Duet (204)

[vaberella]

Finally, someone who saw what I saw. It was very annoying... It bugged me a great deal as well. I was like why is this so contrived. But you know it really depends how you look at it..and I pretty much rationalized.

The scenes where you see McKay acting "feminine", 'really' is in the scenes where she's with Carson...so you never know if when Cadman is around Carson she becomes flirtatious especially when it's one on one... So I figured that was the reason. And of course with her dinner scenes...so I think they did to show that Cadman was flirting with Carson...

But overall I wasn't a fan of that but I will say DH did well, it was cringe worthy but also so quirky it was funny.

VB

[mckaychick]

Yeah i didnt quite like the episode becuase it was alittle annoying to me.

[aschen]

Well didn't she...er....he...uhm...she...go gallavanting around, pretend to be Rodney for a decent amount of time?

[mckaychick]

Yeah she did for a tiny bit.

[FallenAngelII]

Finally, someone who saw what I saw. It was very annoying... It bugged me a great deal as well. I was like why is this so contrived. But you know it really depends how you look at it..and I pretty much rationalized.

The scenes where you see McKay acting "feminine", 'really' is in the scenes where she's with Carson...so you never know if when Cadman is around Carson she becomes flirtatious especially when it's one on one... So I figured that was the reason. And of course with her dinner scenes...so I think they did to show that Cadman was flirting with Carson...

But overall I wasn't a fan of that but I will say DH did well, it was cringe worthy but also so quirky it was funny.

VB

Yeah, but she walked and moved all girly while going to Beckett's office. And it wasn't all just flirtatous. Even when she moved normally and stuff. Like when she said "Stop", she did it in a very, well, non-macho way. And the way she held her arms and hands when walking or moving around. No one does that to be flirtatious.

[woman22980]

Sooo agree, I didn't like it at all. Cadman doesn't act like that when she's herself, so why should it be so pronounced when she's in Rodney? It just seemed like a cheap way to dumb things down for the audience (and by audience I mean US) so that people would understand a girl's mind was occupying Rodney's body. Plus it plays on every kind of negative stereotype of girls. Maybe some girls do act like that, but military girls - NEVER. Cadman's so much more mature and professional than that.

[ToasterOnFire]

It was over the top for me as well, and was a big reason why I was irked by Cadman's character in Duet. When she came back in Critical Mass and acted, gasp!, like a normal military woman would act I started liking her character.

[vaberella]

Yeah, but she walked and moved all girly while going to Beckett's office. And it wasn't all just flirtatous. Even when she moved normally and stuff. Like when she said "Stop", she did it in a very, well, non-macho way. And the way she held her arms and hands when walking or moving around. No one does that to be flirtatious.

I agree..I was trying to rationalize it..you know, play devil's advocate...but it was very weak performance that I just did not get. As well as being way out of character.

VB

[MarshAngel]

I think part of the problem is they didn't really establish a mode of behavior for Cadman until after the episode. She didn't get much airtime to establish her character and so it would be assumed however Mckay played the character would be the truth... of course, after the fact that didn't prove true.

I agree it was over the top but if DH played it straight it would be a touch harder to figure out who he was when. The problem probably lies in the way men see women and immitate as opposed to the way women see themselves. It's kind of the drag queen effect. In order to disguise the maleness they exaggerate the more obvious differences between the sexes... which isn't nearly as obvious, on average, as we'd think.

[vaberella]

I think part of the problem is they didn't really establish a mode of behavior for Cadman until after the episode. She didn't get much airtime to establish her character and so it would be assumed however Mckay played the character would be the truth... of course, after the fact that didn't prove true.

I agree it was over the top but if DH played it straight it would be a touch harder to figure out who he was when. The problem probably lies in the way men see women and immitate as opposed to the way women see themselves. It's kind of the drag queen effect. In order to disguise the maleness they exaggerate the more obvious differences between the sexes... which isn't nearly as obvious, on average, as we'd think.

True true true...

