Letters from Pegasus

"Letters from Pegasus" is the seventeenth episode of the first season of Stargate: Atlantis.

Synopsis
In the wake of discovering a fleet of three Hive Ships zeroing on Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay manages to give the Stargate enough power to dial Earth for one second, which is more than enough time to send compressed data, including the team members' messages to their families.

Previously on Stargate: Atlantis
A Wraith Dart arrives at Atlantis and scans the city and sends a message into space before self-destructing. Dr. Radek Zelenka aims the Long range sensors to where the message was sent and discovered three Hive ships that will arrive at Atlantis in two weeks.

Plot
After Atlantis discovers three Wraith Hive Ships coming in their direction, the leading team discusses what to do. Lt. Aiden Ford suggests they take the Zero Point Module from M7G-677 but Dr. Elizabeth Weir refuses to back such a suggestion. Dr. Rodney McKay reveals that they can use the whole of their energy resources to open a wormhole to Earth and send a high-compression data burst. Though risky, the team decides to do it. After the meeting, Dr. Radek Zelenka informs the team where the Hive ships will leave hyperspace and Major John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan decide to personally oversee the threat. They travel to a planet which Teyla knows via Puddle Jumper and meet an old friend of hers named Orin. After warning him of the threat from the Wraith, Teyla tells Orin that they will rescue his family although Sheppard can make no promises.

At Atlantis, McKay suggests that since space will remain after the initial data transfer, everyone should include a personal message to be sent to Earth as well. Weir decides that every member of the team should have the possibility to send a video message to their loved ones (given they do not reveal classified information). Ford takes on this task by filming a message intended for his grandparents.

Meanwhile, Teyla and Sheppard quarrel about Teyla's promise of help to Orin when the Wraith abruptly appear. Each Hive ship is escorted by three Wraith cruisers, making the force invading Atlantis much worse than expected. They shower the planet with a flurry of Wraith Darts. Before the Jumper can escape through the Stargate, it is dialed by the Wraith so they return to the predetermined location to meet Orin and wait for him.

In the meantime, the Atlantis members continue to forge their messages. Dr. Carson Beckett, although inarticulate at first, sends a sentimental message to his mother. Zelenka recounts (in Czech) Atlantis' Rising. Sgt. Bates sends a message to his younger brother and Weir informs the families of fallen servicemen about the fate of their family members as well as an ulterior personal message. McKay even films a lengthy message on his own while Dr. Peter Kavanagh sends a message to Brigadier General Jack O'Neill in which he lists all the mistakes Weir has made (in his opinion)(although ironically and somewhat humorously, its very likely that not only would O'neill not care enough about an arbitrary supplemental procedural complaint video from a scientist to watch more than a few seconds, but that he would probably agree with all of her decisions and make no effort to take the complaint into consideration). During these clips, several flashbacks occur from former episodes which outline ambiguous details and facilitate a clearer understanding of the past months; including the events during the storm around Atlantis, the attack of the Genii, and several battles with the Wraith.

On the planet, Sheppard and Teyla can only watch in horror while the Wraith cull the population. Suddenly, a dart deposits something on the planet which emits a strange beam so Sheppard resolves to investigate. While he is away, a Wraith passes by the Jumper, oblivious to its presence. However, Teyla is able to collect inhabitants who wander by. When Sheppard returns, he adamantly wants to escape (since the gate is deactivated) but decides to wait on the mainland for Orin. Finally, he arrives accompanied by several other denizens, and Sheppard decides to take as many as possible aboard the Jumper. They are able to flee through the gate but not without some human loss to the Wraith.

In Atlantis, Sheppard and Teyla divulge to Weir the threat which the fleet poses. Soon after, Weir asks him to record a message to the family of Colonel Marshall Sumner which he promptly carries out. The "intergalactic e-mail" is successfully sent to Stargate Command, received by SMSgt. Walter Harriman and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter.

