Duet (204)

[hedwig]

To be fair, Ronon was on the run for about 7 years, and I'm sure the Wraith didn't let him grab a mess kit on the way out, so he probably didn't have much opportunity to use silverware for quite a while there. I forget if it was in this episode or a later one where he said that the one time he stayed in a village overnight, it got culled the next day, so he was probably alone and eating whatever he could find for a vast majority of that time.

But after a couple of years on Atlantis, he should have more than overcome those habits.

The episode you refer to is "Sateda".

[Jae'a]

From Joe Mallozzi's Blog:
http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...t-runner-duet/

DUET (204)

...
We get jellied mice, Dr. Fumbles McStupid and, if I’m not mistaken, the first guy on guy kiss in science fiction history.
...

Now, THAT'S what I call an achievement!

My LiveJournal post
Oh, I loved this ep! Mincing McKay is way too funny!
Shame some more poor little mice got wiped though. (At least it wasn't real)

[ZRFTS]

Duet

There comes a time in every series where the inevitable happens; some happen early, some happen really late in the run but it happens. I'm surprised that it took this short to happen (especially during it's second season) but well... here it is.

This is SGA's worst episode yet.

There may be episodes that I've haven't watched but so far this is SGA's worst episode. One of the things that make it the worst is this; the idea to have Rodney in a situation where another woman's consciousness is inside of her... I mean who thought of that idea? This idea may have been in cartoons, sci-fi and sitcoms before but mostly every show has done this either a contrived, really stupid or condescending way; (not unlike the body swap where the voices change despite the bodies remaining the same) this is obviously no different as this is filled with the stupidest stuff SGA has come up with yet.

They obviously decided to use Mr. Rodney McKay in this episode because he's obvious the character fans love, he's their go-to guy for funny stuff, acting out, and being the center of attention and hey, maybe he can make this episode into a masterpiece right? It's no secret that David Hewlett has acting chops; even though his character might be overstated, he did provide some of the best moments of Season 1. There is something that shows that David can act (the moments where he freaks, yells and acts out for example) but that's not the problem, no it's Rodney. His character is pushed to unbearable limits as he is obviously made to be crazy; pushing it so that the audience at home can understand clearly. I would of liked to see Rodney treated as an outcast (some scenes do hint at that, providing the basis for what could of been the best moments of the episode), doubting himself but it never comes to this; instead the episode focuses on him and her female captor who's dialog exposes the many flaws the McKay character has.

Rodney, the problem.

That's not to say that the female character is innocent, I mean in the beginning she turns out to be a decent character but when inside Rodney she instantly becomes a stereotype; the exact opposite which Stargate is supposed to embody. Her acting contains many traits reminiscent of those girls you see in comedy movies that feature Noah Hill or Michael Cera, which is knowing exactly what the opposite sex is, acting snobbish, taking control of everything, making snarky comments and jokes every opportunity she gets and just acting trashy. Sure, she provides a conflict for McKay but it just makes her character unappealing to me and worse, it made McKay 10x more unappealing than had he been on her own since she breaks McKay character-wise to a point where people will be hoping for McKay's death (which doesn't come) before the episode even ends; and the many comments she makes about his "manhood" are contradictory. I mean McKay's character is supposed to be a weak, cowardly nerd with trouble courting the woman but in many scenes he appears like a action-movie star; it was hard to take her seriously with Rodney's conflicting looks.

Watching Rodney and the girl argue with themselves throughout the episode is excruciating but when they turn on the sci-fi, things get really unbearable. Watching David act like another person should be interesting since it'll show off his acting chops but his performance as the girl comes across as someone from Sex and the City; it's stereotypical the way he acts, in fact it makes me doubt his acting skills rather then praise them. This continues on as the episode progresses providing some of the worst moments of the episode; the moments where Rodney acts like the perfect man reminded me of the terrible romance movies released today with his charming, kissing, perfection, dialog being really cheesy and offputting. I get if you want to make it funny but making it over-the-top is not the way to do it, especially when it involves a serious moment like this. I stared at the screen in disblief as those scenes played out, to the point where I started to feel depressed, not because of whatever happened in the episode but because I was watching what the best writers of SGA had to offer; which is Rodney kissing another guy. And don't get me started on the moments where Rodney argues with himself...

The best SGA has to offer...

Of course, the writers didn't forget to include some serious stuff and there's a plot regarding a downed Wraith dart (providing one of the few instances we get a glimpse of Wraith technology) and getting her consciousness out of Rodney's body; these scenes provide some of the most competent scenes of the episode as the scientists work hard to figure out a solution to Rodney's dilemma; these scientists aren't trying to be comedic or over-the-top, they're just doing their thing which is what makes the scenes good. They even manage to make Rodney's situation serious by having him go through a complication where his compassionate and caring side gets to come out making him a character worth following but it gives little to an episode when it's introduced too late; I mean do the writers really expect us to care about this when they put Rodney through a pukefest of an episode? I like Rodney acting this way and all and the moments are sweet but it could of been introduced at a point where the episode truly needed it, not near the very end. No amount of decent acting from David Hewlett can disprove this fact.

On the sidelines, this episode does show some shots (though incredibly short) of Ronan (Ford's replacement) and how awesome and skillful he is in gunshots, martial arts and some scenes do expose his character but I'm kind of irked at how they made him into a barbarian in these scenes, eating with his hands, having rude manners; the way he was portrayed in "Runner" was that of someone who was intellectual and complex but this just makes him into a simplistic person who's only saving grace is his history. Granted, some of that can be explained by him being on the run from the Wraith for so long but still... Anyway, the feeling I got from this episode was watching a Z-grade movie at a theater with it's cheesy romantic situations and it's awkward plotting; this felt like I was being tortured for the time it was on, testing my faith as to what the SGA people put on screen. It felt agonizing, even the therapist from "The Gift" seemed awkward even being in the episode.

