Rodney McKay/David Hewlett Thunk/Discussion/Appreciation

[pavaneofstars]

Happy Anniversary to Mx, Klenotka's parents, and Arlessiar (well maybe not an anniversary but that's great you two have been together for 8 years so congrats! )

Arlessiar, have fun watching SGA with your mom. You'll have to tell us how it went and if she thunks for Rodney.

Re: Sunday -

Spoiler:

even the title sounds like a "day in the life" on Atlantis. That is until the bomb explodes I'm also hoping for the little everyday moments, a peek in the labs, etc.

Have a good day everybody!

[McKayRocks!]

Hey ho!!

I am off all day and not a lot has happened! Still it is nice to know we all have real lives too!!

I too am looking forward to 'Sunday'.

Spoiler:

I knew we could not get just a straight forward day so am glad for the excitement of the explosion - it is Atlantis after all and nothing is ever mundane!!

And I am worried about you too Willow - miss you on the thread and hope you are ok and can pop back soon!



Mx

[watcher652]

Have you've seen this little review about Nothing and Ice Men?

[McKayRocks!]

Have you've seen this little review about Nothing and Ice Men?

Thank you watcher! They were very complimentary weren't they! I have not seen Ice Men yet so this makes me want to!

Mx

[Arlessiar]

Arlessiar, have fun watching SGA with your mom. You'll have to tell us how it went and if she thunks for Rodney.

I just watched Rising, Hide&Seek and 38 Minutes with my mom. And she enjoyed it and really liked the show! Well, we watched Star Trek DS9 together, so I already knew that she likes SciFi and guessed she might like Stargate too.
Concerning the thunking - I asked her afterwards, and she thinks McKay is pretty funny (she knows I like him a lot ), but she says that JS/JF is 'sweet' and that she likes him the most. And she also liked AF/RSF and called him 'a very handsome young man'.
Mx, you said the following in the whump thread, but I thought I better answer everything about this in one go, so I copied it into my reply here:

Do you watch in english and have the german subtitles on? I have often wondered how easy it is for you to follow the eps if they speak fast or quietly!

I put my answer in tags, because it's a little longer:

Spoiler:

Well, the newest eps *cough* (ya know...) don't have subtitles of course, so I always watch them the way they are, the originial English version. I often don't understand everything immediately, but when I watch it a second time with my bf I understand much more already. And I always get the meaning, even if there's a word I don't know or don't understand. Sometimes it's hard though because the actors talk very fast or mumble a bit, especially JF is hard to understand. But I got used to it more and more, it's a bit easier now.
Most of the times I read the transcripts later, and that clears up the small things I didn't get before. So once I have the eps on DVD and watch them again I don't need to turn on the subtitles anymore. Then, after a while, the episodes are dubbed and are published on German DVDs or are shown on TV here. I watch the seasons at least one time in German to see how they translated things, to see if I really understood everything, and to point out the dubbing mistakes in the German Stargate newsgroup discussions. And when I watch the eps with other people for the first time, I watch them in German, too. My best friend can speak English, but we watched the eps in German, it's easier. And my Mum doesn't speak English, so it goes without saying that we watch the eps in German.

Bye, A.

[Arlessiar]

I'm in a 'post a pic' mood.









Non SGA pics are from StreetLegal and Clutch.

Bye, A.

[Arlessiar]

Picspam part 2:







(Pics from BOSV and Nothing)

Off to bed.
Bye, A.

[abharding]

Come on!

Spoiler:

Sam has NEVER screwed up and in the rare times she has it was usually out of her control or something completely out of the blue like Red Sky though she did screw up royally in Gemini (after 8 years of a spotless record of being right) but no one seemed to blame her which alwasy irked me.

I can't belive they are going to have McKay screw up AGAIN. At this rate why doesn't Atlantis just replace McKay with another less egotisical scientist because McKay doesn't seem to be all that special with the direction the SGA writers have been taking him.

Spoiler:

You know, I don't mind seeing the character's screw up. It is what I like about this show. It makes more real. As much as I love SG-1, I get a little bored by the perfection of the characters.

Besides, other then Trinity I don't think we have seen Rodney really screw up. He is often wrong, but that to me is more due to his pestimisic outlook then not having command of his facts. He tends to think in worst case sennerio mode a lot of time. And there have been times he has been right and they should have listened to him...

Besides, Rodney is not the only one who has made mistakes. The whole team did with the Micheal debacle, Shepard was way off the mark when it came to judging how far gone Ford was at first, and then again during Allies. Let's face it, if you replace Rodney then you have'd to replace Weir, Carson and maybe even Sheppard.

