The Shrine
Encyclopedia
"The Shrine" is the 86th of the science fiction
television series Stargate Atlantis
and is the sixth episode in its fifth season
. The episode is also the 300th produced episode in the overall Stargate franchise
. The episode first aired on August 22 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel
in the United States, and subsequently aired on October 23 on Sky1 in the United Kingdom. The episode was nominated for a Nebula Award
, and a further four Leo Awards.
The episode focuses on Dr. Rodney McKay
, who has been infected with a disease known as "Second Childhood", which is considered the Pegasus equivalent of fast on-set Alzheimer's disease
, where he quickly reverts to a child-like state. The only way for the team to save him is to send him to a shrine on the planet of Talus, which has since turned into a Wraith outpost
.
sister, comes to Atlantis
when she learns her brother has been infected with a mysterious disease known as the "Second Childhood", the Pegasus equivalent of fast on-set Alzheimer's disease
. The Expedition gives Jeannie a chance to say goodbye; Rodney has already regressed to a childlike state and all attempts at medical intervention have failed. Jennifer Keller
explains that McKay became infected with the Second Childhood parasite at some point over the past two weeks, and that she misinterpreted the first symptoms when they appeared after a mission to M44-5YN. The subsequent deterioration of McKay's mind is shown through a series of flashback
s and self-made video recordings. Keller blames herself for not catching the disease sooner, but refuses to give up even as McKay has only a few days left to live. Ronon Dex
proposes an alternative: a shrine on the planet Talus that grants those afflicted with the Second Childhood a single day of mental clarity, followed by a quick death. Jeannie overrules Keller's wishes and asks that McKay be brought to the planet. Despite the fact that the planet has become a Wraith
stronghold, Richard Woolsey
reluctantly approves the mission.
The team reaches the shrine in a puddle jumper, where McKay miraculously returns to normal. Keller determines that the shrine is emitting dangerous radiation
that is causing the parasite to shrink so as to protect itself. As the parasite would rapidly and fatally re-expand were McKay to leave the shrine, and they cannot retrieve medical supplies from Atlantis due to the Wraith, Keller operates on him inside the shrine using improvised tools. Once she drills into McKay's skull, the parasite leaves to escape the radiation, and is destroyed by Ronon. At the end of the episode, Keller watches one of McKay's video diary entries, where McKay confesses his love for her, putting a smile on her face.
produced 214 episodes, and this episode is the 86th produced from Stargate Atlantis
, this makes "The Shrine" the 300th episode produced in the Stargate franchise
. When writer Brad Wright
was asked to write this episode, he originally came up with two ideas, "The Shrine", and "The Replacements", which was meant to be an episode about where Sheppard's team went missing for six months, and finally returned to see completely different crew in the Atlantis Expedition. However, since the cast change from Amanda Tapping
(Samantha Carter
) to Robert Picardo
(Richard Woolsey
) from the beginning of the season, the idea for "The Replacement" was dropped, and Wright went with "The Shrine". The working title of the episode was "The Shrine of Talus", but was changed to "The Shrine", due to clearance issues with releasing the title. The final draft of the script was completed around 10 March 2008. Filming for the episode took place on the week starting on 22 April. The episode's writer, Brad Wright was somewhat inspired by the Daniel Keyes
novel, Flowers for Algernon
for the plot of the episode.
The episode mainly focused on David Hewlett's
character, Rodney McKay
. Hewlett's real-life sister, Kate Hewlett
made an appearance as Jeannie Miller, McKay's sister. This episode was the fourth to star Kate Hewlett's character. David Nykl
was credited as his role of Radek Zelenka
. However, by the time of the finished product, all of his scenes were cut out. Zelenka was, however mentioned in a scene, and despite having all his scenes cut, he was seen for a few seconds, walking past the camera, where the Czech flag was clearly visible from his arm.
, which is considered average for the season so far. The episode was however, beaten by Eureka
with 1.8, Ghost Hunters International
with 1.6, and ECW on Syfy with 1.5, making "The Shrine" the fourth most viewed show on Syfy
for that week. On Sky One
, the episode received viewing figures of 497,000, which was the third most watched TV programme for the channel that week. IGN
had given the episode a rating of 9.2 out of 10, which is considered outstanding. Tony Ireland Mell, the reviewer, praised the episode for numerous reasons, including the depth of Hewlett's character, through the day-by-day progression of McKay's video diary.
In 2009, Brad Wright
's script for "The Shrine" was nominated for a Nebula Award
, alongside The Dark Knight
and Wall-E
. It was also nominated for four Leo Awards in its upcoming 2009 show. The four nominations include "Best Screenwriting in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to Wright), "Best Cinematography in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to Jim Menard), "Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to Brad Rines) and "Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to David Hewlett
).
