The Stargate Atlantis scene that cemented Joe Flanigan’s sci-fi role

after Popular Syfy series “Stargate SG-1” It concluded its seventh season with the “Lost City” finale, and a new spin-off series was born. This sub-series, “Stargate Atlantis”, It closely explores the Antarctic outpost discovered by the SG-1 crew in the original show, along with the aftermath of the discovery of the lost city of Atlantis. You may know that Roland Emmerich movie “Stargate” 1994 This particular franchise began: In the film, linguist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) becomes deeply involved in the alien-fueled unrest on the desert planet of Abydos. In Stargate SG-1, Michael Shanks plays a different version of Daniel as he makes a brief cameo appearance in the Stargate Atlantis pilot to officially hand over Project Atlantis to a new crew of experts.

The military crew of “Stargate Atlantis” is headed by Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), a capable officer with a reputation somewhat tarnished by an accident that inadvertently led to many casualties. Shepard is uniquely suited to lead the Atlantis Project because he is naturally attuned to the navigation technology left behind by the Ancients—the alien race that built the Antarctic outpost—despite not having the genetic predisposition to activate it. The motivation behind Shepard’s adventures (along with his crew) is to discover more about the Ancients, including why they fled Atlantis after clashing with the Wraith, a hostile alien race. In the vein of exhilarating yet exciting “Stargate” exploration missions, “Stargate Atlantis” has featured plenty of episodes that could be considered either delightfully crazy or downright shocking.

In a 2004 interview with Portal worldFlanigan highlighted a particular episode from Season 1 that made him realize the subtle flavor of the weird and wonderful surprises that would be in store for him during his “Stargate Atlantis” journey. Let’s talk in detail about the fourth episode of “Thirty-Eight Minutes” in the first season of this beloved series.

The premise of “Thirty-Eight Minutes” is, as you may have already guessed, a race against time. The crew of Atlantis, overseas on a small ancient spaceship called the Puddle Jumper, gets stuck halfway through the titular Stargate. Quick update: A Stargate is a ring-shaped portal Which allows humans to travel to distant planets, and this device remains open for a specific period of time before automatically shutting down. Stuck and stranded in space while facing imminent death, the crew seeks to appoint another team to head the rescue mission before it is too late. However, that’s not even the worst part. Sheppard’s life is in real danger, like an alien insect Self-healing properties It was hung around his neck. If the crew doesn’t find a way to kill the bug, Sheppard will die, as the parasitic bug slowly seeps life out of him.

Needless to say, this is an insanely tense situation. Flanigan talked about filming this particular episode, where he had to lie on his back for long days inside the confined space of the Puddle Jumper set. Although the experience brought some discomfort, it was also very funny and overwhelming:

“I was on the floor for eight days filming the episode, and I had something go wrong. And it was this big, classic, ugly mistake that looked, you know, completely fake. It was very painful, and I was on my toes and thought, ‘Well, I don’t know what Which the producers do but there’s something very sadistic about that” (…) and I thought it was very funny, sitting there, lying on my back. Eight days with a bug on my neck and hearing people say things like: “Oh, put more blood on Insect!’ It became clear to me that I was completely immersed in the science fiction genre at that point.”

Well, Flanigan’s painstaking efforts paid off, as the catharsis caused by the finally being shot bug was massive, even if Sheppard died for a few moments to facilitate that outcome. There’s no reason to worry, of course, as Shepard is revived shortly after the Puddle Jumper arrives safely through the Stargate. All it takes is 38 tense, agonizing minutes to make a hell of a leap of faith that works out well in the end.