Truly awkward.

I'm going to give it some points for giving Ronan some introductory screen time (still like him) and some better moments but overall this is an episode that you should avoid at all costs. This is an example of what happens when Stargate writers feel a bit too confident about themselves.

1.5/10

[Lythisrose]

@Zombie - finally, someone I agree with about this episode. Cadman was a MARINE, for gosh sakes, she doesn't MINCE! yikes! David H is a terrific actor, but I think they made some really poor directorial choices in how they had him play a woman.

[hlndncr]

I agree it was poor writing and directing choices. I don't think you can blame DH's acting. According to the commentary the actress who played Cadman ran all the scenes first and David copied her. So a lot of those actions weren't necessarily his choices.

[Falcon Horus]

This is SGA's worst episode yet.

You're going to have to revise your opinion... just wait for it... if you think Duet's the worst, you ain't seen nothing yet.

They obviously decided to use Mr. Rodney McKay in this episode because he's obvious the character fans love, he's their go-to guy for funny stuff, acting out, and being the center of attention and hey, maybe he can make this episode into a masterpiece right?

Correction: he's the character TPTB love so much, the fans on the other hand are a whole other ball game.

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/3403/sgaawkward.jpg
Truly awkward.

I agree it was poor writing and directing choices. I don't think you can blame DH's acting. According to the commentary the actress who played Cadman ran all the scenes first and David copied her. So a lot of those actions weren't necessarily his choices.

Are you implying David can do no bad, and it's all Jamie's fault he's acting the way he is while err... Laura is in control or arguing with her?

I'm guessing you're not... but still...

[hlndncr]

Are you implying David can do no bad, and it's all Jamie's fault he's acting the way he is while err... Laura is in control or arguing with her?

I'm guessing you're not... but still...

Of course not, but some of the criticism against David in this episode was about his choices when playing a woman. I thought it was relevant to point out that he did have a woman acting out the scenes as his point of reference. So if the complaint was that the woman was too girly or cliche some of that fault has to be placed on the director and the actress. It can't all fall on DH's head.

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

I thought it was a great ep. Everything Rodney did cracked me up. I thought he did a great job portraying his feminine side haha.

I loved the Ronan scenes as well. Especially the one where Sheppard was teaching him how to use earth weapons. And then he whips out his own gun.

Ronan: I prefer this *blows a huge hole in the target*

Sheppard: I can see why you would.

And how about that man on man action.

[garhkal]

Great write up zombie.

[jelgate]

To say McKay is overused is to say the sky is blue. Its obvious he is overused. This episode illustrates that point so well. Its nothing but the McKay whine hour with a soldier I have wonder how she ever became a member of the US military let alone part of the Stargate project. She is just as bad as Rodney with her whining and her trying to be fight McKay for control. I was tired of this story at 10 minutes in. People say this story was funny. Well for me personally I find myself cringing especially at the Rodney and Beckett kiss. I did however like the Ronon stuff just to see how he was going to intergrate into the team although they made hime too much of a fighter. As I said in Runner this fighter diluted Teyla's purpose

[Baron Of Hell]

I didn't hate this episode but I didn't like it all that much either. The biggest problem was how they played lady inside Mckay's head. She came across as huge jerk and unlikable. Also I thought the McKay girly scenes wee a little over the top for marine.

I liked all of Ronin' scenes which is the only reason I don't hate the episode.

[j7n]

I liked this episode with the exception of the Lieutenant Cadman character, both in her own body and when imitated by David Hewlett. I'd have to agree with some posters above that she didn't seem like a military person. Although, I buy that such a mean woman, who enjoys making a man's life into "hell", can exist.

Rodney's reactions to the "situation", when he's speaking as himself, are reasonable and I feel that I can identify with him. This is a little disturbing.

I am not crazy. I just have another conciousness in my brain. – that's a great line.

In my opinion, the episode was saved by "comedy" being limited to Cadman dialogue. I was almost glad to see the entire science team and senior staff turning against Rodney, writing him off as crazy, when he made his first attempts to work with the Dart materializer. Getting temporarily detained is preferable in this case over being laughed at.

"Duet" is not even close to being among the worst episodes. I'd rate the numbered milestone episodes of SG-1, and Holiday with the "explosive tumours" lower. Or almost any episode with a comical character in it, destroying the story from within.

Knife and fork seemed no more suitable to pick up the soft contents on Ronan's plate than his bare fingers. What he needed was a large spoon with a fine, cutting edge.

Ronan is already beginning to sincerely question some of the protocols of the Earth society, when he asserts that he's undergoing "testing". Teyla is more humanized (Americanized) already, perhaps, as a woman, hoping to influence decisions taken on the base more subtly. He's a great replacement for Ford. I'd still prefer to have both of them though.

[mrscopterdoc]

You're going to have to revise your opinion... just wait for it... if you think Duet's the worst, you ain't seen nothing yet.

oh, so very true!!

[Coco Pops]

Heightmeyer has the most amazing hips and figure....

Why wasn't the character seen more in SGA? Like only 1 or 2 episodes and she's gone forever.

[garhkal]

It was 3.. But i agree she was a nice lady.