The Gift (118)

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

The more odd thing is that all their tech is organic. I wonder how they they... grow it?

Sorry if this has already been speculated upon. I'm posting as I read instead of slogging through 100+ posts and trying to remember what I wanted to say.

The Wraith hive society and their darts put me very much in mind of hornets. Hornets, as we know make their technologies - paper hives that can house thousands of their kind is advanced tech, AFAIC. Spiders grow their own webs - which have a far greater tensile strength than steel cable of similar weights. Bees make honeycomb structures as well as various types of honeys.

However, wondrous as insect constructs are, they never vary from the norm. This is where the addition of human flexibility and imagination come in.

It may also explain why the wraith have "teeth." They may actually, like hornets and bees, chew raw materials and excrete them through the mouth, thus building ships and stuff. Could you imagine a species that could do such a thing? <shudders incontrollably>

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

I knew it!! I knew that it would turn out the Ancients had accidentally initiated the Wraith evolution by getting their "human seeding" mixed up with the Wraith bug.

So... is this what the future holds for us? Will our bio genetic engineering give us potatoes that will one day take over the world?

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

That's what the show said, and I know we'll never come back to this, but still... isn't that a little humane for a Wraith? I would've just sucked 'em down, problem solved.

Maybe he did suck down a bunch and then just got too full.

[Wass]

After watch this episode it managed to answer one of my questions which was didn’t the ancients do something about the wraith once they were ascended and the reason IMO is because they feel partly responsible for the creation of the wraith therefore they wont wipe out one species to protect another spices.

[prion]

So... is this what the future holds for us? Will our bio genetic engineering give us potatoes that will one day take over the world?

I'd be more worried about killer tofu. Tons of GM in that!

Anyway, interesting that the Ancients just managed to screw up and accidentally create the Wraith. Makes you wonder if that bug that bit poor Shep on the neck will have any repercussions down the road (although someone has already written a great piece of fanfic dealing with that situation).

Overall, great episode. Teyla was very good in it; finally, some characterization for the poor woman!

[Buzz Lightyear]

So... is this what the future holds for us? Will our bio genetic engineering give us potatoes that will one day take over the world?

What? Didn't you know? Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (and their numerous clones) have already infiltrated our world via our children's toyboxes.

[ShadowMaat]

Just wanted to chime in on the McKay/Heitmeyer thing.

I know there was a "spoiler" a while back that said McKay was dating the base shrink, but not all spoilers are completely accurate. I know I found the spoiler insane at the time and now that I can put the comments in context I think it's FAR more likely that McKay was lying through his teeth.

Admitting that you need therapy is perceived as a sign of weakness. At the very least it might cause people to question your sanity/worthiness for a given job. McKay would NEVER admit to such a thing. Hunger, yes, but crazy? No way.

Heitmeyer is blonde, intelligent and, from the perspective of McKay, probably pretty hot. Dating someone like her would be a real ego boost and might improve people's opinions/estimations of him.

If you ask me, he was BS'ing the whole thing. The fact that it was Teyla who "caught" him (another "hot" chick) only strengthens the possibility, IMO. He'd have lied regardless, but admitting to a girl that you're weak is even worse.

Either that or I've read McKay completely wrong...

[Easter Lily]

No, I think you're right... he looked pretty embarassed to me... he was prevaricating up to his eyeballs. Liar, liar pants on fire... *Sigh* I just love Rodney...

[Chevron_nine]

Just watched the ep and I thought it was pretty good. We learned a whole lot of new information about the Wraith. I kinda guessed that their real goal was to get to Earth. One thing has me wondering though, how could a Wraith go rogue to do experiments, wouldn't the other wraith know what he was doing telepathically? Teyla was able to tap into the wraith on the ship, so shouldn't the wraith be able to tap into the rogue?

The whole Bug/Human Wraith development seems plausible. As far as we know the Ancients were not immortal, so it's possible over the generations some of the seeded colonies were forgotten about, or the Ancient decided to let nature take it's course on their seeded planets and left them alone.

Concerning technological development, think about what us, humans have accomplished in the past few hundred years, we've gone from living in cabins/huts and relying on animals for transportation/farming etc. to living in skyscrapers with cars, computers, space shuttles etc. The wraith only needed a few thousand years to get to their technological level.

Concerning the McKay/Therapist relationship I'm 99.99% sure he was just BSing because he didn't want Teyla to know he was visiting a psychiatrist. Why else would he keep the "relationship" a secret up until this point, and then all of a sudden blurt it out. If he was really dating her he would have come up with some other excuse for being there.

Poor Ford, I never really liked the character all that much, but now his lines are getting pathetic. The "you have a little what?, McKay" had me chuckling, but it just seemed really out of place.
season 9 spoilers

Spoiler:

Although I'm not that fond of Ford I still don't want him to leave in season 9. I hope they do some good character development in the few episodes he guest stars in.

I loved McKay's line to Sheppard when Teyla went through the wall, Maybe you just need to build up some momentum, get a running start

[h22chen]

I bet the Ancients left the Wraith alone because they were "relatives"... until it was too late.

There's no explaination about the super Wraith (that was Blown up by the Jelly Fish of Doom) yet. I think he was one of those "converted" Ancients.

[animoid]

Finally, a Teyla episode! And Ford got some lines, too. (Unfortunately, most of them were bad.)

