"Irresistible" is the third episode of the third season of Stargate: Atlantis.
Synopsis[]
The Atlantis expedition encounter Lucius Lavin, a highly obnoxious man, but everyone in his village seems to love him. After visiting Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard notice that everyone in the city is starting to fall for him, and it is up to them to figure out why.
Plot[]
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team encounters a man called Lucius Lavin on an unexplored planet. He lives in a community where everyone seems to like him and he is the center of all attention. Dr. Carson Beckett decides to visit him after the team returns to check if he really has the medical abilities he claimed to have. After several hours, Beckett returns to Atlantis and breaking security protocol, takes Lucius with him. Beckett also begins to display the same signs of infatuation that Lucius' people display.
At first, Dr. Elizabeth Weir and the others are skeptical of Lucius, finding him highly obnoxious. However, when Sheppard and McKay return from a mission to scout a Stargate, they find the entire Atlantis expedition under Lucius' thrall, including Weir, Ronon and Teyla who had all disliked Lucius the most. McKay discovers a vial of liquid Lucius drinks using security camera footage and begins running tests on residue within while Sheppard attempts to keep Weir from sending a team to M6H-491, a major Wraith outpost, simply on Lucius' word alone.
At McKay's request, Sheppard returns to Lucius' planet where he finds the people sick and in what appears to be symptoms of a drug withdrawal. Sheppard is able to get more of Lucius' liquid, but returns to find McKay under his thrall as well and that Beckett, Ronon and Teyla have gone to M6H-491 despite Sheppard suspending all Stargate travel. Not only does the planet turn out to be a Wraith outpost, but Lucius sent the team to get an herb that grows there.
Seeing that he is on his own and Lucius' influence is growing, Sheppard steals McKay's research, stuns Beckett with a Wraith handblaster and kidnaps him in a Puddle Jumper to get him out of Lucius' control so Beckett can help him come up with a cure. Taking Beckett to Lantea's mainland, Sheppard is able to learn from McKay's research that the liquid Lucius drinks contains a chemical that causes his body to emit a pheromone with the effect that people exposed to him are more susceptible to Lucius' influence. Sheppard suspects that the chemical is an extract from the herb Lucius made Beckett, Ronon and Teyla get, but Beckett is too far under Lucius' thrall to believe it. Sheppard keeps Beckett on the mainland, attempting to force him through withdrawal so Beckett can help him, but they are found by McKay, Ronon and Teyla moments after Beckett appears to find something interesting in McKay's research. Ronon stuns Sheppard and the group returns him to Atlantis where Sheppard is locked in the Atlantis brig.
In the brig, Sheppard is visited by Lucius who explains that he was a baker who was not at all liked before he discovered the herb while exploring. Lucius found that when he baked it into his bread, people began to like him more so he perfected a potion out of it that makes people want to do is bidding, including his six wives. Lucius tells Sheppard that once Sheppard is over the cold that is keeping him immune to Lucius' influence, they will have a face-to-face chat and become best friends.
Lucius is called to the infirmary where Beckett administers the ATA gene therapy to him. While waiting for it to kick in, Lucius proposes to Weir. To test the effectiveness of the gene therapy, Lucius is sent to take a Puddle Jumper up with Beckett. However, before takeoff, Lucius is tied up by Sheppard. Beckett then reveals that he is no longer under Lucius' influence, Sheppard having successfully broken Lucius' hold over him. Beckett has created a serum that neutralizes Lucius' drug and administered it to himself and Lucius instead of the gene therapy to end Lucius' power over people. To keep Lucius away from the expedition while Beckett administers the serum, Sheppard takes him to the mainland in the guise of Lucius' test flight. Sheppard promises that once the expedition is cured, he will return Lucius home, but not before giving Lucius' people the serum first.
The next day, Sheppard's team returns from Lucius' planet, having successfully treated the people with Beckett's serum. While Lucius' people are unlikely to kill him, he will face a string of divorces and Ronon's wrath if he tells anyone about Atlantis. Sheppard takes great joy in teasing everyone about their time under Lucius' influence before its revealed that McKay is using the drug on him to get Sheppard to clean his quarters. Weir and Beckett order McKay to destroy the drug despite his protests.
Appearances[]
Notable quotes[]
McKay: Okay, let's just make contact, buy our souvenirs and get out of here.
Willa: Fair day to you.
Sheppard: Fair day to you. (He and Rodney walk on, gazing at the women. John speaks casually to Rodney.) Nothing here. We should probably go.
McKay: Yeah, probably would't hurt to make contact with the locals, though.
Sheppard: No, no. When you're right, you're right.
Lucius: Where do you get a machine like that? I mean, it's a wonderful way to travel. Can I get one? Are they hard to fly?
Sheppard: Yes. They are hard to fly, and no, you can't have one.
Lucius: But I want one. Please.
Sheppard: Sorry.
Lucius: Some of the herbs were gathered from this planet on my walks, but most were collected from my many excursions to other worlds. I have to confess, I have concocted remedies for almost every known ailment.
Beckett: (sceptically) Every single one?
Lucius: Well, every one in town. The sick have been cured, the lame can walk again ... well, some still crawl, but they crawl a lot faster than they used to.
Sheppard: This is creeping me out.
McKay: Yeah, reminds me of an old Batman episode, actually. Catwoman used a drug to put a spell on Batman, making him fall in love with her. Ending up doing all sorts of evil things for her. Kind of a turn-on actually. It's Julie Newmar in a cat outfit...
Sheppard: Eartha Kitt was Catwoman.
McKay: Not till season three.
Sheppard: Really?
McKay: Yeah, you didn't know that?
McKay: You know they have marmots on their planet? Well, not marmots exactly, but close to the rodent...
