The John/Rodney thread!

[Xanthe]

Discuss the Sheppard/McKay relationship here!

[pfyre]

I've loved their relationship from the pilot movie - when Rodney ran into the chair area and ordered Sheppard "Major, think about where we are in the solar system." and the 3D representation of the solar system pops up and Sheppard asks "Did I do that?" It sealed the deal when in the second ep - McKay and Sheppard were busy 'playing' as they tested out the personal shield that Rodney had found. Between Sheppard's "I shot him... in the leg." and Rodney's "In-vul-ner-able!" and the two grinning like little boys - I was a goner on that pairing! 

I am firmly in the 'camp' that believes that TPTB of SGA including Malozzi, Cooper, Gero, etc. had their heads up their asses when they tried to cram 'McKay/Keller' down our throats. I don't need or even necessarily want a canon pairing in my favorite shows [Torchwood was an exception] but McKay and Keller had zero chemistry [doesn't help when David and Jewel were gobsmacked when they read the 'pairing' of their characters in the scripts - they thought Keller and McKay had a brother-sister type of relationship] while Sheppard and McKay had chemistry from the first moment onscreen.

[sexycazzy]

pfyre, I agree with you on your thoughts on the relationship between John & Rodney.

Personally, the moment that cemented the relationship between them, for me, was the pier moment in 'The Shrine' - that was a brilliant moment and will be always my favourite scene for them!

Like you, I was astiohned to see Rodney ending up with Keller at the end of series five - that didn't make any sense at all. I actually preferred Ronon & Keller more than Rodney & Keller - that didn't make any sense at all. Am glad to see that David & Jewel were also not happy with where the characters ended up.

Chemistry is brilliant between two characters esp. when they are male, unfortunately, I think most TPTBs seems scared to pair them together for real on the tv show which is a shame, really.

[jacci]

I was not at all interested in any of the SG shows (SGA was well into s4 when i finally figured out how good it was). Was sick one weekend and nothing was on, but fox was running an SGA s1 marathon. Fell in love with Rodney almost instantaneously, and i was definitely hooked on the McShep by the end of the first episode. Since then I have decided that McKay is the greatest character ever written (i know, that is a huge call) and never have seen a better dynamic between two characters slashy or otherwise than Rodney and John.
Totally agree about the Keller fiasco, in fact most of the final season was a downhill slide, with a few exceptions, most notably: The Shrine. When Rodney calls out for John in panic... ohhh my!

[sexycazzy]

Jacci, I agree with you in generally for series five - it has gone downhill a bit, and I'm sad to see it has ended the way it has, with Atlantis on Earth - it doesn't belong here, damn-it! lol

The Shrine was just fantastic and its one of my favourite episodes. I could just watch it again and again just for the Rodney/John moments!

[pfyre]

'The Shrine' was fantastic and would have absolutely PERFECT - if and I do mean IF there was NO Keller in it! Up until that point I tolerated her character and liked her with Ronon [although I would've cheered if Teyla had allowed her to fall off that damned rope/bridge thing on New Athos!  ] but the Keller we were given in 'The Shrine' almost ruined that ep for me. Between her lack of professionalism [conflict of interest, lack of concern when there was an obvious change in Rodney's behavior after they returned from the flooded planet, allowing her socalled 'knowledge' and superiority to cause her to dismiss Ronon's Shrine cure temporary or not -- thank god for Jeannie showing up!]. I really wanted Sheppard and team to get in Keller's face and defy her dictatorial attitude about Rodney and his treatment. And it was completely telling in my book that although Rodney said he loved Keller - it was John that he called for when he was at his lowest point.

Series Five went downhill because Wright got his fingers in the pot - he wanted his OWN show to be Showrunner for - and he had never liked SGA anyway.... What really really REALLY annoyed me about Wright was his sudden claim as SGU was about to air its final ep - that HE had taken the fall for SyFy when THEY wanted to cancel SGA in favor of SGU. I call 'BULLSHIT!' pure unadulterated, unmitigated BULLSHIT! I have no respect for Brad Wright, very little respect for Robert Cooper or Martin Gero and NO respect for Mallozzi for being an absolute asshole about Joe Flanigan after some sort of 'conflict' between them that Mallozzi couldn't keep quiet about and Flanigan took the high road and never responded publicly to.

[Haggy]

Awww its Saturday night the kids are out clubbing and Haggy thought Atlantis! lets get the external HD plugged in and watch an ep for old times sake. And it was The Shrine I chose because D H's acting was fantastic and the whole John Rodney thing was right there and the only thing spoiling it was the McKay/Keller relationship they were pushing down our throats And I kinda miss the whole energy draining vampire bad guys. Oh happy days. I wonder how Dom John would have dealt with his sub losing his mind.

[Altyerre]

... I wonder how Dom John would have dealt with his sub losing his mind.

Oh My!
The Angst! The seer amount of want you cause with a single sentence. John would be out of his mind with worry, Rodney confused, terrified - disbelieving he has a dom? Maybe I'm sadistic but I want.

[Xanthe]

... I wonder how Dom John would have dealt with his sub losing his mind.

Oh My!
The Angst! The seer amount of want you cause with a single sentence. John would be out of his mind with worry, Rodney confused, terrified - disbelieving he has a dom? Maybe I'm sadistic but I want.

Oh dear yes! That would be very angsty for them both! Poor boys!

[georgiesmith]

I read somewhere that Gero saw a lot of himself in McKay and he thought that McKay should have a girlfriend. So I saw Keller for what she was, a Mary Sue. Of course, I inhaled the entire series in 12 sittings so my view of her is probably skewed. (I really, really don't like the character but that's for another thread.)

However, from the moment we see McKay and Sheppard on screen together you can see there's something special there. When they get to Atlantis and they're going up the stairs for the first time, Rodney is right there at John's side. Even little things like that make me smile. In the pilot you can see that even though John is feeling way out of his depth, he's enjoying those little moments with Rodney - the way he teases him ("720"), those little smirky smiles... Rodney just looks adorably confused but has been paying enough attention to John to personally show him the Gateships Puddlejumpers; most likely to please John and see him light up with happiness.

Of course, I'd read all of xanthe's John/Rodney stories before I ever actually saw the show so I had an idea of what to look for. 

[Xanthe]

I didn't mind Keller in the fourth season but in the 5th season she seemed to be another Princess Perfect, the focus of most of the episodes, at the expense of the characters we cared about and THEIR relationships. The romance with McKay was utterly unbelievable and so badly written! That storm ep where they got together - ugh! Honestly, I've seen fanfic written not just a little bit better but a million times better. I think these writers were much better at writing adventure and sci fi than romance and should have stuck to that, throwing in the occasional woman of the week for the guys to have a thing with for one ep in order to prove their heterosexuality in face of all the evidence to the contrary 

[georgiesmith]

You're right - SGA wasn't about romance. It was about friendship, adventure, adversity, bravery and the core group of characters. Keller had big shoes to fill because everyone loved Carson. Keller was just a badly devised character; as she was written there is not way she should have been promoted to head of her department. The only way I could justify it in my head was Carter projecting and thinking that she saw something of herself in Keller. (Of course, I don't like Carter either so that's not really a compliment.)

But back to Rodney and John... their relationship is so easy and natural. They are always a delight to watch together, which is part of the reason that Season 5 isn't nearly as much fun. They spark off of one another that even in fair to middling episodes, there are moments of girlie glee - whether it's just a look, or a sigh or a Catwoman comment...