Teyla's "Gift"

[wolverine_nl]

I got the impression that she was surprised she didnt sense them when she was hiding in the bush with Ronon. I dunno, have to rewatch it, to be sure that my hunch is correct or incorrect.

[Ruffles]

Teyla was occupied and was not concentrating. She has to link to the Wraith network to be able to make contact and to feel their presence. Her modem cable was just unplugged, lol. It is not like Teal'c and Carter when they can sense a Goa'uld nearby, or if someone is a goa'uld. Also, remember she has to be in a certain state like sleeping or in a hypnotic state to really make that connection. The writers did not forget anything.

I didn't mean her ability to link to the hive mind. I meant that dark, cold feeling she's had since childhood when Wraith are near.

Maybe she was just overwhelmed with actually going off world and being with her team after all this time.

Bwahahahaha! Mental green for you!

Right now, I think my personal canon will be that all of her time with Michael numbed her abilities (like losing your sense of smell). Hopefully, it's temporary.

[Zamboni]

Teyla is too occupied with her job search now that the season is near its end.

So distracted in fact, if you look at her near the end gate sequence, she almost mis-dialed...

(I'm serious, she was about to press a button and then moved to another...)

[Sim]

Just a bit of inconsistent writing noting to see here folks.

[aboleyn24]

Ok , first post here...but I am a long time lurker!

There seems to be some confusion going on with Teyla's "Gift". Her "Gift" actually has two main parts to it.

1. The ability to sense the Wraith in the area (to what distance can be debated)

2. The ability to connect to the Wraith hive mind and take control of a Wraith mind.

The first is just instinct and requires no concentration or focus. It is simply a feeling she receives, which she knows means Wraith are around.

The second requires extreme concentration and focus to sometimes a meditative state.

With that all in mind the writers/director/producer simply dropped the ball here and omitted here "Gift" to detect the Wraith from the episode. Most likely as others have suggested it was for dramatic effect or so we may assume.

Dumb move and a big mistake with a main character that has a well established ability from the first episode throughout the series. Hopefully this will not become a pattern.

-Anubis

Exactly!

Honestly, I think the woman screaming had a more dramatic effect than Teyla saying "I sense Wraith People".

It really was a minor thing and it did not effect the episode for me.

See that is my problem. They sacrificed cannon for a cheap dramatic stunt in my opinion. I admit more times than not when I see folks in an uproar over a writer slip up I had missed it entirely until reading about it here on GW. I am ususally so engrossed in the story that I don't notice if there is a smallish fault in the story. I guess why I am bothered by this one is it ripped me out of the story. As soon as we saw the Wrath I started to question if Teyla was actually with the team or if I had imagined her. I am not being sarcastic. I seriously rewound to make sure she was there. Once I made sure yes, Teyla was part of the team I started to wonder why she didn't sense the Wraith as she always has. At that point the curtain had been opened and I saw the man behind operating the pulls and buttons. The fantasy was gone and I lost all involvement in the story. So for me the more dramatic scene had the opposite effect, it took away all of the drama and made the episode subpar.

[Ruffles]

Exactly!

See that is my problem. They sacrificed cannon for a cheap dramatic stunt in my opinion. I admit more times than not when I see folks in an uproar over a writer slip up I had missed it entirely until reading about it here on GW. I am ususally so engrossed in the story that I don't notice if there is a smallish fault in the story. I guess why I am bothered by this one is it ripped me out of the story. As soon as we saw the Wrath I started to question if Teyla was actually with the team or if I had imagined her. I am not being sarcastic. I seriously rewound to make sure she was there. Once I made sure yes, Teyla was part of the team I started to wonder why she didn't sense the Wraith as she always has. At that point the curtain had been opened and I saw the man behind operating the pulls and buttons. The fantasy was gone and I lost all involvement in the story. So for me the more dramatic scene had the opposite effect, it took away all of the drama and made the episode subpar.

It pulled me out of the story too. I REALLY dislike when our team acts out of character or suddenly can't do something (Rodney reloading a gun in Tracker, Teyla sensing the Wraith here) simply to service the story. M enjoyment wasn't completely gone, but it took a while for me to get pulled back in (which happened when Carson and Rodney got stunned).

[ToasterOnFire]

Just a bit of inconsistent writing noting to see here folks.

SGA in a nutshell.

[FallenAngelII]

It's just another random plot hole and case of bad writing. If, what, 10 Wraith drones couldn't hit Carson (who's not as thin as stick and thus a tiny target) standing in plain sight without any cover, then Teyla can randomly forget about her gift.

Maybe she did sense it but it was chilly so she thought she just needed to put on a sweater.

[GoSpikey]

Oh, give it a rest.

They were blinded by his awesomeness!

[P-90_177]

well it's the exact same thing with Teal'cs and Carters ability to sence Goa'uld. that just seemed to disappear too.

But for an exlanation in this instance perhaps teylas powers have grown to such a degree that she just senses wraith throughout the universe.

[GoSpikey]

Lol, yes.

The final eps haven't aired yet, so there might be a very logical answer coming, and so there's no need to overthink things now.

[Brain_Child]

Often times in stargate things that are established in the first several episodes are forgotten as they are too restricting.

For example remember the early episodes of SG1? Bullets would bounce off the armor of Jaffa warriors.
What about SGA? the wraith could withstand a whole clips from guns (i forgot which firearms they use. P90s or something?) but now a few bullets have been seen to take down wraith

things change. but even so, writers could drop a hint that Michael or the baby have something to do with the gift

[GoSpikey]

They might be dropping in a big hint in a few weeks time

Stay tuned!

[FallenAngelII]

Often times in stargate things that are established in the first several episodes are forgotten as they are too restricting.

For example remember the early episodes of SG1? Bullets would bounce off the armor of Jaffa warriors.
What about SGA? the wraith could withstand a whole clips from guns (i forgot which firearms they use. P90s or something?) but now a few bullets have been seen to take down wraith

things change. but even so, writers could drop a hint that Michael or the baby have something to do with the gift

Only the Wraith can still take several clips and the Goa'uld thing was explained:
They started using bullet-piercing armor.

This, this was just a plot hole.

[Ruffles]

Often times in stargate things that are established in the first several episodes are forgotten as they are too restricting.

For example remember the early episodes of SG1? Bullets would bounce off the armor of Jaffa warriors.
What about SGA? the wraith could withstand a whole clips from guns (i forgot which firearms they use. P90s or something?) but now a few bullets have been seen to take down wraith

things change. but even so, writers could drop a hint that Michael or the baby have something to do with the gift

You make a very good point here. I always hesitate calling the unexplained a plot hole because there might be an explanation later. However, in that case, I would have appreciated a shocked glance by Sheppard, Ronon, or Rodney at Teyla with a question of "spidey sense on the blink?" or something rather than glossing over the fact like it hasn't been a prominent part of the show for the past 4 years.