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dr-futbol-blog · 3 months ago

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Coup d'État, Pt. 1

The Genii return for the first time since the first season in Coup d'État (S02E17), and as we can already see in the "Previously on..." recap, the episode connects to the previous encounters of the Lanteans with them in Underground (S01E07), The Storm (S01E10)/The Eye (S01E11), The Brotherhood (S01E16) and The Siege (S01E20). In the recap we are also reminded of the role of McKay's safety in motivating Sheppard, how the events of the Genii raid of Atlantis had caused Sheppard to withdraw and seek the companionship of Weir to protect himself from his overpowering fear of loss of the man that he loves, and finally what a devastating effect Sheppard's decision to sacrifice his life for them at the end of the season had on McKay. We are meant to recall all of these things as lingering in the background as we watch the episode unfold. The recap finishes with an atom bomb, fixed up by McKay and delivered by Sheppard, going off above Atlantis, symbolizing the effect the events of the first season had on both Sheppard and McKay, individually and together.

We start the episode on the planet of the week, the team following a female scientist originally of SG-12 that had actually been up for Daniel Jackson's replacement once upon a time. Now in Pegasus, Dr. Lindsay has apparently accompanied Lorne's team on a mission as an Anthropologist, and given that we have previously seen Lorne out with the Botanist Dr. Parrish, it suggests that the other teams do not have a resident scientist like Sheppard's team and that they rotate, taking with them the scientist best suited for the mission (or they accompany which ever scientist needs them for a mission). This tells us that while Sheppard may have considered Caldwell's improvements to the team rosters following Conversion (S02E08), his own team remained the exception. He was never going to give McKay up because McKay was not the team scientist to him, he was a valued member of his team that he has personally trained for field work, as we are later reminded.

Sheppard: How much further? Lindsay: Just around this next corner. Teyla: When was the last time you had any contact with them?

We find the team following Dr. Lindsay through a dimly lit corridor, Sheppard at the helm. The thing to note is that this is not the mission of Sheppard and his team. They are here as re-enforcements, they had been called on short notice to come deliver back-up and assistance to Lorne's team that had been under fire. They were coming in hot. Note that while Sheppard has the lead and he is clearly in a hurry to get to their destination, he is not offering his body as a human shield to Dr. Lindsay and this scene is later paralleled with Sheppard walking in a narrow corridor with McKay. McKay, on the other hand, is snuggly placed between Teyla and Ronon, the latter keeping the rear. Sheppard sounds impatient, which is understandable considering that some of his men are seem to be in trouble. There is purpose to his steps and determination in his posture, he has not come here to play around.

Lindsay: They came under fire about half an hour ago. The major told me to head to the gate and radio for back-up. I haven't heard from him since. Dex: They were under fire and you didn't head back to help? Lindsay: Major Lorne told me to stay by the gate. Sheppard: You did the right thing.

Dr. Lindsay is there to display the difference between McKay and most of the scientists, and as someone who has been a part of the Stargate programme almost as long as he has, she makes a good foil for him. Dr. Lindsay is timid and while she is not new to field work, it is clear that her role in her teams has been very different from McKay's. Just like Lorne had done with Dr. Parrish, he seemed now to have been protective of his scientist and had sent her away when the going got tough with the excuse that she was to get back-up, getting help taking her back near the gate. Ronon sounds incredulous as he listens to her recount of the events, and this tells us that he has developed more than a begrudging respect for McKay over time, that he has come to appreciate what makes McKay a worthy team member. Ronon seems to think that McKay would have come back for them if he had been put in a similar situation as Dr. Lindsay, that McKay would not have been able to just listen to them get shot without doing something. Ronon has watched McKay do everything in his power to save Sheppard (and others, including himself) many times.

