SGA S3 Spoilers: First Strike

3.20 “First Strike”

Summary

Col. Abe Ellis takes the new starship Apollo on a first strike against a Replicator planet, but when his mission goes wrong, Weir must take radical action to save Atlantis.

Details

The Apollo is a new starship, recently pressed into service. On her first voyage, she arrives at Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy ahead of schedule, under the command of Col. Abe Ellis. Ellis is a no-nonsense, brusque, and take-charge commander and as soon as he arrives in his ship, he immediately beams to Atlantis and requests to brief Weir, Sheppard, and McKay on the status of the Human Form Replicators’ planet. Using intelligence photos taken by Daedalus over the course of the last two months, Ellis shows that the Replicators are in the process of building a lot of ships. Rather than Atlantis having to boost their shields, Ellis proposes to “take them down” by going directly to the planet with Sheppard’s team.

Ellis brings with him a set of Mark IX tactical nuclear bombs, housed in a custom-made weapons platform code named Horizon. Horizon carries six warheads and four decoys. McKay objects, saying that six warheads are not enough to “take down” the Replicators, since a single surviving nanite is all that is needed to re-create them. Ellis says that the ships being constructed by the Replicators are not made of nanites, but of conventional materials and that the bombs will be enough to destroy the ships. He’s hoping to buy time for Area 51 to complete its Planetary Wide Anti-Replicator Weapon (PWARW), which is based on the technology the Asgard used to build their Replicator Disruptor Satellites, but Area 51 has not been as successful in adapting the technology as they would have liked.

The Replicators know where Earth is and the IOA won’t sleep soundly until something is done to prevent these ships from launching. Ellis’s primary goal is to eliminate the ships and then use the PWARW when it becomes available. He immediately has McKay beamed aboard the Apollo to inspect the weapons.

Dr. Weir is concerned, though. She’s afraid that this will start an all-out war with the Replicators, but Sheppard tells her that the war had already started long ago…

Guest Characters

  • Col. Abe Ellis, commander of Apollo
  • Apollo crewmembers

Production

  • Written by Martin Gero
  • Directed by Martin Wood
  • Before cameras September 26-October 6

Spoilers are subject to change as the episode is in production.

SGA S3 Spoilers: The Ark

The Ark

Summary

The team boards a crippled space station to discover people have been preserved there with the hope to outlive their enemy, the Wraith.

Details

The team encounters two people who had been preserved in a technology designed to hold their patterns in an energy buffer. Stored like this, they hoped to outlive the Wraith. Over a thousand people have been preserved in this fashion.

Herick is the engineer behind the space station’s technology. He is released from his storage upon the team’s arrival. He restores Jamus, a leader of his people. Herick discovers that Jamus didn’t preserve his wife and son, while Herick claims that there wasn’t enough time. According to Jamus, the program was a secret and not all of the people could be preserved. When they launched their first shuttle of those to be preserved, the word got out and the people rioted. The second shuttle, the one on which Herick’s wife and son were most likely on, was delayed. They waited a day for the shuttle, but the Wraith came in the meantime. Fearing that the second shuttle’s navigational systems would lead the Wraith to their position, Jamus ordered that the second shuttle be destroyed. Afterwards, the entire planet was wiped out with nuclear weapons, making it uninhabitable for a very long time, ensuring that the Wraith would never return.

Herick is devastated, all hope has left him. No longer able to endure his grief and anger at Jamus, he commits suicide. His manner of suicide, however, leaves the rest of the people on the moon in danger as it begins to approach the planet’s atmosphere where it will burn up.

Because the entire population of the planet was killed, the people preserved in the storage device are the only survivors. Jamus takes Teyla hostage to guarantee that these last remaining people survive.

Guest Characters

  • Major Lorne
  • Herick
  • Jamus

Production

  • Story by: Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson
  • Teleplay by: Carl Binder
  • Directed by: Martin Wood
  • Before cameras: August 25-September 5

Spoilers are subject to change as the episode remains in production.

SGA S3 Spoilers: The Game

The Game

Summary

McKay and Sheppard participate in a SIMS-like game simulation which turns real.

Details

McKay creates a simulation woman who appears similar to Samantha Carter in a SIMS-like game against Sheppard and names her Nola. Nola and her people are citizens of Gelder, named after McKay’s ex-girlfriend. Nola has led her people to the brink of war against the rival country across the river, called Hallona, the country controlled by Sheppard. Discouraged and shaken that McKay is a mere man and not the revered “Oracle”, Nola becomes autonomous, making decisions on her own. Unfortunately, her decisions lead both warring factions into greater conflict.

