Don't worry there, Pitry, I read enough spoilers to tell you that McKay will be on the right track this season.

Also, we had a lot of character development for Elizabeth too (quite a lot), and a lot for Sheppard and enough for Ronon. We still need Teyla (big time), and of course, Carson (I mean, come on, he is one of the main characters). And man, what are they doing with Zelenka?



Yes, I heard that too... But it wasn't a concern, because they are equal in rank. Saying Carter is the right way to adress her by, he could have used her rank, but that is not an obligation. Calling her Sam would have been much different.

LoL, I hope you're not refering to Tao of McKay... speaking of spoilers that sound bad! I always try to keep an open mind about spoilers because often they don't reflkect the episode... and yet...

as for the development - I agree Elizabeth got great character development, so did Sheppard. He's more bareble now and God help me, Weir has not only grown on me but she's now one of my favouriute Atlantis characters... ;) But I've had a problem with the so-called development Ronon got in Sateda - I didn't feel they got out of the Ronon box yet. I felt it just re-affirmed what we already know about Ronon, rather than take the character further. And I feel that no matter how many Satedas there going to be, until he starts playing a larger part in the episodes that don't revolve him (that is, 19/20 episodes per season, it would appear), he'll never be really on the paths to development. And yes, sigh, Teyla. Why do they write characters and then compeltely and utterly ignore them? (and yeah, Carson got more attention as a recurring than he did as a regular, and I'd love for mdore insight on Zelenca! Please? *puppy eyes*)

Ugh, reality episodes bug me... if there are an infinite number of realities then every possible action at every point in space and time occurs. That would mean that some other reality would have tried this experiment and dumped the particles into the reality that occurs on the show. Actually, an infinite amount of them would have. Though that would ruin the plot and it is science fiction after all. I loved Sliders but if there are infinite possibilites then it would have been just as likely for them to slide into another reality that they couldnt tell apart from their own (like one where the only difference in the entire universe is that a particle on the other side of the universe is one nanometer away from where it is in the "correct" version). I guess I think too much...

I don't like parallel universe episodes in general but since it's the first time for Atlantis and it has been established already from SG-1 that the world works that way, it seemed appropriate, this time.

The only thing that made absolutely no sense to me, is why they would think that given the infinite number of alternate Universes, the probability of choosing at random one that supported life is infinitesimal.

If nothing else I would have expected them to argue the exact opposite thing.

Well, our planet happened to be in the exact right spot in the universe for life to be supported AND had the correct amount of H20/land ratio, AND the right plants grew in the water so that they would absorb enough CO2 in the air so that things could breathe on land ... a whole pile of things had to go exactly right inorder for life to form on earth. So yeah, there would be MANY more universes where life didn't evolve on earth.

But they were not talking about Earth or any planet, or a galaxy for that matter. They are talking about a parallel cosmos. What is the probability that nowhere in the entire Universe there would be any life.?

If nothing else taking into account their own experienses in the Stargate Universe and their experience with the quantum mirror. They know that versions of themselves exist in every possible way and secondly they know of the existence of alien creatures in the galaxies. So parallel universes have pretty much as much life as any other despite differences.

But given that the probability of the chances of all those things lining up correctly to produce life is extremely low, the chances that they work in our OWN universe is limited. Now take planet A with life on it, shift it a few kilometers in another universe. Now it no longer has life on it. The fact that so many things need to go right in order for there to be life simply implies that there would be many universes with no life in them (especially life which would be effected by the device).

This is the type of episode that makes or breaks a show.
This is the kind of story that is much more about the people than the technology. You can see that the technical part takes a very strong backseat to the people and their parts, their feelings, their interactions.
This is what makes good storytelling. Telling about the people. That's why many don't like the 2nd set of Star Wars movies because they're more about the special effects than the people involved.

And this is why it's sad that Stargate SG1 has been cancelled, because it had hit its stride with stories just like these, where you get to learn about the people, about how they think and act, about their likes and dislikes. When people would show up at Jack's home suddenly, those scenes never really worked well enough for me, because there wasn't much depth to them. The best scene of that location was when everyone shows up to get a beer, then Gen Hammond shows up to tell them he's being replaced.

By 10 years, you have come to enjoy their presence in your life. You look forward to seeing them again. You want to hear what's been going on with them, whether they've ascended again, or developed a portable artificial wormhole-making walkman. You care about what they do and what happens to them.

That's why Atlantis has the benefit of SG1's years of exprience, with writing, directing, and acting. I don't favor SG1 or Atlantis one over the other. They're different enough to be on their own. Each has a special comradery of actors which compliment each other. I find the Atlantis actors/parts to be little more quirkier than SG1. But that makes it more endearing.

This kind of episode shows that even in disastrous times, there are moments of quiet and contemplation, of peace and reflection. That there's time to address the problems of the individual rather than the population.
This is the kind of episode which makes a tv show immortal, in my thoughts. It reaches out to me, as a person, and helps me reflect upon my own life and how I function in it.

It makes me think.........
That's the sign of a good story, a good tv show.
And this episode is a perfect example of that.

Other Guy i hope that you stick around as that was a cracking post.

I agree with everything you said.

