Vegas

"Vegas" is the nineteenth and penultimate episode of the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis.

Synopsis
In the city of Las Vegas in an alternate reality, police detective John Sheppard investigates a series of bizarre murders where each body appears to have desiccated. He is soon called to Area 51, where Dr. Rodney McKay explains the situation.

Plot
In the middle of a desert, police have cordoned off an area as a crime scene. A car arrives, with John Sheppard inside, who is apparently a detective for the Las Vegas Police Department. He doesn't reveal anything to the female reporter, and just enters the crime scene. They have found a corpse, the apparent eighth victim of a bizarre serial murder in the space of three months, where the corpse is withered, with the same mysterious chest wound, and traces of radiation in the victim.

Back in Las Vegas, the police discover that the victim was 39 year old Thomas Green, who was missing for only three days. The regular autopsy doctor is replaced by Jennifer Keller, who says that she didn't find traces of radiation around the wound. Sheppard a little suspicious and still thinking that the radiation poisoning is the key to finding the killer, Sheppard calls someone at a local hospital to see if anyone is being treated for, or is showing signs of, radiation poisoning.

Meanwhile at the "Lucky Rollers Motel", Laurence Foster vomits on a toilet. He calls his wife who he tells that he thinks the cause is food poisoning, but is forced to end the call when he notices his nose is bleeding again. He gets up because the rock music from the next room is getting too loud. He attempts to go next door to tell the occupant to turn down the music. However, he is disturbed to see someone inhuman, stretching out his hand with a notable slit on the palm (a Wraith).

The next day in Police Headquarters, Detective Sheppard is paid a visit by Agent Richard Woolsey of the FBI, who wants Sheppard's co-operation, and is not willing to tell John the FBI's interest in the case, but knows that the murders are happening more frequently. Sheppard claims that he has picked up no leads and soon leaves to catch a lead he just received from a text message, and doesn't tell Woolsey. Detective Sheppard goes to a hospital, where a nurse says that just yesterday, a man came in with flu-like systems, but suspects radiation poisoning when Sheppard mentions it, as the nurse noticed the man having nose bleeds. Sheppard traces the man to the Lucky Rollers Motel, where the manager recognises the man, and gives Sheppard the logs.

Later that night, the Wraith continues to listen to "Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson. He uses make up and moulds, as well as wearing gloves to disguise himself as a Human to not attract attention to the unsuspecting Tau'ri. He walks out of the motel and heads towards a hotel casino, with Sheppard following. The Wraith enters in a poker game with six more men, later joined by Sheppard. For the whole time, the fellow players notice that one of the players (the Wraith) never looks at anyone, but keeps winning lots of money. During the game, he collects his chips, even though the game has not yet finished. The Wraith gets into a physical altercation with another player and runs away, pushing Sheppard in the process. Sheppard gives chase and picks up a gun from a security guard who fails to capture the Wraith. Eventually, Sheppard corners the Wraith on the rooftops. However, he eludes capture, by falling a hundred feet to the surface, where he manages to survive the fall, gets up and walks away, with Sheppard in total bewilderment.

Back at the Lucky Rollers Motel, Sheppard returns and finds Foster, withered and dead (having been fed on). There, Sheppard finds a bag full of money, and takes it to the trunk of his car. He is then surrounded by Agent Woolsey and three SUVs, who tells him to join them. He joins them, and the SUVs drive to Area 51. En-route Woolsey admits to Sheppard that he is not from the FBI. They arrive in order to tell Sheppard what he is into. However, first he must sign a Non-disclosure agreement, which he refuses to sign. Woolsey calls Rodney McKay to assist, where he enters the room and threatens to ruin Sheppard's life if he doesn't co-operate, even though there is nothing much to ruin.

McKay says he knows a lot about him; he was dishonorably discharged from service in Afghanistan for disobeying orders to rescue a medic he was romantically involved with. Four US soldiers and eight civilians were killed after his helicopter was shot down, but he avoided jail time through political reasons. He never married, he became an LVPD cop, and after failing the exam twice, he was eventually promoted to Detective. However, his arrest record is low due to mishandling of evidence, and he never had a partner because no one can stand working with him. He is also $13,000 in debt due to his gambling problems. Finally, McKay wonders how he lives with himself. However, before McKay turns and leaves, he tells Sheppard that he once met another version of him. McKay is able to convince him that they are not his enemy, and that they want the same thing as him.

McKay explains that the suspect he is looking for is actually not human, but an alien, a Wraith, who can feed on Human beings, but fortunately do not know where Earth is... yet. However, a few months ago, a Wraith Hive ship attempted to attack Earth, but failed after the weapons platform activated in Antarctica. They used a control chair, which they now keep in Area 51. However, one Wraith seems to have survived, the one Sheppard has been trying to arrest and that the Wraith is being exposed to high levels of radiation, which is why all his victims had radioactive residue on them. McKay tells Sheppard that Area 51 is also looking for him, since they believe he is going to contact the other Wraith from his home galaxy, Pegasus and inform them of Earth's location.

