About Rodney McKay and firearms....

[jic]

It feels to me that Rodney's reputation for weapons inadequacy is undeserved, so I went through all the episodes I could remember him using a gun.


The Defiant One: We were not given reason to believe that he couldn't hit the Wraith; rather, he did appear to hit it each time -- if he hadn't, there would have been a hazard to Sheppard, since he was directly behind the target.  This did not seem to cause Rodney to hesitate. 

Rodney had to be reminded to reload.

Siege, Part 3: Rodney is ready to fire on the approaching Wraith, but accidentally ejects the clip, probably instead of disengaging the safety.

Runner: Rodney's skill was disparaged by Ford -- not his aim in particular, but the likelihood of accidental discharge.  Then Ford disarms McKay.  Later, Ford returns the weapon when they appear to be under threat, without any demeaning warnings one might expect toward a crappy shot.  Then, in a face off, Rodney shoots Ford in the shoulder -- which makes sense if a) Rodney would aim for the shoulder in an attempt to incapacitate rather than kill (as implied by his statement immediately prior, and later while hanging upside down), and b) Rodney can hit where he's aiming.  When that doesn't have the expected effect and Rodney flees, shooting into the air looks pretty silly, but it is effective as far as establishing location and danger is concerned, and he's already established that shooting Ford doesn't do a lot of good.

The Long Goodbye: Out of everyone in and near the room, Sheppard turns over his weapon to Rodney.  Shortly thereafter, under fire, Rodney shoots 3 times toward Sheppard's body controlled by a hostile alien consciousness, but doesn't actually hit him and hits him once in a non-vital but non-disabling place.  Beckett tells him not to shoot, for fear of him hitting Sheppard.

Sateda:  Beckett discounts Rodney's skill, saying "And you're a terrible shot."  Rodney doesn't deny it.

Common Ground: Spooked, Rodney opens fire with a P-90 on what turns out to be a mouse.  Or perhaps a rat.  At any rate, afterward, it is a dead mouse.  Hitting a moving target that size is not as easy as it looks.  Trust me.

My biased opinion: Rodney has the background, the hand-eye coordination, and enough experience to be a good shot, even an excellent one.  A site picture is a site picture, and Rodney hits what he aims at, when he bothers to aim.  However, he's not experienced enough with firearms or combat to keep his cool under pressure (failure to reload, clip ejection, losing skill when under fire) or be considered an expert.  Knowing that safeties and ejection buttons exist is not the same as knowing instinctively and reflexively which to use when.  He may not correct Beckett's misconception about his skill because a) he may feel that if he's not the best in the field, his skill is not worth pointing out, b) protesting too much gives the opposite impression, or c) he gets enough crap from Beckett already from exaggerating his ailments and he'd rather not expose himself to more mockery.  I think he gets too much flak in fandom for being a crap shot because a) we're taking Carson's word for it, b) we're equating general weapons expertise with the ability to hit a target, or c) we're being blinded by McKay's own unease.  For all that he's never missed when he's aiming, he's also never displayed any significant confidence with weapons.


Details gathered from transcripts at Gateworld, where it's way too easy to see spoilers for much of Season 3.  However, I'm not particularly sad about this.

Comments

[ficbyzee.livejournal.com]

Oooh. This was really interesting, thanks!

[zoerayne]

Good points, and you address the apparent disparity in his skill level in a way I hadn't thought about. Thanks!

[shadowserenity.livejournal.com]

Terrific post.

"Common Ground" summed up Rodney's skill fairly well for me: he had a P-90 whereas Carson was assigned a sidearm.

I also think Rodney cops a lot of flak for his piloting skills, most of which is also unwarranted, don't you think?

[smittywing.livejournal.com]

Dude, this is great! I was saying to greenygal the other day that I was fine with him dropping the clip in Siege 3, but after Defiant One, I disliked how utterly incompetent he came off in Season 2. The only thing is that I'd rather have a guy in the field who's a bad shot than one who panics and blatantly disregards basic gun safety, which the writers want to play for laughs. (And actually, because it's obviously played for laughs, like the citrus allergy, it doesn't bother me too much.) Did he miss John in The Long Goodbye? I thought he might have winged the same arm that was hit in The Defiant One. I guess I'll just have to watch it again. Oh, the tragedy!

