Stargate Atlantis/Recap/S03/E07 Common Ground

"You pace in your cell, cursing that I took years from you. I stand here cursing that I was not allowed them all. Each in our own way, we suffer."

- Todd the Wraith

Sheppard is captured by a rogue band of Genii lead by our old wacky friend, Acastus Kolya. He wants to trade him for Ladon Radim, the new leader of the Genii. Kolya believes that Ladon has usurped his rightful place, enacting the coup that he had planned. But so much for Genii politics. He's going to let their captive Wraith feed on Sheppard every 3 hours until either Ladon is turned over or Sheppard dies, whichever comes first.

Weir and Ladon discuss options, while Sheppard starts making friends with the guy in the next cell over. The other prisoner has been here for a long long time, and assures Sheppard that escape is impossible. Then Kolya's men grab him and strap him to a chair, making Weir watch while they let their captive Wraith feed on him. Ouch. Back in his cell, Sheppard and his companion discuss whether the Wraith is in fact to blame in this, since it is in the process of starving to death. Sheppard finally puts two and two together - his prisoner buddy is in fact the Wraith! With no hard feelings, Sheppard proposes that the two of them team up to escape.

Back on Atlantis, McKay and Ladon have been frantically comparing gate adresses to try to discover where Kolya is holding Sheppard. After their best guess turns out to be a red herring, Weir releases Ladon back to the Genii to try to get information via his own sources, although Ronon maintains that this is a mistake (and they should just have agreed to the trade in the first place). Kolya hauls Sheppard out to be fed on once again (and it's really starting to take its toll) - but the Wraith stops of its own accord just before killing him. He approves Sheppard's plan to escape together, and the next time the guards come, the two of them overpower them and flee the compound. And guards sure are delicious!

Away from the compound, though, things aren't looking so good. They have no idea where the gate is, Sheppard is getting too old for this sort of thing, and Todd (the Wraith) has taken rather more gunshot wounds than he can heal without feeding again. And then they get ambushed by Genii. Todd sucks the last of the life out of Sheppard and proceeds to wipe the floor with everybody. He feasts on the soldiers...and then returns the life he took from Sheppard. Because apparently Wraith can do that. In fact, Sheppard even looks younger than he did before!

Just then, the rest of the team arrives, guns blazing. Ladon made good on his offer of information - but Kolya still manages to escape. Sheppard convinces them not to kill his new buddy Todd, and they release him on a planet where the other Wraith can come and pick him up. They part on good terms, but with the caveat that if they ever cross paths again, "all bets are off."

Tropes

 * Bad Powers, Bad People: Type 2 - that is to say, Todd's wraithness actually doesn't make him a bad person.
 * Enemy Mine
 * Gun Twirling
 * Humanity Is Infectious: Todd the Wraith became considerably more human during his imprisonment by the Genii
 * Human Shield: A rare heroic example
 * Leave Him to Me: Ladon requests that they leave Kolya for his forces to find.
 * Meaningful Echo: Todd tells Sheppard several times "There is much you do not know about Wraith" - culminating in the revelation that the life-sucking can go both ways. When Sheppard releases him at the end of the episode, he says in turn "There is much you do not know about humans."
 * No One Gets Left Behind: What Sheppard is counting on.
 * Not So Different: Todd comments that Sheppard is more like a Wraith than he thinks.