The worst episodes of Stargate Atlantis
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
Sheppard and his team are abducted by a newly formed galactic coalition and made to stand trial for crimes against humanity.
- 02
When the Atlantis team sets out to a distant planet, they land on a small island off the main coast and are attacked by a group of savages. Barely escaping the island with their lives, the team is rescued by one of the planet's security vessels and brought to the considerably more civilized mainland. Once safely on shore, the team learns that the island had been set aside for the banishment of prisoners and is susceptible to Wraith attacks. The rest of the planet, however, is immune to such Wraith assaults. Intrigued by this, as well as by the planet's unconventional energy source, the team tells Weir of their discovery. However, when Weir arrives on the planet to investigate further, she begins to suspect that the mainland's idyllic environment may be the result of a sinister pact between the planet's leader and the Wraith.
- 03
While exploring an abandoned catacomb on an unexplored planet, an Atlantis away team uncovers one of Michael's secret labs.
- 04
During an exploratory mission, the puddle jumper's electrical systems are knocked out by a massive electromagnetic field and the team is forced to make an emergency landing. They soon encounter a primitive tribe of children who have been untouched by the Wraith for centuries due to the protective force of the electromagnetic field. But the children believe it is their ritual of mandatory suicide at the age of 25 that keeps the enemy at bay, despite the contrary insistence of the Atlantis team. Fearing the "full growns" in their midst will attract the Wraith, the villagers become anxious for their unexpected guests to leave as soon as possible. But to be able to leave, Dr. McKay must first disable the electromagnetic field. In doing so, he unwittingly trips a Wraith silent alarm, leaving the tribe open to attack.
- 05
Waking up in a psychiatric hospital outside of Washington D.C., Dr. Elizabeth Weir is shocked to discover that her entire experience in Atlantis over the last two years was solely a figment of her imagination. Through the help of her psychiatrist Dr. Fletcher, she learns that a car accident that killed her fiancé left her in a near catatonic state and suffering from delusional psychosis.
- 06
Above an isolated moon, Sheppard's team discovers two battered life pods in decaying orbits. They bring them to Atlantis, where Dr. McKay opens the first pod. An aged, unconscious woman lies within, near death. When Dr. Weir approaches for a closer look, an energy beam lances out of the pod and strikes her. Weir collapses.
- 07
When the Atlantis team is ambushed by the Wraith on a trip off-world, Dr. Weir begins to suspect that one of the Athosians is actually a Wraith spy. Gate travel is suspended until both parties are separated to different areas of Atlantis. But on their first mission back through the gate, Teyla disappears and the Atlantis team is once again ambushed by the Wraith. With the Athosians secured away from the gate, suspicions rise and tensions increase…could Teyla have been the traitor in their midst all along?
- 08
With the city's food supply dwindling, the Stargate Atlantis team must search for an alternate food source. At the suggestion of Teyla, they meet with Cowen, the leader of a simple group of farmers known as the Genii. Untrusting of outsiders, Cowen is hesitant to agree to any sort of trading. However, he soon changes his tune when Major Sheppard demonstrates the Atlantis team's advanced weaponry, including C-4. His interest piqued, Cowen agrees to supply the Atlantis team with food in exchange for the explosives. Elated, Sheppard and Dr. McKay return to Atlantis to report their success to Dr. Weir, while Teyla and Lieutenant Ford enjoy the Genii's Harvest Ceremony.However, when Sheppard and Mckay return to the Genii village, they stumble upon technology that leads them to believe the Genii are not at all what they seem.
- 09
While assessing the structural damage to the city caused by a massive storm, two of Dr. McKay's team of scientists experience horrifying visions. Minutes later, they drop dead. Retracing the steps of the dead scientists, McKay and his team find an Ancient lab, its contents in disarray. Afraid of a viral outbreak, Dr. Weir places the city under a self-regulated quarantine. Even with the city under lockdown under the threat of a possible viral outbreak, more and more people begin suffering from the same terrifying visions. If McKay cannot find a cure, the entire city will be doomed.
- 10
Major Leonard's team fails to check in with Atlantis while on a mission exploring an anomalous energy spike. Because the anomaly also makes radio transmission impossible Sheppard must assemble a team in search of the missing men. When the team arrives on the planet they're shocked to find the bodies of several Genii soldiers who have apparently killed each other.
- 11
Detective John Sheppard attempts to solve a string of unusual murders in Las Vegas.
