McKay and Mrs. Miller

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S3 (McKay and Mrs. Miller)

I didn't understand much of what was going on, but I did understand that I liked it! It was a brave decision to begin an episode without any of the main cast, completely removed from the series we know, and wondering why and how it would tie in, even if the title announced who it would be about. I was impressed that even though we didn't know this Jeanie, she was so quick to become a fully formed character - having recently re-watched 'Discovery' Season 2 it made me realise how well older TV series' could pull off a character and that she had more to her than was demonstrated in two seasons worth of stories for some of the 'DSC' cast! It was, of course, a joy to see Carter, post-'SG-1,' and the old Stargate still spinning in the same old SGC - I was hoping Sam would be a part of the story all the way through and we only got a few scenes before things were 'too busy' back at base, whatever that meant, and there's one last screen-based contribution from her, but I can see she needed to step back from the stage to leave it to the two bickering McKay siblings. That's right, McKay has a sister (can't remember if he's mentioned her before, but probably not since they haven't spoken in four years), and she's almost as much of a brain box as he is.

The one story point that didn't hold together for me, in spite of parallel universes and super-pseudo-science (that's all par for the course), was this woman somehow coming up with some incredible mathematical theorem (if that's the term), just from a moment of inspiration while playing with her young child. I thought it was going to be explained away as aliens having implanted it in her brain or some other sci-fi connection but it never was, she just had a brainwave. It was really only so that we could bring her and Rodney (or Meredith as we find out his first name actually is!), together to provide some comedy drama, just as the complicated maths was all simply to bring another Rodney to our universe. In other words it didn't really matter when you compare it to the enjoyment that ensued from the ideas (in the same way 'Back To The Future' works best when you don't enquire into its logic too closely). And the story did work from that standpoint, it really did. They beautifully sold the wonder and magnitude of a civilian learning about interstellar travel, aliens and Stargates all in the space of a few minutes, and it's just a lovely scene when someone is presented with all these facts we take for granted as viewers of the series and reacts accordingly.

If they played the wonder just right, they also got the sibling competitiveness and buried animosity, too, with Rodney immediately put on the back foot thanks to her having sensitive information to share with his colleagues. They double down on all that when Rodney 2, or 'Rod' as this cooler, friendlier and happier version likes to be known, comes through the bridge, or whatever it was - truth be told, I never fully understood what they were trying to do - all you need to know is it connects to a parallel universe and our Rodney entirely depletes the city's ZPM meaning no quick trips to Earth any more, only the Daedalus capable of taking people to and fro. Rodney starts getting an inferiority complex, not from the new guy's genius, but from the easy way he gets on with everyone and his good attitude. This is where I break off to say once again how impressed I was, not just by David Hewlett's performances as Rodney times-two, but in the technical improvements you see in bringing two copies of an actor to the screen - you expect technology to develop, but this seemed to be a marked improvement on showing doubles. They were walking around each other, the camera was moving through scenes as normal and they generally made the whole thing look effortless and real, so much so that sometimes you forget about the novelty and just accept Rod as another character! That's the highest compliment I could pay in this situation and to Hewlett who so successfully pulled off the subtle changes in character needed to make him believable.

Carter's appearance, McKay having a family member and a double in the same episode, and the technical qualities of the episode aside, I was concerned they were going to lose the power of the story, that of he and his estranged sister finding common ground (to use the title of the previous episode), but they brought it right round thanks to the extra Rod who could have muddied the issue if played up too much in the story, but was used neatly to say that although it was so good to be there, he needed to get back to his own versions of the characters we know, because for all their flaws they are his team and he needs to be there for them. And of course Rodney sees that he, too, is invaluable to his team (he never really doubted that, let's be honest), and they're glad to have him (which he was oblivious of before, but now realises means something), as well as feeling more warmly to his sister. And lastly, whether it was just the long break since I last saw an episode, it seemed to me the cast were especially well written, playing on all their little quirks and familiarities from Weir at the top down to Dr. Zelenka, and I saw they've crafted a lovingly meshed team of characters. It's not guaranteed in a series, and it reminded me that that's the main reason you come back to these things: to spend time with the people. This is one I'll definitely look forward to hearing the audio commentary, especially as I'd like to know if Kate Hewlett, who played McKay's sister, is David Hewlett's sister in real life. It can't be a coincidence!

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