VB

[Willow'sCat]

I've been meaning to post this for a while but never gotten around to it:

Anyone else who got annoyed by the fact that Cadman-in-Rodney acted so very effeminate? What with the way she walked, talked, behaved and gestured. Meanwhile, she does none of these things when she's in her own body (as seen in "Duet" and "Critical Mass")!

Well we talked about this in the discussion thread when the episode aired and in the Thunk (DH/RM) I came to the conclusion that David Hewlett watched 'Some like it hot' once too often before doing this character. He did a 'characticure' of a women not a real women and not a military woman, which I forgive him for because it is him but I can't help thinking of the great opportunity missed to really portray a female in a male body.

Btw, very few actors ever get this right, and in this case we didn't really know Cadman so I guess DH had little to work with, maybe if Cadman had of been a developed/established (yeah right) character it would have played differently.

I will say when we get to the

Spoiler:

second last infirmary scene and she is telling him she will let go...although RM speaking to Carson as Cadman was very breif, that to me was the most accurate portrayal of Cadman (inside Rodney's head) in the whole episode, pity it came so late in the episode.

[FallenAngelII]

I think part of the problem is they didn't really establish a mode of behavior for Cadman until after the episode. She didn't get much airtime to establish her character and so it would be assumed however Mckay played the character would be the truth... of course, after the fact that didn't prove true.

I agree it was over the top but if DH played it straight it would be a touch harder to figure out who he was when. The problem probably lies in the way men see women and immitate as opposed to the way women see themselves. It's kind of the drag queen effect. In order to disguise the maleness they exaggerate the more obvious differences between the sexes... which isn't nearly as obvious, on average, as we'd think.

In the teaser, she sounded pretty much... er... like... a "man". Like, any male character on Atlantis. She'll banter, tease, make jokes and speak "normally" and act "normally". No over the top, no wagging bodyparts around and no swaying hips. And then apparentely, once she entered Rodney, she was all that.

It just made that episode less good >_>'. They could just have David put on a different face and pose every time he "switched". Like Cadman wouldn't slouch and smile more and her eyes would be a bit gentler than Rodney's.

[captain jake]

Ya I noticed that to but it didnt bug me that much.

[Catsitter]

Now I have finally seen this episode, I would just like to say it is my favourite one yet and I can't think of anything at all I would change about it (well, unless they could have let that sheet slip a bit...!) Absolutely perfect.

For all those people who have said that David Hewlett should have based his "Cadman" on how she acts in the first scene of the episode, they filmed that scene last of all!

I wonder if Shep was so keen to get Weir to say "yes" about Ronan joining his team because he didn't want to let Caldwell get a say in it? (I am assuming that the Daedalus was far away, probably in the Milky Way galaxy, as they didn't get Hermiod in to share his expertise on beaming technology.)

I think my favourite line was after Zelenka says, "Yes, I made a mistake, trying to save your life. Do you want to try to fix it or continue to berate me some more?" Rodney says, "I'm perfectly capable of doing both at once". I also loved - well, every bit of it, really. Too many moments to list now. Oh, and that tin marked "Transformer Bits". It looked just like something my partner would have in our garage!

[Serenity228]

I love a good stand alone episode. I think they tend to be great for character development if interspersed tastefully between action episodes. I know that I am speaking from a minority here as most fans yearn for the big action packed arcs. In my defense, after reading this thread (yes, the whole thing) I was very pleased to see no one commenting on the fact that they did not care for this "stand alone" episode. I guess it just proves to me that a really well written, brilliantly acted, and nicely directed stand alone episode can entertain.

I also want to put in a plug for Ronon. I have several men in my life that tend to be a bit too chatty. Ronon is a welcome relief. He is a superb actor in that he can get across anything he might need to say through body language and facial expressions. I do not consider his character to be shallow, rather he speaks sparingly while carrying a big sword. Sheppard knew what he was doing when he asked Ronon to join his team. They are at war with the Wraith, Ronon can help protect Atlantis while obliterating Wraith, what else is there to say?