Atlantis: Season Two
First Aired: January 27, 2006
First Aired: January 27, 2006
When Dr. McKay is trapped underwater in a sinking Puddle Jumper, his only chance for survival may be an hallucination of Samantha Carter.
“Grace Under Pressure” Facts:
- The episode’s title is a play on the SG-1 Season Seven episode “Grace,” which has a similar premise: Samantha Carter is trapped alone on board the Prometheus, and hallucinates her father and teammates after a head injury.
- Though this episode was Amanda Tapping‘s first appearance as a featured guest star on Stargate Atlantis, she had previously made a very short cameo — receiving the data burst from Atlantis in Season One’s “Letters From Pegasus.”
- Tapping filmed this episode following the birth of her daughter, shortly after returning from her maternity leave — which had taken her out of action for the first five episodes of SG-1‘s ninth season.
- Actor William MacDonald, who played the Puddle Jumper pilot who sacrificed himself to give Rodney a chance at survival, would later return to the franchise in the SGU episode “Lost.”
- The whale-like, undersea creature that helps to save McKay’s life also makes a return appearance — in the third season episode “Echoes,” bringing the city a warning of an impending natural disaster.
“Grace Under Pressure” on GateWorld:
- Episode Guide
- Episode Review
- Episode Transcript
- Photo Gallery
- Screencap Gallery
- Discussion Forum
- Interview with David Hewlett (2005)
- Interview with Amanda Tapping (2005)
- Interview with writer Martin Gero (2006)
- Atlantis Season Two Podcast
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Rewatch “Grace Under Pressure” this week! Then post your comments below, or head over to the episode discussion forum and see what people were saying back in the day. What are your favorite moments?
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That last fact reminded me that, that world is doomed now.
Oh, I loved this one. This was in fact, the first Atlantis episode I ever saw. (Been in another country on a medical mission for the first year.) Loved the acting, and writting so much, it just got me hooked. Will happily watch it again and again. You never forget your first SGA.
I find it no mere coincidence that I watched this show today (as in I am watching Atlantis in order for the first time) and HAPPEN to be on Gateworld to look up something regarding the novels and notice this feature for the first time ever!! (I’ve only been on here less than a dozen times so it’s not like I check it a lot). How weird is that! This was definitely an interesting episode. I don’t really like Rodney that much but the episode was good. I hope they look more into the life on the planet the giant… Read more »
Another fun fact: Joel Goldsmith was nominated for an Emmy for this episode’s music. I never understood this. Of all the episodes in the entire series to be nominated for a musical Emmy, why this one? Sure it had some cool cues, but a number of other episodes had even cooler cues. Beyond that, Grace Under Pressure immediately follows Critical Mass, which is the episode that contained the song “Beyond the Night”. You’d think that song might take higher priority to be nominated. All I’m saying is that if they’d nominated the music of a different episode, such as The… Read more »
Definitely not one of my favorites. Just kinda blah.