Amanda Tappings   USAF Colonel Dr. Samantha "Sam" Carter, Ph.D.

The role that changed Amanda Tapping's life

The most famous role of Amanda Tapping is probably that of "Colonel Samantha Carter". With this character, an unprecedented career began for Amanda  . For more than 10 years she played the intelligent, amiable officer who sees her fulfillment in the Stargate program.
The friendly and hardworking actress, who is highly valued by all her colleagues and fans, not only cuts a good figure in front of the camera, but also produces and, above all, directs. With all her successes in the various branches of film and television, she has never been unfaithful to a specific role and she still appreciates what "Sam Carter" gave her.

What I love about Sam is that she's not shrill. She doesn't have a tough aspect, although she probably has to fight really hard in the male world. But she didn't choose this path. She chose to just be and live in the environment she is in and prove herself by being who she is - without always flying the "I'm a woman and I'm just as good!" flag."

Amanda Tapping

  1. Sam
  2. Friends
  3. Officer
  4. Photo Gallery SG 1
  5. Workaholic
  6. Stargate Program
  7. Photo Gallery Atlantis
  8. Jack

Samantha Carter, a brilliant scientist and military officer, is an integral part of the SG-1 team.
→ She was born on December 29, 1968.
→ Her father, Jacob Carter [Carmen Argenziano †], was a major general in the US Air Force.
→ Her mother tragically died in a car accident. Sam was a teenager at the time, and her relationship with her father became extremely strained after the devastating loss. Her brother Mark [?] was also estranged from his father, and until a recent reconciliation, Sam had lost touch with Mark and his family in San Diego.
→ Sam was reunited with her father when Jacob Carter was about to succumb to cancer and volunteered to accept the Tok'ra symbiote Selmak into his body. Jacob / Selmak became the liasion officer between the SGC and the Tok'ra. Over the time, Sam and her father became closer than ever.
→ Sam lives alone in a one-story house, number 1025, in the suburbs of Colorado Springs.
→ She talks to her plants sometimes.
→ She drinks her coffee black, likes diet soda and blue Jell-O.
→ She drives a Volvo from 1961, later a silver Volvo sedan [Amanda's own car] with a sliding glass roof and the license plate "Colorado QTL3016" .
→ Sam is tech-savvy and in her little spare time works with Sgt. Syler [Dan Shea] on her historic Indian, a motorcycle from 1940. (Unfortunately, you never see her riding the machine!)
→ Occasionally, her passion for speed and competition also emerges.
→ Sam is also an accomplished poker player.

Sam Carter has a very close, family relationship with her teammates.
→ In many ways, she shares Daniel Jackson's [Michael Shanks] passion for science and exploration.
→ Sam admires Teal'c's [Christopher Judge] military perspective.
→ Since Sam joined SG-1, she has had a special relationship with Jack O'Neill [Richard Dean Anderson]. However, military regulations prevent a romantic relationship from developing with her commanding officer. Even so, she admires and respects her CO very much.
→ She is on friendly terms with Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell [Ben Browder] and later shares command of SG1 with him.
→ With Vala Mal Doran [Claudia Black] Sam finally has another woman on her team.

→ Sam is particularly close to Dr. Janet Fraiser [Teryl Rothery]. Together they share many of the duties of raising Fraiser's adoptive daughter, Cassandra [Colleen Rennison]. Cassandra is 18 years old when Janet Fraiser is killed, and Carter continues to be a role model for Cassy.
One of the personal documents Sam keeps on her laptop is a letter to Cassandra in the event of her death.

Outside of the SGC, Carter has several relationships, none of which are permanent:
→ USAF Captain Jonas Hansson / SG 9 [William Russ] - engagement dissolved.
→ Narim of Tollan [Garwin Sanford] - likes him, nothing more,
→ Martouf of Tok'ra [J.R. Bourne] - the relationship is more Jolinar than Sam
→ Orlin [Sean Patrick Flannery]. She has a brief affair with him.
→ The Replicator "Fifth" [Patrik Currie] is so fixated on Carter that he captures her and later duplicated her when his feelings are not reciprocated by her.
→ Pete Shanahan [David DeLuise], a Denver cop. - Engagement released

In addition to her scientific background, Sam Carter is also an outstanding military officer.
→ During the Gulf War, she logged over 100 hours in enemy airspace and carried out simulated bombing attacks in an F-16. Although she does not wear a pilot's wings, she has completed her training as a fighter pilot. Sam not only flies terrestrial planes, but has flown in both the pilot's seat and the co-pilot's seat of alien planes like the F-302.
→ She is excellent at handling all kinds of weapons and has been trained as a sniper.
→ She has reached level three in hand-to-hand combat training, likes to "play" with C-4 (explosives) and is very used to picking locks.
→ Sam has extensive medical field training that she must use regularly.

