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SSG266: When Ronon’s Satedan brothers-in-arms reappear, the reunion is the last thing it seems. “Reunion,” the third episode of Stargate Atlantis Season 4, delivers the season’s first real gut-punch: the comrades Ronon mourned as dead have become Wraith worshippers — broken by cycles of feeding and restoration, and finally addicted to the enzyme that kept them alive, until they stopped fighting and started serving.

Jeff Haecker, Lisa Jones, and Victor Lams work through every layer of the episode on Secrets of Stargate: the action, the betrayal, and the emotional stakes of watching Ronon choose between his past and his chosen family.

It’s also Colonel Carter’s first day as Atlantis commander — a transition the show handles with deliberate care. The exchange between Carter and Sheppard, as he pushes for a rescue mission for Weir, mirrors almost word for word the scene between Weir and Sheppard in “Rising.” Both leaders on their first day, saying nearly the same thing. Meanwhile, McKay spends most of the episode convinced the command is going to him — a delusion the show milks for every awkward beat, including his speech to Carter about the “unrequited lust” hanging over their new working relationship.

Guest star Mark Dacascos — recognizable to many as the Chairman on Iron Chef America and from the film Brotherhood of the Wolf — brings real martial-arts physicality to the role of Tyre, the Satedan who pulls the knife when Ronon tries to settle things the honorable way.

Behind the scenes, the episode is packed with production stories. Christopher Judge came in on a reduced day rate to film Teal’c’s farewell to Carter, with the producers later writing the full Teal’c-focused episode “Midway” as compensation. Jason Momoa incorporated his real new tattoo into the script — and his unscripted slap of the actor playing Rakai during the tattoo scene caught everyone on set off guard. Rachel Luttrell was several months pregnant during filming, as was the actress playing Ara; because episodes were shot out of order, Luttrell’s pregnancy reads inconsistently across the season.

The Wraith ship set, built from latex, comes in for scrutiny: off-gassing left the crew exhausted, and an air quality test was requested and then quietly shelved.

The hosts also discuss what Carter’s photo of Jack O’Neill signals about where that relationship stands, Ronon’s Satedan military painting, and the international titles — including the Japanese “Waga Tomo” (“our friend”) — that reframe the episode’s central theme.

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