Metamorphosis (314)

[mandogater]

First off, I loved the POV stuff, reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of MASH.

The car insurance bit and the part with Will, Biggie and Chuck in the whiskey room was great as well.

As far as the team dynamic goes, this episode is right up there. We saw how Biggie deals with not being able to go help the others on the outside and how everybody dealt with what was happening to Will.

I also liked the bit about Tesla finding all kinds of other data about Hollow Earth encoded in the map. I would have liked a bit more explanation about how he pulled that off and how much did he get.

[KayLyne]

For me, the Will-vision was cute & interesting - until the opening credits finished, then it became a bit annoying, at least until they got more of the others involved.

Strangely enough, I think my favorite part was the Helen/Biggie scene where he's telling her she needs to sleep and she's telling him that he knows she has to work in times like this. I like the fact that he tells it like he sees it and isn't afraid to get in her face about things. He's probably the only one besides John (is it because of Chris' presence?) who really is able to do that. This is one relationship that I really wish we'd see more of - just these two by themselves where they don't have to temper their normal relationship because others are around. Even that "fly on the wall" moment earlier, where Will was listening in to their convo - I like how Biggie kept pushing her, giving her a little prodding to see the positives. Helen & Biggie have known each other for over 50 years, which is about half the time of Helen & The Five, so it's a nice look at a "halfway" relationship. Then Helen/Henry less than half that, followed by both Will & Kate being "newbies" in the Helen/relationship scale.

I'll also say that the scene at the end with Helen on the bed and looking directly into camera, her eyes were just... yeah. They just somehow cut through me like... yeah, y'all know what I mean! Mesmerizing. I was drowning in those pools.

Anyway...
I'm kind of enjoying the way they keep switching up Kate from "tough girl" to "vulnerable girl" every time we tune in. Out on missions, we see her tough side, while in the Sanctuary and surrounded by those she's come to know as 'family', she's able to show her vulnerable side - like in this eppy where she's attacked by a changed Will. At that point, she was caught in-between. She wanted to feel safe because it was Will, but she never quite got into "tough girl" mode either - because it was Will. This was a nice 'happy medium' that they showed with her this time.

At first, I was a bit disgruntled with them bringing up the need try to contact Hollow Earth so soon after the whole story arc had been wound down, but as it unfolded, I realized they put in just enough of a minimum reference to it that it wasn't going to become a huge plotline once again. Now I'm actually hoping we get a bit more Helen/Ranna "unauthorized" communication coming soon. Those two were fun to watch battling wits. And the idea of Ranna sending morse code - it was almost like a Tesla moment.

The Biggie/Chuck/Will drinking scene was fun, and quite unexpected.

The Helen whumping at the end was kind of expected, but as was with Breach, it's fun to see her being able to take some lumps and get right back up and give them too, and in this case, having enough sense to grab the tranq darts. I'm guessing Will has no recollection of that part of things, since he was completely taken over by then.

[Inquisitor]

I'd like to see Helen inject her DNA into the spores, making the entire cast Helen Magnus. That would be a fun episode to watch.

[Spimman]

This episode was great all around. I really enjoyed seeing the show from Will's perspective. It gave us a look into Will's emotions as he dealt with his possible death\transformation. It gave us a view of his friends as they struggled to comfort him (and humor came out eventually). It gave us a rare insight into life behind the scenes with Biggie, which was incredible. The plot really hooked me in right away, wondering how they would come to grips with the crisis. The POV camera style was fitting for this episode and was effectively used, I almost didn't notice after the first commercial break because it seemed more naturally done than some I've seen. All in all a really fun and enjoyable episode for me!

[MelissaAdams]

Well I have to say I expected the episode to rock and it surpassed my expections :-) It looked fantastic in the promo and it was truly fantastic in real life.

I admit there were a couple scenes when the first person POV was a little 'hard' to follow and made a little goofy for instance when Will was fighting with Helen and the others...it was supposed to be like that but jumping around makes a real person goofy and it transferred when you're watching literally through someone else's eyes.

