Instinct (207)

[SaharaGate]

Wow...I adored this ep. I absolutely love all the old Victorian Gothic novels, so this was right up my alley

My favourite element would have to be the townsfolk tho...as soon as they came through the woods I yelled out 'cue the angry villagers!'. Hee. All they needed were some ravens and the line 'monster wants friend...'

Wasn't a fan of the Wraith girl's hair though (I know, I'm nit picking). It seemed a very adult hair style and didn't really 'suit' her. I think long plaits would have been better. I thought she looked fantastic (in that gothic, creepy, beast sort of way) after she was converted though.

Also liked Teyla in this ep...but I'm not so keen on her telling Ronan he can disobey Shep. Ronan has proven himself to be a loose canon, and thus far the only thing giving him pause is his military training and the fact he follows Shep's orders.

And if Shep isn't the brawn on the team (that's Ronan) and he's not the brains (that's Rodney) and he's not the peacmaker/negotiator (that's Teyla) and if his leadership decisions can be openly questioned and disobeyed...then what exactly IS his role these days??

Not that I'm bashing Shep cause he's actually one of my fav characters. He's basically a big ol goof (and we love him ).

[Droops]

Hmm, well, I liked it fine, despite a couple of problems and a question.

* More wraith backstory. I enjoyed learning more about them. Hmmm, a wraith with a conscious too. Very interesting all around and it sets us up for learning even more. The seeds have been planted to defeat them with this show, IMO.

* Good Beckett stuff, with him doing what he should do, and then with him out in the field hunting wraith, which he shouldn't do! Still good stuff all around and entertaining.

* Teyla continues to develop and have things to do. Her approach to the wraith girl was mothering in a way, and brings out more of her. I'm pleased with her character development this season. Slow, steady, but visible.

* Ronon was fun. I loved the comment in the bar: "One wraith? In the woods? I'll be done before sunrise." lol! One of the quotes of the night.

Some strange things:

* Why haven't the wraith been to this planet in many years?

* Why didn't the surviving wraith feed more often? Here was a society without the means to defend itself. He could have fed regularly and easily, yet chose to do so every few months. Why?

* Obviously both wraith worked together to feed for awhile, but then separated. Again, why? We'll never know now as both of them are dead, but it's a valid question. She stays with a kind human, the other wraith lives in a hovel-like shelter in the woods. Again, why?

* What allowed Sheppard to tell the villagers "WE'LL HANDLE IT!" So they just get there, and this village, that's been afraid for ten years and has been hunting, will just let a group of strangers go trapsing off into the woods for days? Suuuuuure. Sorry, that was not only hard to believe, but arrogant as well. It was BS, pure and simple.

Overall, the wraith backstory information and the continued development of Ronan and Teyla made it worth seeing.

[Mekaleka-high]

The entire episode felt like we were just building up towards bigger and better things (I hope). For example:

*A nice Wraith. A good Wraith. A. Teenaged. Female. Wraith.
Why have we only seen two femWraith, and why do they never seem to be out hunting? For that matter, why was Ellia, and little almost-toddler flying in a space-ship. Was it some sort of family vacation? What sort of ship were they flying? Why did they crash? Is there an Ancient outpost somewhere nearby or something?

*The McShep relationship seemed a little stressed. McKay didn't talk alot, John's funniest moments were with Weir and Beckett, and instead of pairing with Rodney like normal, he tells him to stay behind. And did anyone else notice that McKay admitted to not wanting to know something. Granted, it's about human biology, but still... what happened to knowing everything about everything?

* Ronon and Teyla will come to blows sooner or later. Probably over leaving John behind or something, but there is diffenantly some angry tension there... no, I don't think they'll get together.

Let's hope for Conversion to be a bit more climactic.

[Daniel's Sister]

I really liked that ep! It had enough funnys in it. With Mckay not wanting to be with Beckett and Ellia's father, but, also not wanting to go hunt a wraith.
Oh, and him fighting a wraith. Granted, only for about 10 secends.But still.
And, Ronon saying "One wraith, in the woods. I'll be back by morning".
And Daniel's twin agree. WE WANT RONONS COAT. DT and I really like those trench coats. And his is awsome.
Mr.Momoa, if you read these posts, could you send DT and I two of those coats? I wear a size medeum, and DT a large. Thanks!

[Daniel's_twin]

This episode was really good. Much better then last week's IMHO. You had to feel so sorry for Elia. She wanted so much just to be "normal" and fit in with the other people on that planet. I liked her adopted father, too. He was willing to sacrifice so much, even some of his life to take care of the little girl he found in the crash.

The scenes after she took the retro-virus were fabulous. The prosthetics for the more insect-like Wraith was very good. It looked like she was part bug. The scene between Ronan and Teyla was good. "Sometimes we are allowed to make exceptions." "Who decides when we do that?" "We do." "Good enough." Very good.

