who's not really here kind of speaks to that.
"Everything May Not Be As It Seems" (Click to listen to audio clip)

TEAL'C: On the contrary, I think it is you that's not here.
SAM: What are you talking about?
TEAL'C: I believe that you and the other crew members are being held prisoner aboard the alien vessel that attacked you.
SAM: How do you know?
TEAL'C: It is possible they are probing your mind. If so, any information obtained may be used to attack Earth.
SAM: Hold on. Even if you're right, what am I supposed to do about it?
TEAL'C: Nothing
SAM: Teal'c, give me something here.
TEAL'C: Very well. As you attempt to repair the ship's engines, you may inadvertently be divulging to your captors vital information concerning Prometheus technology. I do believe it would be prudent to do nothing.
SAM: I can't do that Teal'c.
"Do Nothing." (Click to listen to audio clip)

TEAL'C: Be careful Samantha.
SAM: Wait! Where you going? You're wrong Teal'c, I'm not on an alien ship. I'm right here.
"I'm Right Here" (Click to listen to audio clip)



Sam wakes up on the floor.
SAM: This is real. This is real.
"This is real." (Click to listen to audio clip)

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Every scene I watch in this episode, I am more and more amazed at the quality of the writing, directing, acting - and the scifi! In this episode, they simply did a fantastic job of creating a wonderful scifi story... it's got mystery, an alien spaceship, a nebula with unknown aspects, a lead character with a concussion, well-done scenes where reality and hallucination play in counterpoint, the other main characters play out scenes in Sam's delusions, humor, angst...wow!

Starting with the first couple of panels above, I love this scene where Sam follows Grace around the corner - and Teal'c is standing there. Sam starts to ask Teal'c is he's seen a little girl, then realizes that she's asking one delusion if he's seen the other one!

Love the way they had Teal'c play out in Sam's delusions... great caricatures and skewed perspectives on how Teal'c would act - perfect for a hallucination!

--And they used Daniel and Teal'c to play out dialogue that works through the various scifi scenarios that could explain what is going on. Here, Sam thinks through the possibility that everything she is experiencing are hallucinations controlled by the aliens in the hostile spaceship. Her Teal'c hallucination gives her someone to discuss it with - and it plays in-character for Teal'c.

I love the line where she replies to Teal'c's 'Everything may not be as it seems'
TEAL'C: That's not all. Everything may not be as it seems.
SAM: Well thank you but the fact that I'm talking to someone who's not really here kind of speaks to that.
Love how polite she is (thank you) even in her delusions - and I just love that line 'the fact taht I'm talking to someone who's not really here kind of speaks to that!'

I also love it when Teal'c tells her to do nothing and she says (in a perfectly pitched tired voice) 'Teal'c, give me something here.'
SAM: Hold on. Even if you're right, what am I supposed to do about it?
TEAL'C: Nothing
SAM: Teal'c, give me something here.

And then, when Teal'c says that he thinks that 'it would be prudent to do nothing' - and she says 'I can't do that, Teal'c.' Again, it's AT's voice and inflection that carry the scene for me. She's tired and hurting, but she can't just sit around and do nothing!

Then I love the scene where Teal'c leaves and Sam stands there alone in the corridor, 'I'm right here'. Well filmed, well framed, well acted! Rips my heart out!

One of the absolutely most memorable scenes of the entire episode was when the camera shot opens on Sam's unconscious face. She's lying on the corridor floor, where she apparently passed out. A door opens in the background (no explanation for that, btw), and Sam wakes up. Great camera closeup on her face and eyes. This episode was such a 'mental story' of Sam's struggles with the ship interwoven with her hallucinations, that the viewer is constantly questioning what is real and what is a delusion and what is going on and where things are headed... closeups of AT's face and eyes were perfect shots for this 'inside her head' story.

"This is real, this is real" - AT said the words so perfectly, her tone and inflection conveying so much more than the words. The pain in her head and waking up on the hard corridor floor - 'This is real.' And she's answering the question of whether or not this is all a delusion controlled by the hostile aliens... it's not... 'This is real.'

