Ah yes. For me this episode lurched from one jaw-dropping, "wtf?" to the next. It felt like either a very bad fanfic or a parody. In fact, if I'd been reading it, I'd have thought it was written by a Sam-basher. I hate, hate, hate the scene where Sam is questioning the blonde about her boss and the tart is dismissive and snide. Sam sits there and takes it; she's completely ineffectual.

*sigh* I'll stop. I love the original Sam and I hate how we periodically get scenes like this and the one in Fragile Balance where it's clear she gets no respect and has no authority. They do it at least once a season now and it peeves me. A little. ;-)

I know lots of people feel that way about Sam, but for me I think I've learned to just filter out the bad stuff or filter her out altogether, so things don't really bother me. I mean, the writers clearly don't believe they're making her appear this way to some or don't care enough to even think about it at all. Kind of like me, I guess. I never once entertained the idea that Sam's character was somehow slighted in this episode. I rarely see it, honestly - like that Fragile Balance scene. I think that was people in fandom totally extrapolating negative meaning where there was none. Why do that? It's not pleasurable. Better to extrapolate fun, positive things...

It is sad to me, though, that there are some people who actively hate Sam now because I just don't see reason for it. Not saying everyone has to like or love her, but to bash left, front and center pretty much constantly seems a bit harsh to me. I also don't see the point (I'm being repetitive) of always looking for the bad (I know some claim it smacks them in the face, but if I used to have knee jerk reactions to Sam and now don't...). How do you get over something if you just simply don't put any (apparent) effort into it?

I should shut up.

They bother me not because I feel negatively about the character but because I still love the character. I hate what the show has done to her. I hate the way she's been reduced to her ovaries and big, blue eyes. Someone, somewhere wrote a great recap of Threads, which I'm going to mangle but it went something along the lines of, "Daniel confronts the Ancients and takes on Anubis in a showdown that will determine the future of our galaxy. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Sam gets cold feet about the wedding."

I hate that the woman who in the pilot walked into a room filled with superior officers and demanded their respect by not letting the Boyz Club get away with their tittering remarks is nowhere to be seen. Yeah, her lines were strident and a bit shrill in the pilot, but this was a woman who demanded the respect that she had earned.

I think competance is sexy. It's one the reasons I hate earth-bound episodes. It turns my uber-competant team into the Keystone Kops. *sigh* No, you shouldn't shut up. I welcome all points of view. I don't hold stock with Sam-bashing. Being a fan isn't a zero-sum game in which liking one requires hating another.

I really have promised myself to stop getting all pissy over these issues because in the end, it's just t.v. I have a Zen Fan place where I go. I don't care that the scripts are for crap. I don't care that the characters traits I most admired about the characters are harder and harder for me to see. 'Cause there are some very pretty men running around in sleeveless shirts, strapping god knows what around their thighs (but who cares so long as they continue doing it, right?), and generally flaunting their maleness.

I have Battlestar Galactica to keep me intellectually fulfilled and satisfy my craving for thoughtful storytelling. SG-1 gives me lots of pretty men to enjoy. And there's nothing wrong with that.