Search and Rescue

"Search and Rescue" is the first episode of the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis.

Plot
Buried in the rubble of the collapsed building, Sheppard and Ronon are trying to get free. Sheppard is trapped under a beam, but Ronon appears to be fine. In another chamber, McKay and Major Lorne, with a broken leg, are also trying to free themselves. At another planet, aboard Michael's cruiser, a signal is picked up. That signal was sent by the research station that collapsed as some sort of failsafe. Now, Michael knows that somebody is aware of the research station, and plots a course towards it.

On Atlantis, the Stargate activates and Carter descends the stairs to meet Lt. Edison. Edison has rushed back from Michael's compound, where a number of Atlantis personnel are now trapped. He has come for back-up and to secure rescue for his team and the others.

With the Daedalus still 2 hours out, Carter and the new Captain Alicia Vega, joined by Dr. Keller and a team of combat engineers head to the planet. They begin searching for their missing people, and they succeed in rescuing McKay and Major Lorne. However, the team is being watched from overhead: Michael has arrived on board his cruiser orbiting the planet, scanning their life signs. When he determines that the Atlantians are there and may still prove useful to his agenda, he launches Wraith darts to capture them.

The search team falls back to their Jumper to wait for reinforcements, but it's too late to use the Stargate; the Wraith have dialed the planet's Stargate, preventing their escape. Now they, like their missing friends, are trapped.

The Daedalus arrives at the planet, and finds itself in orbit along with Michael's cruiser. Michael realizes that the Daedalus has arrived, and tries to jump into hyperspace. Colonel Caldwell orders Major Marks to disable its hyperdrive, and the cruiser cannot run anymore. Just as Michael's drones are about to retrieve Sheppard and Ronon, they are beamed out by the Daedalus. As the Daedalus had to drop its shields to beam the survivors, Michael's ship is able to cause considerable damage to it, disabling sublight and hyperdrive engines as well as Asgard Weapons. As only the shields are going to hold for a short time, the Daedalus launches an F-302 strike against Michael's cruiser to which darts are launched in response.

This attack disables the cruiser's main weapons as well as allowing a cloaked jumper with Sheppard, Ronon and McKay aboard. This strike team is able to disable the cruisers hyperdrive and rescue Teyla (with the help of Kanaan) but their jumper is not where they left it, probably discovered by Michael, so they escape in a Wraith dart. As soon as the team is confirmed safe, the repaired Daedalus destroys Michael's cruiser, but it is possible that Michael escaped in the stolen jumper.

Carter gates to Earth for "an exhaustive review by the IOA", however on arrival Mr. Woolsey informs her that he will be replacing her as commander of the Atlantis Expedition.

Production

 * On February 8th, Leela Savasta was cast for the role of Alicia Vega.
 * The director's cut was leaked to torrent sites June 19th, 2008.
 * Rainbow Sun Francks makes a brief cameo as Aiden Ford (Dream Sequence) at the beginning of the episode, his first appearance since The Hive.