Writer:	Ken Cuperus
Director:	Brenton Spencer
Star:	David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay),  Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex),  Joe Flanigan (Major / Lt. Colonel John Sheppard),  Rachel Luttrell (Teyla Emmagan),  Torri Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir)
Recurring Role:	David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka),  Andee Frizzell (Wraith Queen)
Guest Star:	Donna Soares (Dr. Coleman),  Noel Johansen (Dr. Dickenson),  Michael Tayles (Dr. Graydon)

Torri Higginson read the "Previously on Stargate Atlantis" line. (edit) Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett) is in the opening credits for this episode but does not appear. (edit) International Airdates:

-This episode aired in Canada on January 22, 2007 on Movie Central and February 26, 2007 on The Movie Network.
-This episode aired in the UK on February 28, 2007 on Sky One.
-This episode aired in Australia on June 26, 2008 on Channel 7.
-Syndication Premiere: May 3-4, 2008. (edit)

(After the Wraith Queen has been shot)
Sheppard: I thought you'd forgotten about me.
McKay: Course not. I just had to wait for her to disable the device. Hey, you should be thankful she didn't feed on you before she entered the command code.
Sheppard: Oh, that's why you didn't want to be bait.
McKay: No, no, no, no, you had to be the bait 'cause you were who she was expecting to be the one trying to fly the ship...She is dead right?
Sheppard: Let's get outta here. (edit) Sheppard: A Wraith cruiser.
McKay: It seems completely buried in the silt.
Zelenka: Which means it's been here a very, very, very long time.
McKay: Yes, give or take a very. (edit) (Sheppard wakes up after the Jumper window breaks and floods the room. McKay is shouting over the radio)
McKay: Sheppard this is McKay please respond. Sheppard come in.
Sheppard: I'm here.
Zelenka: We had to throw the emergency force fields up. The section you were in was flooding.
Sheppard: I noticed. (edit) (Ronon touches the force field holding back the water from when he shot the Jumper window)
Ronon: I missed.
Sheppard: I noticed that too. (edit) Sheppard: Rodney, what's going on?
McKay: What do you mean what's going on?
Sheppard: We just lost the lights.
McKay: What? Huh, you're right.
Weir: Yes, we can see that.
McKay: We just lost power to 40% of the station. Sensors are currently off-line. Zelenka what are you doing?
Zelenka: Uh, what do you mean what am I doing?
McKay: Have you lost power where you are?
Zelenka: No, have you?
McKay: No.
Sheppard: We have. (edit)

Teyla: Have we not been down this hallway before?
Ronon: Every corridor looks the same.
Sheppard: Don't worry I have an uncanny sense of direction.
Ronon: I think she's right. We've been down this way before.
Sheppard: That's impossible; we took a left, and then a left, and then a right.

This is reminiscent of the conversation between Sheppard and Captin Holland in Sheppard's flashback in the early Season 3 episode "Phantoms" during which Holland continually questioned, and Sheppard defended, his choice of direction, which was, ultimately, proven to be the wrong one. Sheppard's bad sense of direction was also touched on in the Season 1 episode "Underground" when McKay accused him of being lost on their way back to the settlement from the Stargate. (edit) Nitpick: It is highly unlikely any medicines found on the drilling station would still be usable after 10,000 years. The jumper was underwater. When the Wraith Queen was captured and restrained, where did the IV kit and the sedatives they were pumping her full of come from? (edit) In the 18th episode of each season ("The Gift (1-18)"; "Michael (2-18)"; and now this episode), Teyla has been telepathically controlled by a Wraith, and these have been the only episodes so far where this has occurred. (edit) The team finds a underwater drilling station used by the Lanteans during the War with the Wraith. It was used to drill the floor of the oceans of Lantea, to provide geothermal energy to Atlantis. (edit) Nitpick: It seems off that the Wraith Queen who commanded the fleet that attacked Atlantis would travel aboard a relatively small ship, such as the cruiser. Normally fleet commanders (and Wraith Queens) would be found aboard the biggest ships, such as Hive Ships. (edit)

The Abyss:

Sheppard alludes to the Navy Seal character who succumbs to compression sickness in the 1989 James Cameron film The Abyss. (edit) Stingray:

In this episode, the Wraith queen looks different to how queens are usually portrayed. In keeping with the underwater theme of the story, the queen appears to have been made up to look like an Aquaphibian from Gerry Anderson's Stingray. (edit) Alien:

There are a number of film references in this episode. Sheppard kept referring to their situation as being similar to that in The Abyss. However, the episode itself was very reminiscent of Alien. The underwater drilling rig looked very similar to the refinery in Alien and the incidental music was almost identical. There was a scene where Graydon notices pools of water on the floor, which was very similar to the scene in Alien where Brett is tracking the cat. The scene where Graydon finds goo on the Jumper ramp was a direct lift from Aliens where Spunkmeyer finds a similar pool of goo on the drop ship ramp. (edit) Graydon: One of these days I'm just going to call him Doctor McCoy.

This is an allusion to the famous doctor of the original Star Trek series (1966-69). It is also a reference to McKay's habit of getting names close but not quite right. (edit) McKay: Teyla's Spidey sense works for miles.

This is a reference to Spider-Man and his ability to sense danger near by, known as his Spider Sense. (edit)