Grace Under Pressure (214)

[xfkirsten]

The 'whale' didn't surface; it stayed underwater but continued to circle the downed jumper, probably attracted by electromagnetic pulses or something like that... and hence, when Zelenka pointed out the 'sea monster,' Shep was curious that the creature was circling something. Then, rescue!

Actually, I believe McKay said that he was still broadcasting the beacon, but that it couldn't penetrate the surface of the water. Chances are, the "whale" could hear the beacon, that was out of human hearing range. Humans can hear up to about 20 kHz, but humpback whales (the closest comparison I can make in terms of calls and outward morphology) can hear up to about 28 kHz.

[Major Clanger]

That would've been a much better story, IMO, MC. Much more interesting to watch, and a really novel approach to an episode, shame you didn't write it.

well, you never know... if I ever get round to writing another fic...

[Elinor]

Sorry, but I never have time to backtrack and read everyones' comments here, so I may duplicate what various ones have said.

I wasn't looking forward to this eppy because of 2 things:-

1. I never like crossover episodes. Never liked it in Star Trek...and don't want to see it in Stargate. It always smacks of 'the running out of ideas' scenario. PTB#1 "I haven't got a clue what to write about for the next episode" PTB#2 "No nor me" PTB#3 "I know...let's bring someone in from the other show and work a story around that!" PTB#4 "Great idea!"

2. I loved McKay in s1...but I am getting a bit bored of the 'Manic McKay' of s2. I like him when he's his normal self (well, as normal as McKay gets anyway!) snarking with Shep, snarking with Zelenka and Beckett also. He just seems over-the-top lately and I'm finding it tires me out and does my head in. He's just as annoying as Dr. Smith in the original 'Lost in Space' at the moment.

So...once I watched the eppy...I gotta say it lived up to my expectations.

Loved Zelenka though...and the only line that made me laugh was Shep's response to Dr. Z speaking in Czech!!

Now this would have been WAY more fun if it had been Zelenka trapped and injured in the jumper...and him alone with his fantasy woman...and we all know who that is don't we? LIZBETH!!

[McKayRocks!]

Just watched this episode 2 days ago when it aired here in the UK. Was really looking forward to it as a McKay fan and I really loved it! I can understand if you are not a McKay fan it would leaving you wanting more because of the lack of the other main characters but from my point of view one of the best episodes!

I never really get hung up on the science - they could say or do anything and I would believe it but I do sometimes have issues with how they play out the relationships in some episodes or have a really big thing happen that never gets mentioned again. If someone had sacrificed their life for me as Griffin did without any hesitation I would certainly have issues that would stay with me for sometime - I wonder if there will be any mention of this in later episodes? Also I felt a bit cheated at the end as he seemed to make a miraculous recovery in the jumper when he waved at Sam! Everyone had made such an effort to rescue him that a little tag scene back on Atlantis in the infirmary would have rounded it off nicely.

Acting was superb as usual. Isn't it funny how some people loved it and others really hated it?! Don't think there is a single episode I have hated as yet.

[bcfc]

Some great scenes in this episode like towards the end where sam starts to seduce him to keep him distracted. However i didnt quite believe the science around turning the cloak into a shield, but great humour in this episode and it was great to see Sheppard forming a plan of his own.

Another thing though was not seeing much of Ronnan and Teyla.

[nccjones]

My brother is a Doctor and research scientist. He laughed at some of the physics of being underwater as shown here. He tutted at the whole hallucination owing to a concussion thing. He also pointed out that with a concussion you have a whopper of a headache, so you wouldn't want to shout or freak out, and that you feel nauseous and dizzy too. He also wanted to know, why, as it was supposed to be so cold, did McKay not look cold or why did his breath not show when he exhaled in the air? He felt these things ruined the episode's sense of reality.

Because it's a TV show and not for real? I think that's why it's called science "fiction".

Your brother is actually like me in some ways. He looks at the science aspect of it because he understands it and finds the flaws. I'm in the military and find numerous flaws and even though I point them out in posts, I have to keep telling myself that it's just a TV show. It's hard...but I try...lol.

[nccjones]

Another thing though was not seeing much of Ronnan and Teyla.

Was that a good thing or bad thing to you? To me it was a good thing. Though I'm starting to like Teyla and wouldn't have minded her presense, Ronan, to me, is an absolute waste on the show. I can't even figure how he would have been able to help which is what TPTB felt too since they didn't put him in.

[Linzi]

Because it's a TV show and not for real? I think that's why it's called science "fiction".

Your brother is actually like me in some ways. He looks at the science aspect of it because he understands it and finds the flaws. I'm in the military and find numerous flaws and even though I point them out in posts, I have to keep telling myself that it's just a TV show. It's hard...but I try...lol.

I know what you mean! I don't understand the military inaccuracies, so, for me, ignorance is bliss as far as that goes. Medical stuff I'm more au fait with, so I did mind some of the inaccuracies here! They were a little ridiculous.
We do realise it's a fictional t.v. show,obviously, but I do like a little reality on occasion, to sort of keep the show within the realms of possibility.
I did like the whale though, that was cool.

[Stricken]

Grace Under Pressure was similar SG-1’s Grace, in Grace Carter was alone by herself as was McKay, the threat of death was in both but was higher in McKay’s case. The head wounds were in both to allow the hallucinations in McKay’s case it was a hallucination of Carter, and he argued with himself. The special effects that were in this episode were brilliant, the Jumper crashing into the ocean and then it sinking to the bottom. But what Stargate special effects are at their best at the moment so we should expect nothing less.

