Grace Under Pressure (214)

[GateMan2000]

This was a very Rodney episode. Not near as good as Critical Mass...but not the worst one I have seen.

[ShadowMaat]

re: Daedalus- Actually, I kinda assumed the Deddy WASN'T in town. Otherwise couldn't they have found some way to beam McKay out? Either use the Deddy's increased (I assume) sensor capabilities to locate McKay/the jumper, or have Shep & Zelenka find the jumper and then lock onto that and beam 'em (maybe even jumpers & all).

Not nearly as exciting as modifying shields for the jumpers, but I know it's one of the first things to pop into my mind as soon as Rodney and Mr. Tomato Head started sinking.

[Biscuit]

I'd love to see Shep get this developement. We've had nothing BUT Rodney developement and I admit, I'm not interested in it. Epiphany SHOULD have been like this for SHEp adn WOULD have been had TPTB left in the flashbacks and ditched the stupid invisibeast crap. But...I doubt TPTB will ever focus on any character the way they do Rodney and certainly not Shep. I've seen more focus on pretty much EVERYONE but. Tis sad. Joe's a fab actor and being wasted.

Ummm...since Joe Flanigan WROTE Ephiphany, wouldn't that mean he's wasting himself? Those were his stupid invisibeasts. And his stupid flashbacks.

Aw. Now you've gone and hurt Joe's feelings.

[obsessed1]

Ummm...since Joe Flanigan WROTE Ephiphany, wouldn't that mean he's wasting himself? Those were his stupid invisibeasts. And his stupid flashbacks.

Aw. Now you've gone and hurt Joe's feelings.

In an interview on sci fi, Joe flanigan said that Epiphany, the ep he wrote, would deal with his time in Afghanistan, show flashbacks and explain why he was demoted. COnsidering he has said this on a number of occasions AND the finished product was quite different I think its safe to say that TPTB changed his script, (Perhaps he gave away too much)
So TPTB are wasting him. not Joe wasting himself. WHich is kinda what Merlin7 was trying to say i think.

[Biscuit]

Me, I adored this episode. I shocked myself with how much I enjoyed it -- because like everybody else, the original "Grace" bored me to gnawing on the furniture.

Let's lay it out in bullet points:

* Oh how I loved the McKay stream-of-consciousness rants. He insulted the computer. He insulted the whale. He called himself names. He tried to cut a deal with the puddle jumper. And when Samantha-of-the-hallucinatory-cleavage showed up...he insulted his own subconsious. I think it should be of some comfort to McKay's subordinates. When he insults them, it really, truly, honestly is nothing personal. Like the imaginary Sam says: petty, arrogant and bad with people is just McKay's default setting. J'adore, McKay of the Barcelona McKays!

* Mad love, powers that be, for taking us underwater. I was hoping those puddle jumpers would live up to their name! The Ancient whale-y thing was nicely eerie. Of course, if I had my druthers, it would have been some sort of slathering kraken-beast with tentacles and razor-sharp teeth the size of rowboats. That's just the way I roll. Hey, it's a big ocean. There could be much, much scarier beasts to meet out there. Right?

* Rescue frenzy, yay! Although, would it really be that easy to turn a cloak into a shield? And then slam to pieces of equipment together and just solder them to the puddle jumper/crane. Sheppard makes it sound so easy. He's a persuasive man (right, Zelenka?) Aw, Sheppard, emoting up a storm (well, for Sheppard, anyway). He shows he cares by hatching crack-crazy schemes and threatening to haul others along by the ears. Feel the love, Sheppard!

* Moment of silence for tomato-red-shirt guy. I'll miss you and your hysterically historically inaccurate patter, tomato mustache guy! Your heroic death was not in vain. And -- in a moment of startling continuity -- was even remarked upon later in the episode. Aw, McKay felt badly about how he treated you, tomato man. He's growing as a person, thanks to you. Rest in peace. I hope the whale didn't eat you when you washed out the window.

* Powers that be, I forgive you for the cleavage and forcing Carter to swim around in her underwear. Because it was hilarious. Oh my god, all the McKay moments were hilarious. Also, McKay gave Carter a very fetching hallucinatory hairdo.

* Beckett? Beckett? Beckett? No Beckett? Aw! But shouldn't there have been some sort of medical presence on the rescue jumper? McKay told them they were both badly injured. I understand if Beckett, Teyla and Ronon were busy on the Mainland, singing traditional Athosian orchestral dirges or somesuch...but they couldn't toss a blanket over McKay? Hand him a nice warm cup of cocoa? Change that nasty bandage on his forehead? Medic!!

