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“Underground”
Stargate Atlantis episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 8
Written by	Peter DeLuise
Directed by	Brad Turner
Guest stars	Erin Chambers as Sora Ari Cohen as Tyrus Colm Meaney as Cowen Craig Veroni as Peter Grodin
Production no.	108
Original airdate	August 27, 2004
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Poisoning the Well" "Home"
Episode chronology

"Underground" is an episode of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis.

The Atlantis team embark on trade negotiations with the Genii due to a food shortage at Atlantis. The Genii seem to be a simple Amish community and Teyla Emmagan has known them as such through previous trade deals with the Genii. They are greeted at the Stargate by Tyrus and his daughter Sora. Unseen by the others, Tyrus speaks into a wrist communicator. John Sheppard asks Cowen, the Chief of the Genii, for food in turn for medical supplies however the Genii are not happy with this since they claim that they do not have enough food for both the themselves and the Atlantis crew and it would take too long to clear fields, saying to John Sheppard, "Do you know how long it takes to clear a 300 year-old stump in the ground?". John Sheppard then shows them a demonstration in how their C-4 can blow out the stumps. Upon seeing this, the Genii decide to trade some of their food for medical supplies and some C-4. Sheppard is a little surprised that the Genii were relatively unfazed by the demonstration, but brushes it off. Aiden Ford and Teyla Emmagan stay behind with the Genii while Dr. Rodney McKay and John Sheppard head back to Atlantis to confirm the deal with Dr. Elizabeth Weir.

Upon heading back to the Genii, John Sheppard gets lost with Dr. Rodney McKay. McKay then picks up a significant amount of radiation coming from what appears to be an old building. Upon entering the building they find a shaft which leads down to a huge underground facility. Then both Sheppard and McKay get captured by armed security. After being stripped of their weapons Cowen appears and tells them usually he would kill people who stumbled onto their secret but the Genii want the C-4 explosives from the Atlantis team. McKay figures out they want it for a trigger to an atomic bomb, much to the surprise of the commander. Sheppard and the commander come to an agreement about an alliance. They will help them build an atomic weapon and the Genii will let the Atlantis team go and continue trade.

The Genii and the Atlantis team has a meal to celebrate their new alliance. The Genii inform them that they are planning to finish their atomic bomb by the time of the next Wraith culling. Teyla encourages Sheppard to tell them about how they awakened the Wraith. Cowen is outraged and decides to shut down all work on the atomic weapon for fears that the Wraith will detect the radiation just like McKay had. Sheppard convinces them that they can still help; he explains to the commander that they have weapons far greater than that of C-4 explosives. He tells them that they have a ship which can travel through space much to the skepticism of the commander. They then agree to land aboard a Wraith Hive-Ship and collect intel on the location and number of the hive ships if Sheppard could supply a spaceship. The rest of the team stays with the Genii while Sheppard tells Dr. Elizabeth Weir about the predicament. She agrees to let Sheppard scout out the hive ship. They head off in the Puddle Jumper with the Atlantis team, Cowen and Tyrus. They manage to sneak into the hive ship with the Puddle Jumper's cloak on. They split into two groups with Cowen going to collect the intel with Sheppard and McKay while Tyrus with Teyla trying to see what they could do about the humans captured by the Wraith for feeding.

Sheppard and his group managed to collect the data but the other group was discovered by the Wraith and Tyrus was shot while Teyla was able to escape. They made it back to the Puddle jumper and escaped however the commander suspected Teyla of killing the Genii. Upon landing back on the Genii homeworld the Genii ambushed the Atlantis team and demanded they handed over whatever C-4 they have and leave the ship. However Sheppard also had not trusted the commander and set up an ambush of his own. He ordered two Puddle Jumpers to de-cloak above them. Sheppard then took the intelligence information off Cowen. He tells Sheppard "You do not want to make an enemy of the Genii". The Atlantis team then headed off back to Atlantis. Back at Atlantis they were able to determine from the data that the Wraith had over 60 ships.

• Cowen was played by Colm Meaney, who also played Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• McKay built an atomic bomb for his sixth grade science fair. He says he was interviewed by the CIA over the incident, believing he was part of a "secret preteen organization".
• As Lt. Ford detonates the C4 that has been laid, it is possible to see several of the onlookers on the porch 'blink' from one position to the other, as well as an instantanious shift in position of the surrounding foliage and smoke from the chimney as well as changing light conditions. This shows the transition between two separate frames.

• Official Stargate Atlantis site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006.
• Transcript from GateWorld. Transcribed by Callie Sullivan. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Production from GateWorld. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Gatenoise from Moon-catchin'. Visited June 23, 2006.