Things are pretty dire for the Atlantis Expedition. Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) gets grabbed by a Wraith who is feeding on him when a grenade goes off and sends them both tumbling over the side into the distant ocean.

Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) is on his suicide run, but is saved at the last moment, despite his puddlejumper setting off the Wraith ship. The Daedalus has arrived, with Colonel Caldwell (Mitch Pileggi!) in command, and they’ve brought a ZPM for the city!

The Siege: Part 3 was written by Martin Gero, and it lunched season two of Stargate: Atlantis on 15 July, 2005.

But getting the ZPM to its where it needs to be, is going to be a fight. Good thing Teyla (Rachel Luttrell) is around to help McKay (David Hewlett) get there.

The Daedalus, with an Asgard aboard it, Hermes (voiced by Trevor Devall), lead the attack in space, until th Darts focus their efforts on a suicide run on the city… happily Rodney is able to save the day.

And that’s pretty much the first act!

Ford is recovered from the ocean, but the Wraith is still attached to him. Is he going to be okay? But wait, there’s more, the Wraith have reinforcements, there are twelve more hiveships on the way!

The opener is intent on upping the stakes for everyone and all the characters. Ford isn’t well, he’s got a creepy eye, thanks to the Wraith, a hair trigger, and apparently some extra strength… can he be trusted or is there a new threat on Atlantis?

To elude the Wraith, they come up with the plan to cloak the City so the Wraith will believe they are gone,. They’ll have the Daedalus set off a nuke to make it look like the City has been destroyed.

But there’s going to be a bigger problem with Ford… he’s out there and on the run.

The Intruder was written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, and it debuted on 22 July, 2005.

McKay, Beckett (Paul McGillion), Weir (Torri Higginson) and Sheppard are aboard the Daedalus. They are returning from Earth and an update on things. It’s only eighteen days aboard ship to get there and back, thanks to the hyperdrive.

This is the ship Daniel (Micheal Shanks) was supposed to be on before getting caught up with Mitchell (Ben Browder) in Avalon.

It’s two months after the events of the Siege, and Sheppard has gotten himself a promotion, and despite the visit home, everyone is eager to get back to Atlantis.

But, it seems there’s a Wraith virus in the ship’s computer systems. It’s working to kill all aboard, and take control of the ship.

There are some nice flashbacks to their visit to Earth, which sees Weir fighting for command of the mission with both Caldwell and Landry (Beau Bridges), where she argues not only for command, but Sheppard’s promotion.

The ship drops out of hyperdrive and the virus starts sending a signal, can Sheppard and McKay figure out a way to stop the virus, and keep the location of Earth out of the hands of the Wraith.

It’s fun, puts Sheppard back in the pilot seat, and changes some of our main characters a little because of personal events in their lives.

I am digging this show.