The part where Elia was trying to feed on Sheppard was very creepy. Talk about messy. Can't wait until next week when they show the aftermath of what happened.

[GateGeak]

*Possible Spoilers*













Forgive me for forgetting the names of the characters.

The bearded gentleman telling the story of the wraith crash along with other men of the village went out to find and burn any survivors or dead stated that he lost his son 2 years after this happened. But his son turned out to be the "father" of the wraith girl who had aged do to her needing to feed.

The son says that he found the wraith girl at the crash site and hid her right away and raised her since. How is this possible when he dissapeared two years later?

The only explanation I could think of is he found her, hid her in the caves, and then returned to the village. He remained in the village for two years while sneaking away periodically to take care of the wraith until she began feeding on him. Then, he decided not to return to his family.

It seams a bit much considering his story of raising her make it look like he lived in the caves and focused soley on raising her and then looking for a way to keep her cravings at bay.

[Qasim]

He probably left the village 2 years ago to spend more time with Elia

[GateGeak]

Oops, I left out an important statement in the episode. I believe it was said that the wraith ship crashed 7 years prior to the Atlantis team arriving. Which appears consitant to the age of the wraith girl. If this is true, the son would have left the village 7 years prior, not 2.

[Daniel's Sister]

I forgot about that funny part with Ronon and Teyla.
(Personally, I think that Ronon and Teyla should get together. I used to think that Ford and Telya should get together, but, they got to brotherly~sisterly. But, Ronons face when Telya got wounded, said that he likes her. It was "Okay, I want to go with Sheppard, but, I don't want to leave Telya. They definatly should get together.)

[TJuk]

I'm sure alot of this has been said, but this is what I got from the episode.

Overall I enjoyed it, it wasn't bad and better IMHO then last week, but I got the same sense as others that it fell a little flat (nothing to do with the acting...infact some of the naunces the actors brought lifted the ep & stopped it being totally flat). In short it was missing something and had certain elements that didn't feel right at all. I too felt it was more a setup/build-up for next week then a story in its own right at times. It also felt like too much was being stuffed into one episode using crowbar plot devices to get from A to B (makes me wonder if part 2 was written first).

Stand out points:

Sheppard's line, 'So its a teenage thing, rebellion, pimples, life sucking'. Absolutely classic line! I also like the way Shep was around McKay, it seemed to reflect (thank god) his loss of trust in Rodney and the strain on their friendship. And the little head whack was another priceless moment.

McKay's subdued demeanor, while neither the story nor the dialogue really reflected or continued what happened in 'Trinity', the way he acted/reacted during this ep did; much thanks to the ever talented David Hewlett, that man just rocks! Another great moment had me giggling away when Rodney was checking his chest after the encounter with the Wraith, especially with Beckett's look when Rodney was being the usual drama queen! Those two on screen together are just magic!

Nice to see a little screentime with substance for Teyla, her compassion and understanding towards Ellia was great. She onces again shows what makes her a leader, with wisdom and heart but still a warrior because in the end, she did manipulate Ellia to their advantage.

Nice reaction from Dex on various points and his need to know where he stood within the chain of command and the boundries within it said a lot about his character. I also enjoyed his overriding and irrational hatred towards Ellia , it was palible and nicely done.

Best of all, Beckett actually got a substantial role and was part of the episode storyline!!!! *does happy dance* I've severely missed him and what Carson brings to the show. So far this season he's been noticably lacking, much to my dismay and confusion considering Paul McGillion is now main cast not recurring, but has had less participation??? I've also been screaming and shouting about the fact he's more then just his doctor role and as a scientist, Beckett has every right to be out in the field. It was great to see him with McKay and surprisingly they weren't technobabbling at each other all the time!

On the flip side while I want to see Beckett offworld more, the role expanded and for the character to develope, I'm preturbed by the rapid change and also the fact that if it weren't for the fact Paul brings so much to the character with just an expression, he would have been a little out of character with his actions and the dialogue. The core elements of Beckett and what make him so appealing are his humanity and compassion. In 'Duet' he showed these traits to an injured Wraith that would just as soon make him a snack! In 'Instinct' he talked about Ellia as a 'willing test subject' and was talking about what paramounted to doing dangerous medical experiements on her. This to me seemed totally out of character. Last season he had great reservations just using 'Steve' in the Hoffan's serum experiements, something supposedly non-lethal. The retrovirus on the other hand, is essentially a biological weapon which will wipe out the Wraith as they are, destroying a race if not the individual...aka genocide. His eagerness to do this to a sentient being, let alone a female Wraith that showed herself capable of human emotions, fear, love, sadness...well it was just wrong and almost chilling.