We started off with a History lesson, on how science was all wrong and would be proved to be so in so many years time and when you look back what Griffin was saying was true. Then we had the tomato debate, were the dangerous or weren’t they. And it was one of the reasons that McKay blames Griffin for their crash. Griffin’s sacrifice to save McKay was noble but I am sure that he won’t be missed or mentioned ever again, if he is I will eat these words.

When talking about this episode you can’t avoid McKay’s deliria, he was alone in a sinking Jumper, with a head wound. He talked to himself, insulted himself when he made a mistake and then made a deal with the inanimate jumper which was hilarious for us and him until he discovers the CO2 canisters.

The head wound would eventually lead to the hallucination of someone, and that would be Carter, and at last she was in it for more than 30 seconds at the end (Letter’s From Pegasus). She was an honest hallucination; she told McKay what she thought of his plans, but it was his sub-conscious telling him. He then realised that he was arguing with himself over a plan which Carter had told him, but she was his sub-conscious. All very confusing…

The “who’s smarter?” debate continued, Carter or McKay, McKay didn’t actually mention that he thought Carter was smarter, on his off days they are a tie nothing more. Carter being part of McKay’s sub-conscious knew that Carter would never been into her “getting it on” with McKay and he was a little disappointed but she did give in and the McKay Carter shippers got what they want…a kiss! But McKay ruined it as he thought that she was holding him back from his plan to float to the surface, but remember she is his sub-conscious and obviously McKay had reservations deep down about his plan.

Zelanka and Sheppard to the rescue! McKay would have been stuffed if it wasn’t for these two. The idea to turn the cloak into a shield was brilliant, and again the special effects were brilliant with this idea. The sea creature swimming around and around McKay’s jumper allowed them to find him and McKay has to be thankful; after all he had been rude to the creature earlier on.

All in all a good episode with a crossover of sorts even though it was in McKay’s mind so it doesn’t really count. This along with the last few episodes won’t be mentioned until some clip show in the seasons to come.

Questions
When was this jumper damaged?

Why fly across the ocean to test it, surely it would be easier to test it in Atlantis?

Grace Under Pressure Recieves a S.G.C rating of 7 out of 9 Chevrons!

[Madeleine]

Mr W muttered "If she's really a figment of that bloke's imagination why is she wearing clothes? She's a really lousy hallucination," about two seconds before Rodney said it.

Kudos to the writers for making Rodney such a true to life character.

[DanieMcKay]

I rather agree it would be a lousy hallucination for her to be fully clothed but perhaps even in his subconcious he understands his moral obligations I think that the beauty of Science Fiction is we afford our writers/actors/so on a bit of a creative license away from the norm and even allow them to bend the laws of science here and there. I think that the true beauty of the episode was not in the construction of the story but in the remarkable ability of the actors. Of course I worship the ground that DH sees fit to walk on but I really think that this was an episode that truly got to the core of the McKay character. A character that really, outworldly, isn't likable but his neroticism, cynicism, and pettiness are all easily recognizable in our psyche. To me this was the wonderful bit of character development I had been waiting for. I always used to joke that the perfect episode to me would be McKay locked in a room talking to himself and I finally got it!

[Chemp]

Any Ideas on that whale?

It looked inteligent,leading Sheppard to McKey.

Any theories on future stories involving ''The whales''?

I think that it would be interesting to see what was their (i don't know) envolvment with the ancients if there was any.

[ShadowMaat]

I think the ep was pretty much a throw-away. Other than Zelenka's shield conversion thing, I don't think anything in this ep will ever have relevance again.

Which is a shame, 'cause I'd like to know more about the whales.

[Cory Holmes]

Mr W muttered "If she's really a figment of that bloke's imagination why is she wearing clothes? She's a really lousy hallucination," about two seconds before Rodney said it.

I dunno. Sam Carter in that shirt/jacket combo that's zipped down to here is pretty worthy of hallucinating about...

I rather agree it would be a lousy hallucination for her to be fully clothed but perhaps even in his subconcious he understands his moral obligations

I like how the hallucination reminded him that he'd never allow Sam to be degraded down to a mere hot body or eye candy. That speaks volumes about McKay's private core values despite what spews out of his mouth on a regular basis.

[xfkirsten]

Any Ideas on that whale?

It looked inteligent,leading Sheppard to McKey.

Any theories on future stories involving ''The whales''?

I think that it would be interesting to see what was their (i don't know) envolvment with the ancients if there was any.

I've had theories about it, but they're really my imagination working overtime more than anything.

Morphologically, they're very similar to humpback whales, which makes me wonder if they are evolutionary descendents of humpback whales (which, coincidentally, split from other baleen whale species "several million years ago"). We've seen other species from Earth that have appeared in Pegasus - it wouldn't surprise me to learn that these whales actually are evolved from the same ancestor as humpbacks.

I don't know that it was necessarily consciously leading Sheppard to McKay - it could very well be that the whale was hearing the distress beacon being emitted by the jumper. They have a far greater range of hearing than humans. At the same time, though, it could very well have been curious about the jumper.

I'd love to find out that the whales were actually brought by the Ancients to be their "eyes" under the sea (where the jumpers can't reach) - a sort of mutualistic relationship between the two species.

I think the ep was pretty much a throw-away. Other than Zelenka's shield conversion thing, I don't think anything in this ep will ever have relevance again.

Which is a shame, 'cause I'd like to know more about the whales.

Actually, I asked Joe Mallozzi about the whales in the "Ask Joe" thread - it was one of the last few questions he got around to answering before he left. He hinted that we may indeed see the return of the whales.