* And don't even get me started on the lack of awkward manly why-aren't-you-dead reunion moments.

To sum up: Loved the episode. But I missed the team. Here's hoping the next few are huge team bonding story lines. Bring on Dex and Teyla and Beckett and Sheppard and McKay! Bring them all in the same room, on the same mission, at the same time! You can do it, clever writers! I know you can!

[atlantis2184]

Any Transcript?

[AutumnDream]

* Moment of silence for tomato-red-shirt guy. I'll miss you and your hysterically historically inaccurate patter, tomato mustache guy! Your heroic death was not in vain. And -- in a moment of startling continuity -- was even remarked upon later in the episode. Aw, McKay felt badly about how he treated you, tomato man. He's growing as a person, thanks to you. Rest in peace. I hope the whale didn't eat you when you washed out the window.

* Powers that be, I forgive you for the cleavage and forcing Carter to swim around in her underwear. Because it was hilarious. Oh my god, all the McKay moments were hilarious. Also, McKay gave Carter a very fetching hallucinatory hairdo.

* Beckett? Beckett? Beckett? No Beckett? Aw! But shouldn't there have been some sort of medical presence on the rescue jumper? McKay told them they were both badly injured. I understand if Beckett, Teyla and Ronon were busy on the Mainland, singing traditional Athosian orchestral dirges or somesuch...but they couldn't toss a blanket over McKay? Hand him a nice warm cup of cocoa? Change that nasty bandage on his forehead? Medic!!

Those three paragraphs made me laugh harder than anything in the episode did.

[Unamed]

so does this mean we'll have shields for the pj's all the time now and be able to swithch from cloak to shield?

[IMForeman]

I liked it, very enjoyable episode. Although, I had been wishing that the last shot of Rodney looking back at the jumper would have had the little girl from "Grace" instead of Sam, implying that there was something more to both of those episodes than just hallucinations. Maybe an ascended Ancient?

[Callie]

First draft of the transcript is up:

http://www.brundle.free-online.co.uk/214_Grace_UP.html

[Merlin7]

Ummm...since Joe Flanigan WROTE Ephiphany, wouldn't that mean he's wasting himself? Those were his stupid invisibeasts. And his stupid flashbacks.

Aw. Now you've gone and hurt Joe's feelings.

Actual Joe came up with the story IDEA. Brad Wright wrote it. And Joe said at a con and in some interview that there would be flashbacks which OBVIOUSLY didn't get written by Brad or were cut. And his idea of the beast wasn't what we saw. So...nope. LOL

[atlantis2184]

thanks for the transcript Callie !!!

[AlphaBlu]

Overall I had too many expectations for this ep, so it didn't live up to what I wanted. Conversley, I had no expectations for Critical Mass, and that was awesome.

Anyway, this episode was still very good. Sam + water... oooh... And McKay is my fav character, so this was great for me. Very enjoyable. Lots of Zelenka too. I didn't think Ronan or Teyla fit this episode.

BYE

[Yeade]

My two cents.

Re: The PJ

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the shield in "The Defiant One" was Wraith technology adapted to work on the jumper's systems by Greg, and JM clarified this in his Q&A thread (or someone did somewhere). The shield in this episode likely wasn't the same--Zelenka didn't necessarily go about creating the shield as Greg did, even assuming the properties of the two were identical because both were based on the cloaking mechanism--but Sheppard perhaps had, in addition to the shield-to-cloak switch in "The Siege," his close encounter with the Wraith shield in mind when he came up with the idea.

Anyways, the Atlanteans might very well build a cloak/shield switch into the jumpers. The only downside would be that the two systems can't be used together.

What impressed me even more was that I finally realized there's been continuity in the technology. In addition to the cloak/shield adaptability from "The Defiant One" and "The Siege," the expedition hermetically sealed the forward section of the jumper from the back after "Thirty-Eight Minutes." (This must have been done before McKay's EVA in "The Siege.") Yay for smart continuity!

Re: McKay

I won't go on and on praising DH for his acting--the episode speaks for itself there--but I will add that it's interesting to consider that fake!Carter is speaking for the new and fragile part of McKay that he's developed since he came to Atlantis. The McKay that knows his friends are motivated and more than competent and is willing to wait for a rescue. The McKay that trusts his people will come for him, hellfire or high water, no matter how abrasive his personality.

So, McKay, arguing with fake!Carter--essentially arguing with himself--must have reverted to his SG-1 days. Is this right? I haven't, er, watched SG-1.

