Instinct (207)

[Krisz]

Would never have known that was Jewel Staite under that makeup!

It was a sad episode in a way, hoping that the human side of the Wraith could be nurtured, but you just know it won't succeed in the long run. Even though the Wraith girl had the other Wraith to share 'meals' with it was sad to see how torn she was having to admit that to her 'father' that she had fed on humans.

Here starts the slippery slope to a greater nightmare with the development of the retro-virus that brought 'Michael' into existence.

[Matt G]

MIdweek, another ep of Atlantis:

1. Ronon's paranoia was an interesting foreshadowing of later events.

2. Plenty of foreshadowing when you knew where to look.

3. This effort was never going to work...because the serum never actually worked. The basic idea was on the money.

4. Forgot about Beckett bailing out McKay.

Good ep.

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

Another okay ep.

Rodney showing us that he is still great with kids. Ha yeah right.

The retrovirus sure did backfire. Just made things worse. That poor male Wraith didn't know what was coming. Snap.

God I love the sound of Ronan's gun.

The ep ended quite suddenly I reckon.

[ZRFTS]

Instinct

It seems that with every episode, Atlantis is revealing more and more about everything; the ancients, the Wraith, the Pegasus Galaxy and the colonies within that galaxy. So to our surprise comes an episode where we get the second female Wraith in a long, long time and one who's supposedly raised differently from the others.

It's an interesting concept really; we've been given a small hint that a Wraith could have a different personality in the "The Defiant One" and ever since then we've been imagining what they could be like had they'd been raised differently. The Wraith girl shown is representative with that concept with a different personality, different voice and even a trait that's unique to her as well... She's something that establishes a different side to the Wraith, one which is possible under extra special conditions; (there may be some parallels to the Gou'ald and the Jaffa) makes me wonder how the Wraith take care of the young and raise them to be what they are. The actor behind the girl is a decent guest star, she manages to be competent, inviting and even somewhat memorable; the pain behind her having to live in fear is something that draws us into her character and the bond between her and his father (who also manages to be intelligent, a decent guest star and a vital part in the episode.) is something that reflects the humble nature inside of her. There are times where she seems like just an average character though; it's almost as if the writers didn't put as much effort into her as they could of, seemingly underutilizing what I think is a perfect opportunity for the show.

You ain't seen something like this since "Rising".

This concept does allow for a sociological issue to be explored, the belief of change. There are doubts that people can change who they are, can get rid of certain things and those doubts are reflected here as the crew gets placed in the middle of the issue; Ronan's comment about the Wraith is something that both reflected his personality and the issue at hand, it also serves as some pretty odd foreshadowing but think about it from a sociological stance, provides some pretty deep substance right there. Beckett is provided a good opportunity for him to flex his abilities, his scientific/biologic knowledge really plays into the issue and he always manages to make what he said reflect to the issue at hand. (Beckett always manage to have this thing with mixing science and sociology together) The involvement of a retrovirus which has the possibility to turn a Wraith into a human being contains a wave of possibilities (which future episodes can exploit) and something which may prove hopeful to the show (I mean just think of it, it could be something Atlantis could build a arc around) but ultimately it makes you think about a couple of things that aren't really easy to explain in a review.

Then there is the other side of the fence, the civilization who fears that a Wraith is out their feeding on their victims; it's okayish, it's nothing that hasn't been done before in Stargate (society, inhabitants, architecture, etc.) but they play their role competently enough so kudos... Their fear of this Wraith establishes the various plot points that would come to form the plot of this episode; the suspicion, the acceptance, the other Wraith obviously, the need for an antagonist, it kind of parallels everything in a way, you're different, they won't accept you for who you are; it plays a role in any person who's different and it makes them do things as a whole that are questionable, just so they can become a part of society in general. What they're doing may be generic but that generic stuff manages to put different people in situations where their true personalities come out, it even manages to place the Wraith girl in a predicament that would come to play a big part later on in the episode, the same could be said for the society who's understandable response would also come to be an essential part of the episode though I really wanted more from them.

The other side of the equation.

Oddly enough, much of the crew doesn't seem to be seen oftenly enough, which is odd considering how they were working as a team earlier in the episode; it seems everybody splits to separate directions. Shephard, Ronan and Teyla split off to hunt the Wraith while Rodney and Beckett stay behind. This type of separation concerns me, of the crew doesn't care to rely on each other then it leads to a sense of isolation, that each member is not as important as they seem. I don't know whether it's the fault of the writers or the episode but I really hope it's something that'll be corrected. Sheppard, Rodney and Teyla do well for themselves but they're oddly marginalized for the people mentioned above, they do get good moments with Teyla providing a really sympathetic moment with the Wraith girl but it seems like their only purpose is to roam around, saying stuff to move the plot forward while only truly jumping into action whenever the script calls for it.

