As the partner and eventual successor to the beloved series Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis had big shoes to fill. The show ran parallel to Stargate SG-1 for three seasons, and carried on for another two seasons beyond that. By the time of the premiere of Stargate Atlantis, the parent franchise had become known for breaking the bounds of the science fiction genre, particularly with its drama. It followed that the newest show should continue to push the limits of classic science fiction, which it did for its whole run.
With alien vampires buzzing around the Pegasus system, and hundreds of worlds languishing after the ascension of the Ancients, Stargate Atlantis was never short on dramatic episodes. In addition, as the main crew of the Atlantis expedition got to know one another, their journeys through the series became more personal. These elements led to some heart-wrenching installments of the series, with certain moments transcending even the saddest parts of Stargate SG-1.
S1 E06: Childhood’s End
The series was still in its relative infancy when it produced this episode, which details a brutal society built in the shadow of the Wraith. The Atlantis away team comes upon a planet that hosts a peculiar tribe, one that consists entirely of people under the age of twenty-five. The tribe mandates suicide once its members are fully-grown, as they believe this keeps away the interest of the life-draining Wraith.
Sheppard and his team both discern the reason the tribe is protected and rescue its young leader from killing himself, but nothing can bring back the legions dead at their own hands. It’s a sorrowful episode for the most part, especially as Sheppard bonds with the tribe’s fatalistic leader.
S5 E06: The Shrine
One of the biggest personalities in Stargate Atlantis was easily Rodney McKay, an arrogant but brilliant scientist whose cleverness repeatedly saved the day. In this episode, McKay – and the rest of his team – must confront the idea of McKay losing his renowned mind, which takes the narrative to unexpectedly emotional places.
McKay gets infected with an alien parasite, which gives him symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease. His personality changes, and he loses his memory, causing some of his team to search harder for a cure, and the rest to focus on just making McKay comfortable. The conflict between acceptance and hope makes for some crushing scenes, especially when the family dynamic of the Atlantis team comes into play.
S1 E15: Before I Sleep
As the leader of the Atlantis expedition, Elizabeth Weir had a lot of responsibilities: keeping her staff safe, managing the lost city, and so on. One thing she didn’t count on was being the groundskeeper for Atlantis for ten thousand years, which is what happens in an alternate timeline, a phenomenon discovered in this episode.
In that timeline, Weir was the sole survivor of the Atlantis expedition, which met a swift and catastrophic end. She was saved by an Ancient time-traveling device, which launched her into the past; this device was disabled by the Ancients, but Weir was permitted to stay in the city and make it habitable for the future version of herself and her people. The tragedy of Weir’s lonely other life weighs heavily on the episode, especially as the events occur during her birthday. Weir takes her job seriously, but in this case she learns how devastating that commitment can be.
S2 E18: Michael
A violent identity crisis is at the heart of this episode, which begins with an amnesia-ridden soldier. Michael wakes to the highest-ranking members of the Atlantis expedition at his bedside, and the information that he’s a survivor of a Wraith prison. Yet Sheppard and Weir monitor him, Teyla claims to be his friend, and Ronon insists on provoking him – and he has no idea why.
The discomfort of being on the outside of an inside joke is significant during this episode, as Michael struggles to reconcile his Wraith-like dreams with what he’s been told. When it is revealed that he was a Wraith who was genetically altered to be human, Michael breaks down, now aware that he no longer truly belongs to any society at all.
S3 E17: Sunday
Gentle pace and a casual plot of the Atlantis team bonding gives the audience a false sense of security, as this episode flips from comedy to horrific tragedy in a matter of minutes. The story is non-linear, following each member of the main team as they conduct one of their rare days off: Ronon and Sheppard golf and spar, Teyla exercises, Weir arranges a date with a co-worker, McKay messes with Ancient technology, and Dr. Beckett struggles to find someone to fish with him. An explosion rocking the city interrupts everything, and sends the team into a free-fall when they realize that one of their number didn’t survive the accident. Grief and guilt hang over the episode, leaving the team in shambles, and the audience as well.
Stargate Atlantis was a worthy spinoff from Stargate SG-1 in many ways, as proven by the profound emotional depths reached by its stories. The episode “Sunday” was enormously impactful because it led to the death of a character audiences had grown to love. Other episodes, such as “Childhood’s End,” depicted tangential horrors that aided in building the world of the show.
The saddest episodes were also the most complex ones, pushing the development of the main characters and acknowledging the reality of the Stargate universe. Stargate Atlantis dealt with a significantly isolated community of traumatized people, and when those elements of the show were explored, it made for excellent drama. Saving the universe takes precedence in most Stargate seasons, but the smaller, frequent tragedies are the ones that stick with its audience.