We get a few explanations concerning Wraith origin. So the allmighty Ancients forgot to clean up after themselves, eh?
The Wraith. Telepathic bug people. I wonder where the telepathy came from...

I'm not quite sure what to make of Teyla's character development. I can't put my finger on it..if there should have been more, or just different...
The whole "I'm not crazy" rant in the beginning didn't seem to fit. Everyone else could have behaved that way (because of their earthly dislike of shrinks in general), but not Teyla. I mean, her people and their ways are quite simple. Wouldn't she embrace self-exploration and (so to speak) spiritualism instead of assuming everyone is her enemy and run away? Sure, she was scared about the nightmares and she doubted herself - what her father called a gift suddenly seemed to her like an attribute that drives her away from people, makes her different in a bad way.

But, when presented with the opportunity, she decided to help (thereby putting her health in danger). Very Teyla-ish - if there is something characteristic about her, it's her desire to help others, to fight for their welfare. Other than that...still not enough. More development, please. She must be interesting enough without those telepathic powers. I don't care for her character, as much as I'd wish to do so. It's not RLs fault, she did in fact a very creepy Wraith impression, but I get the feeling Teyla is just not written very convincing ("You have changed." "My hair is shorter.").

Other things:

Weir had something to do, the translations were an excellent opportunity to be useful.
Rodney got himself a fake girlfriend, and I'm sure the good Dr. Kate didn't even know they were seeing "each other" until he said so. Must've felt very embarrassing to be seen there (talking about leadership? ).

Bates was the usual Mr. Security Risk, and boy did he annoy me. In a bad way. "We cannot trust her, see, I'll shoot her with my stunner." Sure it was right at the moment, but his soldier routine could turn into serious paranoia one day. He'd better go and see Dr. Kate!

They still have a lot to explore in the city, or what else could be the reason they didn't show that chair before? The chair with the two mad scientists standing nearby, and poor Beckett being guinea pig again. And then there was a sign of extreme relief on Beckett's face when Weir came to the rescue...

Still a decent episode, but more like a build-up towards the season finale.

[ShadowMaat]

It was a big Teyla ep, but I still find her character kinda tedious and uninteresting. Maybe it's the inconsistencies between being Strong Leader and getting all whiney about "Oooo, what'll everyone think of me??" or maybe it isn't anything that concrete, but every time she's onscreen my attention tends to wander.

And you will never convince me that the stick fighting scenes serve any purpose other than showing off the Sexy Alien Female to (assumed) best advantage. Again, I think it's more an example of the fact that the writers are male rather than having anything to do with plot.

Personally, I thought Ford's joke was hysterical. I actually had to pause the vid to finish laughing. Maybe it's just because I like jokes at McKay's expense. It was a great light-hearted moment for Ford's character and humor doesn't always present itself at the most opportune times.

I started off hating Bates in Suspicion, but he was a little more tolerable in Hot Zone (if still a bit annoying) and in Letters from Pegasus I think we gained more insight into his character than we are likely to see again. It changed my whole outlook on him and I've ended up really liking him. So while he still came across as slightly xenophobic in The Gift, I found myself more inclined to agree with him and when he stunned Teyla, I cheered (although, yes, there's also the fact that I don't like her).

So, for me, the Teyla bits of this ep were a waste, but what we learned about the Wraith was most intriguing and I can't wait to see how that all evolves (if you'll pardon the pun).

[Buzz Lightyear]

Bates was the usual Mr. Security Risk, and boy did he annoy me. In a bad way. "We cannot trust her, see, I'll shoot her with my stunner." Sure it was right at the moment, but his soldier routine could turn into serious paranoia one day. He'd better go and see Dr. Kate!

What paranoia? His instincts have been right every time so far. To him, whether or not Teyla is an enemy collaborator isn't even the issue. The Atlantis expedition really doesn't know very much about anyone from the Pegasus galaxy. If everyone else is so quick to embrace the locals as "long lost cousins", Bates has to remain the voice of caution. It may be through no fault of her own but Teyla HAS been the source of some significant security breaches in Atlantis.

[Standback]

All in all, a pretty good episode. I enjoyed, and I like the possibilities this opens for Teyla. Hope we see them developed in Season 2.

If Teyla continues to pursue her 'Gift', she could become some kind of psychic warrior against the Wraith. That'd make all kinds of interesting things possible.

Imagine Teyla gathering together other Athosians, similarly gifted. Imagine them training together, learning to use their mental skills, forming a coterie. Imagine them learning to invade the Wraith consciousness undetected, spies in the Wraith's midst. Imagine them being able to posess a Wraith as Teyla was posessed, if only for short (yet crucial) moments. I can see plenty of good storylines coming out of here, not to mention opportunity to see more of the Athosians and throw in another few NPCs- err, I mean, recurring characters - Athosian and Wraith.

As always, I've got no idea if that's the direction this will be taken it. Probably it's not. But if it were, that'd be pretty cool.

Also - YAY! Atlantis scientists discover a Wraith demonstrating a SMALL MEASURE OF INDIVIDUALITY! Experts say this might indicate future storylines in which individual Wraith have some tiny, microscopic iota of CHARACTER! Rejoice!

[Easter Lily]

The Wraith. Telepathic bug people. I wonder where the telepathy came from...

Aren't the Wraith the equivalent of collective-minded insects? Is it really telepathy that they have or are they just telepathically linked with each other? Like the Replicators or the Borg (Star Trek:TNG)?