Speaking of which, there is action in the climax of the episode where Sheppard, Ronan and Teyla get to shine. The force of the threat combined with the events beforehand make the scenes engaging and also give some semblance to what should be just your average action scenes; I thought it was nice they would do this, it wasn't something that was needed but the fact that they added it just makes these scenes better and they also have some truly awesome moments that SGA viewers die for. Unfortunately the action of the episode doesn't feel as engaging as it's supposed to be; whether or not it's the characters or the camerawork the pacing or even how it ends, I don't know... All I know is that the action here could of been a whole lot more. There's also a feeling that this episode could of been a whole lot more as well, the concept of a Wraith girl should of done wonders but oddly enough they don't utilize the potential of it well, it even ends anticlimactically as well! Certain elements feel uninspired and there's an unintentional sense of predictability that ruins some of the scenes; I'll admit it's subdued but still, it's there and it shouldn't be there in the first place.

At least you get some action...

Regardless, this is still a pretty good episode. We get a plot which is satisfying and sociological as a whole, we get exploration into the wraith and it's a pretty entertaining way to spend 44 minutes. However, there are certain things that are lacking, the characters seem marginalized (with a few exceptions) to the point where they're reduced to plot pushers and the concept isn't used to it's fullest potential. Some parts may disappoint you if you manage to look past that, it's a pretty good episode.

7.5/10

[Jae'a]

My LiveJournal post
Wow, that poor girl..
Learned a bit more about the Wraith though.
(And gonna catch up one of these days, i swear! )

[jelgate]

Even though its not technically one I have always considered this episode part one of a two parter given how the events of this episode have a direct result of the next episode. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. This is an interesting episode because of a little more insight into Wraith physiology. I never cared for the character of Ella that much. She comes off as bland and boring. But I liked what she brought in showing that the Wraith are not blantly evil. In that the hunger is what turns them into murderers. I also like the idea of the retrovirus. Yes the writers butchered the term retrovirus in this episode but it was still interesting to have a drug that they are attempting to use to turn the Wraith back into humans. It was interesting to see more insight into how the Wraith function in a biological sense

[Thorthewraith]

Poor poor Ellia... and on the same time poor Jewel Staite as well.. I mean, Ellia is not the cutest wraith on the block so to say...I think they could've done her make up a whole lot better, a whole lot more complimenting her features, she is a beautiful actress!!

About Ellia then. It is nice to see a wraith grow up on a human planet and develop human values and ethics. And I also think they didn't use this character to it's full potential. I mean, in the lab, Beckett was talking about "getting to know the girl" and in the end of the episode they use her as canonfodder just because their stupid experiment didn't work. I still believe that somehow they could've found better ways to immobilise her than to kill her.

I think, should she have been left alive, we could have formed a lot better bond with her than we did now...

(Spoiler contains season 5 material, watch at own risk)

Spoiler:

That means no Jennifer Keller or Keller being played by another actress. And then maybe Ellia could become Queen in "The Queen" instead of Teyla. Teyla did a wonderfull job, but she wouldn't have to go "trough all that" when they had a real wraith among them... Then again...Ellia might be too softhearted to be the rockhard queen Teyla could play after her experience with other queens. I mean, with Laura in Spoils of War she had some role model LOL

[mrscopterdoc]

This is an interesting episode because of a little more insight into Wraith physiology. I never cared for the character of Ella that much. She comes off as bland and boring. But I liked what she brought in showing that the Wraith are not blantly evil. In that the hunger is what turns them into murderers.

That was very interesting. I wonder what drives that murdering hunger, and is there any way that it could ever be changed?

[garhkal]

As mentioned by todd. Its like a fire inside of you only quenched when you feed. So imo its doubtful it could be suppressed.

[Davey]

I thought there was a lot that was very good in this episode, and I'm someone who couldn't get into Atlantis after originally seeing the Wraith who I have found to be disgusting even by Science Fiction standards. But this episode had a very strong element of "humanizing" the issue of the Wraith especially in terms of the retrovirus, and Elliana herself. But I just cannot stand that horrific screeching and ugliness of the Wraith that makes the Klingons and Goa'uld charming by comparison. The insinuations of racism against the Wraith itself is very good. It's just the other part I can't take. I assume that Wraith children need parents who will cook normal food for them or do they eat anything raw and live? Does it mean that Wraith digestive tracts wither away and that the children go to the bathroom normally? This must bring some degree of normalcy to them. But do adult Wraith only need to feed on humans, or could they replace humans with animals who they could raise? I'll go on to the next episode.