- 12
Dr. Rodney McKay undergoes experimental gene therapy, altering his DNA to match the Ancient genetic coding. The experiment opens up countless scientific possibilities, as well as an unexpected problem. Meanwhile, during a game of hide and seek, one of the Athosian children inadvertently opens a containment unit that lets loose a seemingly harmless black ethereal cloud. But when Atlantis goes through a series of technical malfunctions, they realize that the shadowy creature is actually feeding off of the power supply!
- 13
Leading an exploration of an ancient weapons satellite in deep space, Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay intercept a Wraith distress signal. Deciding to investigate, the team lands on a nearby planet and finds the source of the call - a downed Wraith cargo ship. When the unseen Wraith awakens from hibernation, Sheppard and McKay become the focus of its ravenous appetite.
- 14
The Atlantis team travels to Dagan, a planet with a hidden ZPM and a mysterious trail that will lead to its hidden secret chamber location. But the Genii have learned of the Atlantis team's activities on Dagan. Realizing the ZPM must hold awesome power, the Genii plant a sleeper agent amongst the Daganians aiding the Atlantis team on their search. Now, as the Atlantis team closes in on the location of the ZPM, the Genii close in on them.
- 15
During an exploratory walk on a jungle planet, Lt. Col. Sheppard touches a glowing crystalline growth and unwittingly becomes host to an infectious energy form.
- 16
Having been savagely bitten by the Wraith girl Ellia, Sheppard hurries back to Atlantis for medical treatment. Both he and Dr. Beckett are shocked, however, when they realize that the wound has vanished. Sheppard's arm is completely free of any trace of the bite.
- 17
While trying to find her people, Teyla and the team meet a man with extraordinary prophetic abilities who predicts a frightening future for Atlantis.
- 18
A mysterious entity causes crippling havoc within the city's computer systems.
- 19
During an exploration of a planet with no apparent inhabitants, Dr. McKay discovers that the planet's fog-like atmosphere is actually pure energy… enough to open a wormhole back to earth. Wanting to be sure they could return to Atlantis to continue their mission, Dr. Weir relays a message back to Stargate Command. They are told that the battleship Prometheus has been outfitted with a hyperdrive and they would be able to return to Atlantis within a month! Back on Earth, the team is overjoyed to be with the things and people they love. However, when the Prometheus' hyperdrive is accidentally destroyed, their hopes of ever returning to Atlantis are suddenly dashed.
- 20
Engaged in combat, the Atlantis team's puddle jumper is hit with an energy wave that leaves them unharmed, but destroys their Wraith attackers. Hoping to find the source of the wave, the team lands on the planet below. There they find a civilization enjoying the utmost health and happiness, untouched by the Wraith. Their leader, Chaya, refuses to allow anyone other than her own people the sanctuary and safety from the Wraith that would be found by settling on their planet. Unwilling to give up so easily, Major Sheppard asks Chaya to reconsider. After thinking it over, Chaya surprises everyone by requesting to accompany them back to Atlantis to discuss the matter further leading the team to suspect they may be caught in a trap.
- 21
Having learned that the entire Wraith armada is headed towards the city, the Atlantis team prepares to send a data message to Earth with information about the Wraith threat, and what could be their last messages home to loved ones.As the rest of the team records their touching and often humourous messages back home, Major Sheppard and Teyla embark on a reconnaissance mission where they witness the vastness of the Wraith army, and look on helplessly as the Wraith cull the planet's helpless inhabitants.
- 22
Sheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ronon visit an oppressed, poverty-stricken village that sacrifices half of every harvest to a mysterious Lord Protector in a great tower — a tower that looks exactly like the central spire of Atlantis. In exchange for the farmers' tribute, the Lord Protector defends them from the Wraith with amazing weaponry.
- 23
Having successfully used the Wraith retrovirus to turn an entire hive ship of Wraith into humans, the team returns to Atlantis with their prisoners in stasis. Weir continues to defend her leadership in the face of an independent review being conducted by IOA member Richard Woolsey.
- 24
When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard receives word that his father has passed away he returns to Earth but, once there, becomes embroiled in a covert and dangerous experiment gone awry.
- 25
Fleeing from a surprise encounter with the Wraith, Major Sheppard falls victim to an alien symbiote which is feeding off his life force and slowly paralyzing him. While speeding back to Atlantis for medical aid, the team gets trapped halfway through the Stargate when the puddle jumper, damaged in the altercation with the Wraith, suffers a mechanical failure. With only thirty-eight minutes before the Stargate shuts down, Lieutenant Ford and Dr. McKay struggle to manually fix the problem. As the clock ticks away, the Atlantis team must come together, or perish in the harsh vacuum of space.
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