Stargate Atlantis Rewatch: The Intruder

Oh crap, it's a Wraith virus! (Photo from GateWorld.net)

The Intruder

Written by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Directed by Peter DeLuise
Guest starring Beau Bridges (General Hank Landry), Garwin Sanford (Simon Wallis), Lucia Walters (Ford’s cousin), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Steven Caldwell)

WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!

Summary
A series of murders aboard Deadalus leads to the discovery of a stowaway as the ship ferries the Atlantis command staff home from Earth.

General Impressions
I like how they started with everybody aboard Deadalus on their way back to Atlantis and plunge us directly into a murder mystery. What happened up to that point is only shown in flashbacks, which in my opinion was a good move since I don’t think I would have found a whole episode of Weir trying to get Sheppard promoted and her boyfriend issues very interesting. A murder mystery and evil Wraith virus are much more interesting. The flashbacks are engaging and enhance the action on the ship.

There are a lot of ticking clocks in this episode and a lot of instances of solving one problem only to have a bigger one on their hands.

The Good
Never take on Weir in a war of words. She can win those in her sleep, and she does so against the military brass to get Sheppard promoted and go on being her head of security.

Hermiod vs. Rodney. The two most cranky, snarky, brilliant beings on Deadalus and they’re in the same room together. Too bad they don’t subtitle it when Hermiod grumbles in Asgard. I loved the exchange between them when Rodney realizes the virus is Wraith, which is the only time in SG1 or Atlantis that we actually hear an Asgard curse (in English, anyway).

The personal scenes in the flashbacks are just right: Weir’s boyfriend dumping her when she’s made him a fancy dinner, Ford’s cousin asking Sheppard if he really is as reliable as Ford told her he was in his video message (Letters From Pegasus), Weir standing up to the brass to keep Sheppard.

Rodney covering his junk when he and Sheppard are about to be beamed into the F-302 bay was priceless. Poor Rodney. How were his hands going to keep his manhood from being beamed elsewhere from the rest of him?

The Bad
Caldwell and Weir butting heads over every little thing. Does every officer over the rank of Lt. Colonel have to pull this with her? Can’t Caldwell just let it go? So he got passed over. It’s unprofessional to spend a voyage griping about it. At least he let up a bit when there was a real crisis aboard.

I thought Deadalus had inertial dampers. Why then must all personnel “brace for impact” when Sheppard shoots out the communications array? I guess even inertial dampers have their limits.

Just a little thing, but…why is Sheppard standing up when he gets beamed from the fighter to the Deadalus if he was sitting when he was beamed out of the fighter? Wouldn’t he still be in a sitting position when he arrived on Deadalus?

The Awesome
The Wraith virus. It’s smart. It learns. It commits premeditated murder while interrupting surveillance to ensure there are no witnesses. This thing is scary. Just goes to show how smart the Wraith are. They’re more than just brutish mooks.

Lindstrom getting spaced. I totally shared Rodney’s horror and feeling of helplessness as he watched it happen. Once again, David Hewlett conveys so much with just his facial expressions.

And did I see some extras in Navy uniforms? It’s about time they represented more than just the Air Force and Marines on these Stargate shows. Anyway, I always thought the Navy should be crewing Earth’s spaceships since they’re, you know, ships, but I suppose the argument could also be made that they fly, so they’re just another form of aircraft and therefore should be crewed by Air Force personnel. Still, the Navy has pilots, too (lots of them). Nothing against the Air Force or the Marines, mind you (my Dad was Air Force, and Marines are very intimidating). I’m just saying.

Rating
9 out of 10. I liked this episode, especially how much it revealed about the intelligence of the Wraith. I also liked the way things just kept going from bad to worse.