More importantly we also saw a number of times where Rodney did save the day. He was key to stopping NotWeir and NotSheppard in The Long Goodbye, he was the one that was able to get to the controls in the sister city in The Tower and risked his life to drain the ZPM, he was the one who realized the threat in The Inferno and came up the plan to fix the ship to get almost the entire planet's population to safety. He risked his life in the Hive to get back to Atlantis to get help in mounting a resuce operation, he was one that came up with idea that allowed them to save Cadmen and again was willing to risk his life to do it. I could go on and on. Rodney has more then earned his place on the team and in the city. Just because a character is not perfect and sometimes makes mistakes does not mean he/she should be replaced.

In short, I think it not so much the writers want to bash McKay, I think they want to go a different direction with all the characters and to show the human flaws rather then heroic characters that always seem to get it right For example Sheppard is much darker in many ways then we ever saw Jack.

[Willow'sCat]

Spoiler:

You know, I don't mind seeing the character's screw up. It is what I like about this show. It makes more real. As much as I love SG-1, I get a little bored by the perfection of the characters.

Besides, other then Trinity I don't think we have seen Rodney really screw up. He is often wrong, but that to me is more due to his pestimisic outlook then not having command of his facts. He tends to think in worst case sennerio mode a lot of time. And there have been times he has been right and they should have listened to him...

Besides, Rodney is not the only one who has made mistakes. The whole team did with the Micheal debacle, Shepard was way off the mark when it came to judging how far gone Ford was at first, and then again during Allies. Let's face it, if you replace Rodney then you have'd to replace Weir, Carson and maybe even Sheppard.

More importantly we also saw a number of times where Rodney did save the day. He was key to stopping NotWeir and NotSheppard in The Long Goodbye, he was the one that was able to get to the controls in the sister city in The Tower and risked his life to drain the ZPM, he was the one who realized the threat in The Inferno and came up the plan to fix the ship to get almost the entire planet's population to safety. He risked his life in the Hive to get back to Atlantis to get help in mounting a resuce operation, he was one that came up with idea that allowed them to save Cadmen and again was willing to risk his life to do it. I could go on and on. Rodney has more then earned his place on the team and in the city. Just because a character is not perfect and sometimes makes mistakes does not mean he/she should be replaced.

In short, I think it not so much the writers want to bash McKay, I think they want to go a different direction with all the characters and to show the human flaws rather then heroic characters that always seem to get it right For example Sheppard is much darker in many ways then we ever saw Jack.

Well in response to this all I can say is SHEPPARD and WEIR have NEVER been held accountable for their actions the way McKay has. Very, very early on Sheppard was pulled into line once by Weir but other then that nothing, this is the main reason I am pissed by this news I do have some hope all be it small, that with

Spoiler:

Woolsey (?) coming to SGA early on Weir and Sheppard might (might) get pulled into line; I don't mind McKay paying for his mistakes but so far I only remember McKay being yelled at, and slapped in the head and told that they don't trust him.

I get TPTB want to protect the image of the leads but really Weir should be sent back to Earth and Sheppard should be sent back to military school or where ever the US sends it's bad apples. Of course it will not happen and neither Sheppard or Weir will really be held accountable for what they have done (Sheppard did wake up the Wraith remember). No I see TPTB doing what they always do, bash one character to make the others look good then half way through realise they went too far and try and back peddle.

I wouldn't mind so much if they would stick to one storyline long enough to have a real resolution but they chop and change and mostly forget or as some said TPTB hit the big red reset button. I just don't need to hear more crap from fans about how useless McKay is, again if they really want or need a scientist to play the fall guy why not use Kavanaugh?

[GatetheWay]

I don't know, Jack's earlier self was suicidal. That's pritty dark. But then again that was way back in the movie and was only occasionally addressed on the show.
I wish we knew more about Sheppard. I'm tired of only seeing the cocky fly boy part of his personality. There must be more to him then that. But this is off topic.

I think Trinity was enough to knock McKay down a noche but

Spoiler:

I think it's over doing it to have him make another grave mistake again so soon afterward.

I just hope they lighten up on the McKay goofball stuff and return to more intelligently funny McKay from season 1.

[Catsitter]

Spoiler:

In short, I think it not so much the writers want to bash McKay, I think they want to go a different direction with all the characters and to show the human flaws rather then heroic characters that always seem to get it right For example Sheppard is much darker in many ways then we ever saw Jack.

Don't really know if any of this is going to be a spoiler, but as it is a reply to one!

