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RATINGS SCORECARD GATEWORLD - * * FAN POLL - 8.44 SCI FI RATING - 1.2 Season Ratings   DOWNLOAD FULL EPISODE:   EPISODE NUMBER - 512 ORIGINAL U.S. AIR DATE - 10.17.08 WRITTEN BY - Alan McCullough DIRECTED BY - William Waring GUEST STARRING - Joel Polis (Elson), Sean Tyson (Jervis), Agam Darshi (Novo), Sarah Deakins (Renni), Paul McGillion (Carson Beckett), G. Michael Gray (Sefaris), Aaron Craven (Commander Wraith), Tyler McClendon (Second In Command Wraith), James Chutter (Bridge Tech Wraith), Brendan Penny (Male Wraith) The Wraith arrive in a village where Dr. Beckett is working, and demand that the locals turn over a group of refugees who survived the Hoffan plague -- or the entire village will be obliterated.

In the wake of Michael's use of the Hoffan drug to taint the Wraith's food supply ("The Kindred"), Dr. Carson Beckett and the Atlantis expedition have resettled the Balarans, a group of human survivors, on another populated world. The locals have welcomed these "outsiders," including a woman named Novo and a man named Sefaris, with open arms. Some of them have become like family. But now the Wraith are coming for them. These men and women have been made immune to Wraith feeding by the drug, but they are also a threat. Any Wraith who tries to feed on them will be instantly killed ("Poisoning the Well"). Elson, Jervis, Renni, and the other councilors who serve as village leaders debate the fate of the outsiders. If they do not surrender the people they have given shelter, their entire village is at risk of destruction. Colonel Sheppard enters the council chamber as they are considering the problem, and offers them another option: Rather than hand over their guests, his team can help resettle everyone on another world, in relative safety from the Wraith -- more than 600 people. Convinced that the Wraith might kill them either way, Elson agrees to the evacuation. A small contingent of Wraith guard the gate, and Sheppard's team prepares to attack them. In the window of time before the Wraith hive ship arrives, they believe they will be able to get everyone through the Stargate. But it may be easier said than done -- and not everyone on the planet wants to leave their home. With the lives of two peoples at stake, the Atlantis team may find that they are the real outsiders.

PRODUCTION Does actress Sarah Deakins ("Renni") look familiar? She played the thief Tanis Reynard in the sixth season SG-1 episode "Forsaken." Also returning to Stargate in this episode is actor Aaron Craven, who plays the Wraith commander under those prosthetics. He previously played Kyle Rogers in SG-1's third season episode "Rules of Engagement," then Matar in Season Ten's "Line In the Sand." "Since we had some free time, Alan I headed down to Stage 2 where second unit was shooting the 'Outsider's' hive sequences. On the way, we ran into actor Tyler McClendon, the actor I cast as Ronon's Wraith captor in 'Broken Ties.' On the strength of his eerily menacing performance in that episode, Tyler has earned a spot on our recurring Wraith rotation. "Truth be told, this isn't Tyler's first franchise appearance -- but even an eagle-eyed fan would have trouble recognizing Lt. Banks from 'Avalon, Part 1,' Cameron Mitchell's doomed co-pilot during the battle with Anubis's fleet over Antarctica, under all that make-up. While we were talking to Tyler, we were joined by actor Aaron Craven, who is playing the part of the Wraith commander. Aaron, it turns out, has put in not one but two previous Stargate appearances, playing the part of Captain Kyle Rogers in 'Rules of Engagement, and the opportunistic Matar in 'Line in the Sand.' "Despite the hours of early-morning prosthetic application and their cumbersome leather coats, both Tyler and Aaron seem to be having a good time on set." (Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi, in a post at his blog) "The episode I'm filming right now is called 'Outsiders' and it's my third episode this season of the five that I'm doing, or the minimum of five. It's an episode written by Alan McCullough. We have Will Waring directing. It's a lot of Wraiths and a lot of conflict. "David Hewlett and I have a ton of stuff, there's a lot of Beckett and McKay stuff in it. We're doing a scene right now that's hopefully pretty funny. The whole crew is laughing at our scene in a Wraith Dart so it's really funny. We're having some really good laughs doing it. It's been great. David and I are pretty much throughout the episode and we have a lot of stuff together. So it's a big Beckett and McKay episode." ("Carson Beckett" actor Paul McGillion, in an interview with Pop Culture Zoo)