Grace Under Pressure (214)

[MoebiusStrip]

Very very nice episode...I liked it a lot. It ranks up there in my personal best. The whole McKay/Sam bit was very very nice. It was great homage to the SG-1 episode. Maybe we'll see 'Grace Under Fire'?

My only knit pic was that the ending was a little hokey...they could came up with something little better than that...but still it got the job done.

Overall: 4.5/5

[keshou]

yay! I liked this episode a lot. Can David Hewlett be any more perfect playing McKay? I don't think so. "Yes, of the Barcelona McKays" cracked me up.

Hallucination!Sam and McKay played off each other very well. I also liked the urgency of the crew at Atlantis trying to figure out things out and their ultimate solution was pretty cool. Both Shep and Zelenka had some good stuff.

I was so afraid they were going to forget all about the guy (Griffin, right?) who died - it was nice to see that more serious moment towards the end when McKay realized how much he owed him.

Oh and I loved the whale. The idea that the hallucination could somehow be connected to the whale is certainly interesting - I'd love to know if Martin Gero was thinking along those lines.

ETA: The worst part of the episode was seeing the previews for next week's show. Babe magnet??!!

[derrickh]

Weak ep. It was basically a platform for David Hewlett to show he can act. But instead of showing deeper aspects of McKay, this ep just put a big red ribbon on why he's so unlikelable. DreamCarter summed it up perfectly, he's petty, arrogant, and bad with people. At the end of the ep, he didn't seem any different. Instead of blaming the pilot, he blamed Zelenka. Eventhough he panicked when the trouble started and wasn't much help to the pilot.

The plot was a rehash of a rehash and the show is barely into it's 2nd season. Atlantis needs to expand it's writer pool badly, because the people coming up with the shows have run out of ideas and are attempting poorly executed character studies. Grace was much better, and Grace wasn't really that good.

Great effects, though.

D

[Linear]

Pretty good episode here. DH was good at acting as always
Liked the Sam/McKay interaction but my biggest problem was
the episode ending. TPTB should have added five more minutes
just to show a little resolution.

But I think I can live with the way it is.

[SG1Atlantis]

Not a bad episode, but it could have been better.

Good Points:
David Hewlett's acting was great, as always.

The storyline was better than 'Grace' but still, not all that original. I'm hoping from wat spoilers i read the rest of season 2 will be better.

SFX were great

Bad Points:
Examination of McKay's character. I mean it's good to see some character development for him, but we've seen from other eps that hes not as petty as he thinks. I mean he saves day more times than i can count and he doesnt completely lack courage. Sure he's bad with people and hes arrogant but thats cuz, like he said, he doesnt trust any of the science team. He trusts Shep, Weir, Teyla, Carson and Ronan cuz they're his friends.

McKay/Sam stuff. I'm not totally against the interaction b/c some of it was funny but Mckay's whole Obsession w/Carter is a littel too much, it just makes his character more shallow than he really is.

No Beckett?!!!! They really need another Beckett ep like 'Poisoning the Well' I mean PM acted so good in that. They put PM as a series regular but he's been missing in like 3 eps already.

No Ronan or Teyla either? Ronan needs to be a bigger part of the show, he didnt have a big part in last week's ep either.

Overall not a bad ep, but might be cuz i'm a huge RM/DH fan. Though it definelty doesnt beat last weeks ep.
I give it a 3 out of 5.

[MarshAngel]

Was anyone else bothered by Sheppard's line of reasoning?

They didn't turn the shield into the cloak by fiddling with a few controls and changing the settings and what not. They turned the shield into a cloak by unplugging the shield and physically installing a cloak generator from one of the puddlejumpers. Ergo, the plan that Sheppard was describing shouldn't have worked.

I couldn't put my finger on why I thought something was just too easy and convenient about their solution but I think you hit it on the head. Another plothole. Fortunately the show was entertaining enough for me to just roll my eyes and move on.

I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would. I was pleasantly surprised that Zelenka got as much screen time as he did in the Shep & Mckay show.

And just to prove how much Surface has affected my brain, I wanted to see more of Nessie. That sea monster was so obedient. At least we have an answer to the question that has been asked since the beginning of the series.

What's in the ocean? Alien Whale-nessies.

They should be officially out of jumpers now. They've lost no less than three permanently.