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Grace post 1(#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
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Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[astrogeologist]

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Grace: Maybe It's Alive?!
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AT again shows the pain of the concussion headache without words or histrionics
- just a simple closing of her right eye for a short moment and then she moves on.

This was another portion of the episode that impressed me - the writers were really thinking about the scifi - venting the atmosphere as a way to try and get the ship moving (now I have no idea as to whether or not that would be able to get the ship enough velocity to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time, but I'm not going to spoil things by running the physics equations! It's scifi, and this was a good brainstorming idea towards problem solving Sam's dilemma!).


I also really liked this scene - where Sam sees Grace being sucked out (shades of Prometheus! Sam knows what this feels like!). And even though Sam knows that she's got a concussion, (a 'massive headache' and waking up on the floor every now and then are big clues), she can't take the chance that Grace isn't real. She shuts the doors and stops the atmospheric venting.


Great job staggering out into the corridors to search for Grace.
And then look who shows up behind her... boy, does AT do a great job of looking annoyed again?!

Another of my all-time series favorite dialogue exchanges:
DANIEL: Hey! Have I told you my latest theory yet? It's really cool. Lose something?
CARTER: Did you see a…
DANIEL: Little girl?
CARTER: Yeah.
DANIEL: No.
Did You See A... - click to listen to audio clip
I can't help laughing every time I hear that exchange - it's so old-time humor... something I could imagine hearing in a Bob Hope/ Bing Crosby movie.. or Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin movie... and yet, these lines would also fit in a Monty Python skit... LOL! And so infuriating to the logical-minded! How could he know she was looking for a little girl if he hadn't seen her... well, he is a hallucination...

And Sam takes it so well... I'd want to smack him. Hallucination or not! Of course, Sam is smarter than me and she knows that there's no point in trying to smack a hallucination... but I'd still want to do it!



Here they use Sam's Daniel hallucination very well - using Daniel to let Sam think through the scifi possibilities that the cloud itself may be sentient (not a new idea in scifi, and one that scifi buffs would have been wondering if that's what the episode was heading towards). Very in character for Sam to visualize Daniel as the one presenting this idea to her so that she can take the more skeptical scientific approach.


AT did a great job of passing out again! That slide down the exposed steel girder looked painful (I wonder whose idea it was that she do it right there? More bruises for AT! ) And the whole time she's hearing her Daniel hallucination go on and on about talking to the cloud... and that maybe Grace is the cloud's way of communicating to Sam. Right near the end, she looks like she wants to say something like, 'Hold on a sec, I'm pretty sure I'm passing out.' And even after she's collapsed face first onto the floor, she can still hear her Daniel hallucination telling her to talk to the cloud.

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Grace post 1 (#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
Grace post 4 (#3287): Hallucinations and Reality
Grace post 5 (#3306): Maybe It's Alive?
Grace post 6 (#3313): Who Are You?
Grace post 7 (#3341): Bubbles
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Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[astrogeologist]

I also have to give a thumbs up to the director of this episode for some of the great shots they have of AT. I really love the close up shots like the one above and I like the one of her waking up for the first time after her concussion when you see her eye open. That was a very cool shot.

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Grace: Who Are You?
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GRACE: Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

Sam wakes up on the floor...again.

SAM: My mother used to sing that to me.
GRACE: How obscure.

SAM: I'm so tired.
GRACE: You can't sleep. Not yet.
SAM: Why?
GRACE: Because we need to talk.

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Sam is sitting at a table.
GRACE: Eat; you need to keep your strength up.
SAM: Do you have a name?
GRACE: I'm Grace.

SAM: Who are you?
GRACE: You know.
SAM: No, I don't know.
JACOB: I'm your father.
SAM: Dad?

