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Adrift is episode 1 and the season premier of Stargate Atlantis season 4. Amanda Tapping makes her first appearance as a series regular while Torri Higginson in the role of Dr. Elizabeth Weir becomes a recurring character. The episode is part 2 of a three part episode beginning with "First Strike"
Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.
Summary
The city drops out of hyperspace too early having suffered some damage from the replicator weapon. The power conduits leading from the ZPM have been damaged and must be repaired before the city can make a jump into hyperspace. Unfortunately the power is leaking and without it the shield will fail. The city decompresses some outer sections in order to save power and three crewmen are lost in the process.
While McKay and Zelenka work on fixing the damage before they lose too much power and are unable to make the jump, Dr. Keller works on Dr. Weir who has been severely injured. With her brain swelling, Keller decides to perform surgery to relieve the pressure but promises that no matter what she does, Dr. weir will never be the same.
To save power, the city has been evacuated back to the control tower and the city's shield has been withdrawn to protect only that area leaving the rest decompressed. Also all unnecessary components have been shut down. Dr. Zelenka and his team successfully and expediently repair the power conduits but another problem arises. They are headed directly for an asteroid field and without navigation, there is no way to avoid it. Unable to get to the chair room, Sheppard organizes a team of people with the ATA gene to fly jumpers and clear a path through the field by firing drones at the asteroids. They manage to destroy the larger objects but the city still suffers some damage.
Zelenka and Shepard must put on space suits to do additional repair. They face greater damage than they expected but manage to complete the repairs even after Zelenka is hit in the leg by a small rock and his suit is punctured. Despite their work, it proves too late to make a hyper jump as they've dropped below the required power levels.
With Sheppard busy making repairs, Keller comes up with an idea that may save Weir's life. She wants to reactivate the nanites in her blood stream. McKay attempts to reprogram them and shut down their ability to communicate via subspace but Sheppard disagrees believing it is too dangerous. McKay nevertheless disobeys Sheppard and reprograms the nanites and reactivates them. When Sheppard discovers what he's done he plans to shut them down but Weir awakens, fully healed and equally worried about what McKay has done to restore her. The nanites have replaced the damaged areas of her body with replicated components.
Back in the void between galaxies, Col. Carter and Dr. Lee are working to bring the midway station on line. They receive a call from Col. Abe Ellis informing them that Atlantis failed to make their rendezvous with the Apollo. Carter and Lee attempt to come up with a plan to save the city but with no way of knowing at which point they dropped out of hyperspace, they're having difficulty. But Carter nevertheless comes through with a plan to extend the range of the long rage sensors but their plan requires a visit to the Pegasus Galaxy.
With only 28 hours before the shield fails completely, McKay, Zelenka and Sheppard are racking their brains for a solution. McKay's only idea rests with his unfinished jumper prototype able to open a hyperspace window for a short jump. The jumper in itself is not a savior however, their plan is to steal ZPMs from the only place they know with an abundance, the replicator homeworld.
Guest Stars
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