Stargate Atlantis returns to Sci Fi for a fifth season on Friday, July 11. Though producers have kept much of the season's plot developments under wraps, a fair amount has come out in advance, and hints and comments from interviews with David Hewlett (Rodney McKay) and Robert Picardo (new expedition commander Richard Woolsey) have added to our sense of what to expect. Still, much has been kept deliberately vague -- producers have said that the Atlanteans will meet a "new race" this year, but that's all they've said. Well okay!
Here are the highlights:
Command change: As has been widely reported, Richard Woolsey, the IOA bureaucrat played by Robert Picardo since season 7 of Stargate SG-1, will be taking over as commander of the Atlantis expedition during the first episode of season 5. Woolsey replaces Col. Samantha Carter, who has been removed from command. Picardo told me he will be in 14 or 15 of the 20 episodes of the season, the remaining episodes taking place "off-base." Used to evaluating others' decisions rather than making them himself, Woolsey is not entirely prepared for command, but over the course of the first few episodes he quickly determines how to leverage his past study of leaders like Gen. Hammond and Col. Carter to effectively deal with threats to the station and even surpass his own ingrained by-the-book instincts.
Guest Carter: The commander during season 4, Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), has been scaled back from regular to recurring cast. At the Sci Fi upfront party in March Tapping said she was in episodes at the beginning and at the end of season 5; between these bookends Tapping has been filming the 13-episode run of her new series for Sci Fi, Sanctuary, which she is both starring in and executive-producing. Producers have said they particularly want Carter to appear in the dual-galaxy season finale, which will be Atlantis's one hundredth episode.
No Dr. Weir this year: Despite the startling ending to "Be All My Sins Remember'd" (4x11) -- which showed some version of the presumed-dead Elizabeth Weir alive, in command of a ship, and with an agenda which she was now free to pursue now that the Replicators' home world was destroyed -- it emerged in early February that Torri Higginson would not guest star in season 5. Martin Gero had said in January that resolving the Weir twist would be one of the plot threads of the forthcoming season, but Gateworld reported a month later that Higginson had declined to come back to Atlantis. Higginson revealed she had been abruptly let go on the last day of filming season 3, and that she had been upset at how the producers handled her transition out of her starring role. There is still a possibility that the "rogue Replicators" storyline will be addressed without Higginson's involvement, assuming she is not persuaded to participate at a later date.
New Characters: Captain Alicia Vega, played by Leela Savasta, will become a recurring member in the season; she debuts in "Search and Rescue," and will lead her own team starting with episode four ("Whispers"). Also joining the expedition is Alison Porter, slated to appear in episode four as well (and so perhaps the scientific wing of Vega's team). Confusingly, "Alison Porter" was originally the name for Vega's character, but was changed during production. Savasta previously made a splash in "The Tao of Rodney" (3x14), as Dr. Esposito; the producers made a mental note to bring her back, and now they have.
Let's not Forget Romance: Mallozzi has hinted that it has not been forgotten that both Ronon and McKay have hit it off with Dr. Jennifer Keller, who joins the regular cast at the start of season 5, and so a "love triangle" is more than likely to develop.
Lots of Carson Beckett: After a clone version of Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion), killed during Season 3, was discovered and put in deep freeze in "The Kindred" (4x18-19), it's been announced that Beckett will appear in five episodes during season 5.
Lt. Ford cameo: Speaking of former regulars, fan speculation that Lt. Ford's story would be revisited this year was scotched by show runner Joseph Mallozzi, who said earlier this month that there were no plans to bring the missing crew member. But reports persist that Ford, played by Rainbow Sun Francks, appears briefly in "Search and Rescue" (5x01) in a dream sequence experienced by Sheppard; Francks, in any event, is credited in the episode on IMDb. Aiden Ford was altered by an aggression-inducing Wraith enzyme and was last seen in "The Hive" (2x11).
Other Guest Stars: Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) is scheduled to appear in the midseason two-parter. Jeannie Miller (Kate Hewlett), McKay's sister, will also make at least one appearance this season, in an episode called "The Shrine." Michael (Connor Trinneer) is also likely to appear more than once (he's booked for "Search and Rescue" at least). Hewlett suggested that the vindictive Wraith would continue to be a thorn in Atlantis's side.
