Beware of spoilers!
“Brad Wright and Martin Gero gave me a script that was really good,” Wood told the magazine. “So the words were all on the page. My challenge was to make them come to life in a way that was even more exciting than Part 2. Not only that, but we had to top what we did in all the big episodes from last year. Well, somehow, we managed to do that.
“What makes Part 3 so much fun is that it’s not simply a roller-coaster ride with one big hill. It’s one that has three big hills and some loops in the middle as well as other twists that keep you off balance.”
The highly-rated first season of Atlantis left off with multiple cliff-hangers when it bowed in March in the U.S. The Wraith have arrived in Atlantis to seize the city, and there doesn’t seem to be much that the team from Earth can do to stop them. Armed with a nuclear weapon, Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) pilots a suicide mission to try and destroy one of the two enemy motherships.
“There are a number of different crises that happen in the story,” Wood said. “The first one finds Major Sheppard in a Puddle Jumper and headed straight for a Wraith mothership to blow it up, which means he’s committing suicide to try to save everyone. He’s doing the hero moment, but the major can’t die, so we have to get him home safely.
“Following that, we introduce our next generation in battle cruisers, the Daedalus, and its commander, Colonel Caldwell [Mitch Pileggi]. Did I mention that Lt. Ford is missing? And, oh, by the way, our heroes have to get the Atlantis shield up, and there’s a time limit because they’re about to be killed by these Wraith Darts that are descending on them.
“Then the very next thing that happens is the Wraith fleet arrives. It seems that the three ships in [‘The Siege,’ Parts 1 and 2] were just a precursor. Apparently, there was an even bigger fleet on the way.”
Visit TV Zone’s Web site for more from Wood, and look for the full interview in the new issue (#190, Summer 2005) now on news stands! The issue features Stargate Atlantis on the cover.
Check out GateWorld’s Season Two episode guide to find more from Wood on the other episodes he is directing, including juicy tidbits on “Runner,” “Trinity,” and “Aurora.”
(Thanks to Morjana and Tara at SG1-Spoilergate for the tip)