McKay (David Hewlett) discovers an Ancient spacheship adrift in space. But not just any spaceship, a warship called the Aurora.

Written by Carl Binder from a story by Binder and Brad Wright, this episode first aired on 23 September, 2005.

With some help from the Daedalus and Caldwell (Mitch Pileggi), Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and his team head out to investigate it, and discover information which suggests a weakness in Wraith technology.

The crew have been in stasis for centuries, but instead of waking them, the team discovers that their minds are still active and alive… in a virtual environment. So they go into meet them.

The information is somewhere in the ship, but something is keeping them from accessing it…

While McKay and Sheppard deal with the virtual reality, Teyla (Rachel Luttrell) and Ronon (Jason Momoa) investigate the rest of the ship and make a shocking discovery. There’s a Wraith in the virtual world!

And speaking of Ronon, his character has grown a bit and is now showing a fun and mischievous sense of humor.

There’s a ticking clock, as Wraith warships are on the way to the Aurora, and Caldwell plans to destroy it before the Aurora can fall into Wraith hands.

It’s a fun episode, and there’s a lot of character humor. It also provides a cool Wraith/Ancient storyline. It’s a well-executed story, and we’re one and a half seasons into the series, and it’s firing on all thrusters, has engaging characters, thought out storylines, and has differentiated itself from its predecessor, while still following the basic formula.

The Lost Boys is the mid-season finale and sees the return of Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks)!

Written by Martin Gero, with excerpts by Robert C. Cooper, this episode was the last one aired in 2005. On 23 September. The series, like SG1, wouldn’t return until January 2006. So you can bet the episode ends on a cliffhanger.

Sheppard’s team is running down a lead on a ZPM, when they are captured by a group of men, who are led by Ford. He details his escape from the Wraith, and now that he’s captured Sheppard, Teyla, McKay, and Ronon, he has a plan that involves dosing some of them with the Wraith enzyme.

Ford’s team have also been enhanced by the enzyme. They have increased strength and resilience. Ford is positive the enzyme can help defeat the Wraith, and he’s going to prove it to the Atlantis team.

There’s a raid on the Genii to get supplies. But Ford has a bigger plan, to take out a hiveship on its way to a culling. He wants to use the enzyme they are taking to take the fight to the Wraith. And that makes Ford a very interesting opponent. He still wants to complete his mission, to stop the Wraith, but he’s also wants to go home (or does he?). He is not quite a villain, until he reveals that there is something else going on.

While Sheppard flies a Wraith dart, Ford leads his team, and Teyla and Ronon, onto the hiveship… and things go sideways quickly. Everyone gets captured, Mckay is being held by Ford’s men back at their base, and things look pretty dire as we go to credits and To Be Continued.

The series is hella fun, and it’s great to see Ford back – I love how Francks plays him. The entire cast, in point of fact, is wonderful. And I remember the long wait for the show’s return…