Sheppard’s country, Hallona, is less technologically advanced than Gelder, but rich in coal. One of its citizens is Baden, who refuses to trade with Geldar and won’t back down from the conditions already set in motion by McKay and Sheppard — to him, war is inevitable.

Guest Characters

Nola – in her 30’s, has short blond hair similar to Samantha Carter’s and has a passing resemblence to her.
Baden – in his 30’s, rough-looking, dresses in medieval garb.

Production

Story by: Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson
Teleplay by: Carl Binder
Directed by: William Waring
Before Cameras: August 16-24

Please note that spoilers are subject to change as the episode is still in production.

New Promo Pics, Ads, Wallpapers at Scifi.com

Daniel and Vala, Season 10

Scifi.com has added new promo and spoiler pics for SG-1 and Atlantis to its galleries. There are 20 images total for each, with 8 new promo pictures for Atlantis and 7 new ones for SG-1. The remaining images are on-set episode shots, it appears. They aren’t as high resolution as the ones emedian.net usually has, but they are lovely nevertheless and appear to be far less photoshopped than the earlier promo pics.

Also on each page are new promo ads with major new spoilers for tomorrow night’s premieres.

Finally, there are several new wallpapers for each show, at various resolutions.

Images:
Stargate SG-1 Gallery
Stargate Atlantis Gallery

Wallpapers:
SG-1 Downloads
Atlantis Downloads

Thanks to Elyse at sg1_spoilme for the tip!

Stargate Wiki Keeps On Growing

Stargate Wiki exceeds 2000 articles

Regular visitors to the Solutions Stargate Wiki might have noticed a surge in new articles recently as episode guides to the spin-off Stargate Atlantis were added to the growing collection of Stargate articles. Although the Stargate Wiki concentrates on the mythology of Stargate SG-1, there is some crossover between the two shows which needed to be addressed. With the potential of even greater crossovers coming when members of each show’s regular cast appear in their sister show’s episodes in the upcoming seasons, the addition of these guides will help SG-1 viewers get background information about Atlantis without having to search for the information outside of the wiki.

Also, another major project which has been ongoing is to add planet articles. Even the planets which only get a brief mention are included in the wiki!

We here at Solutions are proud of the Stargate Wiki, now a bit over two years old and one of the first of its kind on the Internet. It will continue to grow as long as there are things to be said about Stargate SG-1 and its wonderful wealth of characters.

SGA S3 Spoilers: Sunday

3.14 Sunday

Summary

Dr. Weir meets one of the new scientists assigned to the Atlantis Outpost and his charm leads her to have lunch with him. She tries to separate her professional life from her social, but duty calls, even on her day off.

Details

Mike Branton is a new scientist assigned to the Atlantis Outpost. He is a young (late 20’s to early 30’s), good-looking, smart, and charming man who is Dr. Elizabeth Weir’s subordinate’s subordinate. He catches her working on her day off and charms his way into having lunch with her, over her weak objections that she’s his “boss”. Her protests come across only half-hearted, though, because she’s smitten. She even breaks off her lunch with Teyla to go to lunch with Mike instead!

During lunch, Weir continues to insist that they are not “dating” by going to lunch, but Mike catches her slips in words. He knows she likes him. So, acting like lunch is all he’s going to get with her, he decides to take their food to one of the piers for a more romantic setting. But, alas, the lunch ends much sooner than Mike would like because he forgot dessert!

Even after he kisses her, Weir thinks of all the reasons why she can’t start seeing Mike socially. She thinks he’ll split her focus. Just as she appears to be letting Mike down easily a call comes in for her to report in because an explosion has just gone off at the base of the tower near the gym and has killed three and injured a dozen more — and they think this explosion was caused by a bomb.

Guest Characters

Mike Branton (possibly recurring), Technician

Production

Written by: Martin Gero
Directed by: Will Waring
Before cameras: filming begins on or about June 27.

Spoilers are subject to change while the episode is still in production.

SGA S3 Spoilers: Irresponsible

3.13 Irresponsible

Summary

The team meets up again with Lucius and finds that he’s engineered an attack on a village, only to find that things have not entirely gone as planned.

Details

Lucius Lavin (played by Richard Kind and introduced in “Irresistible”) has hired Haemon and his gang to attack his own village in order to make himself look good when he defeats them. Lucius has an Ancient force-field and uses it to his advantage. When Haemon finds that some of his men have been hurt (one being Fortnum who sustained a broken wrist in a staged brawl with Lucius) and hasn’t been paid, he seeks revenge, finding someone who can really threaten the planet — Kolya (Robert Davi)!

Lucius is not without his followers, however. Within the village is Amaris, who sticks by Lucius even after Sheppard reveals that Lucius hired the attackers to make himself look good in the eyes of his followers.