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
and is the sixth episode in its fifth season
Stargate Atlantis (season 5)
The fifth season of the military science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis commenced airing on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States on July 11, 2008, concluded on the same channel on January 9, 2009, and contained 20 episodes. The show itself is a spin off of its sister show, Stargate...
. The episode is also the 300th produced episode in the overall Stargate franchise
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
. The episode first aired on August 22 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
in the United States, and subsequently aired on October 23 on Sky1 in the United Kingdom. The episode was nominated for a Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, and a further four Leo Awards.
The episode focuses on Dr. Rodney McKay
Rodney McKay
Doctor Meredith Rodney McKay, Ph.D, is a fictional character in the Canadian-American Sci-Fi Channel television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, two military science fiction television shows about a military team exploring two galaxies via a network of alien transportation devices...
, who has been infected with a disease known as "Second Childhood", which is considered the Pegasus equivalent of fast on-set Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, where he quickly reverts to a child-like state. The only way for the team to save him is to send him to a shrine on the planet of Talus, which has since turned into a Wraith outpost
Wraith (Stargate)
In the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, the Wraith are the original enemy alien species, first introduced in the pilot episode . In the series, they are a vampire-like telepathic race who feed on the "life-force" of humans, and are the dominant power in the Pegasus galaxy...
.
Plot
Jeannie Miller, Rodney McKay'sRodney McKay
Doctor Meredith Rodney McKay, Ph.D, is a fictional character in the Canadian-American Sci-Fi Channel television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, two military science fiction television shows about a military team exploring two galaxies via a network of alien transportation devices...
sister, comes to Atlantis
Atlantis (Stargate)
In the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, the spin-off of Stargate SG-1, Atlantis is a city-sized starship originally located in the Pegasus galaxy. Atlantis serves as the base of operations for the main characters, from which they explore other planets through the Stargate...
when she learns her brother has been infected with a mysterious disease known as the "Second Childhood", the Pegasus equivalent of fast on-set Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. The Expedition gives Jeannie a chance to say goodbye; Rodney has already regressed to a childlike state and all attempts at medical intervention have failed. Jennifer Keller
Jennifer Keller
Dr. Jennifer Keller is a fictional character from the Canadian-American military science fiction series Stargate Atlantis, a spin-off series to Stargate SG-1. She is played by Canadian actress Jewel Staite, who previously played the Wraith Ellia in season two episode "Instinct"...
explains that McKay became infected with the Second Childhood parasite at some point over the past two weeks, and that she misinterpreted the first symptoms when they appeared after a mission to M44-5YN. The subsequent deterioration of McKay's mind is shown through a series of flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s and self-made video recordings. Keller blames herself for not catching the disease sooner, but refuses to give up even as McKay has only a few days left to live. Ronon Dex
Ronon Dex
Ronon Dex is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis. Played by Jason Momoa, he is a Satedan, a civilization from the Pegasus Galaxy who had a technological level comparable to Earth in the mid-20th century but met the fate of all advanced civilizations in...
proposes an alternative: a shrine on the planet Talus that grants those afflicted with the Second Childhood a single day of mental clarity, followed by a quick death. Jeannie overrules Keller's wishes and asks that McKay be brought to the planet. Despite the fact that the planet has become a Wraith
Wraith (Stargate)
In the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, the Wraith are the original enemy alien species, first introduced in the pilot episode . In the series, they are a vampire-like telepathic race who feed on the "life-force" of humans, and are the dominant power in the Pegasus galaxy...
stronghold, Richard Woolsey
Richard Woolsey
Richard Woolsey is a fictional character on the Stargate television franchise about military teams exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Played by Robert Picardo, Woolsey made his first appearance as a member of the NID in "Heroes", an episode of season 7 of Stargate...
reluctantly approves the mission.
The team reaches the shrine in a puddle jumper, where McKay miraculously returns to normal. Keller determines that the shrine is emitting dangerous radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
that is causing the parasite to shrink so as to protect itself. As the parasite would rapidly and fatally re-expand were McKay to leave the shrine, and they cannot retrieve medical supplies from Atlantis due to the Wraith, Keller operates on him inside the shrine using improvised tools. Once she drills into McKay's skull, the parasite leaves to escape the radiation, and is destroyed by Ronon. At the end of the episode, Keller watches one of McKay's video diary entries, where McKay confesses his love for her, putting a smile on her face.
