Stargate Atlantis 4.05 Travelers review

Written by: Paul Mullie, Joseph Mallozzi

Directed by: William Waring

Rating:

The One Where: Sheppard is abducted by space nomads. They want him to help repair an Aurora-class ship they've salvaged, since they don't have the Ancient gene, but Sheppard transmits a distress signal, which attracts a Wraith hive ship. Sheppard and the ship's commander, Larrin, must outwit the Wraith until Atlantis can come to their aid.

Verdict: Remember SG-1's ep "Prometheus Unbound"? This is that, but not as good. Larrin isn't half as cool as Vala, and the sexual tension between her and Sheppard isn't that interesting. It’s all a bit panto.

References: Sheppard says his name is Reed Richards. It's not the first time he's likened himself to Mr Fantastic – he did it in the season three finale "First Strike", where he said Ronon was Thing, McKay was the Human Torch and Teyla was the Invisible Woman.

Innuendo: After the surprisingly violent "Reunion", this is the surprisingly smutty episode. Not only does it have the to-ing and fro-ing between Sheppard and Larrin, but an early line mentions Sheppard visiting a primitive tribe with "little or no social inhibitions". Ooh, matron!

Nitpick: Larrin needs Sheppard because she doesn't possess the Ancient gene. But she's able to use a Lantean lifesigns detector, which requires the gene to operate.

Best Line:
Sheppard (after Larrin hits him): "Stop that!"
Larrin: "I'll stop when you stop lying. You adapted the damaged communications array to send out a signal, didn't you?"
Sheppard: "...Yes." (Larrin hits him again) "You said you'd stop that!"

Leah Holmes