While on an away mission our heroes Jumper malfunctions as it's heading back to Atlantis through a Stargate. When the crew return to Atlantis the City starts to show the same signs of malfunctioning as the Jumper. It seems that these problems are caused by an entity, claiming to be Elizabeth Weir, who is asking for help...

Ghost in the Machine sees the final Weir story line for Stargate Atlantis. Sadly Torri Higginson decided not to return to play Weir, so the writers had to come up with a way to use a different body - which works, but is not as satisfying.

The end scene is rather moving, but would have been much more effective if Higgingson had returned.

8

 

After returning from a mission, McKay starts to suffer an alien form of Alzheimer's - which is widespread across the Pegasus Galaxy. An alien entity has wrapped itself around his brain causing Rodney to slowly (over the course of a couple of weeks) lose his memories. When Rodney's sister turns up to say goodbye to her brother, Ronon tells her that the same thing happened to his grandfather and that there is a shrine they can go to which will allow Rodney to return to his old self. The catch is that this only lasts for one day, after which Rodney will die. An away team decide to travel to the planet so that they can say goodbye to their old friend...

The Shrine is one of the show's most moving episodes to date, and certainly one that illustrates what an incredible serious actor David Hewlett is. It's also great to see Hewlett's real-life sister, Kate Hewlett, back to play Rodney's sister Jeannie.

There's also another relationship blooming in this episode - but I won't spoil it by mentioning between who.

10

 

Beckett is due to leave Atlantis when Sheppard asks him to accompany him on a mission. Another of Michael's research facilities has been found and Sheppard wants to check it out. When the team arrive on the planet it soon becomes clear that Michael's hybrid creations are roaming free and are not going to be easy to stop...

Whispers stars Paul McGillion return as Beckett. Other notable guest stars include Nicole de Boer (Ezri Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Christina Cox (Blood Ties).

While an interesting episode, it's a strictly by the numbers affair which pays homage to just about every zombie movie ever made- especially The Fog.

Joseph Mallozzi (executive producer) and William Waring (director) provide this episode's audio commentary.

7

 

The Atlantis team have a plan to convert the Wraith's genes to that they no longer need to feed on humans. They put the proposal to Todd, who agrees that it's a good idea. However, as his Hive's queen is dead, Teyla must pose as his queen in order to convince the primary queen that this will be beneficial to the Wraith...

The Queen is an interesting episode with more than a handful of plot twists. Rachel Luttrell's make-up as the Queen is particularly impressive. In fact it took me a while to be convinced that it was actually her under the make-up.

Alan McCullogh (supervising producer) and Brenton Spencer (director) provide an audio commentary.

7

 

Extras include the above mentioned audio commentaries (although it really is a shame that there was no commentary for Ghost in the Machine and The Shrine as well); Mission Directive: 'Whispers' with William Waring and Joseph Mallozzi (10 min, 50 sec behind the scenes featurette that looks at the problems of shooting the fog and the eyeless monsters); Tricks of the Trade: Submerging the Stargate (6 min, 48 sec look at shooting the submerged Stargate scene for The Shrine); Joe Flanigan: A Conversation with the Colonel (6 min, 13 sec interview with Flanigan who talks about his views on how Atlantis is different from SG-1, the other cast members and the fans); and photo galleries.

Pete Boomer