Production
Since Stargate SG-1Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
produced 214 episodes, and this episode is the 86th produced from Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
, this makes "The Shrine" the 300th episode produced in the Stargate franchise
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
. When writer Brad Wright
Brad Wright
Brad Wright is a Canadian television producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known as the creator or co-creator of the television series Stargate SG-1 , Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe...
was asked to write this episode, he originally came up with two ideas, "The Shrine", and "The Replacements", which was meant to be an episode about where Sheppard's team went missing for six months, and finally returned to see completely different crew in the Atlantis Expedition. However, since the cast change from Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis...
(Samantha Carter
Samantha Carter
Samantha "Sam" Carter is a fictional character in the Canadian-American military science fiction Stargate franchise, appearing in television series Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. SG-1 and Atlantis are both about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien...
) to Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
(Richard Woolsey
Richard Woolsey
Richard Woolsey is a fictional character on the Stargate television franchise about military teams exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Played by Robert Picardo, Woolsey made his first appearance as a member of the NID in "Heroes", an episode of season 7 of Stargate...
) from the beginning of the season, the idea for "The Replacement" was dropped, and Wright went with "The Shrine". The working title of the episode was "The Shrine of Talus", but was changed to "The Shrine", due to clearance issues with releasing the title. The final draft of the script was completed around 10 March 2008. Filming for the episode took place on the week starting on 22 April. The episode's writer, Brad Wright was somewhat inspired by the Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.-Early life and career:Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New...
novel, Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960...
for the plot of the episode.
The episode mainly focused on David Hewlett's
David Hewlett
David Ian Hewlett is an English-born Canadian actor best known for his role as Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay on the science fiction television shows Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis.-Early life:...
character, Rodney McKay
Rodney McKay
Doctor Meredith Rodney McKay, Ph.D, is a fictional character in the Canadian-American Sci-Fi Channel television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, two military science fiction television shows about a military team exploring two galaxies via a network of alien transportation devices...
. Hewlett's real-life sister, Kate Hewlett
Kate Hewlett
Katherine Emily "Kate" Hewlett is a Canadian actress, writer and songwriter.-Biography:Hewlett was born in Toronto, Ontario. Her brother is actor David Hewlett, who portrayed Rodney McKay in Stargate Atlantis who was also her brother on-screen. Kate guest-starred as McKay's sister Jeannie in four...
made an appearance as Jeannie Miller, McKay's sister. This episode was the fourth to star Kate Hewlett's character. David Nykl
David Nykl
David Nykl is a Czech Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater.After the Soviet invasion in 1968, he and his family left then-Communist Czechoslovakia for Canada...
was credited as his role of Radek Zelenka
Radek Zelenka
Dr. Radek Zelenka is a fictional character in the television series Stargate Atlantis, portrayed by David Nykl. He is a scientist from the Czech Republic and a member of the original expedition from Earth to the Ancient city of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy. His expertise on Ancient technology is...
. However, by the time of the finished product, all of his scenes were cut out. Zelenka was, however mentioned in a scene, and despite having all his scenes cut, he was seen for a few seconds, walking past the camera, where the Czech flag was clearly visible from his arm.
Reception
"The Shrine" received a 1.2 household ratings (1.6 million viewers) from Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, which is considered average for the season so far. The episode was however, beaten by Eureka
Eureka (TV series)
Eureka is an American science fiction television series that premiered on Syfy on July 18, 2006. Since then four seasons have aired, and a fifth is currently being filmed. The second half of season 4 began on SyFy on July 11, 2011 and ended on September 19, 2011...
with 1.8, Ghost Hunters International
Ghost Hunters International
Ghost Hunters International is a spin-off series of Ghost Hunters that airs on Syfy. The series premiered on January 9, 2008...
with 1.6, and ECW on Syfy with 1.5, making "The Shrine" the fourth most viewed show on Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
for that week. On Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
, the episode received viewing figures of 497,000, which was the third most watched TV programme for the channel that week. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
had given the episode a rating of 9.2 out of 10, which is considered outstanding. Tony Ireland Mell, the reviewer, praised the episode for numerous reasons, including the depth of Hewlett's character, through the day-by-day progression of McKay's video diary.
In 2009, Brad Wright
Brad Wright
Brad Wright is a Canadian television producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known as the creator or co-creator of the television series Stargate SG-1 , Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe...
's script for "The Shrine" was nominated for a Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, alongside The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
and Wall-E
WALL-E
WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
. It was also nominated for four Leo Awards in its upcoming 2009 show. The four nominations include "Best Screenwriting in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to Wright), "Best Cinematography in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to Jim Menard), "Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to Brad Rines) and "Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" (nominated to David Hewlett
David Hewlett
David Ian Hewlett is an English-born Canadian actor best known for his role as Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay on the science fiction television shows Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis.-Early life:...
).
External links
- The Shrine at mgm.com
- The Shrine on scifi.comSyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...