The hand shaking scene.

[Hagazussa]

In one way I loved the scene where Todd offers to shake Sam's hand it was funny and it also show Todd's quirky sense of humor. However in some ways I also hated to scene. I have been a fan of SG1 for years and Sam there is a really good character, she have guts, she is a genius and she do well in the field. However in this scene she appears as a coward.

Now here is the thing, Todd completely own Carter in this scene, after all it is not even established that a wraith can feed anywhere else than over the heart, in addition he was the one taking a big risk, if Carter as much as cough while shaking his hand the guards would fire at him, even if he could feed through her hand he would not have the time to do much damage before he was killed. So effectively what he showed was that hey I am in a cell with several guns pointed at me and you are the one who is afraid. I control this situation.

Now another thing is that this scene is very out of character for Carter, she have have a alien inside her brain and met, touched and fought more critters than Kirk himself, she would no be that afraid of Todd, and also Carter know enough of politics to see that she is allowing him to control the situation when she shows that she is scared of him. Sam should have shook his hand, at worst he could have cut her hand open and doing so would have shut him him as Todd expected her to refuse, he wanted to show Sam who was boss, that is why he offered to shake her hand in the first place.

[Blizzah]

I can see your point that Sam was obviously afraid but I enjoyed the scene and thought it was really funny. Even though Sam has encountered many species before she has very little interaction with the Wraith and I think anyone would be apprehensive to lock hands with anything that would want to eat them. Though the writers may not have captured the Carter character perfectly in this scene the Wraith humor made up for it. IMO.

[hedwig]

In one way I loved the scene where Todd offers to shake Sam's hand it was funny and it also show Todd's quirky sense of humor. However in some ways I also hated to scene. I have been a fan of SG1 for years and Sam there is a really good character, she have guts, she is a genius and she do well in the field. However in this scene she appears as a coward.

Now here is the thing, Todd completely own Carter in this scene, after all it is not even established that a wraith can feed anywhere else than over the heart, in addition he was the one taking a big risk, if Carter as much as cough while shaking his hand the guards would fire at him, even if he could feed through her hand he would not have the time to do much damage before he was killed. So effectively what he showed was that hey I am in a cell with several guns pointed at me and you are the one who is afraid. I control this situation.

Now another thing is that this scene is very out of character for Carter, she have have a alien inside her brain and met, touched and fought more critters than Kirk himself, she would no be that afraid of Todd, and also Carter know enough of politics to see that she is allowing him to control the situation when she shows that she is scared of him. Sam should have shook his hand, at worst he could have cut her hand open and doing so would have shut him him as Todd expected her to refuse, he wanted to show Sam who was boss, that is why he offered to shake her hand in the first place.

I must disagree with your assessment of that scene. I don't think Sam was a coward (which is pretty insulting to her IMO) or the least bit frightened at the idea of shaking hands with Todd. As you say, given her past with the Goa'uld and other enemies, and having read probably all the reports about the wraith, she knew very well what she was getting into, and would not show fear. For one thing, she's trained not to. For another, she's dealt with worse than him and survived. She's become a very confident woman/officer, and this wouldn't faze her in the least. I think she was coolly assessing the situation and simply felt no need to shake hands with him. She knew she had all sorts of protection around her, and that he was making a play for power and she didn't buy into it. And I totally feel that Sam won that round. Todd may have felt he won, but he didn't; after all, he was still a prisoner. I have to think that all those around her were impressed with her handling of the situation. Plus, she had "invited" Woolsey to come along to witness the event and I have no doubt she would not have displayed fear around him, of all people. And Woolsey was probably shaking in his shoes and if there was any fear showing, it was from him.

I was applauding her behavior and thinking "Go Sam! Yay!"

And about the hand shaking. There are other episodes where even though a hand was extended to be shaken, the hand was not accepted by the other person. So I see this as no different.

[WraithRichard]

Sam doesn't deal with humor on the job because she doesn't deal with what she perceives as BS.

Or she's more afraid of Woolsey.

Or she knows how much of a risk it would be to Todd; if whatever wraith use to pierce the skin even scratches her, he's dead. Heck, he might e dead if she did accept because the guards are jumpy.

Or she wants him to think he controls more than he actually does because he could give out more info or at least be more inclined to help.

[themyst]

I really liked that scene, too, but I didn't perceive Sam as being cowardly or afraid at shaking Todd's hand, I saw it as more her just being revolted at the general idea of shaking hands with the enemy.

Though I'm really enthralled with the whole Wraith idea - Todd in particular - I would be nervous as heck standing before him that close - so I think Sam actually handled that pretty well.

[hedwig]

Sam doesn't deal with humor on the job because she doesn't deal with what she perceives as BS.

She displays humor on the job, only it's more understated and subtle than anyone else's.

Or she's more afraid of Woolsey.

She's not the least bit afraid of Woolsey. She chewed him out in "The Scourge" for his behavior there - politely, of course. Plus, she puts him in his place later in this same episode. If anything, Woolsey is afraid of Sam.

Or she knows how much of a risk it would be to Todd; if whatever wraith use to pierce the skin even scratches her, he's dead. Heck, he might be dead if she did accept because the guards are jumpy.

I might go with this one, if any.

Or she wants him to think he controls more than he actually does because he could give out more info or at least be more inclined to help.

I'd be even more likely to go with this one.

Sam has been with the program for 10 years. She's been infested with a Tok'ra against her will. She's been captured, tortured, threatened with death (and been killed on at least one occasion - in "The Nox"), threatened by Hathor with being implanted with a Goa'uld, been to hell and back (more or less literally in "Jolinar's Memories"), been hunted by a Super Solder (in "Death Knell) and survived. And many more instances where she had more right to be fearful than in this scene, but wasn't. Plus, she's so stubborn, she'd never show fear in front of a bunch of marines/airmen, much less to a wraith, or a terrified IOA representative.

As you can probably tell, I'm a Sam fan. And even if I weren't, I still say she didn't display any fear in that scene.

[WraithRichard]

She displays humor on the job, only it's more understated and subtle than anyone else's.

True, but that's no reason to put up with an enemy being a smartass.

Also, I'll readily admit this is the weakest of m arguments.

She's not the least bit afraid of Woolsey. She chewed him out in "The Scourge" for his behavior there - politely, of course. Plus, she puts him in his place later in this same episode. If anything, Woolsey is afraid of Sam.

I thought that was the point. She doesn't want the HAVE to explain it to him or put up with his lectures later, or risk him doing something stupid. I meant just b being there he was making things difficult and posing risks by not knowing what he's doing. She's afraid of having to clean up his mess.

I didn't get that she was afraid at all; I just figured she had better things to do or just didn't like at leas tone of the people in the brig at the time.

[hedwig]

I thought that was the point. She doesn't want the HAVE to explain it to him or put up with his lectures later, or risk him doing something stupid. I meant just b being there he was making things difficult and posing risks by not knowing what he's doing. She's afraid of having to clean up his mess.

I didn't get that she was afraid at all; I just figured she had better things to do or just didn't like at leas tone of the people in the brig at the time.

Ahhh ... I see. I misunderstood then. I do agree with this assessment, though. She definitely had better things to do with her time.

[gateraid]

I didn't get that impression at all. The writers (via Todd) were making a joke. She didn't shake his hand because it wasn't necessary, and Todd didn't want her to anyway. I'd be surprised if he could kill her that way (aside from the guards shooting him if things looked like they were heading in that direction), so all he was really doing was what he said - injecting some 'Wraith humour'. Sam understood the joke, it was fairly obvious. If someone said to you "smell my finger", would you actually have to smell it to understand the joke?