Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: Arcady Aug 26th 2005, 5:19 PM

Season 2, Episode 7 - Instinct
Air Dates - US: August 26 2005, Canada: August 29 2005

The team discovers a young Wraith girl who has been raised by a human, and is in hiding from the people of her human village in fear of her life.

http://www.sg1archive.com/atlantis/s2.shtml#207 | http://www.sg1archive.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12389 | http://www.sg1archive.com/teasers/a207.html

(This topic is for people who have seen the episode to discuss it. If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read this topic.)

Posted by: Erised Aug 26th 2005, 9:31 PM

Ok I actually felt sorry for the girl! Now I know... don't EVER trust the wraith!
Poor Sheppard! She fed on him and now he has the virus in him and he will turn into wraith! Well, of coutse Doc Bekket will find a cure but still I can't wait for the next episode, and we will have to wait for TWO weeks!

How much more wrong can you be? You are trying to get rid of the insect part, but you get rid of the human part! o.O

Posted by: Aquila Aug 26th 2005, 9:50 PM

Indeed, it is too bad that Beckett was not able to test his syrum when it was complete to see if it would work. Really quite a sad episode in the long run...

I am however, very much looking forward to the next episode with Sheppard and his slight infestation. Pretty lousy that it has to be in two weeks! Why is that anyway?

Aquila the Ancient

Posted by: Ziu Aug 26th 2005, 11:00 PM

You have to wait two weeks because of the SG-1 Marathon. I guess you didn't vote for you favorite episodes.

Posted by: Erised Aug 26th 2005, 11:19 PM

yeah, this is the first time I am frustrated by the SG-1 marathon!

Posted by: Dagwood Aug 27th 2005, 1:13 AM

how many more times can Sheppard be attacked by a bug/wraith before he becomes something worse than either one alone?

I see a severe case of Lt Forditis coming on

Posted by: Mental Case Aug 27th 2005, 8:33 AM

This episode felt somewhat of a downer. I just felt kinda dissapointed, maybe it was because I didn't see the threat of infection until I came here. I just thought like, oh big woop, they shot some super-wraith. I admit the potential for more does kinda shed it in a different light.. but I do consider it semi-spoiler in that it was mentioned here with certainty that we'd see infestation next. I can let that pass though, because in a way it makes there be some point to this, in my opinion lackluster episode.

Posted by: Ringbearer Aug 27th 2005, 12:20 PM

I loved this episode!!! It had me at the edge of the seat the whole time!! I do feel a little sorry for the girl wraith. She wanted to change but she couldn't. But I still love this episode!! Very cool!!

Posted by: SomeEvilGuy Aug 27th 2005, 3:13 PM

Didn't think this was one of the best episodes...didn't really do too much for plot development, except right at the very end. But i'm sure there will be much better things to come.

Posted by: Ilzy Aug 27th 2005, 3:29 PM

This episode was ok but far too predictable. In the middle of the episode my brother said how things will fold out with some 90% precision. And still I was dissapointed when Shep's bad feelling about the girl was true...

One thing, though. I finally see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel considering the Wraith. For some time now I was wondering what are they going to do with Wraith knowing that it's impossible to win them with the usual weapons. Now it's clear - turn them into humans! Wonder how many seasons we'll have to wait til that happens...

Posted by: Crilisin Aug 27th 2005, 7:07 PM

y they shot her the hot redhead from Firefly.y o lord they should have brought Zats

Posted by: usmctech99 Aug 28th 2005, 1:12 AM

That would be Jewel Staite, very hot in Firefly but not so much here, although she did a good job as the Wraith... and I'm pretty sure they left all the zats in the MW.

Posted by: taujin Aug 28th 2005, 1:34 AM

I thought this episode was average. There were a few things that I thought were goofs.

I was extremely disappointed with Dr. Beckett for bringing his half-tested retro-virus to this planet, especially when he knew it was far from ready. Granted he wanted to test it on some 'live Wraith cells' but that was extremely premature since he said that even on the cellular level, the virus was not working. So, for him to bring a potential contagion to another planet was downright irresponsible.

