RECOMMENDED VIEWING
Now you are caught up on the story of Stargate Atlantis, and ready to watch Season Five! Below we have compiled a short list of the most important episodes to watch (or rewatch) to prepare for the new episodes to come. This won’t include everything discussed above, of course, but it will give you the high points in as few episodes as possible.
RISING
Season One, Episode 1
The expedition arrives in Atlantis, meets Teyla and the Athosians, and inadvertently awaken the Wraith from their slumber.
POISONING THE WELL
Season One, Episode 7
Dr. Beckett helps the Hoffans develop a drug that makes them deadly for the Wraith to feed upon. But the drug has a mortality rate of 50 percent.
BEFORE I SLEEP
Season One, Episode 15
Elizabeth Weir travels 10,000 years into Atlantis’s past, where she finds the Lantians (Ancients) under siege by the Wraith and about to leave the Pegasus Galaxy.
THE GIFT
Season One, Episode 18
Plagued by disturbing nightmares, Teyla ultimately discovers that she possesses Wraith DNA, which gives her the ability to telepathically link to the hive mind.
RUNNER
Season Two, Episode 3
While trying to track down Lt. Ford, the team meets Ronon Dex — a warrior forced to spend every day on the run from Wraith hunters.
INSTINCT
Season Two, Episode 7
Dr. Beckett begins to develop a retrovirus that could turn a Wraith into a human. But when a troubled Wraith girl takes it before it is finished, it has disastrous consequences.
MICHAEL
Season Two, Episode 18
The team captures a Wraith to begin trials for Beckett’s retrovirus, successfully converting the creature into a human. But Michael learns of his true nature, and escapes.
MISBEGOTTEN
Season Three, Episode 2
The team turns Michael back into a human, but it isn’t long before he figures things out again — adding to his bitterness against Atlantis.
PROGENY
Season Three, Episode 5
The team finds a highly advanced race in the Pegasus Galaxy, only to learn that they are the original Replicators — who have a major bone to pick with Atlantis and the Ancients.
COMMON GROUND
Season Three, Episode 7
Sheppard is captured by Kolya, a former Genii commander, and tortured using a Wraith prisoner (who will one day turn out to be an important ally).
SUNDAY
Season Three, Episode 17
An ordinary day on the base turns to heartbreak when Dr. Carson Beckett is killed in a freak explosion.
FIRST STRIKE
Season Three, Episode 20
Earth assaults the Replicator home world, and Atlantis comes under assault as a reprisal.
LIFELINE
Season Four, Episode 2
With help from a nanite-infused Dr. Weir, the team infiltrates the Replicator homeworld, steals a Z.P.M., and activates their base code — launching a war between the Replicators and the Wraith.
REUNION
Season Four, Episode 3
Ronon is reunited with friends from Sateda he thought were dead, but learns that they have betrayed him and become Wraith worshippers.
MISSING
Season Four, Episode 7
Teyla and new Atlantis chief medical officer Jennifer Keller pay a visit to the new Athosian settlement, but find that Teyla’s people have been abducted. Teyla finds out she is pregnant.
BE ALL MY SINS REMEMBER’D
Season Four, Episode 11
With help from Todd, Atlantis forges an alliance with the Wraith and engage the Replicators in a final battle. The Replicator home world is destroyed — but a few rebels survive.
THE KINDRED, PART 1
Season Four, Episode 18
Seeking her people — including Kanaan, the father of her unborn son — Teyla is captured by Michael, who reveals that he has used the Athosians to create a race of hybrid followers … including Kanaan.
THE KINDRED, PART 2
Season Four, Episode 19
As Sheppard and the team work desperately to find Teyla, they are faced with a second crisis: they find Michael’s clone of Carson Beckett, who wishes to return to his life on Atlantis, but is suffering from the instabilities of the cloning process.
THE LAST MAN
Season Four, Episode 20
Sheppard is thrown far into the future by a freak Stargate accident, and learns what will happen to the galaxy when Michael seizes Teyla’s child and runs amok.
That’s it! While these are not necessarily the very best episodes of Stargate Atlantis, they are the most important for the story arcs that will continue into Season Five. Just have yourself a few marathons, and you will be all set for the new year.
NEXT: What Is To Come