"At least I didn't declassify Pluto from planet-status. Way to make all the little kids cry, Neil. That make you feel like a big man?"
— Rodney McKay (to Neil deGrasse Tyson)
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Invoked by Keller and McKay. Saving the planet (such as from Global Warming) requires hard work from everyone, not quick fixes.
- As Himself: Both Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
- Call-Back:
- McKay: Hey, I'm Dr. Rodney McKay, all right? 'Difficult' takes a few seconds, 'impossible' a few minutes.
- Dr. Keller I love you. Have for a while now.
- Neil Degrasse Tyson: You know, from television. (Keller stares blankly)Samantha Carter: [in "Trio"] Brian Greene or Neil deGrasse Tyson?... They're physicists. They're on TV. I picked ones you should know. (Keller stares blankly)
- McKay: Neil likes to steal things from me, things like women and theoretical physics ideas.McKay: [in "Trio"] Are you talking about Neil deGrasse Tyson? He once stole an idea from me. Did I tell you that story?
- Celebrity Star: Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Bill Nye, slapping Tunney out of a panic.
- Gone Horribly Right: The heat sink device was designed to draw heat from a contained space and dump it into another universe. Unfortunately, the sinking is a self-sustaining process, so it can't be shut off once it goes haywire.
- Hostile Weather: Once the containment field fails, the machine begins to cause cyclones outside the facility. Not to mention the freezing temperatures inside, and the "freeze-lightning".
- Idiot Ball: As McKay lampshades, Tunney basically copied his work without reading all the warnings about how unstable it is. The fact that McKay knows that convinces Tunney that it was indeed his work, and he cedes to McKay from there on.
- Insistent Terminology: "Not good" isn't necessarily "bad".Keller: You're kidding me, right?
- Locked in a Freezer: Keller finds herself trapped in a locked room flooding with freezing water due to a bolt of freeze lightning damaging both a water main and sealing the door shut. Drowning comes a distant second to hypothermia in this scenario.
- Mile-High Club: It's implied that McKay and Keller join the club at the end of the episode at Keller's suggestion.
- Only Sane Man:
- McKay is the only person at the presentation who expresses concerns over using a timespace bridge to dump heat into an alternate universe. He also proves to be the only one who can help deactivate the device.
- Keller the only medical doctor in a room full of Ph.D's has to fill this role as the worlds greatest geniuses all start bickering among themselves like children over who has the better idea because their pride gets in the way of solving the actual problem.
- Read the Fine Print: McKay balks at activating the heat transfer device "without our consent"; Tunney says this consent is included in the 200 page nondisclosure agreement everyone had to sign to attend the presentation.
- Shout-Out:
- The Actor Allusion to Jewel Staites' previous Sci-fi role.Keller: Have you tried these strawberries?
- Keller mentioned her "Uncle George" hated the phrase "Save the Planet" which is a reference to a famous skit by George Carlin.
- This line:Tunney: [to Rodney] You're smarter than me.
Rodney: I know.
- The Actor Allusion to Jewel Staites' previous Sci-fi role.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: Bill Nye suggests destroying the bridge device, but McKay says it could create a tear in spacetime.
- Take That!: Rodney calls out Neil deGrasse Tyson for declassifying Pluto as a planet.
- Tempting Fate: Tunney repeatedly asserts that the heat transfer device is "completely safe", right up to the moment before it's activated.
- We Do the Impossible: McKay claims that, for him, "impossible [takes] a few minutes".
- We ARE Struggling Together: Most of the worlds greatest scientific minds are located in one room trying to solve a problem... they spend most of the time arguing with each other and shouting over each others' ideas.
