Irresistible

Summary | Production | Transcript

Sheppard's team meets an obnoxious man who is adored by all thanks to a secret that he carries – and who has an unexpected affect on them.

RATINGS SCORECARD
OUR RATING -
FAN RATING - 6.63 
NIELSEN - 1.5 
EPISODE #303
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 07.28.2006
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 10.01.2007
DVD DISC: Season 3, Disc 1
STORY BY: Brad Wright & Robert C. Cooper
TELEPLAY BY: Carl Binder
DIRECTED BY: Martin Wood
GUEST STARS: Richard Kind (Lucius Lavin), David Nykl (Radek Zelenka), Julia Anderson (Willa), Chuck Campbell (Technician), Lisa Marie Caruk (Heleen)
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Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team are searching the Pegasus Galaxy for Stargates they can harvest. Since some planets are unoccupied, their gates serve no purpose. Dr. Rodney McKay and Colonel Samantha Carter devised a way to organize a Stargate string which would cross the void between Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies, which would reduce travel time on a Deep Space Carrier from three weeks to thirty minutes. McKay is ecstatic.

However, at one planet they detect life signs and decide to investigate. There, they find a happy community in thrall to a beatific smiling schmo, Lucius Lavin. With the demeanor of a snake oil salesman, the gregarious Lucius – with six buxom wives – is overbearing and friendly. He frantically offers to trade with the team. They beat a hasty retreat, with Sheppard in the throes of a nasty head cold. After a promise to return, Dr. Carson Beckett arrives later to discover what Lucius and his people might have to trade.

Dr. Beckett soon becomes enthralled with Lucius and his silly stories, so much so that Beckett returns to Atlantis with Lucius in tow. The man brings a prized gift of a candle stuck in a gourd, presenting it to Dr. Elizabeth Weir

The team has not discovered that Lucius is ingesting a mysterious, clear elixir in private. With this mixture his body emits pheromones which cause both men and women to take an interest in him to the point, ignoring their own self-interests. The Atlantis base is soon overcome to the excitement of giddy children in Lucius's presence. The man needs a re-supply of the herb he uses to make the elixir, and manipulates everyone into wanting to risk their lives with the Wraith to retrieve some. The only planet where it is grown naturally is currently occupied by a Wraith garrison.

Dr. Beckett, Teyla, and Ronon Dex make the raid on the planet retrieving several large bags filled with the herb. To Sheppard's horror, they seem to be laughingly oblivious to the terrible risk they just took. And so is everyone else. When Sheppard objects, Lucius merely has to comment that something is 'wrong' with Sheppard for the others to collectively stand against him. Even the impenetrable Ronon turns his gun on his commander.

Realizing he has to play along, Sheppard apologizes, admitting that he is tired. He picks his moment to return to Lucius's planet to uncover his secret. He meets Lucius's head wife, Willa, and discovers that she and the other are have fallen ill and are pining for the man's return – like drug addicts in withdrawal. Sheppard locates a small quantity of the potion and returns to the base.

Sheppard abducts Dr. Beckett in a Puddle Jumper, forcing him to quit Lucius cold turkey while instructing him to formulate an antidote. Soon he and Sheppard camp out on Lantea's mainland, awaiting capture. Soon enough, Teyla and Ronon arrive by Jumper to take everyone back to the city.

Believing that Dr. Beckett is going to give the A.T.A. therapy by inoculation, Lucius accepts the injection. Actually, he is given a dose of Beckett's antidote. Sheppard, who has mysteriously escaped, now sneaks Lucius in the Puddle Jumper and back to his planet so the rest of the base can begin their recovery.

Sheppard offers to return the hapless Lucius to his own planet, but not before everyone there gets the antidote. One thing is certain: When all is said and done, not many in the village will be happy with him.

- L. Dolgin

PRODUCTION NOTES

  • "Irresistible" originally carried the working production title "Delicious Fat Guy," when the producers planned to cast a much larger man in the role of Lucius.
  • Veteran actor Richard Kind ("Lucius Lavin") is no stranger to the Stargate. He originally played Earth scientist Dr. Gary Meyers in "Stargate" the movie.
  • "They've also been hinting about this crazy, comedic episode coming up where there's a very, very, very, very, very large man who apparently has crazy pheromones that just send us all into a tizzy. So, all of the women go crazy and just have to be with him, but he's like 300 pounds. So that will be a lot of fun!" (Actress Rachel Luttrell, in an interview with Sci-Fi Brain)
  • "Let's just say that there's been a remarkable effect on all of the Atlantis crew that has changed their behavior. And Zelenka is susceptible to that, almost more so than everybody else. It's similar to, in some ways, what I think 'Duet' was last year, as almost sitcom-y. It features Richard Kind. And we've just got a certain mood-altering element in Atlantis. And I'm affected by it."

    Has actor David Nykl gotten to do anything in the episode that he's never done before on Stargate Atlantis? "Oh, yes!" Nykl laughed. ("Zelenka" actor David Nykl, in an interview with GateWorld)
  • "We're shooting it so it's not shot like a drama," director Martin Wood told GateWorld, maintaining that the show will carry its own distinct visual style. "It does, really. I spent a lot of time researching a different way to shoot it where it's much looser shots, much more the style you would see in a sitcom shot – letting it play out more like a three-camera sitcom. It's a completely different style. You'll notice."

    The visuals will not be limited to three-wall sitcom set-ups, however. "Still, camera movements and things, but almost never a very tight close-up of somebody," Wood said.

    "It's a wonderfully comic episode. I did "Avenger 2.0" and "The Other Guys." You do so much of the drama of science fiction that it's nice to be able to do the comedy episodes, too, and I have a really good time with it. It's nice to say 'cut' and have everyone laughing behind the camera." (Director Martin Wood, in an interview with GateWorld)
  • "We wanted to do a fun one, because Atlantis hasn't done that in the same degree that SG-1 has been able to over the years. It was this idea of a character who was, essentially, literally an addictive personality. It was this idea that Robert [Cooper] had that Carl [Binder] and I spun into an episode called 'Irresistible.'"

    "[Richard Kind] is so great. And of all the characters we're trying to create as recurring, he is possibly in the forefront. And he's so great. Richard is so great, one. And two, the character is so fun. How do I put it? He's our Harcourt Fenton Mudd of Atlantis." (Executive producer Brad Wright, in an interview with GateWorld)
  • "Originally it was going to be 'Delicious Fat Guy.' I don't even know if that was the actual name for it but that's what we all called it. It's really about a personality type that no one can resist."

    "[Richard Kind] is great. He has really good comic timing, but aside from that he's a genuinely really nice guy. We've been talking about the original movie and his character, Gary Meyers." (Director Martin Wood, in an interview with GateWorld)
  • "I really enjoyed 'Irresistible.' It's nice to do a lighter episode every now and then, although as I just talked about, I tend to lean towards a somewhat darker tone for the series while still maintaining it's sense of fun. That story was more outright humour and a blast to do." (Actor Joe Flanigan, in an interview with Starburst magazine [#346, January 2007])
  • "I know there was concern from certain fans that Lucius is 'drugging' these people, but that's not in the spirit of the series. This isn't about date rape or anything like that. That's not what it's purporting to be. 'Irresistible' is meant to be fun and if you take it and make it something else by applying current social mores to it, then it gets too easy to do that with everything else. This episode is about a guy who is completely irresistible for very selfish reasons, but certainly not nefarious ones. He doesn't do it to be a villain, and that's the story we told." (Director Martin Wood, in an interview with Steve Eramo)