The one goof I spotted was the fact that the villagers were not even in the iron age (they killed the crashed Wraith with pitchforks made from wood), and they clearly did not have any firearms. Yet, the first words out from Ellia's father when the SG team stormed the house was "Don't shoot" and his next sentence was to ask them to put their guns down. How would Ellia's father know about guns amd shooting?

Also, for Ellia and her father to remain hidden from their own village for 10 years, how and where did they get their supplies? That chemistry set certainly wasn't home made and neither were their clothes.

Finally, I don't understand why the adult Wraith that was killing the villagers would allow Ellia to live and be raised by a human. The adult could just as easliy see through Ellia's mind to find out where she lived, and killed the man. The Wraith consider humans as food. Who would allow their young to be raised by the livestock? Maybe the Wraith have a different definition of "playing with your food."

And poor Sheppard. He has been infected by the Wraith virus more times than he has gotten laid in the Pegasus system

I think I'll only score this 6 out of 10.

TJ

Posted by: Lord_Yu Aug 28th 2005, 2:00 AM

I like that episode. Stargate is soo full of cliches with perfect heros and wicked villains. It's intriguing to consider if things are evil by nature or subject to choices and perception.

Posted by: Yamarin Aug 28th 2005, 2:39 AM

They had steel shovels...and some farmers still have wooden pitchforks!

The wraith had weapons...they could've been mentioned in history from cullings...besides we don't know the planets history maybe they were more developed before the cullings as well

ever heard of glass blowing? stealing, looting, sneaking about...or just getting what you need from the forrest and the river...bet it had lots of nice trout in it

she said she was able to block it...maybe it didn't have any reason to block her...

For crying out loud it's sience fiction, a tv show! If they were to make sure there were no gaps and everything nothing would be left for imagination...

I for one loved the eipsode, however think they could have spent more time on the ending...

...however I guess it continues as mentioned eh? how do we really know he was infected? unless it's a spoiler?

Posted by: usmctech99 Aug 28th 2005, 3:24 AM

That was a spoiler for the next episode... don't know where you're from Yamarin, but in the U.S., on SciFi, they show clips for the next episode during the credits, do they not do that where you are?

Posted by: Pitry Aug 28th 2005, 8:27 AM

Er, Erised, your first post states a spoiler to episodes that haven't been aired yet. Please throw them into the proper spoiler tags. Thankee.
Argh.

Decent, nothing more, nothing less. Very predictable, almos as Ex Deus Machina. Sigh. Jewel Staite could have given a more interesting wraith, IMHO. Under-used, big time. Sob. Extremely foolish of Beckett to bring the virus there, too. I mean, what was he thinking.

Well, it's a lead-on to something more interesting, so I'll hope it would be more interesting. Why can we never have an interesting wraith? Why are they all always either monsters with no apparnt coherent reason of behaviour, or like Elya, tamed and wanting to be human... I mean, can the writes please give the Wraith some point, something that woudl distinguish them, why are they these monsters, some depth!

SciFi promos are known to be highly spoilerific. For the love of all false gods, for those of us who have been saved from these promos, it's still not a reason to blabber on without tags

Posted by: Stargate Master Aug 28th 2005, 12:11 PM

Nice episode from Atlantis, lots of action! Jewel Staite played the part of the female Wraith excellently, pity she had to die at the end. It was a big shock when we found out that she had actually been feeding on people aswell as the other adult Wraith.

Overall I would rate this episode 8/10. Good week for Atlantis.

Posted by: usmctech99 Aug 28th 2005, 1:59 PM

Yes, that was my point actually... that not everyone in the world gets the same commercials that are rammed down our throats over here. The worst is watching SG-1 and about every commercial break includes the teaser (SciFi's term not mine, I too would use 'spoiler') of the Atlantis episode that's on next.

Posted by: Yamarin Aug 28th 2005, 2:55 PM

Where I am (NZ) they don't air SG on any channel I know about...which means I have to do what is not supposed to be mentioned...

However it does give me episodes without any commercialbreaks and end credits &

Posted by: sg69leader Aug 28th 2005, 10:13 PM

I kind of felt sorry for Ellia. It was an ok episode.

