McKay and Mrs. Miller (308)

[MXCP]

Outstanding episode. Bravo for character development all around.

For me personally, this now displaces Common Ground as my fave for the year so far. Hope the year continues like this!!!

Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay, you are in danger of becoming my fave SGA character.

[Hatusu]

Random other note: Was it just me or in the scene where Sam, Rodney and Jeannie are on the Daedalus look a little odd? Sam just stared blankly at Rodney until her cue. Actually made me wonder if they filmed the scene together, 'cos I wasn't sure she was even staring at him, just at the space he was (or would be) occupying.

I didn't notice, but I'll look for it on my second viewing. I've spotted them doing that at least three other times.

[Sheppard]

how did they drain the zpm im going to watch the episode tomorrow but i just wanna know what happened to the ZPM

[Mitchell82]

While I can't say Atlantis is better thatn SG-1 (both are equally great IMO) this was a definate 10/10 for me. This ep was great and I love how we burned out the ZPM. Now we are back to sqaure one and I love that. ZPMs are now on our priority list again, still loved having it though. Here's a question, if we have no ZPm how is

Spoiler:

Jack going to get to Atlantis

oops brain fart Deaddy. Great ep loved all three seasons so far and this season is really great and i want to see Jeannie again.

[Mitchell82]

how did they drain the zpm im going to watch the episode tomorrow but i just wanna know what happened to the ZPM

Spoiler:

They had to use the ZPMS vacume energy to shoot a very

Spoiler:

powerfull beam to break the bridge.

[Mitchell82]

Outstanding episode. Bravo for character development all around.

For me personally, this now displaces Common Ground as my fave for the year so far. Hope the year continues like this!!!

Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay, you are in danger of becoming my fave SGA character.

Don't know about that but this was an excellent episode.

[funks]

Spoiler:

Wouldn't worry too much about not having a zpm, the following ASURAN episodes will most likely give atlantis another zpm - from the spoilers, it states that the asurans were trying to fix atlantis after an attack, i'm pretty sure they'll power her up with a zpm

ZPM depleted problem.

[suse]

Yet again, Atlantis is outclassing SG-1 this season. What a great episode, really touching stuff. I hope McKay's sister makes a comeback sometime in the near future. A great ending scene as well...but where the hell is Carson??

9/10 from me

-1 for NO Carson! Hes in the opening credits, use him!! Also, there was too much technobabble for me really.

They had to pay for Carter somehow... Seriously, he'd have had nothing to do but add one more to the "table of underused characters this week" scenes.

I'm definitely liking Atlantis more this season. And I really liked this ep. The sibling stuff betweem Meredith and Jeanne was priceless. I love that cute Canadian way you both say 'sorry'. As was Sam's response to Rodney's first name. I can see the girls ganging up on him. And he soooo deserves it.

i was expecting something more nefarious with the other reality. I'm glad that didn't pan out. The alternate personalities for the other crew members was a great idea.

I'd give this ep a 8/10. just because there was such little team. Though what there was was good. Showed a comfort level I've not seen much on Atlantis.

Suse

[Michelle05]

Wonderful episode. I loved the subtle evolution of Rodney and Jeannie's relationship until it was really on the mend. I loved "Rod" though I really felt sorry for Rodney. I wish Sheppard would show him some overt kindness instead of seeming so aloof all the time. But maybe that's just how guys are. Anyway it was an amazing character-driven up with big implications.

The seamless way the 2 Rodneys were on screen was just amazing. It must have taken forever to shoot!

Michelle

[NotAscended]

Note. Is it just me or does anyone else think Martin Gero might be a fan of "Medium"? Jeannie's home life and husband seemed very familiar except that SHE is the scientist.

Not just you! The staging of the scene where she is sitting on the edge of the bed and the way her husband spoke to her could have been taken right out of a Medium script.


I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and I hope we get to see Mrs. Miller return in other episodes. She is played wonderfully by Kate Hewlett and her character serves as an important catalyst for Rodney to grow.

I also enjoyed the fact that although the rest of the team had a backseat in this story, each of them got a few nice moments.

I was especially pleased to see that John had decorated his quarters with so much ... stuff. He's making a home for himself in Atlantis. What was all of that anyway? If anyone has TIVO and can slow down and see what was in his room, I'd love to know. There was definitely a picture of someone on his nightstand and some huge poster I couldn't make out.

[Adrius]

This episode was so frustrating it's unbelievable - that the story disposed of the zpm in such a way........and it started out so good too I'm just so SO disappointed ............

stealing zpm's from the asurans better be a major objective now

I was irritated at first as well, however, it got me thinking:

Spoiler:

The big mid-season two-parter deals directly with the Asurans. The spoilers seem to imply that they take over Atlantis and kick everyone off, back to Earth (whether by gate or ship is unknown of course, 2 weeks and we will know). This episode was perfect setup and forshadowing for it. We may yet come out of the two parter with a ZPM or two but it's hard to say.