Sheppard tells her that she did the right thing, and he might mean that she was following protocol. If Lorne had told her to stay by the gate and radio for help, she had fulfilled her duty. Sheppard may also think that she had done the right thing in making sure that she was safe, as an invaluable member of the expedition. The military members are meant to keep her out of trouble, to protect her. That is what they are there to do. But while Sheppard might think the same about McKay, that McKay's safety is his top priority (and we have seen that this is true again and again), what Sheppard tells Dr. Lindsay here is striking for the fact that during this episode Sheppard speaks to McKay in a cavalier, almost uncaring and definitely uncharacteristic manner, even seeming to personally place him in danger, and this sudden change in his disposition toward McKay requires an explanation. Only in the previous episode we had seen Sheppard give McKay his own gun, and now in this episode he is treating McKay like he was just another Dr. Lindsay, trying almost too hard to make it seem like he is not concerned for McKay's safety. This is definitely one of those whip-lash episodes that make people think that Sheppard does not even like McKay, only barely tolerates him.

Lindsay: Oh my God. Sheppard: Is that the building they were in? McKay: Well, shouldn't there be villagers? Why aren't they trying to put out the fire? Dex: The fire's out. That's just steam and smoke.

Dr. Lindsay comes to a halt as she views the smoking ruins of a building that she had only just vacated, freezing in place. The others stop advancing as she is no longer moving forward, and note how McKay takes up a position standing right behind Sheppard. Sheppard asks her a question and she seems unable to speak, only nodding to him in response. She is in shock and clearly frightened, wringing her hands together.

McKay asks an insightful question that they should have spent more time thinking about because it is odd that none of the villagers are around when it had only been half an hour since Lorne and his team had come under fire. If the villagers had come together to put out the fire, it is doubtful each and every one of them would have just returned to their houses and gone to bed; there should have been some commotion around the place. But no one has really time to stop to think about it and because Ronon offers up an explanation that seems feasible enough, they drop McKay's line of questioning.

What Ronon says is also allegorical -- when there is a fire, even if we cannot see the fire itself, we can tell by the effects that there has been one. It is through the steam and smoke caused by the fire that we have to look for to know that there has been one. The fire in the allegory is Sheppard and McKay's relationship, revealed to us only through the steam and smoke. And their fire may seem like it is out at this time but it is still smouldering and we will shortly see it fanned into an inferno.

Sheppard: Let's take a look. You stay here with Lindsay. McKay: Right, sure! Oh, and hey -- if you hear gunfire, just know that that's me holding back our attackers all on my own, huh?

Sheppard heads inside and tells McKay to stay back "with" Lindsay, the implication being that he wants him to stay and watch over her because she was so visibly frightened that taking her inside would not be a good idea. Note that when Sheppard says "you" here, he does not have to specify who he means because most often when he is talking, he is talking to McKay. He only glances back at him briefly, needing no more than that to communicate this to McKay. And McKay sounds indignant as he feels like he is left behind, just like we saw him frequently feel in the beginning of the season e.g., in Runner (S02E03) and Instinct (S02E07). It is not the baby-sitting duty that bothers him but the fact that Sheppard once more makes him feel unchosen, like he is extraneous to the team, like Sheppard does not need him, like maybe he thinks McKay is not fit for field work.

And note that McKay also seems to feel more secure when he is with Sheppard than when he is left alone, and so he would rather follow Sheppard into hell's gate than have to stay in some safe space waiting for him to come back from danger, so being left alone also makes him feel insecure in more than one way when all of this is pretty much the opposite of what Sheppard intends with his actions. Although Sheppard tells him to stay with Lindsay, his real reason for telling McKay to stay back is likely that he does not know what they are walking into, only that there had been a firefight here only half an hour ago. He does not want to risk taking McKay inside when he knows he will be unable to clear the area, and so he uses the excuse of Dr. Lindsay for McKay to stay behind and feel useful, and to show him that he trusts him to keep her safe. Given that she is a part of his science corps, she really should be his responsibility too.