JACOB: I know it sounds corny but you get to an age, you get to an age where you think of everything you did wrong as a parent. Don't take this the wrong way.
SAM: I know, I don't look so good.
JACOB: I wanted so many things for you Sam. And look what it's brought you instead.
SAM: Sure, but the massive headache really takes the edge off it all.
Click for audio clip
JACOB: Are you happy Sam?
SAM: What?
JACOB: Just answer the question.
SAM: Well at the moment things are a little rough, but in general, sure I'm happy.
JACOB: No you're not. You're content, you're satisfied, you're in control and that's the problem.
SAM: Okay, I'm really not following here.
JACOB: I'm saying you're missing something vital from your life. And the sad part is you have no idea what I'm talking about.
SAM: Dad, I am happy. I've seen and done things most people couldn't even dream of. I have an incredible life.
JACOB: And yet you're alone.
SAM: Well lately the dating scene's been a little stale but then again I am marooned on a space ship.
Click for audio clip

JACOB: No, always. For as long as she was alive, your mother showed me a world beyond just ambition and career. She gave my life meaning and balance and it was my honour to love her for the short time she was with me. And if I were young again and I met her for the first time even knowing her fate, I would do it all again. That is love.

Sam, I know you've denied yourself the experience because you think it must inevitably end in pain and loneliness. It's time to let go of the things that prevent you from finding happiness. You deserve to love someone and be loved in return.

Sam looks around and Jacob is gone.
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The inclusion of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was a wonderfully written and implemented idea for the story - allowing us a glimpse into Sam's childhood ('My mother used to sing that to me') and integrating it into the scifi storyline as it becomes Grace's song and sort of a haunting signature backdrop for this entire episode.
The scenes with Grace were well done. Grace appears and then disappears. Sam asks who she is, but doesn't get an answer from Grace - her Dad answers instead. Nicely written and filmed... just like dreams, the subconscious does not always supply answers and things don't always make sense when we are dreaming (or hallucinating...)... and just like in dreams, the subject and scenes morph one into the next and we are pulled along... usually not questioning things until we wake up.

I love almost all episode scenes between Sam and Jacob, and this one just about makes me cry. (AstroG goes looking for scenes of Rambo Kick-a$$!Carter to counter the effects of making these screen caps and audio captures...).

Some of my favorite lines were:
SAM: Sure, but the massive headache really takes the edge off it all.
Click for audio clip

and
SAM: Well lately the dating scene's been a little stale but then again I am marooned on a space ship.
Click for audio clip

Love Sam's humor - and how AT played it.

This entire scene with Jacob is a showcase for AT's acting prowess. Her facial expressions are perfect - she's *there* in the scene - she *is* Sam - she's playing it just like I'd expect someone to if I was sitting across from them and we were having this conversation. AT just makes it *real*. And she plays none of it over the top. My screencaps above do not do justice to the acting that AT provided for us in this scene.

The subject matter was also heartwrenching. Well-written dialogue for what Sam might think when having a concussion-induced delusion discussion with her father.


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Grace post 1 (#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
Grace post 4 (#3287): Hallucinations and Reality
Grace post 5 (#3306): Maybe It's Alive?
Grace post 6 (#3313): Who Are You?
Grace post 7 (#3341): Bubbles
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Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[astrogeologist]

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Grace: Bubbles
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I love this scene with Grace. First Grace invites Sam to blow some bubbles, Sam declines... but then Sam starts talking about how bubbles fascinated her when she was a kid... and she enthusiastically starts explaining surface tension "I remember when I was a little girl I used to wonder how a bubble could exist. You see there's this thing called surface tension, when molecules bind together in a certain way…" But Grace doesn't want to hear it (actually calls the explanation boring...and my 'inner physicist' is wounded, but I know that lots of folks think science is boring... )...

Grace brings the bubble soap over to Sam to get her to play along. Sam joins in. I like how this shows the softer, playful side of Sam - and shows how well Sam can interact with children.
Love Sam/AT's smile at the end.

Now - I have to ask you -- how many of you would have thought that anyone could write a plausible Stargate scifi storyline that had Sam Carter blowing bubbles with a little girl? I love how the storyline of this episode let us see these personal glimpses into Sam's life and psyche.

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SAM: What do you want?
GRACE: What do you mean?
SAM: Whoever you are, I know why everyone else keeps showing up,
why are you here? What do you want from me?

GRACE: I don't want anything. But you do. Then the traveller in the dark thanks you for your tiny spark. How could he see where to go if he did not twinkle so?

