“Vegas
Detective John Sheppard and FBI Agent Richard Woolsey are involved with the investigation of several killings apparently of Wraith origin in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Details
Detective John Sheppard arrives at a crime scene in the Nevada desert that is already roped off by the police. Unfortunately, a female reporter has already learned about the event and is on-scene as well, quickly harassing Sheppard for more information. The covered corpse is like the other seven found, leading the reporter to assume that there is a serial killer loose. What’s unusual about these killings? These are victims of a Wraith feeding!
Cut to a sick guy in a motel room as he talks on the phone to a loved one. Apparently, he’s on a business trip and has fallen ill, vomiting and suffering from a nose bleed. He wants to get some rest, but the music next door is booming. After his shouts to turn the music down go unheeded, he knocks on the door and is shocked by the appearance of a very nasty occupant — a Wraith!
Back at the police station, Detective Sheppard is talking on the phone. Perhaps there have been victims of radiation poisoning going back a month? He orders the person on the other end to look into it. Sheppard himself has been in his modern office for enough time to hang a Johnny Cash poster, but little else decorates the steel, glass, and shiny surfaces.
Captain Lopez, a man in his forties, brings FBI Agent Richard Woolsey to meet Sheppard. Has the case been moved to the federal level? Woolsey won’t say, but Lopez and Sheppard share some of the case evidence with him. The first two victims were buried, dragged out by coyotes. Now, the bodies are being left to the vultures. Sheppard’s not sure that all of the victims were killed by one perpetrator, while Lopez thinks that the killer is just getting careless or more bold.
Sheppard has the coroner’s reports on his desk. He had been reading through them, and questions them because the latest victim didn’t have signs of radioactive isotopes like the previous seven.
During this conversation, Sheppard has been holding a ice pack to his eye. He ends their discussion abruptly, claiming that he needs to see a nurse.
At the hospital, a nurse tells Sheppard about the sick guy introduced earlier. He might have been exposed to radiation, but his symptoms were flu-like. (The nurse calls Sheppard by his first name and shows a personal interest in him, but Sheppard is obviously concentrating solely on his investigation.) When Sheppard goes to the motel where the sick guy was staying, he finds out from the manager that the man has already checked out.
Later, in the same motel, the manager lets Sheppard into the room the Wraith had been in. There is a desiccated body on the floor! Sheppard finds lots of make-up and a bag full of money — probably at least a hundred thousand dollars! Before the manager witnesses more, Sheppard declares the room a crime scene and asks the man to leave.
Guest Characters
- Captain Lopez
- Hotel Manager
- Sick Guy
- Nurse
- Reporter
- Crime Scene Guy
Production
There are several flashback scenes done in the style of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation where one gets an idea of how a crime was committed through “reenactments” and camera tricks that follow the injuries into the human’s body (such as what happens inside the body when a Wraith feeds). The working title for this episode was “CSI: Atlantis”. Portions of this episode will be shot on location in Las Vegas, Nevada. The production will be wrapping principal photography for this season with this episode (shooting the finale before this one).
- Written by Robert C. Cooper
- Directed by Robert C. Cooper
SPOILERS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS THE EPISODE IS IN PRODUCTION.