But, there are some in the village who do not believe that Lucius can protect them, including a young woman who develops a plan for the town to protect itself.

Guest Characters

Lucius Lavin [Richard Kind]; Kolya [Robert Davi]; Amaris; Haemon; Fortnum; Young Woman (Serving Wench).

Production

Written by: Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
Directed by: Martin Wood
Before cameras: June 16 – June 26

Spoilers are subject to change as the episode is still in production.

SGA S3 Spoiler Recap

The cast and production team of Stargate Atlantis are currently filming their mid-season two-parter for Season Three. This article includes a recap of the storylines and tidbits for the first eleven episodes of the season.

3.01 No Man’s Land and 3.02 The Misbegotten

Written by Martin Gero, “No Man’s Land” picks up where “Allies” leaves off and delves into the Wraith’s civil war and their vie for access to the feeding grounds in the Milky Way Galaxy. How close will the Wraith get to Earth? This episode marks the return of Connor Trinneer as Michael Kenmore, the Wraith which the Atlantis Expedition Team converted into a human through the use of Dr. Beckett’s retrovirus (2.18 “Michael”). Trinneer also appears in the second episode, “The Misbegotten”, written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. Because Michael didn’t revert completely to his Wraith form, he is neither fully Wraith nor fully human and has no place in either society.

3.03 Sateda

Said to be one of the most exciting action-packed episodes of the show thus far is Robert C. Cooper’s “Sateda”. This episode explores Ronon Dex’s background as a Runner and how his past affected the various worlds wherein he took shelter. Several of the production staff who have blogged about this episode can’t stop talking about its energy level and of Cooper’s superb directorial achievements.

3.04 Irresistible

Richard Kind guest stars as an alien man who proves to have a strange effect on others, making him “irresistable” to Sheppard’s team and others of Atlantis. It’s supposed to be the season’s most entertaining episode, written by Carl Binder and Brad Wright.

3.05 Progeny

As it turns out, the Replicators have cousins in the Pegasus Galaxy in the form of the Asurans — human form Replicants who took on the image of their creators, the Ancients. When the Atlantian Ancients discovered that their experiment in nanotechnological warfare (1.13 “Hot Zone”) had gone wrong, they tried to destroy it. They weren’t successful, and now, after thousands of years of evolution, some the Asurans wish to accomplish the ultimate goal of their creators — ascension. None of them know how, but they think they can find the answer by searching the minds of the Atlantis crew. Some of the Asurans, however, wish only to seek revenge on those who tried to destroy them 10,000 years ago. Written by Carl Binder, this is the first of two episodes which focus on Atlantis‘s new enemy.

3.06 The Real World

In a false reality created by the Asurans, Dr. Elizabeth Weir must endeavor to keep her sanity as everyone around her tells her that the Atlantis Expedition is only a figment of her imagination. Richard Dean Anderson reprises his role as Jack O’Neill, but is he really there? This is the second episode of the Asuran story arc written by Carl Binder.

3.07 Common Ground

Sheppard must face an old nemesis, Acastus Kolya of the Genii. Robert Davi reprises his role as one of the most intense characters ever introduced on the show. “Common Ground” is written by new staff writer Ken Cuperus.

3.08 McKay and Mrs. Miller

Viewers finally get to meet McKay’s sister, Jeanie, played by Kate Hewlett, David Hewlett’s real-life sister. This story, written by Martin Gero, explores the relationship between the siblings and delves into the possibilities of roads not taken.

3.09 (untitled Character Backstories story)

This episode remains a bit of a mystery. Martin Gero, in an interview with GateWorld, said that it had character backstories and is written by Carl Binder. It is possible that this episode will also address one of the issues brought forth by executive producer Robert C. Cooper — the lack of character moments in Atlantis as compared to the same time in Stargate SG-1‘s history.

3.10/3.11 The Return

“The Return” is the mid-season two-parter penned by Martin Gero and marks the return of two pivotal characters to the Stargate universe, as well as the return of the Asurans. Robert Picardo returns as Richard Woolsey and Richard Dean Anderson returns as Gen. Jack O’Neill (the final two of the three episodes he will appear in this season). The Asurans have captured Atlantis, the place of their creation, and now the Team must get it back.

Second Half: TBD

According to Martin Gero, 15 of the season’s 20 episodes have been planned (as of late March when the interview was conducted). Of these 15 episodes, only four contain plots concerning the Wraith.

Gero calls the third season a “make or break” season, challenging the creative team to develop a rich universe filled with interesting, believable, and lovable characters experiencing extraordinary adventures together with the same lasting quality as has been so aptly demonstrated by Stargate SG-1, one of American sci-fi’s most successful TV shows of all time.

Spoilers are subject to change as the episodes are still in production.