Template:ATL-5 "The Seed" is the second episode of the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis.
Plot
When a mysterious alien organism takes Dr. Keller as its host, Beckett and the crew desperately search for a serum to save her from the evolving intruder before it can infiltrate Atlantis.
Mr. Woolsey is beamed down to the city from the Daedalus, and immediately begins his new job as leader of the Atlantis Expedition. In a briefing the next day, Woolsey tells Dr. Keller to make a decision regarding Dr. Beckett – she decides to trust the serum she discovered in the database recovered from Michael's lab on M2S-445. As a result, they decide to revive him after 2 months in stasis, and the serum works (though, as Dr. Keller points out, it is not a permanent solution).
The next day, when Dr. Keller fails to report for her morning shift, concerned team members investigate and are shocked by what they discover: Jennifer, unconscious in her quarters -- a mysterious web of tendrils attached to her body. Dr. Beckett suspects her condition may be linked to her research into the Wraith data recovered from Michael's lab.
As Carson leads the medical investigation, Sheppard and company are quarantined under suspicion that they may have been exposed to the same virus that has affected Keller. As Beckett struggles to find a solution, the alien organism grows, creeping out into the adjoining corridors towards the main power conduit. With Atlantis itself now under threat, Woolsey is faced with a decision that could cost Keller her life. Carson theorizes that the virus is growing Keller's body into a Wraith hive ship, feeding off the ZPM to grow. He develops a phage, a virus designed to attack and eliminate the pathogen in Keller's bloodstream.
With the options looking grave, sending a drone into the building to eliminate the threat seems the most preferable option to Woolsey, but he decides to allow Ronon to take the cure Carson developed and fight his way through the web of tendrils. He is tied up by the organism that is using half of Keller's brain to identify him as a threat. Sheppard decides to ram a Puddle Jumper through the mass to reach the isolation room where Keller is being held. He manages to inject the cure into Keller and the mass of webs die as Ronon, who has a bruised larynx and loses the ability to speak for 4 days, is released. Sheppard comments, "Wonder if anyone'll notice."
As Carson leaves for Earth, Mr. Woolsey talks to John and expresses his disappointment in himself for breaking at least half a dozen security protocols – however his superiors at the IOA decide to let the matter drop. Woolsey firmly believes that the rules are “there for a reason,” and reveals that he is not sure if he is up to leading the expedition.
References
Atlantis conference room; atropine; Col. Samantha Carter; Daedalus; Earth; Iratus bug; hives; Hive Ship; Hybrids; Kanaan; Michael Kenmore; HAZMAT; hyperspace; infirmary; larynx; Lorne; M2S-445; mahogany; Pegasus Galaxy; phage; polysaccharide; puddle jumper; Replicators; stasis pod; Stargate Command; transporter; Wraith pathogen; ZPM
Background
- Atlantis expedition countries shown: Canada, Philippines; Sweden, United States of America
- The events in this episode take place approximately 2 months after The Kindred, Part 2.
- Two packages of branded centerfire cartridges are shown in the gun case Sheppard accesses after crashing his puddle jumper into the tower.
Production
- Carson Beckett appears in this episode.
- Aspects of this episode focus on Jennifer Keller. During the taping of the episode, there was a body cast process for her.
Sources
1. Gateworld spoiler, Gateworld.net, retrieved 2008.