Outcast

"Outcast" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of Stargate: Atlantis.

Synopsis
When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's father dies, he and Ronon Dex attend his wake, where the two are confronted by Ava Dixon, and informs them she worked with nanotechnology, and a scientist has illegally created a Human-form Replicator, that is now loose on Earth. Dixon needs their help in tracking it down and destroying it before it causes any more damage.

Previously on Stargate: Atlantis
Devlin Medical Technologies, lead by Henry Wallace kidnapped Jeannie Miller and Dr. Rodney McKay to sort out the nanite coding for their medical program. Wallace kidnaps them to save his own daughter from dying. Meanwhile, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex investigate McKay's disappearance. They work with Agent Malcolm Barrett from the NID and found out about Devlin Medical Technologies, tracked them down and rescued the siblings.

Plot
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex talk on one of Atlantis' hallways, talking about a movie Ronon saw last night, Blades of Glory. He complains that the movie title is misleading, as there was barely any fighting in it. When Sheppard explains that the movie was about ice-skating blades and that it is a sport, Ronon tells Sheppard that "your planet's weird". Sheppard is about to enter his quarters, when he is stopped by Colonel Samantha Carter. She tells him that she received a communication from Stargate Command that his father, Patrick Sheppard had a heart attack last night and had passed away. Meanwhile, on Earth, a woman is looking for intel and looking through satellites to do it. With her are pictures of Sheppard and Ronon in Vancouver when Jeannie Miller was kidnapped. Her computer then finds something, a newspaper report about the death of Patrick Sheppard.

Sheppard is packing his bags to Gate back to Earth. Dr. Rodney McKay then visits him in his quarters, and tells him that he's sorry about the loss. He also requested to join him, but the EM generator on M7G-677 is malfunctioning, and has to fix it to prevent the planet from being attacked by the Wraith. Sheppard then goes to the Gate Room, where the Stargate is dialing. He is then joined by Ronon, who says he's coming with him to Earth.

Sheppard and Ronon arrive in a big house to attend Patrick's wake. There, Ronon realizes that there are a lot of people attending and Sheppard explains that his father was well-connected. Sheppard meets his brother, Dave Sheppard, who has now taken over their father's company. Dave and Sheppard agree that they should soon talk. Afterwards, Sheppard enters a room, where he sees his father's coffin. Ronon picks up a plate and collects a lot of food from the tables. When he meets up with Sheppard again. He explains that the house was one of many houses he grew up in, and that his father pretty much arranged Sheppard's life for him since he was fourteen, but they never talked again after Sheppard's decision to join the United States Air Force. They are then met by Nancy Sheppard, Sheppard's ex-wife, who works at Homeland Security, and was recently promoted to director. Without realizing, the same woman looking for them is also attending the wake.

When Ronon and Sheppard enter the bar, they are met by the woman who identifies herself as Ava Dixon. She says she knows about the events of McKay and Miller's kidnapping. At first, Sheppard attempts to tell her that he doesn't know what she's talking about, but tells her what she wants when she clearly knows too much. They need to talk, but not in the house. When they take her to the car, Dave stops them, and accuses Sheppard of challenging their father's will. When Sheppard explains he has nothing to worry about, Dave tells him that his father regretted his son's decision to break the contact with him to join the Air Force ever since, and wanted a chance for things not to end badly between them. Ronon, Sheppard, and Ava then leave.

At night, Ava explains to the men that Stanton Research, a division of Devlin Medical Technologies has worked with nanites. She was recruited by Dr. Richard Poole, Stanton's head scientist, and witnessed a major breakthrough she didn't expect seeing in her lifetime, on an alleged government funded research called Project Archetype. However, she soon learned that the research was not sanctioned. They were able to make a person out of nanites, a Human-form Replicator, even though replication isn't one of its programs. Three weeks ago, the International Oversight Advisory tracked them down, and attempted to stop them. Poole was planning to destroy the research and shut down the Replicator, but when it realized what Poole was up to, he attacked him, and killed two guards to escape. The Replicator is now loose on Earth, and she needs their help in tracking and stopping it.

Ronon and Sheppard storm the lab and arrest Poole, who is also trying to find the Replicator. They then beam him to the Apollo, where they interrogate him. He has heavily encrypted his files, which would take a long time in cracking, and only he needs the code. He refuses to co-operate, even after Sheppard agrees on a deal with him. Ava agrees to help Sheppard track the Replicator, against Poole's wishes. Sheppard and Ronon then meet with Agent Bates, who was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, and now works for the IOA Field Operations Division. Next they see Dr. Bill Lee, who was interrupted from his first vacation in three years. Ava realizes that the technology in the ship is alien. There, they track the Replicators' signature to an old abandoned warehouse, where it's hiding because social interaction is not included in its programming, and it will kill if it's scared again. Sheppard talks with Poole again to track him down. At first, he doesn't co-operate, since he knows there will be no trial for him regardless. However, he changes his mind, when Sheppard threatens to lock up Ava.

At the warehouse, Poole tells everyone that the Replicator is immune to Anti-Replicator guns, and if they have to take it down, enough firepower and bullets would do it, since it has a limited ability to self-repair. They then split up in teams to search the Replicator. Poole is with Bates. They see the Replicator, but after Bates informs Sheppard, Poole knocks him out and enters the warehouse alone. The Replicator comes out of hiding, where he tells it that it has to shut itself down like it has done several times, and assures him that he will re-activate him. However, the Replicator does not believe him, and kills him. Sheppard and Ronon finds Bates, and then finds Poole, dead.

As they exit the warehouse, they hear weapons fire and track it. There they find the Replicator, and try to kill it, but even with several armed men and machine guns, they only caused minor damage. Eventually the Replicator escapes by jumping into a lake, and the team loses it.

