Radek Zelenka

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Stargate character

Dr. Radek Zelenka
Radek Zelenka
Race Human
Gender Male
Birthplace Prague, Czech Republic, Earth
Portrayer David Nykl
First appearance "Thirty-eight Minutes"

Dr. Radek Zelenka is a fictional character in the television series Stargate Atlantis, portrayed by David Nykl. An Atlantis expedition scientist from the Czech Republic, Zelenka is an expert on Ancient technology, second only to Rodney McKay. Zelenka frequently appears for expository scenes in the control room with the leader of the expedition and with McKay. He first appeared in the early Season 1 episode "Thirty-Eight Minutes" and has since appeared in approximately half of each season's episodes. He also appeared in the cross-over episode "The Pegasus Project" of Stargate SG-1, along with several of his Atlantis co-stars. He is confirmed to appear in Season 5 of Atlantis. For his portrayal of Radek Zelenka, David Nykl was nominated for a 2005 Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Male".

Contents

[edit] Character arc

A member of the original Atlantis Expedition, Dr. Radek Zelenka makes his first appearance in the early Atlantis episode "Thirty-Eight Minutes" where he helps devise a plan to free Sheppard's team including Dr. Rodney McKay from a potentially lethal technical problem.[1] Zelenka and McKay later work on figuring out a way to protect the city of Atlantis from a massive hurricane.[2] "Hot Zone" reveals that Zelenka has been given Dr. Beckett's ATA Gene Therapy that would have enabled him to operate Ancient technology, but the therapy did not take effect.[3] Zelenka inadvertently discovers Atlantis' deep-space sensors in "The Brotherhood" and detects three Wraith Hive-Ships on their way to the city.[4] In the final Season 1 episode, "The Siege", Zelenka devises a computer virus to protect the Ancient database from falling in the wrong hands, and aids McKay in completing Genii nuclear bombs.[5]

Season 2's "Duet" shows Zelenka off-world for the first time, where he needs to save McKay and a soldier after their capture in a Wraith dart.[6] Zelenka and McKay have a major dispute about an experimental Ancient power generator, but after the experiment causes the death of a scientist, McKay apologizes to Zelenka.[7] In parallel to appearing in Season 3, Zelenka is among the Atlantis characters to appear in the Stargate SG-1 crossover episode "The Pegasus Project".[8] When Zelenka is badly wounded in "Tao of Rodney", McKay uses his temporarily acquired Ancient healing powers to heal him. McKay later admits that Zelenka is "a brilliant scientist and a decent human being" and apologizes for so often putting him down. In Season 4, Zelenka is instrumental in the attempts to repair Atlantis when it is stranded in space.[9] Producer Joseph Mallozzi confirmed Zelenka's appearance for Season 5.[10]

[edit] Creation and development

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In order to present cooperation with other nations or other groups of people, the Stargate Atlantis producers were looking to cast a Russian character. David Nykl, a Czech-Canadian actor from the West Coast, participated in a normal audition process, and upon discovering that Nykl could speak Czech fluently, the producers changed the character's nationality to Czech. Zelenka was intended to appear only in the Season 1 "Thirty-Eight Minutes", but he made such an impression that they first wrote him into the next episode, "Suspicion" (which was originally supposed to be just McKay), and later made him a semi-regular character. The producers chose the name "Radek", a fairly common Czech name, right in the beginning, and Nykl had no hand in choosing it.[11][12]

Since David Nykl speaks fluent Czech, Zelenka occasionally speaks Czech on the show. Approximately half of Zelenka's Czech lines are scripted (in English), which Nykl then translates verbatim. Nykl ad-libs the other half, which usually includes swearing.[11][13] "Letters from Pegasus" featured a long monolog by Zelenka describing the city of Atlantis in Czech. Nykl translated the monolog of the script at home and did it in Czech the next day. It was planned to also film a version in English, but the Czech monolog that ended up on screen was the only take. The end of Zelenka's video message ("drž se miláčku", "take care of yourself darling") was ad-libbed, but Nykl left it to the writers to create Zelenka's backstory.[14]