What was weird was that Ronan would constantly check his ammo, which got me thinking, where does he get ammo from.

Posted by: Auntie Em! Aug 29th 2005, 2:30 AM

I liked this episode. I did not find it easy to guess what was going to happen. It had lots of action and McKay was WAY toned down.
For those of you guys who was complaining they did not feel like a team well they sure were in this episode. For those of you complaining that Teyla cloths were to tight. They were not in this episode. I don't even recall seeing her cleave [/gasp]

Posted by: fargatefirefly Aug 29th 2005, 10:23 AM

Anybody else notice when the girl (Jewel) was psychically spying on the other wraith?

"I saw a River."

MUHAHAHA!!!

I have seen Serenity at a screening in June, I own the whole Firefly series on DVD, and I busted out laughing when she said that! It's good to know that the writers of the show are willing to put little nods like that in their stories. Kind of like when Vala met Cam for the first time in SG1, that was a priceless moment too.

Go ahead and tell me it wasn't a reference. I'll just pretend I didn't see you and keep giggling whenever I think about it.

Posted by: Sighfienerd Aug 29th 2005, 10:38 AM

I think you're right. It was one of those little aware banter moments that John and Aeryn used to indulge in, but they moved on very quickly and re-focused on Daniel/Vala, which is as it should be.

Posted by: ancient01 Aug 29th 2005, 12:08 PM

I liked this episode. It seemed like a great way to develop a real weapon against the Wraith. I'm anxious to see where they take it next. Looks like we'll get a taste in 2 weeks...

Posted by: Auntie Em! Aug 29th 2005, 3:30 PM

Fargate I do not get it and I love Firefly.

Posted by: Circe Aug 29th 2005, 8:26 PM

10/10....My only real complaint was that there was no zelenka.

They toned down McKay(even though I am inherently against the idea)they were still able to keep his "mcKayness".

I knew right away at the end that the next ep would have Shep come down with a insectoidish mutating disease CAN'T WAIT..........................

We aren't going to have to wait 2 whole weeks in Canada are we? say it ainn't so

Even Tayla didn't bug me as much. In the teaser, I just watched she seemed very animated for a change. I didn't notice if her pants were still to tight, maybe that means that they weren?t....hopefully. And they did seem like more of a team.

I love Ronan instead of ford

Posted by: IndyJan Aug 30th 2005, 3:04 AM

Okay, this is the McKay that I love! When he's hypocondriac, he's very funny, and he was in this, yet he was also about trying to do something to help, and it wasn't all about him.

I have to say that as soon as Shep was clawed, I knew what we would be seeing in two weeks.

I must admit the "father" of the wraith female being the son of the one elder of the village, was a very nice twist. I didn't see that one coming. Even my husband, who I have converted to watching SCI-FI Fridays, said it was a definite twist.

Em, I agree for the first time, these 4 did act like a team. Shep and Teyla worked together, along with ronon. Then we had Beckett and McKay working together.

I do believe my favorite line was when Teyla asked Ronon about letting Shep go off on his own. Ronon said, I thought we were supposed to follow his orders. Teyla, sometimes we can make adjustments. Ronon, who does that and when. Teyla, we do and now. Ronon, "good enough for me!" and took off to help Shep.

Posted by: Asgard1 Aug 31st 2005, 11:22 AM

Ronin is such a Badass "Thats it. One Wraith. I'll be done by morning"

And is it just me or did weir look hot in this episode.

Posted by: Asgard1 Aug 31st 2005, 11:25 AM

Ronin is such a Badass "Thats it. One Wraith. I'll be done by morning"
Wonder if eventually he'll wear the SG Atlantis attire like teyla does, but I figure he won't since hes more of a free spirit and doesn't take s**t from no one. I liked the addition of the sword, shows that hes not just skilled in hand-to-hand, or gun fighting.

Posted by: Athena Sep 1st 2005, 12:28 PM

I know. Ronon's fast becoming my favorite character (he's closing in on Sheppard). He is so "in-your-face, take that!" kind of guy.