But Sheppard's ruse does not work because McKay does not spend one moment thinking about Dr. Lindsay's safety, only how he feels slighted being left behind. McKay follows them for several steps, hissing words after Sheppard, trying to make him understand that it may be just as dangerous to leave them outside and that they should all stick together. He does not care what dangers await them as long as they are together. And it is important to note that Sheppard does this here because there is a marked difference between this moment and what happens later on in the episode, after he finds what he thinks is Lorne, dead. Sheppard is protective of McKay here, he is making sure that nothing befalls him even accidentally. Something in Sheppard changes when they return from the planet.

Dr. Lindsay follows McKay as he tries to get in the last word at Sheppard's backside, and we may note that she is a cute if timid scientist that resembles McKay and if McKay was into women, while she is not the type that he claims to fancy, she is actually the kind of woman that he might be paired up with. If they had wanted to introduce an actual female love interest for him rather than Katie Brown (who is always used to show us how Sheppard is the better choice, and of whom we have seen neither hair nor hide since McKay had been forced to have dinner with her against his will), it would have been someone like her.

But note that McKay pays her no attention whatsoever, his only glance at her meant to check for her reaction to his interaction with Sheppard, to see what she thought about their perfectly professional and collegial exchange that is normal talk between a CO and a member of his team and definitely not the back-and-forth of two people in an intimate relationship. It is impossible to say whether the two of them even know each other, if they have even met before this moment, because there is no familiarity between them. Dr. Lindsay has been a part of the SG programme for a long enough time that McKay should be familiar with her, and yet he only has attention for Sheppard. But as soon as he has come to grips with the fact that this is where he is now, McKay cocks his gun and takes his task seriously. If this is what Sheppard wants him to do, this is what he is going to do. He is keeping watch.

Teyla: A fire like this would have burned the whole village if someone had not dealt with it. Dex: Somebody put it out. They just don't wanna stick around to talk about it. It's not safe to be up here. Sheppard: Thanks for that! Ah, I got something.

The rest of the team enter the burned building, and Teyla and Ronon continue trying to figure out what had happened here, seeming to actually continue McKay's line of questioning that they should have followed up on. There is debris falling down and Ronon makes the observation that it is not safe for them to be inside, being that he is protective of Sheppard, and we may note that Sheppard's response to him is uncharacteristically cranky. It is rarely that Sheppard would give this kind of eye-rolling responses to Ronon and his concerns. He says "thanks" but in a clearly sarcastic tone, sounding almost irascible, and it is unlikely that this is even caused by Ronon or by anything Ronon said. What he says is true, and pointing it out is not stupid or redundant.

In saying this, Ronon is also confirming the fact that it had been his safety concern that had led Sheppard to leaving McKay on the outside. He had suspected that it would not be safe inside, and he had been correct, so not allowing McKay to accompany them inside had been the right call. It was not that he would not have trusted McKay to be cautious inside a newly burned building but that he himself had one less thing to worry about as long as McKay was not with them, was not in danger of having a beam fall on top of him. It is not entirely clear what is eating Sheppard, but it is possible that he does not want to be reminded of what is safe and what is not safe at the moment, the accumulated weight of recent events weighing him down.

Sheppard: Damn it! Dex: What? Sheppard: Dog tags. These are Lorne's.

Sheppard stumbles onto the burned remains of a man and kneels down to take a closer look, finding USAF dog tags on the corpse. He picks them up using his knife and reads Lorne's name on them, and while his reaction is understated, this seems to affect him deeply.

Lorne had probably been the very first soldier that Sheppard had picked up for the mission personally following his promotion, Lorne getting his old job, and he was Sheppard's second in command. What ever their personal relationship, Lorne symbolizes a lot of things for Sheppard and now, having to come to the conclusion that they had been too late to save someone serving under him, someone that had been his responsibility, someone that he had sent on this planet as his commanding officer, it is a real blow to him. We see Sheppard look at what they think is Lorne's burned body in silence for a long time, obviously having some deep dark existential thoughts about it. And everything that happens in the episode is coloured by this, by Sheppard thinking that Lorne had died because he was too late to save him, reminding him not just of McKay's mortality but also of his own. His men were dead, and it was on him. He had sent these men to their deaths.

