(S04E09) Well, that wasn't what I expected. When I saw that Meredith and his sister Jeannie were going to be kidnapped this episode I thought that it would be some light-hearted romp with the two of them bickering back and forth while they tried to get past the inept kidnappers. Boy, was I wrong! While there were some light touches between McKay and Mrs. Miller this was a pretty serious episode that dealt with some heavy ethical issues.
One of these issues involved stealing classified alien technology from a military organization. This is what Henry Wallace of Devlin Medical Technologies did to try and save his daughter. How did Wallace know about the nannites that McKay and his team on Atlantis were working on? Apparently, DMT provides the subcutaneous transmitters to the Stargate program and Wallace was smart enough to put two and two together to find out about the nannites.
So, did this give him the right to try untested technology to save his daughter? It was a honest gesture, but he was way out of line. Yes, I know people use experimental drugs all of the time to cure diseases such as cancer, but those treatments can be controlled in many cases. In this situation little tiny machines that were uncontrollable caused more harm then good.
I couldn't really feel for Henry in this situation. If he had just kidnapped the two McKays then quickly let them go I would have probably felt a bit of sympathy towards him. However, that all changed after he injected the problem nannites into Jeannie as blackmail for her and Rodney to complete their task. Jeannie was really the innocent during this whole situation and didn't deserve the treatment that she got.
On a side note, is Devlin Medical Technologies a subsidiary of Devlin Pharmaceuticals, which was featured in the 1993 film version of The Fugitive? If so, the government should really start investigating them as soon as possible for unethical practices.
Another ethical issue that popped up was whether to use an enemy to help cure a loved one. Seeing that this was practically a continuation of the previous episode's Wraith/Replicator/Nannite storyline I shouldn't have been surprised when the Wraith showed up at SGC to help McKay reprogram the nannites. I really feel that Rodney had no choice in the matter. McKay is freakishly smart (not as smart as Jeannie, apparently), but the Wraith is faster. I guess that the Wraith really had no choice either since his hive ship was gone and he was persona non grata amongst his own race.
This brings us to our third ethical issue: how far do you go to get your enemy to help cure a loved one. Since the Wraith needed to feed in order to continue working on the project a decision had to be made as to who the victim was to be. Rodney was pretty noble to sacrifice himself for his sister. Luckily, Sheppard had a better idea -- get Wallace to do it. I would have been a bit appalled if Shep tried to force Henry to sacrifice himself for Jeannie. That would have made him no better then some of the races they have encountered. Wallace volunteering to be the feedee was redemption for the character.
For the most part I enjoyed this week's episode of Stargate Atlantis. I thought the first part was a bit slow, but it did give Jeannie and McKay some time to snip at each other. I liked their conversation about Rodney's love life and her statement that he was no John Sheppard. The second half of the show was better as it incorporated the Wraith and his issues into the plot around saving Jeannie.
Since this was pretty much a McKay solo effort the rest of the Atlantis crew was very underutilized. Other than briefly seeing Zelenka at the beginning of the episode the only other team members featured were Shep and Ronon, and Ronon barely had any moments on screen.
Next week is the last new episode of the year and features a return of not only the Replicators, but Dr. Weir as well. And, we finally get to see if the city that Carter saw in her vision was Atlantis or the Replicator home. See you then.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-01-2007 @ 9:52PM
Oreo said...
Worst episode of the season? Hard choice Talya's episode was really bad too.
None of made any sense to why I should care. Sam should have been in the episode, Ronan shouldn't have been in the episode. The only good point is that the sister was back, I liked her. Oh, and the Wraith going to Earth?!?! Stupid! Why didn't they just go to Atlantis?
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12-01-2007 @ 10:00PM
Morjana Coffman said...
Superb episode.
Excellent script, providing more character depth not only for John Sheppard and Rodney McKay, but also wonderful exposition for Jeanie McKay.
Terrific acting by Flanigan, Culp and the Hewletts.
A quintessential episode for Stargate Atlantis.
Loved everything about this episode. From the detail in the cafeteria, where the food server was in the background placing the salt/pepper shakers on the tables; to the mention of Generals Landry and O'Neill by Walter; to the wonderful acting by Kate Hewlett, Steven Culp, Peter Flemming and everyone on the SGA cast; the exquisite music; the humor (Nancy Drew) -- oh, hey, we even got a product placement, the Prius -- this episode had everything.
My only complaint?
That %$#@&*^% #$@@&^%% SciFi Channel running those $%^&*%#$ banner ads completely across the bottom of the screen for Tin Man. Well, I was on the fence about watching that mini-series, but now I've made up my mind...I'm going to read the "The Wizard of Oz" book - AGAIN! instead.
Morjana
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12-01-2007 @ 10:37PM
Kevinc said...
Who would have thought adding Samantha Carter to SG:A would ruin the show? There hasn't an entire good episode since she came aboard. Some good bits and pieces, but overall there has been no reason for her to join the cast. Let her out of her contract, and hire some WRITERS.
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12-02-2007 @ 12:30AM
Nathaniel said...
Kevinc - it's true, they need to have a good Carter episode, but I don't feel it's a mistake having her on. I really think once they have a good Carter ep, and maybe show her actually using her brains instead of just Weir-ing, we'll accept her in that position. That said, she wasn't even here this week, and I was fine with that.
I loved this episode, possibly a lot because I was geeking out the whole time. Finally, a post-SG-1 Earth episode of Atlantis! They had said in an interview somewhere that Atlantis was going to take the helm on Earth episodes now that SG-1 wasn't around, and so I was really excited to see the SGC, Barrett, and Walter! Personally, I was a little disappointed they made Walter quite that nerdy (we all knew he was sort of from quick impressions, but that was a big stretch), but it was great to see him again. And Agent Barrett, the extremely underutilized but totally cool character that we could all love if they just three-dimensionalized him. But I like the guy anyway.
Overall, very impressed with the episode, great to see Earth again (and a great way to bring back cool recurring SG-1 characters! Do that more often!), and look forward to both next week and the next Earth episode!
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12-02-2007 @ 1:02PM
Elyse said...
This was a very good episode, save for some lame plot points such as Barrett and Rodney going into an unknown dangerous situation without waiting for backup, but then, the point was to have Rodney abducted *cough* And they should have shortened the WAlter-Ronon messhall scene. I felt like Ronon while watching it drag out.
Otherwise, the ethical dilemmas were quite fascinating, and seemed all about just how far a person who go for a loved one.
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12-02-2007 @ 5:09PM
Ian said...
I thought the issue of a Wraith prisoner needing food had been solved by giving them drugs? Ergo why did anyone need to die for food?
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12-02-2007 @ 3:03PM
Nathaniel said...
Elyse, I totally agree about them going into an unknown dangerous situation... Barrett has been at this for at least 6 years now (he was introduced in season 5 of SG-1) and probably longer, he should have enough experience not to make that kind of mistake. And I, too, was a little disappointed with the Walter cameo. Could have been cooler. Oh well.
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12-02-2007 @ 10:28PM
Morjana Coffman said...
Regarding Kevinc's comment: "Who would have thought adding Samantha Carter to SG:A would ruin the show?"
Samantha Carter wasn't IN this episode. Nor were Rachel Luttrell or Jewel Staite.
Morjana
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12-03-2007 @ 12:32AM
Oreo said...
Thanks for stating the obvious.
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12-03-2007 @ 12:35PM
Kevinc said...
I did in fact say "show" and not episode, Morjana.
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