Sheppard: I thought you said you were going to stay away from the nuts.
McKay: Yeah ... well, I tried to stay to myself, but Lucius here was concerned for me, so he came down, Ronon held me against the wall, and we have a nice, long talk.
Sheppard: Dr. Weir?
Weir: Oh, hi John. We were just discussing the gate harvesting program.
Sheppard: Yeah, I heard.
Weir: And Lucius knows of an excellent planet that we should investigate.
Sheppard: I heard that, too. (pauses) We got intel that the Wraith have just set up a major outpost ... an alliance of three hives.
Lucius: No! Really?
Weir: Has your intel been verified?
Sheppard: We haven't put boots on the ground, no, but our contacts are trustworthy. I'm not going to send a team down there. Not when there's still plenty of 'gates to scout.
Weir: John… you are way behind Rodney's quota.
Sheppard: Forget Rodney's quota! I am not sending a team into harm's way.
Lucius: You know what? Colonel Sheppard is right. I mean, don't get me wrong, with all your advanced weapons, you could easily dispose of a tiny Wraith outpost, if there even is an outpost, but ultimately is it worth the risk? No matter how small that risk may be. I mean, sure, people may label you a coward—
Sheppard: Will you knock it off!
Weir: Colonel! I think it's worth checking out.
Sheppard: No. I won't allow it.
Weir: John ... are you questioning my authority?
Sheppard: Yeah, when it comes to the security of this base, you're damn right I am. From now on, no one goes through that 'gate without my authorization.
Weir: So, how was Lucius' homecoming?
Sheppard: Well, they didn't kill him. Although I do see a string of divorces in his future.
Ronon: That's if they haven't strung him up first.
McKay: Well, the townspeople are over their withdrawal and on the mend, so I doubt that will happen.
Teyla: That is, unless we discover he's revealed the location of Atlantis to anyone.
Ronon: In which case I said I would track [Lucius] down, hang him up by his feet, and cut off his…
Weir: Thank you, we get the idea.
Sheppard: So, everyone here back to normal?
Weir: We're still fine, John.
Sheppard: No lingering desires? Secret longings for his touch?
Beckett: It's embarrassing enough without you constantly reminding us, thank you.
Sheppard: All right, all right. (Turns to McKay.) Hey, buddy, I'd better get back and clean your quarters before the next scout.
McKay: Right.
Weir: Rodney.
McKay: It was one teeny, tiny taste for research purposes.
Weir: Burn it.
Beckett: All of it.
Weir: Right now.
McKay: Fine. (He turns away sulkily.) Story of my life.
Cast[]
Main Characters
- Joe Flanigan as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard
- Torri Higginson as Dr. Elizabeth Weir
- Rachel Luttrell as Teyla Emmagan
- Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex
- Paul McGillion as Dr. Carson Beckett
- David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay
Guest Stars
- Richard Kind as Lucius Lavin
- David Nykl as Dr. Radek Zelenka
- Julia Benson as Willa
- Chuck Campbell as Chuck
- Lisa Marie Caruk as Heleen
- Eddy Huber as Coughlin (Uncredited)
- Colin Decker as Marine (Uncredited)
- Raoul Ganeev as Marine (Uncredited)
- Ocean Bloom as Lucius' wife (Uncredited)
- Chad Kartz as Fair-haired villager (Uncredited)
- ? as Technician
Notes[]
- An early title for this episode was "Delicious Fat Guy," according to executive producer Joseph Mallozzi.
- This episode contains the first mention of the McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge. Dr. Rodney McKay says that it was Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter's idea. This most likely occurred when Carter visited Atlantis in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Pegasus Project", indicating that this episode takes place after.
- This episode marks the first time that Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and McKay trade trivia about old TV shows, in this case about who played Catwoman on Batman and when. This becomes a game that the two play in later episodes.
- Lucius Lavin is very similar to the Star Trek character Harry Mudd from the original series episodes "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd".
- The name "Lucius Lavin" may be a reference to real-life white-collar drug dealer Larry Lavin (see Mark Bowden's biography of Lavin, Doctor Dealer). By accounts, Lavin was known to be particularly affable (as well as possessing of large appetites). It might also be a play on words similar to the names of various Bond girls. It is almost spoken out loud when Dr. Carson Beckett introduces Lucius in his Scottish accent.
- The Daedalus is stated to still be undergoing repairs from its most recent battle.
- The vial that Lucius keeps his potion in is the same prop previously used for the Wraith enzyme in "The Lost Boys".
- Director Martin Wood filmed this episode in the style of a "three-camera sitcom," with looser shots and no tight close-ups.
- Joe Flanigan (Lt. Colonel John Sheppard), David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay), Torri Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir), David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka) and Chuck Campbell (Chuck) all guest starred in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Pegasus Project", which was originally broadcast on the same day (July 28, 2006).
- Richard Kind (Lucius Lavin) previously played Gary Meyers in the original Stargate film. Kind is the third actor from the original feature film to appear on the TV franchise – after Alexis Cruz (Skaara) and Erick Avari (Kasuf), who played their original characters.
Goofs[]
- When they all get up after meeting Lucius Lavin for the first time, Teyla Emmagan holds her FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon on her right side. The shot changes, and she seems to pick it up from her left.
Other languages[]
- Russian: Неотразимый (Irresistible)
- Hungarian: Ellenállhatatlan (Irresistible)
- French: Irrésistible (Irresistible)
- Japanese: 愛される男 Aisareru Otoko (The Beloved Man)
External links[]
- Irresistible on GateWorld. (backup link)
- Irresistible article on Stargate SG-1 Solutions' The StargateWiki
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