My sister even liked him just from the Season 2 previews. She kept saying, "When is that new guy going to show up?" I kept having to tell her that he wouldn't come out until the third episode.

So far, I've enjoyed Atlantis more than SG-1 and I suspect that Ronon is a big reason why.

Posted by: Circe Sep 2nd 2005, 8:17 PM

I soooo agree. Moma as Ronan was a great casting decision

Posted by: mithwriter Sep 2nd 2005, 10:56 PM

As someone who doesn't read spoilers for either show, I found this ep really good. It wasn't fancy, and yes, after Beckett brought his stuff down with him I figured what was going to happen to Ellie....

But you know what? I still cared about all the characters. I cared about what was happening to the Atlantis team, and the villagers, and Ellie and her father. This was a solid story and with genuine heart and wit (hellooooo Ronan ), and I enjoyed it.

So there.

Posted by: IndyJan Sep 3rd 2005, 11:26 PM

Mith, I agree it was a good episode. Yes, you knew what was going to happen with the retrovirus that Beckett had. You knew what was going to happen to Sheppard when the daughter attacked him. I did care about the villagers. I card about the "father" and how he felt when he found the little girl wraith. they totally blew me away though when the "father" turned out to be the son of the one villager. I didn't see that one coming. My husband didn't see it either, LOL!

I have liked Ronon from day one and he just keeps getting better!

Posted by: Mattthegreat995 Sep 6th 2005, 2:19 AM

Ronan really came out in this episode and didn't grunt much. Lol
The wraith chick was freaky to watch but well played. I say it would have better if the old guy that died actually got fed on by the older wraith. So many cool plot twists like Ellia saying to the 'father' that the potion didn't work and she was eating with the older wraith. And of course the weird freaky blue thing Ellia had become in less than 5 minutes. I cant wait for the next ep and Shep will look soOOOO cool. lol

What i liked:
Ronan: 'That's it. One Wraith. Done by Morning'
The GREAT plot twists as i have already mentioned
Ellia kiling that older wriath. SNAP
McKay toning down a bit. I KNEW this was going to happen!

I hated:
Ellia's look through the eyes of the Wraith. seen that before
McKay toning down a bit. YAY
Teyla not really doing anything
Shep getting his butt smacked by Ellia at the start of thier little battle.
Ronan cracking it at Ellia. Sure shes a Wraith but she was trying. Damn Ronan!

I also thought it was reasonable of Beckett to bring the RETROvirus as he wanted to show the Father it and add the wraith cells to it maybe.
I say they'll be a flashback of this ep later on.

10/10 Atlantis won this week

Posted by: startreksuite Sep 7th 2005, 7:15 AM

Pretty good episode! You dealt with an interesting moral and political issue, a wraith girl who would harm no one, because her "father" had found a substitute for the wraith's need to feed off people. Any similarity to what is going on in the world right now? What is going to happen to Sheppard is very similar to Ford. Do the directors and writers feel that Ford isn't enough for the show, that yet another male has to compete with Ronan for head alpha male. It seems silly to me. I guess we'll find out what happens next week.

Posted by: unseen_shadow Sep 8th 2005, 10:28 PM

Well we didn't actually see her die, and with her capablilites i wouldnt be surprised if she shows up in a later episode; and who knew, all it takes to kill a wraith one on one is to snap it's necki guess they do share some of our vunrablilites.

Posted by: Aquila Sep 17th 2005, 7:32 PM

I actually did vote, at the time I posted however, I had forgotten. And as I suspected, Window Of Opportunity was one of those chosen!

Posted by: Christy Sep 19th 2005, 4:10 AM

I quite enjoyed this episode, there was so much passion from everyone involved, including the father...Zarrik?
He wanted so much to help that girl but she couldn't change the way she was.
i cant believe she didnt tell him that she used to feed off of the villagers. That is so sad.
And then the retrovirus thing didn't work...I felt really bad for everyone involved...and that is what this show was all about.
A definetly great episode to watch.