Sheppard then gets a glimpse of what a Wraith actually looks like, and shows him a cell where one, known as "Todd" is being held. "Todd" has been held in captivity and denied the opportunity to feed to the point where he has become delirious from starvation, turning into somewhat of a poet, albeit a bad one, so McKay claims. "Todd" chants to Sheppard, beckoning him to come inside his cell so he can show him his 'destiny', before saying his full name. After McKay pulls him out ("they can get in your head"), McKay tells Sheppard that he and his team were called back to Earth from the city of Atlantis to help track down the Wraith due to their experience dealing with them. Sometime later, McKay overhears Radek Zelenka give a presentation to a team about a worst-case scenario; the Wraith could be building a bomb, but McKay interrupts and rebuffs his statement, saying that the Wraith's intention is to alert other Wraith, and they should focus on that instead.

When they are both outside, McKay tells Sheppard that a little while ago, he and his team accidentally opened a rift in space/time and visited another reality. McKay tells him that the Sheppard in that reality is somewhat of a hero having saved the world several times over, Sheppard says that doesn't sound much like him to which McKay responds "I don't think there's much difference between you and that other John Sheppard I met. It's amazing how one incident can entirely alter the course of your life. Still, I like to believe you have the same strength of character. That's why I told you the truth." Eventually, McKay lets Sheppard go, giving him his phone number in case he finds anything. Sometime after he is gone, McKay and Zelenka are still arguing about the latter's theory of the Wraith building the bomb. At this point, Woolsey enters and berates the both of them. He says that he has Earth's best mind power the planet has to offer, and yet a "nobody detective" has gone closer than anyone in this room.

However, Sheppard decides to resign from his job. He packs up his belongings from his office and when the captain wonders what he is doing, Sheppard doesn't answer, but just hands him his badge, gun, and his box, keeping only his Johnny Cash poster. He drives out of the city with the money he found, presumably to start a new life. However, while driving, he recalls what McKay said to him, and what John overheard about how the Wraith maybe trying to contact the other Wraith. At that point Sheppard realizes where the Wraith is likely headed and does a 180 deciding to try and stop the Wraith.

Back at Area 51, McKay, Woolsey, Radek Zelenka and other scientists are trying to trace the radiation, which only narrows the search area to several hundred square miles, since the desert was a massive nuclear testing site. Walter Harriman tells the three that Sheppard is calling them. Sheppard tells McKay that he has found the Wraith. He had noticed a trailer at the motel, which he has found connected to some powerlines, meaning the Wraith is using the national grid to power the transmitter he salvaged from parts of his crashed Dart. Area 51 is able to trace the location and sends two A-10 Thunderbolts to the location. McKay tells Sheppard not to engage, but the signal is cut off before Sheppard could hear him. Sheppard slowly approaches the trailer.

Meanwhile, the Wraith had begun dialing up the power to the transmitter when he notices Sheppard's car approaching. The Wraith arms himself with machine guns he acquired, while Sheppard exits his car and loads his pistol. However, as Sheppard slowly approaches the trailer, the Wraith fires a single shot, which hits John's chest. John runs to take cover besides his car as the Wraith opens fire. Sheppard returns fire, but quickly runs out of bullets. He quickly reaches for the glove box to reload. He fires each shot into the Wraith's chest, but they aren't affecting him. Sheppard's injuries start to get to him, and has no more ammo to fight. The Wraith attempts to feed on him, but notices the two planes zeroing in on his position.

The Wraith quickly runs to his trailer and powers up his transmitter, which is giving off energy ten times that of an active Stargate, and rising. The two Thunderbolts then manage to destroy the trailer, as well as cut off the Wraith transmission, and kill the Wraith himself. However, back at Area 51, McKay discovers that while there wasn't enough power to alert the Wraith in Pegasus of Earth's location, the explosion has caused a temporary rift in space/time that resulted in Earth's coordinates being sent, amplified, to alternate realities, meaning the Wraith from other realities know of Earth's location. At dusk, an injured Sheppard attempts to get away from the scene, but he slumps to the ground after only a few feet, where he then lies on the ground, and is assumed to have died.

Notable Quotes
Rodney McKay: I suppose it all sounds like science fiction to you.

Detective Sheppard: I'm not really a fan.

McKay: I know you'll probably think this sounds ridiculous, but a...little while ago we accidentally opened a rift in space-time. Went through to an alternate version of reality, very similar to ours in many ways. Met a team much like the one I work with, only you were the leader. You were a hero...saved the world several times over.

Sheppard: Doesn't sound much like me.

