Outcast

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

Synopsis
When 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 Replicator, that is now loose on Earth. Dixon needs their help in tracking it down.

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

Plot
Lieutenant 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, Ronon tells John that "his planet's weird". John is about to enter his quarters, when she is stopped by Colonel Samantha Carter. She tells him that she received a communication from Stargate Command that his father, Patrick Sheppard just had a heart attack last night, and passed away because of it. Meanwhile, on Earth, in some facility, a woman is looking for intel on a certain thing, looking through satellites to do it. With her is some 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. Doctor 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 from being attacked by the Wraith. Sheppard then goes to the Gate Room, where the Stargate is dialling. He is then joined by Ronon, who says he's coming with him to Earth.

John and Ronon arrive in a big house to attend Patrick's wake. There, Ronon realises that there are a lot of people attending, since Patrick was well connected. Sheppard meets his brother, Dave Sheppard, who has now taken over their father's company. Dave and John agree that they should soon talk. Afterwards, John 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 John's life for him since he was fourteen, but they never talked again after Sheppard's decision to join the Air Force. They are then met by Nancy, John's ex-wife, who works at Homeland Security, and was recently promoted to director. Without realising, 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 John 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 leaves.

At night, Ava explains to the men that Stanton Research, a division of Devlin Medical Technologies has worked with nanotechnology. She was recruited by 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 programmes. Three weeks ago, the IOA tracked them down, and attempted to stop them. Poole was planning to destroy the research and shut down the Replicator, but when it realised 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 storms the lab and arrests 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 on helping Sheppard track the Replicator, against Poole's wishes. Sheppard and Ronon then meets with Bates, who was honourably discharged from the Air Force and now works for the IOA field operations division. Next they see Bill Lee, who was interrupted from his first vacation in three years. Ava realises that the technology in the ship is alien. There, they track the Replicator's signature to an old abandoned warehouse. The Replicator's there because social interaction is not one of its programming, and will kill if he's scared again. Sheppard talks with Poole again to track him down. At first, he doesn;t co-operate, since there will be no trial for him on what he knows. However, he changes his mind, when he threatens to lock up Ava.

At the warehouses, Poole tells everyone that the Replicator is immune to ARGs, 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 he has to shut himself down like he 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 tracks it. There, they find the Replicator, and tries to kill it, but even with several armed men and several machine guns, they only caused minor damage. Eventually, the Replicator escapes, by jumping into a lake and the teams lost him.

Now it has disappered and they can't find him, the team returns to the Apollo, and gives Ava the news, since her parents died very young and Poole was a father figure 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 died 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 John a memory stick with everything she has found on Project Archetype. She also took the liberty in researching Sheppard, but realises 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 organises 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 it. 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: It's not about fighting. Ronon: Then why's it called Blades of Glory? Sheppard: It is about skate blading. 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.

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 favour. 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.

Background notes

 * Teyla Emmagan announces the "Previously on Stargate Atlantis" in the beginning of the episode.
 * Rodney McKay says he has to repair the Electromagnetic field generator on M7G-677, first seen in "Childhood's End".
 * When Bill Lee talks to Shepperd and Ronon about how to destory the Replicator, he makes a reference to Terminator 2 about the melting of the T-1000, and even another reference to The Lord of the Rings, telling them the idea to send the Replicator "to the fires from whence it came", a known phrase spoken in the movie.

Production

 * Teyla Emmagan does not appear in this episode.
 * This episode is the first appearance of Dean Marshall as Bates, since being injured by a Wraith in "The Siege, Part 1".
 * The human-form Replicator's theme song in this episode is a modified version of the two-note motif heard as the original Replicator theme in Stargate SG-1.