I was impressed by how AT played this without any lines.

She's watching the bubbles and thinking about the corroding ship while explosions are going off all around. But she's paying attention to the hallucination from her subconscious - she knows that it means something.

I didn't capture it as well as AT plays it on the film, but AT's face shows her puzzling through the possibilities and then she really focusses on the bubbles - you can almost see the wheels and cogs turning inside her mind. And then AT shows it on her face when Sam 'gets it'. This is such a short scene, but it's one of the cruxes of the main storyline. It's the explanation of why Sam was hallucinating about Grace blowing bubbles, and it's the answer to getting out of the cloud. ------------

And more kudos for the writers - they let Sam save herself (and the rest of the Prometheus crew), instead of having Jack or some other 'calvary' come in and save her. And not only did they let her come up with the solution, it was *so* in character. Smart!Sam got to save the day. And they wrote this episode so that it didn't simply look like Sam was presented with a problem and immediately pulled a solution out of thin air - instead, they showed her trying an idea, having it fail, then she'd try something else, and it wouldn't work, and then she'd have to go to Plan C and then D and then E.... until she eventually ran out of ideas that came quickly. So then she thought about it and came up with the idea to vent some air... but then she hallucinated Grace getting sucked out and abandoned that idea.

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GRACE: What are you looking at?
SAM: It's complicated.
GRACE: Try me.
SAM: I'm gonna try and save myself with a bubble.
GRACE: How?

SAM: The hyperdrive won't fully engage because of the cloud but maybe it doesn't have to. If I can dial down the power flow to the hyperdrive emitter theoretically I should be able to cause a partial shift into hyperspace, essentially taking the ship out of the cloud's space time. Hopefully just enough to eliminate its effects on the sub light engines.
GRACE: Neat.
SAM: Yeah.
Click to listen to audio clip

I love how Grace asks what Sam is doing, and Sam just tells her that it's complicated, so Grace says 'Try Me.' (This is a great plot device to explain what Sam is doing to the viewer - they get to have Sam explain it to herself!). Sam launches into a quickie technobabble explanation, in layman's terms, and Grace's response is one of my favorites 'Neat!' AT's reaction is even better - she's a bit non-plussed (she's not used to people saying 'Neat' after some technobabble), but then she just has to smile - she is basically talking to herself and Sam does think it's neat! At any rate, I loved the whole exchange here between Sam and Grace. Beautifully acted and played out.

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Loved the ending scenes where her Daniel and Teal'c hallucinations are asking her what she's doing - advising her to take the safer course of action and save herself first and then come back with help to try and save the rest of the Prometheus crew. Love how her Jack hallucination tells D&T to shut up and just let her work.

And Sam gets to be heroic again in the last scenes as she saves not only herself and the Prometheus crew, but also the crew of the alien spaceship. And Sam's willingness to risk trusting others is what makes it all work. Sam makes a deal with the previously hostile aliens, gets the Prom crew back and then uses the partial-hyperspace-time-shift-bubble to get both ships out of the nebula. Once there, it's all up to trust, because that hostile alien ship has them seriously outgunned... And this time Sam's trust works. The aliens quietly leave. Very in character to show Sam problem-solving and her willingness to risk trusting others and her willingness to act on the belief that others will also act honorably.

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Awhile back on the thread, MajorSal asked what folks thought of Grace... did we think Grace was Sam as a child... or was Grace really (in scifi) a manifestation of some kind of sentient cloud? I couldn't answer that question earlier, because I felt that the episode didn't answer the question, and that the episode could work with either explanation. After doing these storyboards and comment-reviews of the episode, however, I think that Grace works best as Sam's hallucination of her 'inner child'... manifestations of facets of Sam's personality that we very rarely get to see on the show. In an interview that I read months and months ago, AT was asked what she thought Grace was... and AT's reply was that that question was not answered in the episode and that there were several possibilities... manifestation of the cloud, Sam's inner child, etc. AT then went on to say that she decided to play it as if Grace was Sam's inner child - and I think that I agree with AT's interpretation. I love the idea that I'm seeing into the personal side of Sam Carter... and that there is this bright, sunny playful kid in there.
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Overall, I enthusiastically give the writers, directors and actors of Grace,
5 blue jellos