Before I get into the specific episode let me say that if SyFy had waited for their move to Mondays for this episode instead of last weeks they would have had a WHOLE new level of viewers because this had just enough care, concern, mystery and action to entice people to watch again. It literally reminded me WHY I loved this show from the first moment I watched it, this is what Sanctuary is folks so have folks watch this episode if you're trying to turn em.

As for the specifics of the ther episode as others have said it was a great team episode and despite the superb acting that Robin Dunne did it was really the team interacting for me that sold this episode. You could literally feel their confusion and their concern every time someone else was in 'his' sight, it was wonderful.

The Biggie/Will/Chuck whiskey room scene was fantastic as everyone said. It's nice to see what the 'support staff' do why the team is out getting all the glory then telling Will about the song and dance was nice and him actually seeing it from Henry and Kate...I wonder if it will make him think twice the next time that he is on the capture and in the action? LOL Probably not.

One of the best feelings of the entire show was Helen of course but it wasn't anything she did, but her refusal to give up on him. She's had to have lost proteges to perhaps things like this before and yet this...this she was unwilling to just give up, leave him to his fate. I admire that in her, in the way that Amanda portrays her and is one of the best aspects that make me love the character.

I will say one of the most surprising things I found out and maybe I had it wrong was that Will's dad was alive. Wasn't he raised in foster care, how would that be possible if his father was alive or did I miss up reality and fan fiction reality somewhere? LOL

The best scene for me though, outside the chandelier thing of course which I loved...(It's on a winch, there's a control panel under the staircase)...I kept expecting her to say DUH fellas at the end of that, but anyways. The best scene for me was the one where Will overheard Biggie & Helen talking, her frustration that she had no treatment, nothing was working and yet when she came in and said there was something else she'd like to try there was no hesitation...NONE as he held out his arm to her even though he knew that she didn't believe it would work. The trust portrayed there was just AMAZING!!!!


One of the BEST episodes of the series, truly WONDERFUL job folks. Kudos, BIG KUDOS to the Sanctuary team.

[dipsofjazz]

I enjoyed this episode.
I don't normally like the shaky-cam but I think it worked here, especially when it got more and more misty as Will changed.
This was a nice team episode, which is why I think it was so much better than last week.
I loved the Biggy/Chuck/Will whisky drinking scene. I was also nice seeing Henry and Kate being funny as well as worrying about Will.

Was the dream scene showing us that Will was 'leaving' and the creature taking over? I liked the visuals for it.

Helen looked fabulous in all her outfits.
The humour was back in this episode, nicely mixed in with the more serious elements.

[siles]

Seriously, another crappy Will episode? I simply couldn't watch this without doing something else at the same time too (yeah it was that boring); How come they didn't keep Will isolated until they had resolved the issue? Biggie, giving him alcohol? He had no idea how it will react with the infection! Chuck/Will/Biggie scene kinda tacky IMHO Will should have been kept isolated in the infirmary until they could have cured his disease.
Will is fast becoming my least favorite character on "Sanctuary" and I don't know why TPTB insist on giving him so much screen-time (He's starting to remind me of Daniel in S9-S10 SG-1)
My ratings prediction 0.6 mil!

[Galileo_Galilee]

Well, Will is really ahead of the game now. He is two for two.

[jckfan55]

My 2 cents:

I thought the shaky cam/Will vision was just a tad overdone, but I could get the effect they were going for. as dipsofjazz said, it really showed the progression of Will's change.

I liked the Biggie/Chuck/will scene mostly for the idea of it--Biggie must do something besides take care of the Sanctuary. I also liked that he finds the capture recaps annoying.

Helen was her talented and dedicated self trying to cure Will & looked great doing it. I liked seeing some colors on her. It occurred to me with Will's transformation that we might start seeing colors differently through his eyes.

As for Helen's confrontation with Big Guy, it is good that he knows her well & can challenge her. I don't know about the "putting on a show" comment. Was she really putting on a show? Or did that line just work as the spark Magnus needed to "get" the message from H.E.?
I'm embarrassed to say, I let myself be drawn right away from that at the time they got the message. Maybe part of me was thinking "good, they have to solve it themselves."

As much as I was not a major fan of Hollow Earth overall, I did like that there was fallout from that mission.

overall, a good episode.