McKay's time in the sunk jumper is also a continuation of the SGA theme that it's hard for these people to believe in and depend on others. And nobody's trust was misplaced, even if someone had to die to save the day, throughout S1 and most of S2. Then... WHAM! "Trinity" happened. The episodes after that, up to "Grace Under Pressure," has been rebuilding the feeling that, yeah, trust and everyone will somehow struggle through. I'm getting kind of nervous that TPTB are setting everything up for another fall. Maybe a larger one than "Trinity" because the S2 finale is coming up.

Re: Sheppard

You know, as much as it pains me sometimes that after 34 episodes I still know next to nothing about Sheppard's past, I can understand that the character presents something of a challenge to the writers. While McKay pretty much wears his heart on his sleeve, Sheppard hides or locks away so much of himself and would never willingly share any real personal information.

"Grace Under Pressure" is to McKay what "Epiphany" was to Sheppard, but whereas McKay got immediately down to the business of panicking and making deathbed confessions, if only to his hallucinations, Sheppard's faith held out until it simply couldn't (and this took days), at which point he privately broke down, got resigned, and went on as best he could because, hey, he really believed (wanted to believe) life wouldn't screw him over but it has before.

Plus McKay comes apart in a way that might get him and others killed, yes, but this is because he wouldn't get any work done. Whereas I suspect Sheppard--who internalizes and represses, like, everything bad that's ever happened to him--would come apart rather spectacularly. Probably explosively and violently. Just ask the Genii and Bob...

Oh, wait! That's right! They're dead!

The really scary thing is that, if it reaches a certain point, he wouldn't be able to reassert control. And the writers need him to do hero things. Without getting psychotic about it.

That said, JF and the writers have given us glimpses of what I would say makes Sheppard who he is. It's the why of it that's missing.

On display in this episode is Sheppard's "never say die" attitude about his people, his (surprisingly?) sharp and agile intelligence, and his very personal leadership style. Sheppard wouldn't even consider that McKay and Griffin didn't make it to the back of the jumper in time--as if him saying it would make it true--was more than willing to drag Zelenka on the rescue at gunpoint, and wouldn't leave until they'd at least tried something when the grappler wouldn't work. He comes up with the grappler idea in the first place, knew enough about the research being done in Atlantis to tap that obscure oceanographic project, had enough technical know-how to supervise, and understood Lassie the Alien Whale. He, of course, flies the second jumper down himself. Which he and McKay have apparently been annoying Weir about doing for a while (the dorks).

This is not an insubstantial amount of characterization, but it's almost all in the action and acting, supplemented by whatever implications could be drawn from the dialogue of other characters. Sheppard might be the only one of the main characters who gets quite so... unbalanced a treatment in characterization.

Re: Zelenka

That Zelenka is nervous, still, going off-world or into dangerous situations is apparent in "Duet" and, more recently, his short, short scene in "The Hive." Yay for smart foreshadowing and characterization!

I think McKay's been so (unwillingly) heroic for the sake of Atlantis and, in particular, his team that it's easy to forget not every scientist is so self-sacrificing and brave. If anything, actually, I bet the military has been doing its damnedest to protect the science division. Griffin, who was relatively new to Atlantis from the Deddy, didn't hesitate to lay down his life for McKay, and Lord knows Sheppard wouldn't countenance anything less from the Atlantis Marines.

Let me just take a moment to say that OMG I <3 SGA!

Ahem. That is, the military contingent of Atlantis and the Deddy would die without question to save the civilians, who are the heart of the mission, and the civilians more often than not rise to the occasion--as Zelenka did--and perform feats of heroism they never would've believed they could to return the favor and save everybody. That's really... I mean... wow.

...

Erm. More like my two (thousand) dollars, huh?


edit: Lassie the Alien Whale

[ShadowMaat]

Zelenka was great in this ep. Although I'm a bit surprised that Sam didn't vocalize what I was thinking after Rodney b****ed about how Zelenka should have been on the mission: Maybe Radek was well aware of that and felt guilty about it.

Hope we get to see more of him in future eps. Oh, and how cool is it that Zelenka had to play off of someone OTHER than McKay?

It makes me wish all the more that we could see an AU ep where Zelenka became the lead scientist after McKay was killed. It'd be interesting to see how that would affect things (including Radek himself). I like his comparatively calm reaction to crisis. McKay's freak-outs are always fun to watch, but I like Radek's quiet efficiency, too. And, of course, the muttering in Czech.