Continued in Pt. 2

#stargate atlantis #john sheppard #sga #sga meta #sheppard is bi #rodney mckay #rodney is gay #mcshep #ep. coup d'etat #ep. the siege #ep. the brotherhood #ep. the storm #ep. the eye #ep. runner #ep. instinct

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dr-futbol-blog · 10 months ago

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Runner, Pt. 3

We follow Lorne and McKay through the deep dark woods and Sheppard seems to have been correct about not being able to be very stealthy with McKay around. Like he tells Sheppard later in Tao of Rodney (S03E14), not talking makes him anxious. Babbling about something helps him keep his fear at bay. Now, he could just be making inconsequential small-talk because he doesn't know Lorne and probably isn't that interested in getting to know him either, but he seems to take this opportunity to learn something about Sheppard. He asks Lorne about something that he would know that pertains to Sheppard but that he had never either asked Sheppard or got Sheppard to answer him:

McKay: So exactly what kind of, uh, special training do you guys have to go through to get this sort of mission? Lorne: ‘You guys'? McKay: Yeah, you know. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, it's a great place to start!

He's being smooth about it by not mentioning Air Force first, even though that's what he is definitely most curious about (and, unlike Sgt. Bates, Lorne actually is Air Force, further indicating he was Sheppard's choice for the position).* And this is not about getting to know Lorne because he's not that keen to get to know new people. He can barely remember the names of members of his own science team, it even took him weeks to learn Zelenka's name and he respects him as a scientist. He is asking because, be things as they may between them, Sheppard is still the centre of his universe. Lorne, however, seems unwilling to share personal details about his life with this scientist that is not his scientist (we did see him share personal things with Parrish before), opting for sarcasm instead:

Lorne: And by ‘this mission' you mean hunting down a skilled weapons expert hopped up on wraith drugs in the pitch black of an alien planet? McKay: Yes! Lorne: Actually, I skipped that course in Major school. McKay: Yeah, I was afraid of that.

It is interesting that Lorne's initial reaction was to question which group of men McKay was actually putting him into. He says "You guys?" like he needs to make sure what McKay is talking about. Because he is member of more than one group of men. And whether he realizes it or not, his sexual orientation did play a part in why Sheppard chose him for the mission. It's not inconsequential. Also, even though McKay is a professional when it comes to staying in the closet with military types, it's entirely possible Lorne had clocked McKay as a gay man the moment he walked into Weir's office because, again, it's easier to see from the inside out.

With Sheppard, it's not as obvious. Given that Lorne doesn't know either of them, he might actually think that it's McKay's sexual orientation that is making Sheppard treat him with the disdain that he now seems to be treating him with. It's not a huge logical leap to make, just observing the two of them. And while he certainly hopes this isn't true about his new CO, it does make him more careful around him. To perform more masculine, to behave more military. To show McKay the same disdain he thinks Sheppard does. But he's not a bad guy and he is also trying to get along with McKay:

Lorne: I was hoping Lieutenant Ford might recognize a friendly face and just turn himself in. McKay: What, you mean me?! Lorne: Well, you were friends, weren't you? McKay: Oh, yeah! When we weren't out on harrowing missions, we used to hang out together. I'd share my dreams of a self-sustaining fusion and he, he would talk of how you could sever a man's torso with a P90!

