Miller's Crossing

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S4 (Miller's Crossing)

It went up and down in my estimation, but they got me, and they got me twice, and as well as that it succeeded in subverting expectations on more than one occasion and concluded with a happy ending, though with a morally dubious solution at best. That was really the only place in the story where everything was too of why couldn't they use some other large animal for the Wraith to feed on, or even someone like Teal'c, if he still had a symbiont that is - I just didn't see why it had to be a human. But that was the convention, as was the villain of the piece. My feelings on Earth-based stories in 'SG-1' were always mixed: I liked the idea of them, seeing our people in their natural (or alien), habitat, and sometimes they could pull it off (quite enjoyed that one where Teal'c becomes Erica Durance's neighbour), but a lot of the time it became typical spy games with a bit of fish out of water on the side, or political not-very-thrillers. But I've got to say it was great seeing Sheppard and Ronon walk down the famous ramp at the SGC, hang around in place and, for the latter, wear an ill-suited suit to 'blend in.' It was just one of those great moments of bringing the two branches of 'Stargate' together, and honestly it could only have been bettered in that sense if Teal'c or someone had shown up - I've always wanted to see him and Ronon square up, but I doubt it'll ever happen. Still, we did get a scene with Teal'c this season and they'd kept the SGC sets up so you never know!

It really wasn't that much of an Earth-based story, it was wisely more concerned with the personal, in McKay and his sister who we'd seen in Season 3. The direction the story took was clever, being an ally, a medical tech company that had some access to alien technology with the mandate to research advancements for us, who goes rogue and has a very strong motive to seek the McKay siblings' enforced assistance. Steven Culp sells this man who is willing to give up his high-powered job and life for the curing of his terminally ill daughter (most famous to me for playing Major Hayes in 'Enterprise' and for being Riker's replacement as Commander Martin Madden in the final 'TNG' film, or was it just the deleted scenes, I can't remember?). It was all a bit 'Earth-based stories' at first, what with Agent Bennett and this company taking the McKays hostage, but it soon became more than that. I didn't really like or dislike his sister being injected with the nanites, but it was the obvious step to amp up the drama, making it more personal for our man Rodney (or Meredith as sis will insist on calling him!), and similarly it made total sense that Culp's guy would end up sacrificing himself for both his daughter and the sister, but at the same time it wasn't doing anything particularly unexpected in either case.

It doesn't necessarily have to do things unexpectedly to be entertaining, and it largely achieved that. There was a part of the episode early on that it didn't move anywhere very fast, you've got Bennett and Sheppard looking through boring files in order to deduce what company could be behind all this, but even there we get a great scene where Walter bores our Ronon in the Mess with his paltry tales of wrong forms which is about as exciting as it gets for him, but it's just terrific to see him doing the same old stuff that he always did on 'SG-1.' In a way I feel it's a shame he never got upgraded to a main cast member, but then he was supposed to be a sort of joke, no offence to the character, but just one of those people we contrast the 'true' heroes with: likeable, does his job, necessary, but secretly wishing he was more important, until things get bad and then he's glad other people are there to do what they do. But anyway, he's exactly the kind of character you want Ronon bumping into. I will say that the episode was completely different to what I expected: I was running the name Miller through my mind, but I didn't get it until they started talking about 'she' and Rodney needing 'her' help and then I remembered 'McKay and Mrs. Miller' and it slotted into place, but then I was still thinking about all that and enjoying the gentle humour and wondering where the story was going to go, assuming sis would be coming to Atlantis, and then things turn really shocking and brutal, masked men in black breaking down her bedroom door and taking her at gunpoint!

They did it again to me later on when Sheppard and the team come to rescue the hostages, it was out of the blue as you're so wrapped up in the scene, so good job there. In 'SG-1' the villainous human would have been the sole focus and it would have been much more standard, but then it becomes this desperation to save McKay's sister (I can never remember her name!), offering up himself as Wraith food to make it happen - again, I expected him to have some of his life taken away, maybe get some grey hair, but not enough to do serious damage, but no, Sheppard makes an executive decision and piles on the guilt at Culp's character so he'll volunteer. It was a questionable course of action, but it was also the obvious one: we have this character who we don't need to see again, whose life and career is ruined so why not give him an out, a way to make up for what he'd done, regardless of the best motives he did it from. I wonder what Sheppard would have done had he refused to do the honourable thing… Sheppard really did seem like he was going to go as wrong as he could to make this happen, and that's not a trait you expect to see in a 'Stargate' character, a sign of the changing times perhaps (it certainly changed by the divisive 'Universe'!). It was too easy and it was very close to being completely unacceptable, made marginally palatable by the situation of the character and his willingness to make amends. But still…

I wonder what the plan is with this Wraith as he's become a sort of pet now, whom they've fed and used to achieve their ends - he did at least provoke a strong scene for McKay where he goes through all the arguments he can make to get this creature to sort out the coding. But they must have some larger goal in mind, and will it have something to do with getting Weir back? I hope she only wanted to leave to make a film or something like that and is still going to return before the end of the season (or series?). There's obviously the usual nostalgia factor of seeing the good old SGC at Cheyenne Mountain Complex in all it's ugly concrete 'glory,' and a thrill to have our 'Atlantis' characters go there as if that world and those characters from 'SG-1' are still going along as they had done before. It's lovely to get that sense of continuation which I know extended even to the 'Universe' episodes. While I was uncertain about the qualities of this episode its sum added up and without being a case of needing to win me over (although I don't think Rodney is quite as interesting when he's with his sister), it wrong-footed and occasionally impressed me (playing with the idea of curing cancer could have set a dangerous precedent, but they deftly sidestepped that one), so adding another link to a chain of good episodes. Just how long can the run go? (The record on the series is five consecutive successes in Season 2). And I'm glad it was nothing to do with the boring Trust!

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