Michael (24 Feb. 2006)

Michael Kenmore, a new lieutenant, awakes in the infirmary and doesn't remember a thing. The crew is very concerned about his well-being, he seems different.

Director:

Martin Wood

Writers:

Brad Wright (creator), Robert C. Cooper (creator),

Stars:

Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson, Rachel Luttrell

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Joe Flanigan	...	Lt. Colonel John Sheppard
Torri Higginson	...	Dr. Elizabeth Weir
Rachel Luttrell	...	Teyla Emmagan
Jason Momoa	...	Ronon Dex
Paul McGillion	...	Dr. Carson Beckett
David Hewlett	...	Dr. Rodney McKay
Connor Trinneer	...	Michael Kenmore
Claire Rankin	...	Dr. Kate Heightmeyer
Douglas Chapman	...	Sgt. Cole (as Doug Chapman)
James Lafazanos	...	Male Wraith

Storyline

Michael Kenmore, a new lieutenant, awakes in the infirmary and doesn't remember a thing. Only the words Wraith and Atlantis have some meaning to him. He is told he was part of Sheppard's team and was captured by the Wraith, who did something to him. There is something weird about Kenmore however. The crew seems overly concerned about his well-being and he is monitored at all times. It seems like he's the most important thing Atlantis has to deal with at the moment. The crew's talks to him don't look spontaneous and Ronon seems to absolute despise him. At night Kenmore has terrible dreams about the Wraith and from the reactions of the crew soon gets the feeling there's something different about him. He tries to find out what it is.

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Plot Keywords:

title spoken by character | character name in title

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Adventure

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Details

Release Date:

24 February 2006 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pegasus Productions (II)

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Michael first enters his room and picks up the picture of his parents, the laptop in the table has it's screen down. In the next shot, Sheppard is looking at Michael through the security camera and the same laptop has its screen up.

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Quotes

Dr. Rodney McKay: Hey, what happened to the, uhm, to the blue jello? My favourite - all of a sudden it's off the menu. What gives?

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Connections

Featured in Stargate: Atlantis: Inquisition (2008)

User Reviews

Monster

If there's one episode in the whole Atlantis series you should not miss, this is it. On first viewing, it probably is the most astonishing episode of the whole; on second viewing, it gets even more impact when you know how many galactic tragedies and horrors will develop from this --a nice amnesiac young man waking up in the infirmary.

The plot picks up an arc that had been recently put aside: Beckett's attempts at creating a retrovirus to erase the non-human part of the Wraiths' DNA. To discover that his so-far unsuccessful attempts have finally paid off is major news in itself, but the way we discover it is absolutely brilliant. From the very first second, we empathise with poor Lt. Michael Kenmore, a former prisoner of the Wraiths, and we follow him in his efforts to learn exactly what the monsters did to him, why Ronon hates him, why he feels such kinship with Teyla and why he's being watched so closely. So we are as shocked as he is when he finally discovers the truth: that this nice guy with the innocent face IS a monster who days ago sucked humans lives out as a matter of fact. Needless to say, this monumental twist raises a multitude of philosophical questions: about good and evil, whether your degree of humanity/monstrosity is due to genetics or to your way of life; about who gets to decide what is "human" or "monster". And about a monster's right to be a monster instead of --a freak. Congratulations here to Connor Trinneer for a really stunning performance, both as a congenial human and a freakish semi-Wraith; his expression when he discovers the truth really, really made me hate those awful humans.

In the end of course, Beckett's experience falls short as Michael escapes. To the end we will never know whether he might have learned to be human after all, but in the process mankind has created its own worst Nemesis (this signficantly mirrors what the Ancients did aeons ago): Michael will be back with a vengeance, and will take a page out of Beckett's books to torment humans. As far as I am concerned, this episode marks a turning point in the series: there is Atlantis before Michael and Atlantis after him.