A Stargate Atlantis Moment...

I am currently rewatching my Stargate DVD collection, almost through it in fact.

Season 5, Stargate Atlantis.  Episode 6, The Shrine.

A bit of background here.  First, I am one of those people that really grows attached to certain characters in television and movies.  I'm not "they're my friends and I love them" level, but I have to admit to getting invested, particularly in certain characters on long running series.  In my opinion it is usually the mark of great writing when a character transitions from fun to watch to a personality I genuinely care about.

I would never have really though Rodney McKay would qualify. 

Played by Canadian actor David Hewlett, McKay was once voted "One of TVs most annoying characters" when the show was on the air.  He's fun to dislike for his arrogance, fast talking science babble, general hypochondria and paranoid cowardice.  Despite all that, he does usually end up saving the day with science, usually after having broken the day with science. 

Still, Hewlett crafts a witty, somehow charming man out of all of those unlikeable traits. 

Back to the point.  I've seen all three Stargate shows in their entirety at least twice before, so my reaction to the episode in question was something of a surprise.  I don't remember it packing a particularly big emotional punch in previous viewings.

McKay's brilliant scientific mind is exposed to an alien parasite that over the course of a few weeks causes him to revert to a child like state.  His friends and family gather to say their goodbyes, punctuated by flashback sequences that show Rodney's deterioration.  For me, I was deeply moved by Hewlett's performance.  At first he seems almost over the top in his mannerisms but as the flashbacks detail his decline, somehow the frightened child persona becomes more sympathetic. 

McKay's various attempts to say goodbye or convey feelings of friendship and his awareness of his condition mark the performance as Hewlett's best on the show.  I would compare it favourably to Sir Patrick Stewart's tour de force in The Inner Light on Star Trek the Next Generation.  There is a point where the "real" McKay returns and from there you're watching a pretty standard Atlantis episode, but for the first 30 minutes or so, this episode is better than most.

Stargate Atlantis is five seasons of great sci-fi tv, following up on 10 great seasons of SG-1.  I don't know if they're streaming anywhere at the moment, although there was talk of a Stargate centric stream service a while ago.  If it is available to you, I suggest watching SG-1 from the beginning, finding a "watch order" list online (the two shows interlink quite a bit in the first 3.5 seasons of Atlantis) to keep it all straight and watch Atlantis from the beginning.  Fifteen total seasons should keep you busy for a bit.  Let me know if The Shrine makes you weepy.  I won't tell.