Stargate Atlantis/Recap/S03 E13 Irresponsible

"I'm invincible. I can't be vinced."

- Lucius Lavin, Hero of the Town

Sheppard's team (which now inexplicably includes Dr. Beckett) investigates rumors of a local superhero. Lo and behold, it turns out to be Lucius Lavin, once more with a horde of adoring followers. Beckett determines that he's not actually drugging the populace this time - they genuinely love him for his feats of prowess. These feats of prowess in turn are powered by his memory of Atlantis mission reports and by a handy dandy personal shield of the same sort that once caused wacky hijinks for McKay. As if to demonstrate, a group of ruffians menaces the town, disarming the team - until everyone is handily rescued by invulnerable Lucius.

Actually, it was precisely to demonstrate. Those bandits were Genii mercenaries paid off by Lucius to maintain his reputation. The team tries to unmask him with this information, but the happy villagers aren't buying it, so they leave in disgust. Who should suddenly appear but Acastus Kolya! Those Genii mercenaries, not overfond of Sheppard or of Lucius, tipped him off that his old rival would be here. The team wisely hides to prevent bloodshed, while Lucius steps in to save the day. After seeing his invulnerability in action, however, Kolya cheerfully informs him that he'll still die if he gets buried alive. And then uses him as bait to trap Sheppard.

It works...up to a point. The cool thing about invulnerability is that you can strap dynamite to someone's leg without killing your hostage. Sheppard doesn't quite get blown up, but the other four are captured. Kolya calls up Sheppard and demands he surrender, or he'll start killing McKay. And the others, too, but mostly McKay. Sheppard and Lucius must team up to rescue the team and the village. Lucius turns the villagers into an effective angry mob capable of defending themselves with the power of pep talks, and Sheppard confronts Kolya. So Kolya's men empty their guns into his unprotected flesh. Oho - but what's this? His flesh was protected by Lucius' personal shield! Which then promptly sputters and dies. Happily, before the Genii can reload, they are overpowered by a rampaging mob of happy villagers, and Sheppard graciously allows Lucius to keep the (now defunct) shield device.

Tropes
"Lucius: Okay, okay: what if I swung from a clock tower on a long rope right into town?
 * Badass Longcoat: The gang leader wears one.
 * Cross Referenced Titles: With "Irresistible" earlier in the season, the episode in which Lucius was introduced.
 * Duel to the Death: Sheppard and Kolya at the end.
 * Fake Ultimate Hero: Lucius
 * Kavorka Man: Lucius, this time without the use of drugs.
 * Recycled Set: The village is filmed in the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, the same location that was used in the SG-1 seventh season episode "Revisions."
 * Shout-Out: The entirety of Lucius' rescue ideas speech:

Sheppard: And?

Lucius: I dunno. That’s all I have. I could set myself on fire.

Sheppard: I like that.

Lucius: Okay. Um, I could run naked? Oh, I know, I know, I have one! What if I got on your shoulders and we have a cloak that they... it’s some religious thing... they could be afraid of giants. Okay, what if we build a tunnel, okay? We could tunnel... or a boulder, a huge boulder. I’m camouflaged, I’m protected, now the boulder protects you... or, um, a magnifying glass and some tape..."


 * Showdown At High Noon: played straight with the final duel between Sheppard and Kolya.
 * Torches and Pitchforks: Too daytime for torches, but the angry mob of happy villagers has pitchforks aplenty.
 * You Have Failed Me: Double subverted. Kolya aims his gun at a mook who failed to capture Sheppard and pulls the trigger, only for the gun to click as if empty. The mook thanks him and Kolya lets him go, saying it's his last chance... before angrily giving away his gun for repair.