- First appearance: “48 Hours”-Stargate SG1 (S5 Ep. 14, December 5, 2001-Sky One/March 15, 2002-Showtime)
- Last appearance: “Seizure”-Stargate Universe (S2 Ep. 15, April 14, 2011)
- Portrayed by the legendary David Hewlett
Meredith Rodney McKay, Ph.D is a bit of an anomaly in the Stargate reality. He is arrogant and conceited and not as kind as the general heroic characters are. He eschews the friendly Canadian stereotype by being rude though I think his rudeness is more due to a blunt nature based around his perspective.
In Stargate McKay was a contractor for the United States Airforce before finding himself in the Pegasus Galaxy on the series Stargate Atlantis as part of the Atlantis Expedition. And from there the character began to really blossom into something special that still held on to their original qualities. He did not change or soften. Rather you gained a sense of understanding as to why. Credit for that goes to David Hewlett as well as the writers behind the Stargate world.
McKay was not a character I particularly cared for in his first appearance. I can’t necessarily say I hated him thinking back but he was just a little annoying and bordered on creepy with some of his stuff. But as time grew and David Hewlett had more time to craft a character, he became a character who was alternately comic relief and a source of fine dramatic moments.
He first appeared in a handful of SG1 episodes and came off as the opposite of Dr. Samantha “Sam” Carter (Amanda Tapping). All the positive qualities Samantha Carter had, McKay did not. He was far from humble and far from kind. Dare I say he thought the bulk of people were beneath him. However starting with becoming a regular on Stargate Atlantis his character was expanded upon and he became someone that cared for his friends. And even if he was a bit of a coward he could step up to the challenge when necessary.
As Rodney’s character was expanded upon we came to understand him even if he did not heavily change though he did better himself. We learned at one point played piano and seemed more desirous sometimes to be involved in that but turned to science when his teacher called him a fine clinical player that lacked a sense of the art. Ouch! And Hewlett to his credit delivered that revelation in a manner that was clearly painful. Not only that but he believes his parents blame him for their problems.
It seemed utterly implausible when we first met Rodney that at any point during any series he would have an actual platonic or romantic relationship with someone yet he developed relationships and his romantic one with Dr. Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite) was cute and provided a great counterbalance to the character. And it provided possibly the motivation for one of his more daring moves.
In “The Last Man” Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, USAF (Joe Flanigan) is flung 48,000 years into the future. Via a holographic McKay we learn that his disappearance was the first event that plunged the Pegasus Galaxy into chaos. But it also inadvertently caused the death of Jennifer as her efforts after that caused her illness and in the dialogue and story presented that was clearly the most painful element for McKay. He came up with an audacious plan to rewrite history to save Jennifer and Pegasus.
And perhaps one of the best bits of drama in the series goes to David Hewitt as Rodney McKay. I’m talking about the episode “The Shrine” where McKay accidentally gets infected with a water borne parasite whose ultimate result is to kill the host. In the episode, long story short, they realize after taking him to a shrine that temporarily returns the individual to normal that an ancient failing power source causes the creature to briefly shrink back allowing for it to be removed. It’s an ancient tradition to go there in the Pegasus galaxy but because they lacked moderately advanced scientific abilities it’s more of a superstition based around their general reverence for the long dead Ancients.
Anyway you see McKay wasting away and in a series of video clips that become more and more difficult to watch. But perhaps the best bit comes in “Sunday” when we see how the death of Dr. Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion) affects him.
But he was also capable of great kindness to his friends. He cared about them even if he had trouble expressing it. An example of this is in “The Tao of Rodney” when McKay was going through the process of ascension courtesy of some alien technology and he hugged Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa) to remove scars that were a painful reminder of Ronon’s past.
My point is he became well rounded and just a great part of the Stargate reality. He was such a great character. He was entertaining and engaging. He was more normal than the soldiers or off-world humans we encountered. He was not overly brave or capable of great physical feats. Even by his own admission he was out of shape as many real people are. Despite being of great intellect (there needs to be SOME reason they want him there), he allowed the everyman perspective to be brought into the series. And through that he became something special.
Meredith Rodney McKay was a character that started out as a two dimensional and rather uninteresting character but by the end he was something special. He was something perhaps more real than the fictional world he inhabited and contributed to the Stargate mythos and helped make Stargate Atlantis enjoyable.
Warren Watched A Movie 