Miller's Crossing (Stargate Atlantis)

"Miller's Crossing" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis.

Plot

After being reunited with his estranged sister Jeannie a year ago (McKay and Mrs. Miller), Rodney has been keeping up a correspondence with her back on Earth. Unfortunately, certain powerful people are aware of this, and kidnap Jeannie. Rodney returns to Earth to look for her, and is also captured.

Rodney wakes up in a laboratory on Earth with Jeannie, where they meet the man behind their kidnappings, Henry Wallace, president of Devlin Medical Technologies. His company is a military contractor, and is one of the government's primary resources for integrating alien technologies acquired by the Stargate Program into Earth's medical technology. Wallace has only the lowest level of access to information, but after a few too many astounding breakthroughs by the military, he has managed to find out all about S.G.C., Atlantis, and Rodney McKay.

Wallace proceeds to show the two scientists why he captured them; his daughter Sharon is suffering from leukemia. McKay isn't sure what he wants the two of them to do as neither are medical doctors. Wallace explains that Sharon has been given prototype nanites to try to heal her, but they are doing more harm than good. She is dying. Wallace will do anything to save his daughter after the death of his wife three years ago. Rodney and Jeannie are experts on nanite coding, but their knowledge is limited.

Back at the SGC, Sharon eventually dies when her nanites run out of power. Rodney McKay realizes he won't finish reprogramming the nanites in time to save his sister's life, and seeks help from the captive Wraith. He manages to convince the Wraith that it's in his best interests to help reprogram the nanites, since it would be a stepping stone to destroying the Replicators. However, the Wraith is too weak to finish his work. McKay offers to sacrifice himself as food for the Wraith, so that he can regain his strength and complete the code modifications. Sheppard refuses to comply. Instead, he interrogates Wallace, informing him that Sharon has died and Jeannie will soon follow, leaving behind a husband and young daughter. The distraught Wallace agrees to sacrifice himself to the Wraith. The Wraith, now nourished, finishes the code modifications, saving Jeannie's life in the process. McKay later confronts Sheppard, who insists that Wallace voluntarily sacrificed himself.

Casting

Sheri Noel, a regular stand-ins for the show, was given a part in the opening scene as one of the team of scientists.^[1] David Hewlett's real-life sister Kate Hewlett reprised her role as Rodney McKay's sister Jeannie. Her on-screen husband was played by Gero's long-time friend Brendan Gall. Her on-screen daughter Madison was played by Madison Bell, who is described by director Andy Mikita as "a phenomenal little kid actress".^[1] Wallace's daughter Sharon, who is dying of cancer, is played by Libby Osler. Peter Flemming reprised his role as Agent Barrett. The man who escorts McKay and Jeannie out of the lab is played by film industry armorer and former special forces soldier Ron Blecker, who supervised the firearms on set for the production.^[1]

Production

Shots of Jeannie's house were taken from the same location in North Vancouver previously used as her house in McKay and Mrs. Miller.

Gero wanted to write a script featuring McKay and Jeannie on the run for an entire episode, as he has previously had difficulty making Rodney McKay's scripts long enough. When the idea of including the wraith Todd in the episode came up, it was decided to put McKay in the position of the captive wraith Todd, taken hostage and forced to work for his captors.

Scenes of the Stargate at Stargate Command were often cut, due to their repetitive nature and the expense of the CGI imagery. The shot of the gate activating near the beginning of the episode was maintained.^[1]

Scenes of McKay and Agent Barrett in the car were filmed with a projector displaying a moving background behind them. The disused building raided by McKay and Barrett was actually the special effects building for the production, with trucks parked outside to hide the soundstage.

The lab where McKay and Jeannie are imprisoned was filmed in the Riverview Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, with the center computer console prop re-used from a previous production. For the dramatic effect of having the lab in an unknown location, and to create the feel of the lab being contained and confined, the production team deliberately chose to exclude any shots of the buildings' exterior.

Due to the recent conclusion of Stargate SG-1, the production team was able to utilize Stargate SG-1 sets and localities.^[1]

During the scene where Colonel Sheppard rescues McKay and Jeannie, Kate Hewlett was wearing earplugs due to the gunshots, and ended up shouting her subsequent lines.^[1]

The scene with McKay telling Sheppard he wanted the wraith to feed on him was shot approximately a month after the rest of the episode.

The production team had to convince the network to include a scene with Sheppard, the lead character talking someone into killing himself at the hand of the wraith. The resolution came with Shepard presenting the case cleanly, saying, "Listen, your life is over anyway. ...Your daughter is dead, you're about to go into a very dark place for the rest of your life. You can save someone's life here."^[1]

The magazine Shepard holds in the final scene shows longtime Stargate director Martin Wood on the cover.^[1]

References