MacKenzie

Alternate Characters: Lt. McKenzie of SG-12; Stargate Technician Mackenzie

Dr. MacKenzie

Summary

Dr. MacKenzie (also spelled "McKenzie") was the doctor on call when Apophis attacked the SGC and prompted the Stargate Program to be reactivated. His area of expertise is in psychiatry. He was introduced in the episode, 1.01 "Children of the Gods Part 1", and was last mentioned as being available as a consultant to the SGC in the episode, 7.06 "Lifeboat".

Character Biography

Dr. MacKenzie was a Colonel in the Air Force and the psychiatrist for the SGC (3.04 "Legacy"). Part of Dr. MacKenzie's work involves analyzing psychological data from SG units, specifically looking for common side affects to Gate travel. It is unknown if he had an office on base or just was on consult there. He did have privileges at the Air Force Academy Hospital Mental Ward.

MacKenzie was the first doctor introduced in the series (1.01 "Children of the Gods"). He was present at the base, which was operating with a skeleton crew, when Apophis came through the Stargate and captured a female sergeant and killed three of her fellow security force teammates as they kept watch over a covered and thought to be inactive Stargate. Dr. MacKenzie examined one of the Jaffa who was killed in the attack and was the doctor who gave his first report to General Hammond (1.01 "Children Of The Gods Part 1").

It was only after he needed to treat the "surviving members" of SG-1 that Dr. MacKenzie's field of expertise was revealed to be psychiatry (1.13 "Fire And Water"). SG-1 returned from a mission reporting Daniel dead, burned to death before their eyes. The team took his death hard, but their colleagues began to notice their reactions were more than simple grief. The team was insisting they witnessed Daniel's death, but yet were certain their teammate was still alive. As MacKenzie noted: "Both realities can't be true, yet both seem to be." They sat in a briefing together with Hammond, Dr. Janet Fraiser, and the psychiatrist where MacKenzie played sounds of the ocean to relax them and help them concentrate on their memories. The sound of water created a flashback for Teal'c, which MacKenzie noted with interest. During further discussion, he noted they were reacting with conditioned responses, like they were brainwashed. MacKenzie suggested hypnosis, and Capt. Carter volunteered to undergo the process. MacKenzie hypnotised her, and led her through the memories, pushing her past the false implanted ones and helping her recall what actually happened. Daniel had not been burned to death after all. The team had been captured by an alien creature. The alien had apparently planted the memory of Daniel's death so that they would leave him behind.

Although savior to Dr. Jackson at that time, on another occasion, he was completely wrong in his diagnosis and treatment. After their return from the Linvris chamber, Dr. Jackson started to display symptoms of schizophrenia (3.04 "Legacy"). Since he was the only team member to have such symptoms, the medical staff did not connect his symptoms to anything that happened on the planet. Despite Daniel's insistence they were connected, Dr. MacKenzie was concerned that his condition was the result of long-term use of the Stargate. 53% of the SG teams suffered from headaches. Although at the time, MacKenzie was unaware of the history of mental illness in Daniel's family, in looking at all the evidence: the migraine headaches, the increase of dopamine levels in the left hemisphere of his brain, the psychotic break complete with paranoid delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations were all symptoms of textbook schizophrenia. All SG teams were being recalled to be evaluated for similar symptoms. In the meantime, MacKenzie and Fraiser were going to put Daniel on medication and monitor him while he stayed in a VIP room.

After Daniel had what appeared to be another psychotic episode, attacking an imaginary Goa'uld who he thought was invading O'Neill, Dr. Jackson was committed to Mental Health under Dr. MacKenzie's care. To prevent him from hurting himself, they removed Daniel's glasses and kept him in a padded room. MacKenzie allowed SG-1 to visit their ill member, but warned them not to expect much and to call the aides if he became agitated. Daniel suffered another hallucination during his team's visit, and was prevented from attacking an imaginary Linvris behind Carter by Teal'c. The physical contact with Teal'c transferred Ma'chello's Goa'uld killing parasite to the Jaffa. It was this organism that had been causing Daniel's schizophrenia symptoms. Unfortunately, Daniel was too agitated at the time either to understand or explain what had happened coherently, and he was sedated by MacKenzie and the staff.

Later, Daniel forced himself to remain coherent and told MacKenzie he was cured. He noted the psychiatrist's obvious skepticism was valid based on his behavior but begged the man to check with the SGC and see if Teal'c had become sick, thus giving proof to his theory of an alien infection. Although dubious of Dr. Jackson's explanation that a dead alien they met months ago informed him of the parasitical infection, he did follow Daniel's request. MacKenzie contacted the SGC and told General Hammond there had been a change and requested Col. O'Neill's presence. Daniel was soon released from Mental Health and further tests revealed without the parasite, his dopamine levels were normal. Dr. Jackson helped them discover a cure for Teal'c, who was becoming fatally ill from the infection.

After Teal'c was brainwashed by Apophis and led to believe he was still serving the Goa'uld by being a mole within the SGC, MacKenzie treated him (5.02 "Threshold"). They apparently went through several therapy sessions as MacKenzie tried to break through the mental conditioning. Teal'c eventually pretended to be convinced. MacKenzie cooperated with O'Neill and Hammond and arranged a meeting for Teal'c with O'Neill and Hammond, and Teal'c declared his allegiance to them once again. The Jaffa requested release, which they granted. Teal'c was later met by Bra'tac who determined Teal'c was indeed engaging in deception. Teal'c reacted violently with being found out, running straight into Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson who had weapons ready and additional guards in case Teal'c failed this test of sincerity. It is unclear how much MacKenzie knew of the set-up, but he did not seem particularly surprised, and the way various personnel, including Sam and Daniel, were positioned indicates the plan was well coordinated and that possibly MacKenzie was aware of the plan.

Dr. MacKenzie helped diagnose Daniel's condition when Dr. Jackson was attacked by Pharrin, officer of the Stromos (7.06 "Lifeboat"). The desperate man was trying to save the souls of his ship by downloading the consciousness of twelve passengers into Daniel's mind. Dr. MacKenzie did a detailed analysis of Daniel's EEG and MRI readings. In consultation with Dr. Fraiser, they determiined that that Daniel himself was in a sort of coma as a way to protect itself. MacKenzie theorized correctly that Daniel was carrying the minds of as many as a dozen of the ship's passengers.

Episodes

• 1.01 "Children Of The Gods Part 1"
• 1.02 "Children Of The Gods Part 2"
• 1.13 "Fire And Water"
• 3.04 "Legacy"
• 5.02 "Threshold"
• 7.06 "Lifeboat"

Related Characters

• Col. Jack O'Neill
• Dr. Daniel Jackson
• Capt./Maj. Samantha Carter
• Teal'c
• Gen. George Hammond
• Dr. Janet Fraiser
• Apophis
• Bra'tac
• Ma'chello
• Pharrin

Related Articles

• Jaffa
• Goa'uld
• Linvris
• SGC Medical Staff
• Stargate Command (SGC)
• Stromos

Actor

• Eric Schneider

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--Aurora 21:35, 9 January 2006 (PST)