[shusu.livejournal.com]

It explains why we've seen him shoot without looking so often.

[imwithrebel.livejournal.com]

Actually, Rodney did hit Sheppard in his left arm in TLG. Here you can see a small hole in John's sleeve. (http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1857/the5flong5fgoodbye322ns1.jpg) And here, Thalen is bandaging that wound. (http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7866/the5flong5fgoodbye434gz0.jpg)

[zyna-kat.livejournal.com]

Hi! Here via... oh, I have no idea where I got this link.

This is a great discussion--Rodney shooting. I'll add a few scenes:

- in Aurora, when the Wraith wakes up, Rodney panics, flails, and fires his sidearm while running away. He seems to hit (or come very close to hitting) the Wraith, with every shot.

- in The Long Goodbye, Rodney panics and flails and shoots, and does hit John. (Oddly enough, in the same place the Super-Wraith hits John in The Defiant One.)

My conclusion: Rodney is and can be a damned good shot. But when he thinks about it too much (like in Siege), his nerves overcome his instinct, and he doesn't do as well.

YMMV, of course. :)

[anitac588.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this overview!
I wholeheartedly agree with abc points!

[bunni2001.livejournal.com]

What about the first episode of this season when that Queen wraith wakes up after they board the Hive ship and she attacks... I think it was Lorne. He aims and it seriously looks like he shoots her with Sheppard. Though if you rewind and watch in slow you can see his weapon doesn't fire but he WOULD have hit her if he'd pulled the trigger.

mckay and guns

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

This was fantastic because I've often thought about how to reconcile the apparent up-and-down relationship of Rodney and guns, and I like the way you've explained it. When pushed to, when it counts, Rodney can do what he needs to do with a gun ... The Defiant One is one of those episodes I love him for because he nails that Wraith because Sheppard's life depends on it ... but he needs to be told to reload. I think the lack of familiarity in a combat situation is definitely a factor.

To add to that there's also a line in Coup D'Etat where Rodney and John are going to meet with the Genii and Rodney says something along the lines of: "I don't think you've sufficiently trained me to be much good in a shoot 'em up kind of situation." Something like that which suggests a) that Sheppard's been training him and b) that theory and application are different (much as you've suggested.) It's one thing to handle a weapon in a shooting range and another to do it when you're running for your life. I think, too, that Rodney tends to be more confident with a weapon when Sheppard is there - he's usually only doing the point and blindly fire when Sheppard's not around (or when he's shooting at alienconsciousness!Sheppard.)

Carson in general seems to have been awfully critical of Rodney this season, and it feels a bit out of character for me.

Thanks for an interesting look at the issue - I very much agree with what you've said here.

[ceares.livejournal.com]

Here from the newsletter. I love the idea of Rodney's improving skill with firearms, and this is a great overview. I'll definitely be paying more attention to circumstances when he shoots. Thanks.

[toasteronfire.livejournal.com]

Bummed over here from the newsletter.

Great comprehensive review. At this point, I'm not sure if Rodney's iffyness with firearms is due to writer non-continuity or how they just LOVE having Rodney do something stupid to get the laughs. Either way, I'd like to see him stay consistently competent with a gun - you would think they wouldn't let him on the team with a weapon to begin with if he wasn't.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Oh, THANKS for this; Rodney with a gun is just one of my favorite things ever, and damn, I wish they'd let him be--not great, but unremarked upon! That would be FIINE!

[sgafan33.livejournal.com]

I've always maintained that Rodney is a good shot if he didn't panic. A genius with a degree in mechanical engineering as well as an astrophysicist, I think he can calculate the correct angle to hold his gun if he didn't freak out with impending death looming at him.

Also, I think Rodney would think he wasn't a good shot if he wasn't perfect at it. He's just that kind of person.

Killing a mouse with a P90 should be easy. Rapid, multiple bullets and all. Killing one with a sidearm would be a lot tougher.

BTW, Rodney also shot a P90 at a Wraith in "Suspicion", as well as use a taser on it.

Thanks for this interesting post.

[tarlanx]

I agree with you. When he aims, he hits what he aims at but he is not a professional soldier trained to remain calm in battle. I think it's his fear within the situation that fails him rather than his ability to hold and shoot a weapon.