[Kliggins]

I liked this episode.

David and Kate were great and I hope they bring her back.

The depleted ZPM could be an interesting turn of events.

[takinspace]

Whatever they do in ZPM-land I hope it's the last time.

Spoiler:

Can you imagine if the first three seasons of SG-1 were riddled with "oh no, the dialer doesn't work" and you had multiple cliffhangers having something to do with a busted gateroom? Next! I'm willing to knock them, because we already know they can write better (they've done it before). It's almost like a ZPM is an inverse deus-ex-machina.

[memnarch]

One word: Meredith!!!! I literally fell off the couch when that was revealed! Poor McKay...No wonder he's so...well, you know! This was an excellent episode for McKay and I continue to greatly enjoy his character. His jealousy and inadequacy issues make him one of the realest characters in Stargate history. I particularly liked the scenes with him walking into the commisary and his talk with Sheppard. I also loved his interaction with his sister. You never really know a person until you see them interact with family. Sadly, such a great Rodney (Meredith) episode comes at the price of having other characters neglected. Sheppard got in some good screentime, but once again Ronon and Teyla were snubbed (SERIOUSLY WRITERS! WAKE UP!). Also, no Beckett, who I'm sure would've had some interesting conversations with Jeannie. Although there was a glaring plot hole in the form of no entropic cascade failure, I'm willing to overlook it.

Overall, McKay and Mrs. Miller deserves a 3/4 (***) in my book, simply because it's such a good character episode.

[smushybird]

I didn't notice the Sam-looking-blankly thing, but it seemed that the two Rodneys at certain moments were not looking exactly at each other. They sometimes seemed slightly off. Still, I was impressed by the technicalities of the scenes.

I was less impressed with the junior high school behavior in those scenes with the team making embarrassing comments about Rodney. Sure, it was sweet in the end when they let Rodney know that they preferred him--but that scene shouldn't have been necessary to begin with. I don't have a problem with adults teasing each other sometimes, but...

First off, I don't think it was in character for Jeannie to be telling those private childhood humiliations about Rodney to his co-workers, whom she's only just met. It was inappropriate and hurtful, even if she was upset with him for things he'd said and done. And the team's responses seemed a little juvenile to me, as well.

Ronon in the cafeteria scene came off as especially mean-spirited. I didn't like that. He hasn't struck me as an insensitive bully before. He did here.
(Another thing about Ronon is the dialogue they put into his mouth--it seems weirdly off for his character--too earthlike and modern compared to Teyla's).

I think they could have teased Rodney in a way that was less humiliating. They could have come up with childhood events that were less predictable and more interesting. Maybe he got a C once or something. Horrors. Anyway... Teasing him about his name, that was all right. I loved the whole Meredith thing. It's a charming name and I think it suits him.

I did love quite a bit about this episode, despite the complaints above.
Kate Hewlett was fantastic. I liked her, I believed she was Rodney's sister, I believed how strongly she believed in the choices she'd made. She made Jeannie interesting and enjoyable. I liked the bit about pushing the button. I have two sisters and a brother, myself, and I thought it was entirely realistic. I also loved how creatively they showed her brilliance without just saying she's brilliant, by having her fingerpainting equations like mad....that was a fun scene and reminded me of the way Rodney works, so focused and shutting everyone out while he's in fast thinking brilliant mode.

I loved the differences between Rod and Rodney. I think Rodney handled the whole thing well, really. If I were face to face with a pleasanter version of myself advising me how to behave better, I don't think I'd take it as well as Rodney did. I liked his process of coming to understand some things, and I liked that Sheppard assisted in that (and that Rodney went to Sheppard to talk, instead of going to anyone else. He was in Shep's room! First time? ). Loved the golf scene--half expected the whale to surface so Shep could get his hole in one, a la Seinfeld.
And Shep makes far less of a mess cleaning his golf clubs than my husband does.

I was wondering how Sheppard knew about Rodney's LfP video? Had Sheppard watched all the videos in that ep? I couldn't recall. It was sweet that he shared it with Jeannie--and the resulting scene between Jeannie and Rodney was one of the best moments I've ever seen on SGA, very real and touching. I think the fact that DH and KH are sibs really added a lot to that particular scene. It made me teary-eyed, too.

I did miss Carson, but when I hear people upset about seeing less of Carson and Liz in episodes, it makes me think of SG-1 and how Janet wasn't in every ep and Hammond was over-seeing...but the focus was on the team, where it belonged. Well, the focus was on the team in SGA tonight and that was just as it should be. I hope the rest of the season pans out as beautifully with team interaction and character development as it has since Sateda.

I, too, am glad the ZPM was depleted. I want to see complications and a bit of struggle and suffering. Keeps things interesting.