What's interesting here is that this could just as well be true about McKay and Sheppard. McKay is a scientist, Sheppard is a career soldier. On the face of it, they should have nothing in common. And yet we did see them grow very close during the first season, and that their closeness was something Ford was actually envious about, a closeness he desired to have with Sheppard. Now, at this time we don't actually know what Sheppard and McKay talk about when they're alone together, because we haven't been given many chances to observe them when they are not around other people and not in the middle of some kind of an emergency. The last time we (along with Weir) walked in on them talking, they were discussing how big something is, and we never did find out what. They have a different taste in movies. They like different sports. But they do have things in common too, and they are still curious about each other, learning each other, as evinced by McKay's line of questioning here. They're different, but in many ways complementary, too. McKay wants to learn what makes Sheppard Sheppard.

But it's interesting they bring up the topic of friendship here, for the second time in this episode. Lorne assumes McKay and Ford had been friends, McKay isn't sure they were quite that close. He doesn't really have a lot of friends, and certainly not outside of work. Beckett is the closest thing to a best friend he's ever had. Because John Sheppard is not his friend (and even here, as he contrasts himself and a military type, he is saying he and Sheppard are not friends; they will never be friends). He might have considered Sheppard a friendly face waiting for him to come home before, but he never placed him into the mental category of friend.

They were something different. They were something closer than that. They were something more. And now, they weren't, not any more. They were trying to be friends and they were failing miserably because they just couldn't keep from making these little digs at each other constantly, all the time. They might have loved each other but right now it seemed like they didn't even like each other, and that's a minimum requirement for friendship.

But McKay does mention a few interesting things. First, the severing of a torso with a P-90, since we just saw Sheppard attach his P-90 to his tac vest, grunting sensually as he did it. As far as Sheppard was concerned, McKay had ripped his heart right off of his chest so he wasn't a stranger to severing a man's torso, metaphorically speaking. And second, he mentions sharing his dreams. With Ford, he didn't share his dreams. But he had been sharing his dreams with Sheppard; Sheppard knew about his nightmares. Later, in Doppelganger (S04E04), they will both literally share each others' dreams but given that by this time McKay seems to already know what Sheppard's nightmares are like, it seems like they had both been doing this long before that time.

Also, the fact that he mentions self-sustaining fusion in particular as one of the dreams he had shared becomes important as we come to Trinity (S02E06), but more about that later. Point is, with Sheppard he had shared his dreams. And apparently Sheppard had shared some of his experiences in the military with McKay too, as it seems like he misses that here. He's asking Lorne to tell him about his training because he misses Sheppard talking to him about it. He misses Sheppard.

The fact that Sheppard had not only talked to him about military stuff but had been teaching him things like tactical signs (and forward rolls) is underlined by his reaction to Lorne suddenly throwing his fist up:

McKay: What -- that means quiet, right? Lorne: Get down, get down, get down! McKay: What? What? Lorne: I thought I saw something move.

We are also able to see how different McKay's communication is with Lorne as compared with Sheppard. McKay has real trouble understanding the Major, whether he's using his tactical signs or his words, having to repeat the question "What?" several times, and still not quite getting on the same page with him. Similarly, he doesn't seem to understand Lorne's sarcasm and it takes him quite a while to notice that Lorne seems extremely displeased by his company.

In contrast, McKay reads Sheppard extremely well. His body, his facial expressions, his tone of voice, the whole nine yards of him. But this does not translate to being able to understand other people, and his limited people skills are clearly on display here. A point of comparison is also the fact that Lorne seems pretty handsy with people, manhandling both McKay and Parrish. He is not afraid of touching them to move them around. We did see Sheppard touching McKay from pretty early on (even though he was initially protected by a personal shield) but he was very careful about it. As though he wasn't quite sure he was allowed, like at the end of Hide and Seek (S01E02) as he steals a touch when McKay is passed out.

At the same time elsewhere in the forest, Sheppard and Teyla are tracking something, and we can compare their interaction to McKay and Lorne. They are entirely professional. The little that they talk is all business. In fact, Sheppard has very seldom asked Teyla anything personal and he doesn't seem that interested in her as a person. Sheppard could show some interest in Teyla, or her culture, or her galaxy, he could be trying to get to know her better--but he doesn't. Sure, over the years they get to know each other fairly well but they neither of them get very personal. Sheppard just isn't interested in her like that.

