I'm positive I haven't always been fair toward Sam...but it came to the point for me that I realized the negative energy wasn't doing me (or anyone around me) any good. I do get the stepping-back and really looking at what you're doing/saying and how you're reacting, but I think for many people, especially at the height of fandom drama, emotion will rule over logic. And fear of that emotion will make anyone with a differing POV really hesitate to get into the mix - maybe I played in the wrong places, but it felt at times that if I supported Sam, I was somehow an Untouchable. Same thing for not liking Vala.

Ultimately, at least now, for me it's about believing a character should be doing the things they're doing because they would, not doing the things they're doing because the writers need to fill in a hole (sometimes half a hole, and sometimes only to create another hole). That, I think is one of the primary reasons SG-1 lost me quite a while back. I didn't believe the story was there to support the characters, I believed the characters were there to support the story, come hell or high water. ALL of the characters. So all the little things I was able to ignore tipped the scales.

But that's rather another discussion, so I should shut up about that.