Since the show's beginning, Zelenka has appeared in approximately half of each season's episodes.[13] Zelenka frequently appears in the control room with Weir and with McKay overall for expository scenes.[11][13] After Amanda Tapping's Carter replaced Dr. Weir, the producers put more emphasis on his interaction with her than just with McKay.[15] According to Nykl, the character grew from a supporting to a more regular presence until season 3.[13] Nykl has not been assured by the writers of anything, and usually gets his script whenever they choose to include the character.[15] As of Season 4, he is not under contract,[15] and he does not know how many episodes he will appear in each season.[16] As of the beginning of Season 3, no scenes with Zelenka were cut for time, and in fact, extra scenes involving Zelenka were shot in the first episodes of the season 3 to fill time.[13] Zelenka, a careful and precise scientist, supplements McKay's scientific decisions.[13] According to David Nykl, "[Zelenka] can put up with a lot of stress [...] and a lot of pressure, particularly from McKay and the situations that he can get into. I think he's the sort of scientist that's got reasonably well honed social skills too. I think what I don't like about Zelenka is that one sided focus, that just pure determination to get one thing done."[14] In Nykl's words, he attempts Zelenka to show a human side to the science.[13]

[edit] Reception

Often being the messenger of critical situations, Zelenka earned the nickname "Mr. Bad News" among fans.[13][17] TV Zone called Zelenka a "cerebral foil for the equally brainy Dr. McKay" and referred to their "their friendly rivalry".[17] Cult Times thought Zelenka "has been a key player in helping the Atlantis team stay one step ahead of the bad guys as well as solving some of its most perplexing scientific conundrums".[16] GateWorld's David Read felt that Zelenka "play[s] second fiddle to Rodney [McKay]",[15] but also called Zelenka "the only one who even has the potential to put McKay down."[11] In an interview with David Nykl, TheScifiWorld's Gilles Nuytens referred to Zelenka as a "popular" and "interesting" character, and compared Zelenka's appartitions in Atlantis to the Stargate SG-1 character Walter Harriman, "a bit like the icing on the cake".[18] Another interviewer mentioned that, following a "warm reception", the "fans have really taken [Zelenka] to heart".[14] For his portrayal of Radek Zelenka, David Nykl was nominated for a 2005 Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Male".[19]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Thirty-Eight Minutes". Stargate Atlantis.
  2. ^ "The Storm". Stargate Atlantis.
  3. ^ "Hot Zone". Stargate Atlantis.
  4. ^ "The Brotherhood". Stargate Atlantis.
  5. ^ "The Siege, Part 1 & 2". Stargate Atlantis.
  6. ^ "Duet". Stargate Atlantis.
  7. ^ "Trinity". Stargate Atlantis.
  8. ^ "The Pegasus Project". Stargate SG-1.
  9. ^ "Adrift". Stargate Atlantis.
  10. ^ Mallozzi, Joseph (February 6, 2008). February 6, 2008: Cookie Monster reviews Snakes on a Plane, Baron Destructo reviews No Country for Old Men. josephmallozzi.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  11. ^ a b c d Read, David (June 2005). Chronicles of Radek – GateWorld talks with David Nykl. gateworld.net. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  12. ^ Gosling, Sharon [July 2005]. "Recurring cast", Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 1. London: Titan Books, 131-133. ISBN 1-84576-116-2. 
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Read, David (May 2006). Czeching In – GateWorld talks with David Nykl. gateworld.net. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  14. ^ a b c DAVID NYKL - Interviewed 19th July 2006. the-gateroom.com (July 19, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  15. ^ a b c d Read, David (October 2007). Nykl a Minute – GateWorld talks with David Nykl. gateworld.net. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  16. ^ a b Eramo, Steven (October 2007), “Radekal Science”, Cult Times (no. Special #45), <http://www.visimag.com/culttimes/cs45_feat01.htm> 
  17. ^ a b Eramo, Steven (January 2007), “David Nykl – Mr Bad News”, TV Zone (no. Special #67): 78–79 
  18. ^ Nuytens, Gilles (September 15, 2005). Interview with David Nykl. thescifiworld.net. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  19. ^ Awards for Stargate Atlantis. imdb.com.

[edit] External links

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