With McKay, they have a whole world of context between them. They're able to have conversations so intimate and idiosyncratic even the audience doesn't necessarily get what they're talking about. They don't even need words to talk, and they can hurt each other with a mere syllable. Even when they are trying to remain professional, like now, they can't help but get personal with each other.

We have seen private moments between Sheppard and Teyla, scenes very erotic even when they've been sparring, but neither of them seems interested in the other, not in getting to know the other person and not sharing things about themselves; not even when Teyla was basically in Sheppard's subconscious in Home (S01E08). While Teyla is much more empathic than Sheppard, their interpersonal relationship is cool and professional.

As it happens both teams, Sheppard and Teyla as well as Lorne and McKay, think that they hear something move in the bushes and take after them. Lorne and Sheppard are in radio contact, and they hear Sheppard tell them that Teyla has been "hit" before they lose radio contact with them entirely.

It seems as though many of the reactions in the episode are slightly off, or subdued. For one, Sheppard doesn't even know whether Teyla was killed by what ever hit her, but his reaction to this is pretty underwhelming, and this is relevant for later. He sees Teyla fall down from shot in the back, and he's immediately in survival mode, scanning his environment for the threat. But McKay's reaction to them suddenly losing radio contact after hearing that Teyla has been taken down is similarly subdued.

Let me also point out this: Lorne thinks McKay is out of shape and for sure, he's not an athlete. He's not trained to traipse through the jungle. But for sure he's in better shape than most of the science team, and he not only manages to somewhat keep up with Lorne here, he later spends several hours wading through the woods in a rubber suit with nothing to drink the whole time. We saw Sheppard running to keep up after Teyla the same as McKay was running to keep up with Lorne, so he's really not as bad as Lorne seems to think.

For some reason, probably due to the influence of Sheppard's current disposition toward McKay, Lorne has just decided to dislike McKay. And when someone does that, everything about the other person becomes annoying and suddenly you're just looking for reasons to hate them. It's not exactly fair toward McKay, but it is important for later.

When they lose radio contact to Sheppard, we see Lorne call out to him several times. He's much less used to exploring alien planets than McKay is, and he seems to be freaking out, having lost contact to his CO who was supposed to tell him what to do in a situation like this. He seems to be close to hyperventilating, his breath coming out fast. He's so lost that he looks at McKay for what to do in this situation.

In contrast, McKay does not appear to react at all. He barely moves, he just watches on. But the thing is, this is on brand for him. This is what McKay looked like when he thought Sheppard had died flying the puddle jumper to the hive. He is very similar to how he seemed back then, up to him wanting to look away from Lorne but forcing himself to look dead on.

McKay also looks lost but what they are feeling is very different. McKay isn't the least bit afraid of being lost in the deep dark woods of an alien planet with an unknown assailant bearing down on them. Lorne seems to be freaking out because he's out of his depth, he doesn't know what to do. Major school definitely hadn't prepared him for this. But as freaked out as Lorne is, McKay is terrified. Not of losing contact with his commander but of losing John.

What ever comforting lies he might have told himself for the past few months, he was not ready to be here again. He was not ready to lose Sheppard. Not again.

Continued in Pt. 4

-* McKay is quoting a slogan from a recruitment ad for the US armed forces that was used in 1982-1987, which would have been during his teenage years (he would have been 14-19 years old when the ads were in active use). Now, this is not the first time that McKay seems to dig something out of his past seemingly at random, it's clear that the associative links his mind makes don't always make sense to other people. He's intelligent and idiosyncratic, is the thing.

