- My body's mutating into a bug, how are you?Sheppard practices his Gregor Samsa impresson
After being wounded in the arm by Ellia, Sheppard is rushed to the Atlantis infirmary, where Dr. Beckett is shocked to discover that...he's fine. He doesn't even have that nasty wound on his arm anymore, leading some to wonder just where all that blood came from. In fact, he's better than fine — he can suddenly beat Ronon at running and Teyla at sparring, and is acting even more impetuous than usual.
The results of his bloodwork show that he was infected with the retrovirus Ellia injected herself with when she grabbed his arm. As it did with her, the virus is overwriting his human DNA with Iratus bug DNA. The result is to make him stronger and faster, but also more animalistic...and ever so slightly bluish. As Sheppard begins behaving ever more erratically, Col. Caldwell assumes military control of Atlantis.
Beckett proposes that if he can get his hands on some living Iratus bug stem cells, he should be able to use them to follow behind the virus and clean up its damage. To do this, though, they're going to need bug eggs. With Sheppard confined to his room and under constant guard, a team heads out to Iratus bug planet to track down their lair. Once there, however, they are unable to collect any eggs and manage to lose two Red Shirts in the process. Weir cancels any further missions.
Sheppard has by now degenerated to the state where he must be heavily drugged to remain lucid, and the rest of his team has to start thinking about saying goodbye. They are spared the potenially socially awkward by Beckett's realization that, since Sheppard is now mostly bug, he should be able to get close to the nest without arousing suspicion. He's at the point where he's emitting Iratus bug pheromones, so he should be able to walk right in and retrieve all the eggs they need.
Sheppard thinks this is a great plan (since the alternative is being a bug) and they hop him up on enough drugs to keep him Sheppard-y for about an hour. He manages to get the eggs just fine, but then loses control and they have to stun him as he runs back out of the nest. They drag him back to Atlantis where Beckett does his genetic magic and returns him to standard issue John Sheppard form.
Tropes
- Blessed with Suck: At first Sheppard get increased stamina, speed and healing, but then the scales and his humanity will disappear all together.
- Body Horror: Sheppard starts getting blue scales, his pupils changes colour the longer the virus is in his system.
- Foil: While Ford doesn't appear in this episode, Sheppard does mention him, and their situations are somewhat similar: both are partially transformed by exposure to Wraith-related biohazards, and gain both enhanced strength and speed and greatly diminished sanity and self-control. However, they differ in that Ford embraces his transformation and tries to deny that there's anything wrong with him, while Sheppard is pointedly aware of his mental degradation, warns Weir and the team about how dangerous he's becoming, and makes recommendations for his own containment. Fittingly, the episode after the next one is all about Ford.
- Hellish Pupils: One symptom of the later stages of Sheppard's transformation.
- In the Hood: Sheppard wears a hooded cloak to conceal most of his transformation when he goes on the mission to retrieve the Iratus bug eggs.
- Metamorphosis: Sheppard is turning to to a blueish Wraith hybrid thing.
- Smart People Play Chess: in this case, Weir and Caldwell.
- "Take That!" Kiss: Sheppard to Teyla after their sparring match. This is what convinces them that there might be something wrong with him.
- Wall Crawl: Sheppard, during his escape attempt.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Sheppard gets incredibly superhuman strength and agility, but requires intense medication to maintain even a semblance of human thought.