And the biggest critism I have for the whole ep revolves around the aforementioned 'retrovirus'. What the hell were they thinking, taking an untested and by Carson's own admission, unsuccessful retrovirus out of the lab? HELLO!! Viruses mutate rapidly, you dont mess with them outside of stict conditions especially if you're not sure what they're gonna do (and I have limited medical/bio knowledge but even I know that)!! It made Beckett look both stupid and a fool, which he is most definately not; not to mention completely unprofessional. The mere stupidity of the action made me want to chew the desk in frustration because it made what was about to happen completely and utterly predictable. The worst yet was Carson explaining to Zaddick about it, he might as well have waggled it in Ellia's face and said, 'so you wonna be a real girl huh?'. This little plot device was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. Not to mention is Beckett going to make the same medical f$%& up over and over again just to serve the plot? Ep 7 of all season, the one where Carson screws up....again. Will he ever learn?

And Carson using a gun??? Taking it out and a warning shot maybe, but using it as he did? No! At least he wasn't running around with it out like McKay. And while it shows Beckett's learning (they showed a bit of that in 'Duet') to be more proactive and confident, and I have no problem with him carrying it or brandishing it, but pulling the trigger with intent to kill?? Frankly it feels wrong...very wrong!!

Ok this is turning into a rant. I will say that for all Instincts failing it does raise some interesting questions and I'm looking forward to where it leads next week.

Review aka Rant Over!

TJ

[ToasterOnFire]

And if Shep isn't the brawn on the team (that's Ronan) and he's not the brains (that's Rodney) and he's not the peacmaker/negotiator (that's Teyla) and if his leadership decisions can be openly questioned and disobeyed...then what exactly IS his role these days??

Ah, now that's the million dollar question! Shep was brought to Atlantis entirely because of his SUPER DUPER GENE ABILITY. Unfortunately, now that's a bit overshadowed by Rodney, who also has the gene. Granted, Rodney's ability isn't as strong but he does appear to have more knowhow with Ancient devices than Shep so he may be more useful on the fly. But what about Shep and his ability? How is it better? Why? And what's going to happen to him now that

Spoiler:

the retrovirus is in his system?

Teyla's comment to Ronan may set up his later disobedience toward Shep, or it may have just been used to further the "alien duo" bond between them. Shep seems to not have a problem disobeying orders when he thinks it's best, both during season one and hinted at before he came to Atlantis. I wonder if the writers are still playing with some Shep "karma revenge" where he has to deal with people disobeying him. We saw some of that in LFP and I imagine we're going to see some more soon.

Wonder what Caldwell would think of the "alien duo"?

[Lida]

I forgot about that funny part with Ronon and Teyla.
(Personally, I think that Ronon and Teyla should get together. I used to think that Ford and Telya should get together, but, they got to brotherly~sisterly. But, Ronons face when Telya got wounded, said that he likes her. It was "Okay, I want to go with Sheppard, but, I don't want to leave Telya. They definatly should get together.)

Well, if we are going to read volumes into every look a character gives to another character, than by your reasoning (coughs), Dr. Weir is secretly drooling over Shep, after that cute look she gave him after he delivered that priceless line about "adolescence" (you know, the teenage thing line).

[Steve_the_Wraith]

Ah, now that's the million dollar question! Shep was brought to Atlantis entirely because of his SUPER DUPER GENE ABILITY. Unfortunately, now that's a bit overshadowed by Rodney, who also has the gene. Granted, Rodney's ability isn't as strong but he does appear to have more knowhow with Ancient devices than Shep so he may be more useful on the fly. But what about Shep and his ability?

Sheps still mister Ancient gene! No-one else can fly a puddlejumper as well or use the chair so easily.

The thing about the 2 is that McKay seems to be connected to the technology left behind, it's his job to figure it out and he referred to Atlantis as "his" city in Siege (I can't help but see that as foreshadowing). Sheppard on the other hand is connected to the Ancients themselves, physically he's closest to them.

Shep's ancientness will probably be explored later this season in eps like "Epiphany" and "The Tower" (which is all about the "strength of the gene), but even without that he is still crucial to the team. Shep is the glue that holds the team together, who else can keep McKay in line? His role is as important as Jack's in SG-1 - in that team he wasn't the strongest (Teal'c) or the smartest (Carter) or the most diplomatic (Daniel) but kept them together and alive.

Shep's team are probably worse in that regard - without him, in a crises each of them would probably come up with their own plan and refuse to do it anyway but their own (a slight exageration maybe, but butting heads makes for good TV).

[Dr Weir]

I thought wraith don't feed on humans until they are 15 yrs old.

[PG15]

I thought the Wraith ship crashed 10 years ago.