McKay: I don't think there's much difference between you and that other John Sheppard I met. It's amazing how one incident can entirely alter the course of your life. Still...I like to believe you have the same strength of character. That's why I told you the truth.

Todd's "poetry": Fish in a pond, busy, busy, lot's to do here and there... [McKay: This one fancies himself a bit of a poet. Not good...]

Dry as a desert outside, no place to go. [McKay: He's also delirious from starvation.]

Eat up, get stronger, think and hope, think and hope...

Don't look now!... Oh, keep dreaming. There must be some other reason for your existence. [Sheppard: Did you... get anything from him? McKay: Nothing. Believe me we tried... everything.]

Defiance tastes like life itself.

No river, no water... dry as a desert! Darkness all around...

The harvest moon is rising... Wraith are never ending.

I know the future... Come inside... I’ll show you your destiny... John Sheppard! [McKay: ...They can get in your head.]

While discussing where the Wraith could be located

Zelenka: He could have abandoned whatever resources he had and just gone into hiding.

McKay: (sarcastically) Oh yes, he probably got a job as a Klingon at Star Trek: The Experience.

Woolsey: That shut down.

Zelenka: Really? Damn, I wanted to see that.

While Rodney was interrogating Sheppard

Sheppard: (in response to McKay's seeming omniscience about Sheppard's life) "I also like spearmint gum."

McKay: "So have some." (tosses a pack of spearmint on the table)

Sheppard: "I was kidding."

McKay: "No, you weren't."

Background notes

 * McKay mentions Star Trek: Experience, and Woolsey says it was closing, in this episode. Dr. Zelenka is upset that he missed it. The actor who plays Woolsey, Robert Picardo, suggested these lines be added to the episode. He also appeared in the Borg Encounter portion of the Star Trek Experience as the Star Trek Voyager Holographic Doctor.
 * The logo for the United Earth Federation from the game Supreme Commander was on the morgue's door.
 * This episode is one of only two Atlantis episodes in which neither a Stargate nor Atlantis itself make an appearance, the other episode being "Harmony".
 * The McKay of this universe, at some point, accidentally tore open an inter-dimensional bridge and landed in an alternate dimension similar to our universe. However, due to the fact that the alternate McKay had never met that universe's Sheppard before, he was not "Rod" McKay, but another alternate.
 * This episode marks the first appearance on Stargate of the new Air Force ABU, or Airman Battle Uniform, as seen worn by Security Forces personnel during the Area 51 scenes.
 * The Alternate Zelenka pronounces a ZPM with the Zed, much like McKay. This is the second time actor David Nykl used the non-American pronunciation.
 * Writer, director Robert C. Cooper revealed that the Hive found Earth "by capturing an Atlantis team and getting the information out of them" during a Q&amp;A on Joseph Mallozzi's blog.
 * The way in which "Todd" is imprisoned, along with his words and mannerisms, is highly reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter in the film "Silence of the Lambs", although they spoke in poetic ways for different reasons (Lecter being a cruel man, Todd being delirious from hunger)
 * The poster of Johnny Cash in Detective Sheppard's office is the same as the one in his quarters in Atlantis.
 * David Hewlett forgot to remove his wedding ring for some of the scenes but the producers decided to keep it on because it gives the impression that McKay and Keller are married in this reality.
 * Mark Burgess (the man in the motel) would go on to play a recurring character on Stargate Universe, Dr. Jeremy Franklin.

Production

 * The 2009 "Best Achievement in Make-Up" Gemini Award went to Atlantis' make-up team for this episode.
 * Its working title was "CSI: Atlantis".
 * The episode is styled after popular crime television shows such as CSI, as they use similar "CSI style" flashback sequences in the beginning of the episode.
 * Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex do not appear in this episode.
 * Original music in this episode: "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson, "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones and "Solitary Man" covered by Johnny Cash.
 * Joseph Mallozzi stated: Vegas is very different from anything we’ve ever done on Atlantis before. Different in a very good way.
 * The episode is the 20th in production, and was filmed partially on location in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the cancellation of Atlantis, this is also the final regular episode to be filmed.
 * This episode, along with the series finale (Enemy at the Gate), was leaked to the internet on December 22, 2008.
 * Actor Gary Jones appeared in this episode as Walter Harriman. He was joined by Joe Flanigan, Robert Picardo, David Hewlett, Jewel Staite and David Nykl (all dressed in civilian attire, except Jones).
 * Several cameo appearances were made in the poker scene in the episode, which included Steve Schirripa and Frank Vincent (best known for appearing in The Sopranos), professional poker players Todd Brunson and Roy Winston, Joel Goldsmith (the composer for Stargate SG-1, Atlantis and Universe) and Charlie Cohen (Senior Executive Vice President of MGM).
 * Executive producer Brad Wright can be seen sitting at a Blackjack table with his wife.