Poisoning the Well (Stargate Atlantis)

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“Poisoning the Well”
Stargate Atlantis episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 7
Guest stars Alan Scarfe as Chancellor Druhin
Allison Hossack as Perna
Paul McGillion as Dr. Beckett
Dean Marshall as Sgt. Bates
James Lafazanos as Steve the Wraith
Written by Damian Kindler
Directed by David Winning
Production no. 107
Original airdate August 20, 2004
Episode chronology
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"Childhood's End" "Underground"
Episode chronology

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

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Atlantis team discover the Hoffans, a race of humans that have advanced to a technological level similar to that of Earth during the 1st World War. Their knowledge is stored in several hidden libraries to prevent total destruction with each Wraith culling. They have been working on an inoculation which will prevent the Wraith from feeding on them. Major John Sheppard volunteers Dr. Carson Beckett's help, and Beckett helps a Hoffan scientist, Perna, to complete the drug ahead of schedule. To the reluctance of Dr. Elizabeth Weir, they are eager to test the drug, using a terminally ill Hoffan volunteer as a human trial. They inoculated him with the drug and test him against Steve, the Wraith Sheppard captured a couple of episodes before. The drug works better than they thought: Steve was killed by it.

Beckett wants to run more tests but the Hoffans start mass-production and mass-inoculation immediately. It's then discovered that the drug has a severe side effect: a 50% mortality rate. After a planet-wide vote proves that a 96% of Hoffans are willing to risk it so the Wraith can't feed from them, the Hoffan leader asks for the Atlantis team help distribute the medication to other worlds. The team, appalled by the society's ruthlessness, refuses to cooperate and leaves.

[edit] Quotes

[Sheppard and Weir are discussing the ethics in testing the Hoffan drug against Steve.]
Dr. Weir: "You do know that the Geneva Convention prohibits the use of prisoners for scientific experiments?"
Maj. Sheppard: "No offense, Doc; but had the Wraith attended the Geneva Convention, they would have tried to feed on everyone there"

[edit] Notes

  • Dr. Beckett tells Perna that there is an oath among Earth doctors that starts with "First, do no harm". It is a common misbelief that the Hippocratic Oath begins with this, but Beckett never explicitely stated that he was referring to the Hippocratic Oath.
  • The fate of the Hoffans is unknown.

[edit] External links

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