Infection

From SGCommand

Atlantis Season 5
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Season 4

"Infection" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Previously on Stargate Atlantis 3 Plot 3.1 References 4 Notable Quotes 5 Background notes 5.1 Production 6 External links

[edit] Synopsis

After a Wraith Hive Ship shows up over Atlantis transmitting a distress call, the team discovers that its crew has been stricken with a disease they helped create.

[edit] Previously on Stargate Atlantis

Colonel Sheppard's team makes contact with Todd a board his hive ship in the hopes of stopping the Asurans. Todd hijacks the Daedalus in the hopes of destroying the Attero device by crashing the ship into M6H-987. However, Sheppard, with the help of a Traveler ship, creates a hyperspace window around the Daedalus, saving it moments before destruction. Meanwhile, Todd flees the Daedalus in a Wraith scout ship.

[edit] Plot

After being tracked for several days, a Wraith Hive ship exits hyperspace over M35-117 and transmits a file to Atlantis, which has taken precautionary defensive measures including raising the cloak. After seeing the highly corrupted video file, Col. Sheppard and his team are sent to try and make contact with the Hive via cloaked Puddle Jumper.

However, as they try to establish radio contact, Rodney discovers that there are no life-signs aboard. Curious as to how the ship flew itself to Atlantis, the team lands in the ship's dart bay. Upon securing the - apparently abandoned - ship and making their way to the bridge, they discover that the Wraith crew is in stasis, with all hands stricken with a disease caused in part by Dr. Keller's gene therapy. The team also notices a series of power fluctuations occurring on the ship, wrecking havoc on the ship's systems.

The team is then joined by Dr. Keller and Major Lorne and his men, which include a team of Marines. One of them, Lt. Williams, stands guard in a remote part of the ship when he hears a noise. Williams investigates, and finds that part of the wall is melting away, revealing a hidden corridor behind it. He radios Lorne (who is with Sheppard) and investigates, and is killed when an un-masked Wraith warrior suddenly reaches out of the opening and grabs him. However, he is not killed by being fed upon, but by being eaten by the wraith drone's newly activated digestive system. When Sheppard and Lorne arrive on the scene with another Marine, they find the Lieutenant gone... only his weapon is left behind.

Elsewhere, Dr. Jennifer Keller is being challenged to expand her knowledge of Wraith physiology. She discovered that the treatment worked on the Wraith as planned, but when their immune system was at its weakest, a deadly virus became active. However, she has no idea how to eradicate the virus. The pressure is on, and Jennifer candidly confesses a lack of self-confidence to Rodney McKay. The two have begun to grow closer, and he tries to encourage her. Meanwhile, the team notices that the ship's schematics - which they are using to navigate through the ship - are no longer accurate, as new walls are forming and other ones are being destroyed... literally melting away.

Still experiencing an increasing amount of power fluctuations and systems failure, the team doesn't want to take the chance that any more Wraith will inadvertently come out of hibernation due to a subroutine in the ship that automatically revives them during power failures. And so, the team frantically tries to leave the ship. However, one possible escape route to the dart bay has been blocked by a newly formed wall, leaving only one other passage... a passage that has been completely destroyed, leaving a huge gap in the ship, and the team stranded.

Rodney then comes up with a theory as to the ship's problems: Because Wraith ships are organic and repair themselves, it is possible that the ship is repairing itself incorrectly. However, because the problems with the ship are too serious and lacking the knowledge to properly fix it, Rodney decide to revive Todd. It is then Todd who discovers the reason for the ship's problems: During hibernation, fluids are exchanged between the Hive Ship and the occupant of the hibernation pod. Because the Wraith in the pods were infected with the virus, the ship became infected with it as well, leading to the power failures and malfunctions.

To avoid the constant threat of Wraith sporadically reviving, Col. Sheppard tells Rodney to disable the safety protocols in the hibernation chambers. If a Wraith revives, instead of releasing it, the pod will stay sealed, suffocating its occupant. However, Rodney only manages to alter four out of the five active chambers. This is because Wraith from the last chamber have already awoken and are now freely roaming the ship, roughly two dozen of them, hungry with their newfound ability to eat. Col. Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, Maj. Lorne and the remaining marines quickly assemble into teams to exterminate them, and soon engage in close-quarters combat as they eliminate as many of them as possible.

Meanwhile, Todd works with Keller on a way to cure themselves of the virus. He ultimately realizes a way to do just that. Long ago, a method was devised to restore a Wraith to near perfect health. Hardly any Wraith survive the process, but as he is.. beyond hope.. he is willing to try. The solution is to be fed upon by an Irratus bug. He then asks Sheppard to take the Hive Ship into hyperspace to a planet with Irratus bugs on it. However, not entirely trusting Todd, and questioning the ship's structural integrity, he says no. Todd, who is now incredibly angry, is taken away to a holding cell. During this time, the rest of Sheppard's and Lorne's team are battling the remaining wraith warriors. However, as the ship is quickly losing integrity, Sheppard orders them back to the bridge. As the ship continues to lose hull integrity, a massive stress point spanning the entire width of the ship finally fails, splitting the ship in half moments after the teams fighting the Wraith make it to the front portion of the ship. However, as the back half remains in orbit, the forward half (in which the team is in) begins to lose its orbit, and descends into the atmosphere of M35-117. With no hope of stopping the ship in time, the team re-enlists the help of Todd. As he makes his way back to the bridge, he quickly gains control of the ship, firing the forward thrusters with all of the remaining power. However, the ship is rapidly descending. Todd then manages to level out the ship moments before it slams into the oceans of M35-117, sending a huge wave out in all directions.

Back in Atlantis, Col. Sheppard (who was rescued along with his team via Puddle Jumper moments before the hive ship completely sank) talks with Richard Woolsey in his office about what to do with Todd, now under guard. After being persuaded by John that Todd is a powerful ally and is more useful to them being out in the galaxy, he decides to let him leave through the Stargate to seek out an Irratus bug. As Todd approaches the active Stargate, he has a brief conversation with Sheppard, thanking him for letting him go, saying he will remember what Sheppard has done for him.

[edit] References

Atlantis; Cloak; Daedalus; Drone weapon; Hive Ship; Hyperspace; Inertial dampeners; Iratus bug; M35-117; Michael; Puddle Jumper; Todd; Wraith; Wraith warrior

[edit] Notable Quotes

Todd: I did not think you would come.
Ronon: What are friends for?

[edit] Background notes

• The scene where "Todd" landed the front half of the hive ship on the ocean is similar to Star Wars Episode 3 where Anakin Skywalker lands the front half of a Trade Federation Battlecrusier on Corusant after the ship's escape pods have been launched and they have no other way off but to land.

[edit] Production

• Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi stated in his blog: A mysterious arrival, a difficult dilemma, and the continuation of a storyline introduced in The Queen.
• The episode was originally titled "The Antidote".

[edit] External links

• Infection on the official Syfy website.
• Gateworld Spoilers: Infection, Gateworld.net, retrieved 2008.