Major Sheppard plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with soldiers who have seized control of Atlantis and taken Weir and McKay hostage PRODUCTION
"'The Storm' is just what it is. A gigantic storm is developing on the planet that we're on in Atlantis, and it's threatening to destroy Atlantis. We have no power, that's the whole premise of the show, is we need to get a Z.P.M., a Zero Point Module, to plug into the Stargate to make it back to the eighth chevron, long distance, out of the Pegasus Galaxy, to come back. We just don't have the power. And we also don't have the ability to put up the full force of our shields of Atlantis, so we're quite vulnerable to attack as well as to the storm.
"Unless something is done, the city will succumb to this gigantic hurricane that is ten times worse than anything we've ever had on Earth. And because we're vulnerable, and we have to evacuate the city, the Genii come in a terrorist act, and actually attack us when we're most vulnerable and we only have a skeleton crew there. They come to take our crap, and they try to kick our butts. That's kind of a 'Die Hard' episode where Joe [Flanigan] is sneaking around the hallways and kicking the crap out of the bad guys." (Director and consulting producer Peter DeLuise, in an interview with the Richard Dean Anderson Web Site)
"There's a super-storm that occurs every 20 years on the planet that Atlantis is floating on. The city and all its inhabitants are all in grave danger. We can't re-submerge the city or put up the shields because of our depleted power sources. McKay and Zelenka, who is a recurring scientist character, come up with a tricky plan on how to harness the energy of the storm's lightning and power the shields. Because it may not work, the entire Atlantis population is gated off-world. McKay, Dr. Weir and Sheppard stay behind, and not only do they have to worry about the impending storm but also deal with a surprise raid by the Genii." (Writer Martin Gero, in an interview with TV Zone magazine [Special #58]) | 