Spoiler:

I agree with you, and I have recently been reading the DS9 Companion where TPTB of that show say that they liked to "torture O'Brien" regularly because Colm Meaney was so good at acting that kind of thing (I don't mean somebody literally torturing him but him suffering) and I rather think that because DH is so good at acting suffering they do the same thing in SGA. Also, in a few interviews I have read with TH she says she really wants EW to be haunted by some of the decisions she has made (not quoting her exactly here). And as for JS, didn't he say he thinks about what he did in "Rising" every day? Gotta go.

[Arlessiar]

Good afternoon!
It's not only "Sunday" on the show soon, today's also Sunday in the thunk world and so everyone's busy with real life. I'm too, will meet friends in an hour, but I wanted to drop by for a minute, and while I'm here I can post another pic to keep the thunk going a bit.



Woah, made four posts in a row in the last twelve hours.
Bye, A.

[Pitry]

Come on!

Spoiler:

Sam has NEVER screwed up and in the rare times she has it was usually out of her control or something completely out of the blue like Red Sky though she did screw up royally in Gemini (after 8 years of a spotless record of being right) but no one seemed to blame her which alwasy irked me.

I can't belive they are going to have McKay screw up AGAIN. At this rate why doesn't Atlantis just replace McKay with another less egotisical scientist because McKay doesn't seem to be all that special with the direction the SGA writers have been taking him.

In season 1 McKay was a jerk but he was damn good at his job. One of the things that make his character so interesting was that he had this sort of House vib to him. He was an absolute jerk but the son of a ***** was the best scientist they had and Atlantis wouldn't be able to survive without him.

I dunno. I think McKay's screwing up actually adds to his humanity. He's an absolute jerk, over-confident - at least on the outside - but he comes off much more human than your average Star Trek scientists. The thing is McKay is still the best in what he does - but we're all human and make mistakes.

And I also don't think Sam's never screwed up - more, when she did, she was much more open to suggestions from other people. So not only her screw-ups were more graceful, it was easier for her to get out of them and correct them. After all (Trinity spoiler)

Spoiler:

The reason Rodney screwed up that badly in Trinity was because he refused to listen to Zelenca and Sheppard. The reason Sam wouldn't've screwed up - at least not that badly - in his place is because she would have taken Zelenca more seriously. After all, Zelenca was jsut about as excited as McKay when they first realised what they had there, it was only later that he wasn't as blind with excitement to see the problems.

[abharding]

Don't really know if any of this is going to be a spoiler, but as it is a reply to one!

Spoiler:

I agree with you, and I have recently been reading the DS9 Companion where TPTB of that show say that they liked to "torture O'Brien" regularly because Colm Meaney was so good at acting that kind of thing (I don't mean somebody literally torturing him but him suffering) and I rather think that because DH is so good at acting suffering they do the same thing in SGA. Also, in a few interviews I have read with TH she says she really wants EW to be haunted by some of the decisions she has made (not quoting her exactly here). And as for JS, didn't he say he thinks about what he did in "Rising" every day? Gotta go.

Interesting comparison. And I been thinking the same idea. That is that

Spoiler:

Stargate SG-1 is like Next Gen and Atlantis is like DS9. I have to agree.

Moreover, I happen to like the more complex characters in Atlantis and would like to see more of the characters being held to account for their choices. We have seen hints, but I agree it is not enough. It is not that I want Weir or Sheppard to fired or sent back to the MW, but I would like to see them deal with the fallout of some of the choices they have made.

However, as much as Sheppard and Weir talked about not trusting McKay, I can't say I have seen any evidence that this is the case. (There was the remark in Inferno, but I saw more as Sheppard trying to get McKay's goat rather then not trusting him.) Time after time, they showed they trusted him to do his job.

This may sound a bit strange, but in some ways I think they need to trust him a bit less. In Allies we saw what I think is McKay's real weak spot - and that is not his ego - but his quest for knowledge. The Wraith's appearent willingness to share information was all needed to have Rodney throw caution to wind as it were. One thing that Weir and Sheppard both need to do is to learn hold Rodney back and when to protect him from himself.

And I do think it is because the writers really to like McKay and respect DH as an actor and know that he going to be able do whatever they ask of him. I think that from a writing stand point it is much more fun and much more interesting to explore a character's flaws then to write perfect characters. It is even better when you know you have an actor who can express your intent without you having to actually write the words.

[MahliaBelonn]

Hiya all! I am putting my continuing unemployment to good use by spending some time learning to use some of the more advanced functions of photoshop. I have been playing for several hours tonight (over 5 hours) and all I have to show for it is 2 wallpapers!! One I posted over in the Rockett thread, and the other one I will post here as it is Rodney. I am quite pleased with the way that both came out as I was doing stuff that I have never done before. I hope you all like them too!



Mahlia