[MarshAngel]

McKay/Sam stuff. I'm not totally against the interaction b/c some of it was funny but Mckay's whole Obsession w/Carter is a littel too much, it just makes his character more shallow than he really is

I actually think this is normal. I don't think he's so much obsessed with her so much as she's the symbol for the perfect woman that he's trying to find in other people. She's hot, which he appreciates in a geeky immature way and she challenges his belief that he's better than everyone else in a way no one else has been able to. If he's able to find that same combination in another availablenwoman, I think we'll find that what he has for Sam is more hero worship than obsession or true love.

[TechnoBoY]

Well this episode exceeded my expectations! I thought it would suck but I ended up liking it a lot! Just good character development and it was kinda funny, made me smile.

I didnt read many spoilers and what I thought would be the plotline wasnt it at all. I saw that big with Sam in the commercials. I thought maybe they were using Asgard hologram thing to let Sam help McKay. Hehe.

[kymeric]

I like the ongoing NONcrossover crossovers. Rising, Home, Moebeus 1&2, Siege 1-3, Landry last ep and now Hallucination undie Sam. I kinda like it better as a build up than if a Jumper just popped through and SG1 came running out the back saying YO.

[nccjones]

Wow! I haven't read any of the posts, but this is up there with last weeks episode. They are definately my two favorite epi's. I have to say that I've never cried so much over a Stargate show. I really understood Rodney and I liked that he knew to help him reason with what was going on was to manifest the one person who was equally on his level. It was beautifully done. Oh, and AT looked amazing in this episode!

Bad points to the show....absolutely none.

Good points...
- lots of drama.
- The moment Rodney realized he was aweful to Griffin and Griffin still sacrificed his life for Rodney was amazing. Total human drama at it's best.
- Rodney looking into himself and realizing his faults.
- Zelenka's fear of going down and Wier and Shepard convincing him to.
- The use of Carter to help Rodney. They are a good team with chemistry.
- No Ronan...yeah! Three weeks in a row proves that he does not belong on this show...it makes absolutely no sense. I do wish that Teyla had been on this episode though.

One of the best shows ever. Atlantis is by far outdoing SG1 at this point. I felt more angst and concern from Zelenka, Weir and Sheppard then I did from the SG team trying to rescue Teal'c. It bothers me that they separate Mitchell from the team constantly, but Atlantis knows how to do it with Grace. Both Epiphany and Grace Under Pressure show that a team member can be separated yet you still feel the team emotion.

[jckfan55]

Fun episode. Hallucination Carter was great. I was nervous from the clip of Carter down to the lacy number, but it was so true--it's what Rodney's mind would have conjured up to distract himself. But the writers/director didn't let it go too tasteless. And we did get that he respects her. Rodney got to be a bit introspective. Let's hope he learns something from this little experience. Both actors did a fine job.

[SGalisa]

...poor Rodney: as -emotionally distressed out- under pressure...
Rodney seemed to out of sorts to really get into the Sam kissing scene, because he was either shivering too much from hypothermia shock, or just too shy to actually go thru with his deepest dream with his *ultimate* dream babe.

well, you can guess where Rodney's mind is most of the time if/when that certain blonde female shows up as his subconscious self... he's so insecure of himself, even when talking to himself.


Sam's tech advice was *right*. He should have listened to himself/her!

...Zelenka was wonderful to watch too! sage/sound advice from Weir, and a boost of inspiration from fearless Shep!

[Rowana]

Definately one of my favorite episodes so far! I love McKay "talking to himself" it was halarious! The whale was neat too. I wish we could have seen it closer.

I was especially happy that Zelenka got such a big role in this one. He was great! Yay Radek! ^_^

[cafine_us]

David Hewlett was fabulous as always. He played McKay brilliantly obnoxious, and never once did I doubt that he wasn't actually under forty atmospheres of water billions of light years away. Amanda Tapping, however, seemed slightly off. Maybe she was supposed to play Sam differently, as she was only a figment of McKay's imagination. Or maybe it was just bizarre seeing Sam on an Atlantis episode. Either way, something wasn't quite right. If AT really does do a few episodes of Atlantis next season, I hope she feels more natural on that set in the future.

[HarshCritic]

There was nudity in this episode. I am surprise sci-fi channel can get away with so much. Sam/Amanda Tappings' top was see through after she took off her fleece and went underneath the water.

The episode was o.k. Not my favorite but not my most hated either. I am not that much of a Dr. Mckay fan though. However, there were some good jokes like the Barcelona Mckays.