Now it has disappeared and they can't find it The team returns to the Apollo, and give Ava the news, since her parents died very young and Poole was like a father to her. Meanwhile, Lee can't find the Replicator anywhere, even by boosting the sensitivity for energy signatures by 200%. They then wonder why Poole went by himself. They think that Poole has a buyer, most likely from the military. Meanwhile, Sheppard goes to Washington D.C. and encounters Nancy. He wants her to find out anything she can on Project Archetype. Nancy reluctantly agrees, after they argue about the time they were married, that Sheppard kept leaving her on top-secret missions around the World.

Later, Sheppard returns to the Apollo, where Lee is finally able to hack into Poole's computer, and made a shocking discovery; Ava Dixon was actually killed in a car accident last December, meaning she'd been dead for months. The Ava they encountered is also a Replicator. They come to the Stanton Research labs, where Ava has disappeared, with a note saying "I never meant for any of this to happen. I am very sorry. Ava". They then discover that Ava is a different type of Replicator, one programmed with social interaction skills and emotions. Sheppard then gets a message, saying that Nancy is waiting for him. He returns to Washington, and meets up with Nancy, she hands Sheppard a memory stick with everything she has found on Project Archetype. She also took the liberty in researching Sheppard, but realizes this was a mistake. She then wishes him luck, says goodbye and leaves.

Now with the new-found information, Lee is able to find out a warehouse in Redding with "pre-assembled masonry panels", which is actually a code word for shipments of Neutronium, the base material for Replicator nanites, so the Replicator could go there to repair. Bates organizes a stake-out, in case the Replicator shows. However, they need a way to terminate it, but Sheppard gets an idea when Lee mentions a volcano, or molten steel, like in the movies.

The teams arrive in the warehouse at night, but couldn't find the Replicator anywhere. However, it is inside the building, and knocks out the entire team, besides Ronon and Sheppard, where they attempt to fight it. However, the Replicator is about to kill Sheppard, where Ava saves him, and fights the Replicator in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, the male model gets the upper hand throws Ava aside to deal with Ronon. Sheppard is then able to get a knife out and stabs the Replicator with it. The knife has a locator beacon and on Sheppard's command, the Replicator is beamed away. Ava wonders where it is. Sheppard explains that he has sent it to low-Earth orbit. The Replicator is quickly destroyed through the friction of re-entry.

With the situation resolved, the team discuss what is to become of Ava. Despite the fact that she saved them, she is still too much of a security threat. In the end, Sheppard meets with Ava, and tells her that she can be free to roam around Earth, just as long as she is not to work in any scientific fields. Sheppard wishes her luck, and she walks. However, Sheppard then inexplicably disappears. It is revealed that her consciousness has been transferred into Virtual reality, giving her room enough to explore her own World, without her knowing. They also destroyed her body.

In the end, Ronon plans to go back to Atlantis. However, Sheppard decides to stay a little longer. He takes a taxi to a house, where his estranged brother, Dave lives. He enters the house, where they have a discussion.

Notable Quotes
Ronon: I watched it last night. There was hardly any fighting.

Sheppard: That's cause it's not about fighting.

Ronon: Then why's it called Blades of Glory?

Sheppard: Cause it's about... skate blades.

Ronon: And this is a real sport? Men and women dancing around on ice?

Sheppard: Unfortunately.

Ronon: Your planet's weird.

Sheppard: You can say that again.

McKay: Hey, I heard what happened. I'm very sorry.

Sheppard: Thanks.

McKay: You okay?

Sheppard: Yeah, I'm fine.

McKay: You know, I requested to go back with you, but the ancient device on M7G-677's malfunctioning.

Sheppard: That the planet with all the kids?

McKay: Yeah.

Sheppard: That should be fun for you.

McKay: Believe me, I'd get out of it if I could. But without the EM field they're an easy target for the Wraith. Guess it's just bad timing.

Sheppard: Don't worry about it.

McKay: If you wanna...talk or...

Sheppard: Rodney, I'm fine.

McKay: Right.

Ronon: So, what do we do now?

Sheppard: Well, mostly people sit around, drink, eat, (looks at Ronon's plate) some more than others. But mostly they talk. They don't know what to say, but they talk.

Lee: Stupid emergency contact, should never have answered the damn phone.

Sheppard: Come on, doc. It's not so bad.

Lee: That was my first vacation in three years! Two weeks all inclusive. Nothing but surf, sun, and skimpy bikinis as far as the eye could see. Then, they beam me right out of the damn hotel room!

Sheppard: Looks like they did you a favor. Next time, use a little sunblock, all right?

Ronon: This could be our last shot at this guy. We've gotta make sure he goes down for good this time.

Lee: It's not gonna be easy. I mean, if this was the movies, we'd dip him into a vat of molten steel, or a volcano. You know, the fires from whence he came.

Ronon: (to Sheppard) What the hell's he talking about?

(After the Replicator is beamed away)

Ava: What happened? Where did you send him?

Sheppard: Low Earth orbit. I know by experience that re-entry's a bitch.

(Sheppard, Ronon and Lee are discussing the replicator "Ava", after she was put in the virtual world)

Lee: Anyway, now she has a whole virtual world to explore.

Sheppard: Should keep her pretty busy for a while.

Ronon: So, what happened to the rest of her?

Lee: Oh, they deactivated the bonds between her nanites, effectively breaking her into base elements.

(Ronon looks at Sheppard)

Sheppard: They scrapped her.

Goofs

 * Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's father supposedly died of heart failure yet at his viewing there was a closed casket which is usually reserved for when the body is damaged and thus traumatic to see. This is not consistent with what happens at normal American funerals, but not necessarily inconsistent with the deceased's personal wishes.
 * Agent Bates states he was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force. However, in the first season, Sgt. Bates was a Marine.