Michael (218)

[mrscopterdoc]

One of my favorite episodes. It is just so dark and explores the moral crossing-the-line that makes for interesting stories.

[JediMasterJoy]

I think that what was done to Michael was so horrible and wrong. No wonder he turned out like he did; experimenting on other beings. I felt sorry for him.

[carmencatalina]

I re-watched this episode a couple of days ago (would you believe it was only the second time I've seen it? I'm slack). And I have to say, the sense that the Atlantis team did a horrible, horrible thing really hit me this time. They experimented on a sentient being. I don't care what the "higher purpose" was, or that the Wraith are basically predators that prey on humans, it was completely unethical.

[maneth]

It just goes to show what humans are prepared to do to win. In a sense, we're no better than the Wraith. But certainly no worse either.

[Thorthewraith]

I really felt sorry for Michael. His beautiful white hairs colored and cut short. He never really becomes the pretty wraith he was before...
Wouldn't like to be experimented on anyway.

[Skie]

Hey, if I can believe there are things out there that could make a ship go a few million light years in 4 days, I can believe that there are drugs out there that can alter DNA.

Doing that is ridiculous to me anyway. But the point is that this hyperdrive was invented by the Asgard, a race who is far more advanced than humans. But Beckett, a human, invented the retrovirus. Puting aside that this is NEVER EVER going to work anyway, how could Beckett with the current genetic/medical knowledge come up with this. Gosh, if he can achieve that then I don't want to know what the Ancients could have done to win the war against the wraith.

This episode was good for one reason, the moral issues. It allowed to get some insights into the wraith, OMG they're not one-dimensional after all , and letting the show get darker. The actions of the team was stupid to say the least and, apart from Ronon, felt out of character. Not to mention the fact that this whole retrovirus story is just hugely hilarious.

Edit: BTW, that it is Beckett who comes up with this whole retrovirus, seems to me the most out of character thing. He has high moral standards, empathy and is devoted to the Hippocratic oath as we have seen in PTW. But with the retrovirus, he does nothing else then genocide an entire race! Not to mention experimenting on a living, sentient being. If that is not out of character, what then?

[WraithRichard]

I did not like the premise of what they did. I guess you could argue that in effect the wraith were still a bug, but to me this went totally against what medicine is. I felt the actors portrayed their characters well.

I found this good, but strange. Teyla tends to be the gentler person of the main cast when it comes to talking and planning, but they gave her a blunt and darker aspect about this. I thought it was a theme of the 'bad' moral decisions the humans made in regards to medicine and prisoners regarding the wraith. They didn't care what they did to Steve.

Although, I do wonder about Beckett: did he plan for there to be amnesia? What were they going to do when htey had an angry human in the med lab?

[Blizzah]

I agree that it was interesting to see another side of the Wraith, so far they have been so 1-dimensional that it's hard to understand them, I mean is all they care about is feeding? I wonder what the politics are like within the Wraith ranks, do they have families or relationships. This might not interest everyone but its stuff I would like to know to fill in the gaps. Overall I liked the episode and the moral dilemmas made for a good story. I also agree that what Dr. Beckett did seems out of character and out of his Intellectual reach.

[themyst]

I agree that it was interesting to see another side of the Wraith, so far they have been so 1-dimensional that it's hard to understand them, I mean is all they care about is feeding? I wonder what the politics are like within the Wraith ranks, do they have families or relationships. This might not interest everyone but its stuff I would like to know to fill in the gaps.

I wish I would have seen more of this side of things, too.

[Blizzah]

I wish I would have seen more of this side of things, too.

Exactly, they are such an advanced race but sometimes the Wraith social dynamic reminds me of the Borg from star trek. Where you can move around the ships will relative ease and they spend a lot of time sleeping...resistance is futile!

[mathpiglet]

The exploration of the moral issues was fascinating. Is is okay to experiment on a living being to possibly save Earth? Great dilemma.

That aside, if I had a Wraith/human in Atlantis I think I'd have a guard on his room and send the doctor to give him his injections in his room!