[Klenotka]

I liked this episode. It was much, much better than last week and this is the Will I love. Last week, he seemed to be a little OOC but, ironically, here, he was more himself....for the most part
I think the shaky cam thing was a perfect idea for this kind of a story because we could have seen and lived what was Will going throught. Some of the stuff was really intense.

I loved how, despite this being an episode about Will, it was a great team episode. Everybody had a moment with everybody. Kate was perfect, fighting with her feelings that she isn´t used to, and Henry, first geeking out, later worried and scared.
Magnus and Biggie had great scenes together, and I can´t even decide if I loved more scenes between her and Will or her and Biggie.

And, of course, the Biggie/Will/Chuck whiskey scene was fantastic, especially after Will saw the "song and dance" routine by himself

It was nice to see some hint of Will´s background with his dad and I would love to hear more about what happened between them. I guess Will´s dad didn´t believe that Will´s mum was killed by a creature and now when they have a proof, it might change few things.

I am also glad they didn´t solve it miracelously in two seconds but spent the whole episode with attempts to find a cure and even in the very end, Will wasn´t perfectly OK.
But I would love if he had some after effects, like that wall climbing or something It could be fun

And did they explain why did it take so long for the spores to attack Will? It´s been probably few weeks since they visited the Hollow Earth?

P.S. "Oh, no" for Abby from me, too I hope she will be less annoying next time.

[Celandine]

This episode was much better than last weeks, but still only so-so for me. I did appreciated the 'Will-cam' for the perspective of his transformation and some scenes wouldnt have made sense if filmed normally (i.e. when Kate is asking him to point yes/no on the pad of paper to questions she's asking him). This, at least, was good.

Was Kate feeding Will 'Chef Boyardee' ravioli's? Soz, it immediately came to mind when seeing it. Think I might have a can left in my pantry.

I loved that the whole team was back together in this one. It's only been a few eps, but it seemed like it was long overdue. I hope we get many more like it before the season is over.

Will's metamorphosis had me going back to the old black and white 'monster' movies I used to watch on Svengoolie on Saturday afternoons. Soz, again. This is what came to mind when I saw the final creature Will had become.

Spoiler:

Creature from the Black Lagoon

[Demoniser]

- First person view was tacky, irritating and a waste.

- The reactions of the other characters to Will and his predicament were just a tad fake and out of place. Seriously they work with freaky creatures all the time. In addition to that Henry is a Werewolf/Lycanthrope and Biggie is more of less the abominable snowman. The reactions were just silly in context.

- Anti Climax ending anyone.

- Henry/Will and the chandelier was good, but come on, you could see he was going to fall a mile off.

- Hollow Earth input into the episode seemed a bit rushed and wasteful.

Not one of the best episodes imo, and neither was last weeks.

I find that episodes that centre around Will are only good when he's using that analytical brain of his to solve a mystery.

Wheres some Tesla, now thats an interesting character to watch.

[Celandine]

- Henry/Will and the chandelier was good, but come on, you could see he was going to fall a mile off.

I did wonder where he put the lightbulb once he started climbing. And yes, he was talking to Henry at the time.

[Feast of the Muse]

And did they explain why did it take so long for the spores to attack Will? It´s been probably few weeks since they visited the Hollow Earth?

Helen stated that his cells were having their DNA rewritten one at a time. At that rate, it makes sense that he didn't show symptoms for a few weeks.

- Anti Climax ending anyone.

I disagree. Think about what he was saying to Helen. She's told him before that she has learned not to get too close to people. Here he is telling her that he sees himself slipping away, and all the people he loves becoming distant. He's describing her life in fast forward. You can tell if you look in her eyes - she knows exactly what he's talking about. I say again, you enjoy the show so much more if you can catch the subtlety of the characters.

[Klenotka]

I disagree about the anti-climax, too. I think it was very good and much better than, for example, the terrible Warriors where they had like ten seconds for Will to get over it and he was completely OK during two minutes in that episode.
I think the gradation here was very well done, and to watch it from Will´s POV made it more interesting because we were able to live the metaporphosis through his eyes (because we saw only what he saw).

The only thing I didn´t like is that it didn´t leave any effects on him. It would be great if he had, I don´t know, problems with bright light or something as an after effect.