Notable Quotes
(Weir has just briefed Atlantis' scientists about the approaching Wraith fleet)

Weir: So, recommendations?

Beckett: Other than panic?

Weir: Other than panic, yes.

Ford: I could tell my grandma what I've been up to all this time.

Weir: Well, if your grandmother had security clearance, yes, you could! But for now you can tell her that you're well - and that you miss her.

(Ford is recording video messages of each expedition member to send home)

Beckett: What shall I say?

Ford: Uh…uh…"I miss you"? "I wish you were here"?

Beckett: I wish who was here?

Ford: I don't know. Who do you wish was here?

Beckett: Nobody! I wish I wasn't bloody here!

Zelenka: Na dně moře máme „fail safe“, mechanismus. Obrovskou silou vytrhl kotvu města ze dna oceánu. My jsme.. Zhrozili jsme jsme.. Zhrozili jsme se. Neuveřitelný, co se to děje a ten hluk; celé město se třáslo jako při zemětřesení. To bylo něco neuvěritelnýho. A najednou... se hneme. Celé město stoupalo. Stoupalo nahoru, nahoru k hladině. To, to bylo něco neuveřitelnýho a a a věže prorazily hladinu a vyjeli jsme nahoru nahoru a vody, vlny, vodopády, všechno teče z těch vejšek. A my... vystřelili jsme nahoru, úplně, úplně na vršek.. Slunce.... Sluníčko, prostě.... proudilo do všech oken. Do smrti, do smrti na to nezapomenu. (On the bottom of the sea we have a failsafe mechanism. It pulled up the anchor of the city from the bottom of the sea with great force. We.... we were.... we were scared. That was incredible, what happened? And that noise. The whole city was shaking, it was like an earthquake. That was so incredible. And then we were moving. The whole city was rising. It was rising up, rising up to the ocean surface. It was, it was really incredible and the towers broke through the surface. We were going up. Water, waves, waterfalls were falling down from the heights. And we... we were shot up, right to the top. Sun... just shine... It was shining through all the windows. I'll remember it for the rest of my life... for the rest of my life.)

Ford: You didn't say anything that would require security clearance, did you?

Zelenka: Security clearance?

(McKay's recording)

McKay: (adjusts hair) Right. And in five, four, three-

(he stops speaking and holds up two fingers to signify the “two” count, then folds his arms and looks serious.)

McKay: (dramatically) This is Doctor Rodney McKay speaking to you from my base of operations in the lost city of Atlantis, located deep within the Pegasus galaxy. I record this message on the eve of our darkest hour. As I speak, an alien armada of biblical proportions is on its way, bent - dare I say hellbent, in keeping with the metaphor – on our destruction. We will do our best to stave off their attack but I am afraid that defeat is all but inevitable. I, and the other members of my team, face the most horrific deaths imaginable, as our very lives are sucked from our chests in a, in a, horrific - Okay, uh, start again. Start again.

Weir: We have to warn Earth.

Sheppard: Even if it's the last thing we do?

Weir: Especially if it's the last thing we do.

Goofs

 * Considering all the precautions taken with security clearance a number of mistakes are made. The highly classified naquadah generator is clearly visible behind Dr. Radek Zelenka and numerous members of the team have "Atlantis" clearly visible on the shoulder of their jackets in their personal messages.
 * Teyla disabled the cloak on the jumper and reactivated it for the first family group that showed up. Teyla does not have the Ancient gene but actually has Wraith DNA. It is previously shown that the cloak is controlled by the neural interface so Teyla would not be able to control the cloak. (As show in several episodes the cloak can be controlled by a remote control somewhat like a key fob that does not require the ancient gene, in fact a Wraith is seen uncloaking a jumper in the defiant one).
 * Despite McKay saying the wormhole would only remain open for exactly 1.3 seconds, it remains open for close to 3 seconds, with the data burst being recieved just as the wormhole was closing and the Stargates shutting down.