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Now, there are a few reasons he might have referenced this. For one, they're roughly the same age so he might have assumed that this ad had been among the reasons Lorne had chosen to become career military. It's also possible it had something to do with Sheppard's choice to join the military, which McKay might even know about. It could be something Sheppard had shared with him.

And given that these recruitment ads are, albeit completely unintentionally and due to the homosocial environment of the military, extremely homoerotic (in fact, when we look at gay fetish tropes, the military features heavily in these, and e.g., the leather daddy archetype ultimately derives from Hells Angels, who had their genesis in veteran fighter pilots of WW II. The Village People are a good example of the use of gay macho fantasy characters, and "men in uniforms" feature heavily in these fetishes). So, in the 1980s when internet pornography was a thing of the distant future, adolescent homosexuals frequently used such ads for... unintended purposes (the same as straight teens would use department store catalogs advertising women's apparel).

So, McKay may have intended this as a coded message here, a kind of a "secret handshake". To confirm his suspicion that this man is "one of us". His entire line of questioning is digging for information about Sheppard, and knowing whether his new second in command was a friend to Dorothy or not is a pretty important piece of information to know, all things considered. So, he's testing the waters.

But, there may have been other reasons for this particular recruitment ad to have stayed in McKay's memory and to have had meaning for him. The TV version says: "We're not a company but outstanding people come to us every day, people who want to make a contribution to a team, and do work that really counts. People eager to see new places, do the unusual, and find the unusual. People who become your friends for life, people just like you." A teenage McKay may have found this extremely appealing, and it may have contributed to his decision to start contracting for the US military instead of the private sector, like his alternate self in the SG-1 episode The Road Not Taken. He might have had a more illustrious career working for the private sector but for some reason, he had chosen the military. He probably found the routine of it comforting, given his confession that he likes military food, as told to Zelenka in Suspicion (S01E04).

McKay wants to be a part of something, wants to explore the world, wants to find people like him. All of this would have sounded very exciting to him. But at the same time, it contains things that would have been appealing to Sheppard in particular, especially the part about finding friends for life. That's what Sheppard is searching for, someone to stand by his side. Given that they are roughly the same age, the ad may have left an impression on both of them, and it may even have come up as a topic of conversation at some point.

But it might be more than that, even. The print version of the add seems to contain many things that a teenage McKay, coming from a broken home environment where his parents hated each other and took it out on him, might have found extremely appealing:

Looking for an opportunity to develop and grow as a person? You'll find it in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. And that's especially true if you're smart enough to graduate from high school. You can earn responsibility in the Services. Learn to lead. Prove that you can make it. In fact, there are all kinds of opportunities for advancement. The Armed Forces can bring out the best in you -- actually help you grow better. For instance, there's even a program in which the government contributes money toward a college education. Serving in the Armed Forces is an adventure and a challenge. There are new places to see. And new friends to make. Pay is higher than ever--more than $550 a month to start. And you earn 30 days of vacation each year. Plus, the Services take care of your food, uniforms, housing and medical needs. But above all, you'll gain new confidence. Stand a little taller. Walk a little prouder. All while serving your country. And that's one of the finest things a person can do.

McKay very likely went to college on a scholarship because even if they had the means, it does not seem as though his father cared about him enough to contribute to his education. He also seems to have completed his degrees in the US, which is much more expensive than in Canada. The idea that if you're smart enough, you will be taken care of would have been comforting to teenage McKay. These are things that would not have meant as much to Sheppard, who came from a much more financially secure background. Sheppard joined the military as an act of rebellion, not out of necessity. But it's entirely possible that having read this ad as a teenager, perhaps more than once if he used what ever magazine it had come in for... other purposes, it might well have contributed, consciously or subconsciously, to McKay's decision to start contracting for the US military. It's a great place to start!

#sga #stargate atlantis #sga meta #john sheppard #sheppard is bi #rodney mckay #rodney is gay #ep. runner #ep. tao of rodney #ep. doppelganger #ep. home #Youtube

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