Irresponsible

"Irresponsible" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of Stargate: Atlantis.

Synopsis
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team travels to a planet to meet a "hero", only to find Lucius Lavin, who play-fights off Genii mercenaries to win the hearts of the villagers. However, the mercenaries soon contact Commander Acastus Kolya in order to capture Sheppard's team.

Plot
Atlantis receives news that a village on M65-PL8 is protected by a hero with superhuman strength. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team visit the planet, only to realize that this hero is really Lucius Lavin. The team suspects that he is using the same drug he used on Atlantis that caused everyone near him to obsessively like him. Lucius says that he doesn't need the drug because he has a Personal shield emitter which makes him invincible, and won the hearts of the villagers after taking out some troublemakers; he maintains their devotion by claiming credit for some of the heroics that he read about in Atlantis's mission reports.

While Lucius is hiking in the nearby woods, a small group of thugs with rifles invade the village, asking for the "hero." With weapons raised, the gang's leader, Haemon, asks Sheppard whether he is the rumored hero who will stop them from robbing the town and burning it to the ground. Lucius Lavin arrives with an air of triumph, declaring that he is the hero and will protect the village. The thugs' blows bounce off his shield, and he makes quick work of them.

The team visits with Lucius in his new home, but after saying goodbye, they decide to stick around and see if they can learn what Lucius is up to this time. They follow him to a secret meeting with Haemon and his men, learning that Lucius hired them to stage the attack, and that he is paying them less than what they agreed to, despite having legitimately injured two of them. The men are furious - they are proud soldiers of the Genii, former members of Cowen's personal guard, who were forced to work for hire after Ladon Radim's coup ("Coup D'etat").

When Lucius returns to the village, the team tries to expose Lucius's con to the villagers, but the villagers do not believe them. Later, Commander Acastus Kolya and some of his soldiers arrive, looking for Sheppard. The team realizes that they can't fight Kolya without risking the lives of the villagers, so with the help of Lucius, they hide in a closet until Kolya leaves. Lucius confronts Kolya and orders him to leave; Kolya's shots bounce off the shield, but Kolya soon realizes that he can torture Lucius by trying to drown him. Lucius gives away the team's location, but they have relocated.

Kolya ties Lucius to a chair and tries to get more information from him. Lucius repeats his false heroics to Kolya and his men, who prove uninterested. Kolya leaves Lucius to deal with some other work. Sheppard's team sneak in and try to break Lucius free, but make a desperate premature exit when a bomb strapped to Lucius's chair goes off. The team is immediately captured by Kolya, except for Sheppard who manages to escape.

While Kolya and his men search for Sheppard, Lucius sneaks away and finds him first. Kolya radios Sheppard to tell him that the Stargate is heavily guarded, and that he will kill members of the team unless Sheppard surrenders. Lucius returns to the village and secretly meets up with the villagers, convincing them that they should fend for themselves: if they always depend on one person to protect them, then they are giving up their freedoms.

Sheppard shows himself to Kolya. Kolya immediately orders his men to open fire; Sheppard is wearing Lucius's personal shield, but it runs out of power after the first barrage. Lucius shows up with the villagers, who overwhelm Kolya and his men (who were reloading their weapons). Kolya, not wanting to surrender, duels with Sheppard and is (finally!) killed.

Notable Quotes
Sheppard: My childhood hero was Evel Knievel.

Teyla: Was he not evil?

Sheppard: No, that was just his name. He was a daredevil... which isn't a kind of a devil, he just jumped motorcycles over things.

Ronon: Why?

Sheppard: Just because. Didn't always make it, either.

Teyla: And you greatly admired this behavior?

Sheppard: No, I just... Look, at least my hero is human. McKay's is Batman!

McKay: Mmm. Misunderstood and unappreciated by many, his most formidable weapon was the power of his brilliant mind. Not just a hero -- a superhero.

Lucius: (a pallet of flour sacks breaks over his head without harming him) See? Invincible. I can't be vinced!

Lucius: Oh. Well, I guess the only thing left to do is for you to thank me.

Ronon: What for?

Lucius: For saving your lives.

Sheppard: Thank you.

Lucius: Please, it was nothing.

Sheppard: Yeah, it was nothing!

Lucius: (angrily) What are you talking about, it was nothing? These people had you on your knees.

Sheppard: Yes, they did.

Lucius: Well? You're welcome.

Sheppard: What are we gonna do?! Well, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna get by Kolya's men so I can get to the Gate and call for reinforcements.

Lucius: Reinforcements? What d'you say we just get off this planet?

Sheppard: My team is back there!

Lucius: Yeah, so is the guy who wants to bury me alive.

Sheppard: Oh, you're done playing hero now, are you? Fine, you can leave as soon as we get to the Gate. Just keep up.

Lucius: You're angry, aren't you?

Sheppard: Shut up.

Lucius: See, that's anger.

Lucius: Okay, okay: what if I swung from a clock tower on a long rope right into town?

Sheppard: And?

Lucius: I dunno. That's all I have. I could set myself on fire.

Sheppard: I like that.

Lucius: Okay. Um, I could run naked? Oh, I know, I know, I have one! What if I got on your shoulders and we have a cloak that they... it's some religious thing... they could be afraid of giants. Okay, what if we build a tunnel, okay? We could tunnel... or a boulder, a huge boulder. I'm camouflaged, I'm protected, now the boulder protects you... or, um, a magnifying glass and some tape...

Sheppard: I have an idea, Lucius.

Lucius: ...some poison tape!

McKay: I thought that personal shield was depleted.

Sheppard: Oh, yeah.

Teyla: Then it is worthless?

Sheppard: Pretty much.

Beckett: You're not gonna tell Lucius?

Sheppard: No.

Lucius: (in background) Kick me as hard as you can! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Sheppard: He´ll figure it out.

Goofs

 * The Personal shield emitter was said previously in "Hide and Seek" that it imprints on the wearer, therefore Lt. Colonel John Sheppard could not have been able to use it or Lucius as he had to have someone activate it for him. The wearer also couldn't eat through the shield. However, this may simply be a more advanced or different variant of the emitter than the one McKay used.
 * At around 12:23 mark, the close-up of the revolver reveals that all the chambers are empty (of course the actors must not be in any danger, but they could have used inert ammunition, just for looks, but it would be just as safe).
 * This is because the thugs were hired by Lucius so that he could appear to be a hero. The mercenaries did not load their weapons because they did not intend to use them. This was confirmed when Lucius said as much to Sheppard.
 * When Lucius is fighting the thugs, his shield emitter is not lit and therefore it should be turned off.
 * Despite having witnessed the Wraith feed on Sheppard and age him considerably in "Common Ground" Kolya is not surprised to see Sheppard young again.
 * It's quite possible they encountered each other again in an untelevised adventure prior to this episode.

Death

 * Commander Acastus Kolya