[Lunaeclipse]

They were all acting strange at first and then later we found out why, although, for me, Ronon gave the secret away. There is only one thing that makes him act that way- the wraith.

The moral conversation was interesting. One of those episodes were you get to see how both sides feels about things.

Michael, not my favourite character, but not the least either...

[Lythisrose]

From Joe Mallozzi's Blog:
http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...-past-michael/

MICHAEL (218)

In its earliest inception (under the working title Charly, a tip of the hat to Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon), the story tracked the capture of the wraith, his transformation, and the subsequent attempt to keep him in the dark which, of course, ends in a spectacular failure. It was interesting but lacked something. And, it was while we were in Carl’s office, discussing the fact that it needed some sort of twist, that I suggested we tell the story from Michael’s P.O.V. Rather than let the viewers in on it from the get-go, make them an audience to the mystery. This would allow them to connect with Michael and sympathize with him – and be thoroughly blindsided when we pulled the rug out from underneath them with the big reveal. It was a small change in approach but it made quite a difference in execution.

Writer/Producer Carl Binder came through BIG TIME, delivering a gripping, emotionally resonant story that is at turns suspenseful, thought-provoking, and surprisingly controversial. I love the little hints he sprinkles throughout the beginning of the episode – the fact that everyone is wary with the exception of Ronon who is downright hostile, Michael’s identification of the wealth technology, his nightmare, Teyla’s anxious look when he pins her during their sparring sessions and slams his hand down on her chest. Brilliant. And equally brilliant is the shocking “DAY 12? – “DAY 10? – “DAY 1? session reveal. As far as arc-driven episodes go, this one is seminal, developing the retrovirus and introducing one of the most complex villains in Stargate history.

Another standout guest star in Connor Trinneer whose portrayal of the confused and vulnerable Michael Kenmore elicits great sympathy, even in the darkest moments.

Rachel is equally terrific in this episode as Teyla demonstrates genuine compassion for a former enemy – something she will come to regret in later episodes.

Anybody catch McKay’s complaint about the lack of blue jello in the mess, an obvious callback to the blue jello references of SG-1?

One of the episode’s unintentionally amusing moments takes place in the infirmary where Michael spots the “Kenmore” calendar. Perhaps even more startling than the coincidence of the shared name is the fact that Carson has marked one of the calendar days as “Dinner with Cadman”. Word of advice to Carson: If you want to impress the girl you’re dating, start calling her by her first name.

This episode opens up the floor to some interesting moral and ethical debates. An exchange late in the episode nicely encapsulates the dilemma:

HEIGHTMEYER: We can’t kill him, Ronon. We’re the ones who put him in this position.

SHEPPARD: Hold on a minute, Doc. If we hadn’t given him the retrovirus, he’d still be a Wraith. We wouldn’t think twice about killing him.

TEYLA: But we did give him the retrovirus. We made him human. Now we have the responsibility to treat him as we would any other …

DEX (interrupting): He’s not human. He’s a Wraith.

In retrospect, the Michael experiment delivers mixed results. On the one hand, it is a failure in that it costs an expedition member his life and creates a powerful new enemy with dangerous knowledge of Atlantis’s existence. On the other hand, the transformation does work – albeit briefly – and offers hope of a powerful new weapon against the wraith. And there’s something to be said for Sheppard’s “If we hadn’t given him the retrovirus, he’d still be a Wraith. We wouldn’t think twice about killing him.” argument since, despite the criticism directed at the retrovirus, it IS a far more humane alternative to simply killing the enemy.

What do you think?

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

Average episode.

Like how they started the episode after Michael went human.

Tomorrow, I forget, something about a volcano planet and that chick from Andromeda.

[Krisz]

This is quite a depressing episode, watching an experiment go wrong. What made it sad was the fact we see Michael as the confused young human and everyone seems to be giving him a lot of attention which was weird to start with. You just know there is something not quite right.

Watching him find out that he's a Wraith was pretty tragic as it seemed a lot of the human remained. The very 'human' anguish he went through before the anger and sense of betrayal set in along with his reversal to his true nature was interesting. Where is the line between human and Wraith feelings?