DeLuise reveals ‘The Intruder’ premise

An upcoming episode of Stargate Atlantis puts a new spin on a familiar science fiction story, director Peter DeLuise told GateWorld. “The Intruder” is set to air as the second episode of Stargate Atlantis‘s sophomore year.

Beware of minor spoilers.

“I just did ‘The Intruder’ which is, basically, the same story as the ‘Entity,’” DeLuise said in an interview. “Remember the storyline of the artificial intelligence that comes through, goes into the computer and affects the base, and goes into Carter? She starts talking through the computer. And then her consciousness is kind of downloaded into this alien mainframe that it created.

“‘The Intruder’ is like that, but it’s a Wraith artificial intelligence. It’s a virus that’s in the Daedalus. And so that’s a lot of fun.”

Though some members of the expedition do finally make it back to Earth in the episode, “The Intruder” is set primarily on board the battle cruiser. “Mitch Pileggi from The X-Files is the captain of that ship,” DeLuise continued. “He’s a real nose-to-the-grindstone kind of hardcore captain. I like him. He’s a really good character.

Mitch Pileggi guest stars as the commander of the Daedalus.

DeLuise also expressed how much he enjoys working with the actor, who plays Daedalus commander Colonel Steven Caldwell. “He’s fantastic,” he said. “He can do no wrong. The thing about Mitch as an actor is he just trusts that the lines are there. He trusts that they’re good. And he just stands with his weight evenly distributed over both feet, just like Cagney used to do, and he just says the lines. Do you know what I mean? He doesn’t walk around and go, ‘I wonder how I can enhance this somehow.’ He just trusts that the lines are good. … And he does it and you go, ‘Yes, I believe it.’ So that’s why it’s so cool.”

With the Daedalus making trips back and forth from Atlantis to Earth, DeLuise also said that Pileggi could show up on Stargate SG-1 as well.

“And the Daedalus, of course, is infinitely more cool than the Prometheus because it’s got the hyperdrive and it’s got sneeze guards on it,” DeLuise said. “There used to be bare wall with copy machine fronts and phones and sprinklers, but now there’s a sneeze guard piece of smoked plexi in front of it, which gives it added depth. Because it used to be the Prometheus walls; now they’re Daedalus walls. And sneeze guards is so you don’t sneeze on your salad as you’re serving yourself on the buffet.”

“The Intruder” airs July 22 at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on The SCI FI Channel! Check out preview photos from the episode in GateWorld’s episode guide.