Carter's brilliant military career has earned her many recognitions and honors.
→ She was awarded the "Air Medal" for outstanding courage and heroism.
→ After two years of exemplary service with the SGC, Carter was promoted to the rank of major and was given temporary command of SG-1 on several missions.
→ Five years after reaching the rank of major, she was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and with O'Neill's [Richard Dean Anderson] promotion to general, making him commander of the SGC, Carter became the commanding officer of SG-1.
→ She is one of the highest ranking female officers in the SGC who has ranked Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel during her time with the SGC.

Sam Carter has dedicated her life to her work.
→ She has wanted to be an astronaut since she was a little girl, but changed her plans after the Challenger disaster interrupted the shuttle program.
→ She follows in her father's footsteps [Jacob Carter - Carmen Argenziano †] and attends the US Air Force Academy, where she studies and trains with General Kerrigan and Professor Monroe. She turns out to be scientifically and mathematically brilliant. She achieves her Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics and is transferred to the Pentagon near Washington, DC. There she studies nanotechnology for a year and works with Dr. Timothy Harlow in the field of genetics. She also studies gate technology and is a pioneer in the field of wormhole physics.
→ Before the first Abydos mission, she workes on the development of the Stargate program for two years.
→ As an expert on the Stargate, she is transferred from the Pentagon to the second Abydos mission to the SGC and becomes a member of SG-1 with the rank of captain under the command of Colonel O'Neill [Richard Dean Anderson].
→ Sam has a reputation for being a workaholic and often devotes her spare time to research projects such as building the first draft of a naquadah generator. 

→ Sam Carter's knowledge of science and technology is a tremendous addition to the Stargate program. She is deeply familiar with alien technology and design, and can repair, rebuild, and communicate with many types of alien devices. She is very familiar with Stargate technology and has designed a dial-up computer. Sam also has extensive knowledge of the F-302, BC-303 and BC -304 series, Earth-designed spacecraft.
→ During her second year of service at SG-1, Sam is host to Jolinar of Malkshur [Tanja Reid], a Tok'ra symbiote on the run. After Jolinar's death, some stuff remains with Sam, and she keeps Jolinar's memories. The symbiot gives Sam's body traces of Naquadah in her blood as well as a unique protein marker, that identifies her as a former host. Since then she can sense the presence of a symbiote or traces of naquadah in others. She can use Goa'uld technology like healing devices or hand tools, albeit only to a limited extent.
→ Sam can draw on the resources of the SGC and Area 51 and make a significant contribution to the development of new technologies. Sam's research on brain scanning technology and Merlin's phase shifting device provide invaluable defense against various enemies.
→ Sam is also a Senior Consultant for Applied Technologies, for which she and Dr. Bill Lee [Bill Dow] present their development of the X-699 Plasma Cannon and Chimera Holographic System.
→ She has been awarded the prestigious Binder Prize for advances in theoretical physics twice.
→ She is an expert in computer systems and is often asked to write programs or to work with encryptions or extraterrestrial data retrieval. Sam can read and translate basic information in Goa'uld. She also has - thanks to Daniel [Michael Shanks] - a certain understanding of the "Ancient language".

→ Sam is leaving the SGC for a position with more flexible hours that should allow her to take better care of her foster daughter Cassandra [Colleen Rennison]. She takes command of "Stargate Research and Development" at Area 51 and later spends some time aboard the Prometheus, researching space.
→ When a new threat approaches Earth, she returns to Stargate Command and SG1.

There is a rule in the army: "You are not to get romantically involved with your comrades or subordinates who are under your command!"

So there's no chance for Col. Sam Carter and Major General Jack O'Neill [Richard Dean Anderson] to meet romantically. Even when the opportunity arises to hug and even kiss, the two always try to keep their professional distance and obey military rules, but you can feel the air crackle between them.

Even if Sam and Jack's love story remains unsolved in SG 1, later in Stargate Atlantis [Season 4] there are some indications that the two are actually a couple:

[1] In a late episode of SG1, Sam mentions that she has someone in Washington to be with (Jack has been transferred there!).

[2] While Sam is unpacking her luggage in her quarters in Atlantis, one can take a look at a private picture of Jack, which she obviously put in her suitcase.

[3] In a cut out scene from episode 16 / Season 4 of Atlantis, Sam also mentions her relationship with someone in Washington to Dr. Keller [Jewel Staite]  .

[4] In her office in Atlantis one can see an equally private picture of her and Jack, in which the two are fishing at the pond in front of Jack's hut.

[5] Amanda Tapping later confirmed in an interview that, in her opinion, Sam and Jack are definitely together - he has retired from active duty and she is still in command of a ship or base.

Click the pictures to magnify. All pictures are screenshots of the CDs I own.

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