Good post other guy. I too agree with everything

This was a great episode. Merideth LOL, very funny. I liked how they all seemed to make fun of Rodney, I like seeing nerds get taken down a peg lol. When I first saw McKay's sister I thought she was getting some kind of subliminal message from the McKay in another Universe and he was evil. Reason I thought that:

1. The black leather jacket
2. The over played out notion that all other realities are evil
3. The obvious one-sided part that we don't know him
4. Rod sounds evil
5. HE seemed to have a evil smirk or smile on his face when he was in the room looking up at McKay, his sister, Weir, and Sheppard after he first arrived.
6. He was overly friendly, and as Ronin said 'it seems like he was hiding something'
7. When he said he contacted the Daedalus, I thought he would somehow take it over
8. He gave that thing to Rodney and said to check it to see if he made it through ok, I thought there was a tracking device that would make the Daedalus sent our McKay through instead....The old switcher-ooo
9. There is no 9th reason
10. After the lights went out, that's never a good sign, I assumed Rod put a virus in the computer or somethin.
11. "Rodney McKay and his sister compete with his alternate-reality double to save the universe" I took that as Rodney and his sister COMPETE AGAINST Rod to save our universe from Rod.
12. Didn't Rod say it was a one way trip for him? one way trips usually aren't peaceful ones, more like suicide missions

But ya this was a really good episode cuz the reflection portion of it on behalf of Rodney. He came face to face with a version of himself that everyone seemed to like better then him. It made him double geuss his actions, and he let go of the normal 'i gotta do it' style that he normally does (how he double checked the power levels of everything on the first try, when Zalinka had already done it). He let his sister push the button at the end (I can't remember her name!!) But of course there was the video that Shepard showed his sister, which shows that Rodney always had a sensitive side and wanted to talk to his sister and showed that he isn't always an _ _ _ h o l e

I thought that we were going to have two rodneys..which would of been good for two episodes or so, then you could kill off the 'evil' one. But having two of the same guys (in real-life and in storylines) takes away some of the meaning of the character, like if one died it would be like 'oh well, we got a back-up"

And on a personal note, I kind of relate to this episode cuz like Rodney I got some people who I haven't really talked to in awhile, and I make excuses about it (not as good as 'I am busy alot..in another galaxie' It just always makes an episode better if you can relate to it.

Oh and reasons I don't think Rod was evil.
1. He wasn't
2. He was lacking the traditional evil goatee

Wow! Another awesome Atlantis ep! Loved the fact that McKay has a sister who is smart as him in Physics, or at least as smart as Sam. And Rodney's first name is Meredith! And now I know what's worse than a lemon for Rodney, tofu with lemon! The alternative McKay was cool, with the Shep hair and attitude. I would love to see that other universe, a know it all Shep sounds interesting It stinks that the ZPM is tapped out. Now what are they going to do?

I've never heard 'Merideth' as being a male name before

It will be interesting to see if they try to develop Rodney's sister abit more next season.

That statement, still makes no sense to me at all. If we were to assume that all the possible different forks in the road (ie parallel realities) are a finite number up to 100,000 for example and that number covers all possibilities. Then if we take the Stargate Universe as it is now and try to calculate different realities, it would measure up to many thousands. All of which are mirror images of the current one as per the evidence by the Daniel's AU mirror. Even if we reach to the possibility that the first life on Earth didn't actually happen in an AU, and Earth didn't develop to support life, then the different forks down the road rooting from that AU would stil have thousands of mirror lives regarding the Asguard and the other aliens and all other life scattered in the cosmos as per the current model that the Stargate Universe holds.

The possibility that an AU would be created so that nowhere in the whole cosmos exists any life is improbable. My point is that it certainly is not the norm.

So the chances are that they would at random find a Universe that supports life and to suggest otherwise contradicts logic from what we have seen so far.

On another note. Great episode - with respect to Rodney's background story and character development but I sincerely hope that the writters won't produce any more AU stories. Having said that, I wouldn't mind his sister being involved in another story down the road.

Brilliant episode, I loved everything about it. For some reason I was expecting the alternate McKay to be evil. I expected him to do something when Hermiod beamed him to Daedalus. I hope that we see Kate Hewlett in the show again.

But he didn't have a beard!

You are referring to strokable goatees?

But badass Teal'c was the coolest looking character this series has had yet! Not only was his armour cooler, but that goatee ( NOT the caterpiller ) was just awesome.

and yes, without the "goatee of DOOM" alternate MacKay was simply "cool", not evil.

I';m not sure if its a beard or a goatee. can't the evil twin have a regular beard?



Or maybe weevil (sorry, been enjoying Torchwood. )

I liked this episode was pretty good not one of my favourites but intresting and was funny to watch mckay get anoyed by rod lol

Loved it!

Kate Hewlett was epic. I'd trade her for old Dave any day.

I can't believe they've depleted the ZPM. What fools! Things are going to be very interesting from now on.

Poor Teyla. This Rodnocentric episode just highlighted how starved she is of some face time. I hope she gets an episode soon, because I really do like her. But please Teyla - no singing.

Whats better than Mckay? Two McKays and his sister, lol. Great chemisty, it gave a great atmosphere to scenes.

I laughed so hard when I found out Rodney's real first name was Meredith and finding out alternate Shep was just like our Rodney.

Good EP.

I really liked his sister, hope to see more of her, she played a great part.



...um ok i just for the first time watched the preview for "a Dogs Breakfast" by chance, and low and behold, there she was, playing his sister, again.




Hah, and of course it realy is his sister.

I didn't know there were from TO. thought he was a Vancouverite.

oh well.


I love the commercial she is in...think it was CIBC.

She may turn out to be the next Samatha Carter. (start off with a bunch of TV ads and find a great role in a series).

I must say that the ''new'' Rodney was a little bit creepy!