New episodes return to SCI FI January 6

The SCI FI Channel is getting ready to bring back its Friday night power house, with the winter premieres of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica set for January 6, 2006. Atlantis and Galactica will resume their second seasons, while SG-1 finishes out its landmark ninth year.

The network has also released a short synopsis for each episode. Beware of spoilers for the mid-season premiere episodes (and the cliffhanger finales that have already aired on SCI FI) below …

STARGATE SG-1 – 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific
“The Fourth Horseman, Part 2” – As the strength of Gerak’s (Lou Gossett, Jr.) forces rise against them, the team races to find an antidote for the plague that the Ori have mercilessly unleashed.

As the team continues to work on developing a cure for the deadly plague that the Ori have unleashed on Earth, General Landry (Beau Bridges) begins to fear that the disease is spreading faster than first believed — and SG-1 may be soon facing a global pandemic. To make matters worse, Gerak, who has fully adopted the teachings of the Ori and recently become a Prior, is slowly building an army of Jaffa converts. As tensions rise, Teal’c(Christopher Judge) fears a Jaffa civil war.

Meanwhile, Mitchell (Ben Browder) and Daniel (Michael Shanks) embark on a mission to obtain a blood sample from a Prior to bring back to Carter (Amanda Tapping), who is working to develop a vaccine for the plague. Using a previously untested Ancient device, the pair succeeds in robbing the Prior of his powers. Blood sample in hand, the two return to Stargate Command with the dazed Prior in tow.

Their efforts prove to be all for naught, however, when Carter deems the blood sample worthless as an ingredient to the vaccine. As Gerak’s forces continue to rise and the plague spreads further, the team is shocked to receive the worst news yet when the captured Prior reveals the Ori’s horrifying master plan: to completely obliterate the Ancients.

STARGATE ATLANTIS – 9 p.m.
“The Hive” – McKay (David Hewlett) races against time to rescue Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), Teyla (Rachel Luttrell), and Ronon (Jason Momoa) after they are captured and held hostage on a Wraith hive ship.

Captured by the Wraith, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, and Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) are being held hostage aboard a hive ship. As the team desperately searches for some means of escape, they are shocked to discover a coalition of Wraith followers on board the ship.

McKay, who is still stranded on Ford’s planet, soon realizes that the team has been captured. In order to escape the planet, he comes up with an unconventional plan: he injects himself with a massive amount of the dangerous Wraith enzyme. The drug provides him with brute strength, and after knocking the guards that surround him unconscious, he is able to dial the gate and leave the planet. When he arrives on Atlantis completely incoherent, Dr. Weir (Torri Higginson) and Dr. Beckett (Paul McGillion) put him under immediate medical supervision.

Once recovered, McKay is able to calculate the location of the ship upon which the team is stranded. As tensions rise on the hive ship between the Wraith and the Atlantis team, he and Caldwell (Mitch Pileggi) must devise a plan to bring the rest of their team to safety.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – 10 p.m.
“Resurrection Ship, Part 1” – A military power struggle threatens to escalate into all-out war as the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus attempt to join forces to destroy a critical Cylon target: a “Resurrection” ship.

Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) prevents a potentially deadly face-off between the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus when she arrives at the last minute bearing stunning recon photos of the Cylon “Resurrection” ship. Unable to resist this tempting target, Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) and Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes) establish an uneasy truce as they agree to prioritize the destruction of the “Resurrection” ship, tabling their conflicts, for now.

But Adama remains distrustful, as he learns that Cain’s survive-at-all-costs attitude saw Pegasus abandon its civilian fleet months ago. Disturbed by this news, President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) believes that as soon as the Resurrection Ship is destroyed, Cain will jettison Galactica’s civilian fleet. As the power struggle continues with Cain, Adama must make an impossible decision, on the eve of a battle that could change the face of the Cylon war.

Ten all-new episodes of each show will air on SCI FI until mid-March. If the network does not skip any Fridays, this would put the season finales on Friday, March 10. The two Stargate series have already been renewed for another year (premiering next summer); SCI FI is expected to officially announce top-rated Galactica‘s renewal at any time.

Read more about the upcoming episodes in GateWorld’s SG-1, Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica episode guides!