Review: 'Stargate: Atlantis' - The Seed

"That's not exactly by the book." -- Sheppard
"Don't get used to it." – Woolsey

A new commander comes to Atlantis, and an old teammate is brought out of stasis.

Dr. Keller becomes obsessed with finding the formula to heal Dr. Beckett after receiving Michael's research notes from the last episode. But it takes a push from the new boss, Woolsey, to convince her to try it.

Success! Beckett returns to the living, and just in time. Keller has an alien disease that is growing out of her like a plant from a seed. The final product ... a Wraith ship. It looks like everyone who was on Michael's planet from the last episode is infected. So, while the "A Team" is in quarantine, the "B Team" has to find a way to cure Keller.

After a number of twists and turns and some ignoring of the rules, Sheppard manages to inject Keller with the cure. Sadly, Beckett's health won't be back to 100% anytime soon, so he has to head off to Earth.

What Worked

Overall, this was a good episode. It started slow and built up to a quick pace. Plus, that was some great CGI near the end.

The plot is an old favorite from both this series and "SG-1." But this episode wasn't really about the alien disease, it was about the character development, and did a good job with it. But they made a good choice making this into Wraith ship technology, turning what could have been a bland "I got infected by an alien disease and lived to tell about it" story into something that adds to the mythology of the show's universe.

This episode highlighted three characters: Woolsey, Beckett and, to a lesser extent, Keller.

This was the big test for Woolsey as new commander and, needless to say, he has a controversial record. After all, he was first brought in by the NID to investigate Dr. Frasier's death and threatened the status quo at Stargate Command. But, to be fair, he did turn on the shady organization once he learned the truth. He is a conflicted character wrapped inside the ultimate bureaucrat. And while he has made some bad calls, deep down he means well.

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