The episode ‘Grace’ exceeds the quality of most standard TV science fiction.
Writer: Damien Kindler; Director: Peter F. Woeste


More than six months before I got to see the episode, I had heard and read synopses of the show… Carter is stranded alone on the Prometheus… and has some time to think about her life. Now, stranding main characters on a ship is an old TV sci fi plot device, so, to be honest, the episode sounded fairly… boring. But then I finally got to watch ‘Grace’ (on the DVDs this past November) – and I was stunned at how well the episode was constructed, filmed and acted. The story was never boring… and in fact, the episode seemed to reach the end all too quickly. I have actually watched this episode three times now (and that was a first for me with a TV show episode), and I see more commendable attributes with each viewing!

We've said this before, but I want to repeat it:
Amanda Tapping’s acting was simply stellar - five-star ! She truly acts – she doesn’t just stand in the scenes, say her lines and let the scene play out around her (as many TV actors do). She put forth an exceptional performance worthy of the cinema or theatre – and she was believable – and that believability, that veracity is what is so outstanding. And AT does this all the time, not just in Grace. And it's what makes AT stand out head and shoulders above almost all other actors.
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Grace post 1 (#3250): opening scenes: Kid In A Candy Store
Grace post 2 (#3267): Concussion, waking up, first hallucinations
Grace post 3 (#3277): Hallucinations - some are annoying!
Grace post 4 (#3287): Hallucinations and Reality
Grace post 5 (#3306): Maybe It's Alive?
Grace post 6 (#3313): Who Are You?

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Photos are screen captures from the episode Grace
Transcript excerpts are from the Stargate SG-1 Transcript website
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[MissMonk]

i felt this epsisode was great. i really loved it. i just read some of the posts here and realize alot of you dont, but i really did. i think amanda did a great job on it. although, i must agree, i haven't the foggest of what is going on half the time, but oh well. *shrugs* i still think its a good one.

[Cassie]

I loved this ep. IMO AT did a great job kept me interested all the way through!
Also loved the little girl she was soooo cute luved her hair too hehehe!
And being a S/J shipper I luved the kiss

[Silver]

I know her performance has already been recognised (woo, woo!) but Amanda was absolutely amazing in this episode. Wow, she was so convincing... the level of Sam's emotion was portrayed really, really deeply.

Loved the whole concept of "Grace" and the insights into Sam's character - especially enjoyed how it was Jack that finally motivated her to successfully save herself, and also he who told the other guys to shut up and let her work. And Jack encouraged Sam to let him go and seek out a relationship of her own... adorable and v. emotional.

I enjoyed nearly all of the episodes in season 7 but Grace has to be one of my favourites. I guess you have to be a fan of slowish, emotional plots to love this one though - in fact there was a lot of that in this season. The more of this the better, I say.

[SimilarCadence]

Zats writes:

"Some critics have said that Sam seems weak and girly. Yes, she cries. Yes, she has a few heart-to-hearts with herself. Yes, it reveals a new vulnerablity we hadn't seen before. No, she isn't blasting goa'uld spacecraft into oblivion or waving a P-90. But none of those make her 'weak' or 'girly'. They make her real."



Well, better late than never! (It's a little longer than a week and a half....) What a relief to hear someone say this!

I've read complaints on other threads about Sam not being tough enough during the last couple of seasons......that it's a terrible thing for her to show vulnerability (which I don't consider a weakness), indecision, emotional confusion. Those things certainly don't make a person "weak", they make a person real! (At least, if they're honest with themselves....)

It's great knowing that Sam can handle herself beautifully in tough situations, that she's a brilliant scientist, that she can hold her own in what some might consider "a man's world", but without the vulnerability, the conflicting emotions, the longing to love and be loved, she becomes nothing more than a two-dimensional character.......

I love the fact that Sam is allowed to be a real-live woman and a well-rounded human being. Amanda Tapping constantly amazes me with her depth as an actress.......