Posted by: General_Jack_O'Neill Sep 26th 2005, 6:32 AM

I absolotly loved this episode!!! I like the part where the wraith girl takes the "antidote" and turns into a mean, angry wraith. It was cool how she killed the other wraith on the planet. But she had to go because so was too dangerous.

Posted by: grayflamingoes Sep 26th 2005, 12:52 PM

I don't think this episode was all that great. But I'm very glad they made it! I think that it really helps round out the Wraith's as characters--at least a little. It really made me empathetic of the Wraith. I don't know if that was the desired effect or not, but it did. And I think the Wraith are cooler now, more diverse. They're jerks, but at least they don't have to be. :/

Posted by: Dafmeister Nov 30th 2005, 4:03 PM

Great episode. The story was brilliant. I was expecting the guy that saved the Wraith girl to be someone a lot younger due to her feeding from him. I think it would have been interesting to have had her around a bit longer.

Posted by: glom Nov 30th 2005, 4:17 PM

Not bad. Good for this season, but then this season hasn't been great.

BABYFACE OF THE WEEK: Children seem drawn to Mckay for some reason. At least he doesn't like them. I'd be more concerned if he did.

ANNOYING SOUND OF THE WEEK: The opening shot with the multiple moons and the gate in low orbit was really cool. They spoiled it with that unnecessary wooshing past sound.

MATRIX REFUGEE OF THE WEEK: Ronan was certainly flashy in that trench coat of his.

NEW BIOLOGY OF THE WEEK: I have to complement the writers here. They resolved my issue back in 'Condemned' and did it well. The digestive system does serve a purpose after all.

WEIRD BIOLOGY OF THE WEEK: What exactly was Wraith girl turning into? Surely it can't be the bug from 'Thirty-Eight Minutes'.

MISFIT OF THE WEEK: I was about to praise Ronan for being a team player finally until his outburst at Wraith girl. Why wasn't he with Shepherd anyway?

EARNED PAY OF THE WEEK: I think Joel Goldsmith was doing a better job in this episode. It's been far too long since he gave us one of his whammies. To be fair to him, it is up to the writers to provide an episode where a whammy will fit.

HIPPOCRATIC OATH OF THE WEEK: Beckett was awfully quick to give up on father guy. It's not as though he's got other patients to deal with. Just because we all know his death is as inevitable as Ronan's trench coat, it doesn't mean he has to be so defeatist.

SPOILERS OF THE WEEK: This thread is for discussion of this episode, not the next one. Not everyone watches SFC and if SFC jumped off a cliff, would you? Save comments about next week for the next week's thread or else use spoiler tags.

Posted by: Dafmeister Nov 30th 2005, 4:37 PM

That is what she was turning into. Beckett said originally that the retrovirus was designed to strip away the Iratus Bug DNA, leaving just the Human DNA. After the girl injected herself and Beckett saw he said the retrovirus was having the opposite effect - removing the Human DNA, leaving just the Iratus Bug DNA.

Posted by: ali Dec 2nd 2005, 2:54 PM

I thought this was a great ep- I've actually watched it a couple of times since it showed as well. I love the fact that they had a sort of prejudice undercurrent running through it- all the characters were unwilling to accept her. It was quite uncomfortable to watch Ronan getting so irate with her when she was only trying to be nice.."a wraith with a heart of gold".. It was horrible to see her feeding off her father as well. It's so sweet that he would sacrifice so much of himself to save a wraith that he knew must be inherently bad.
Lots of Beckett in this one too. Always good.

Posted by: warpchick Dec 5th 2005, 6:04 AM

it was a good ep and i kind of liked the wraith girl she was nice it was a shame they killed her she was so lovely and kind

Posted by: mini_jack Dec 5th 2005, 5:45 PM

I thought this was a good episode and it is making this season better than the first can wait till the next one.

Posted by: Dafmeister Dec 5th 2005, 6:05 PM

She didnt seem to lovely and kind at the end when she was trying to kill them. I thought she could have been a good recurring character for the team to encounter a few times. Although given the fact the gate was in orbit, it would have been difficult for her to escape.

Posted by: Rooster Mar 13th 2007, 5:19 PM

Reasonably interesting episode, was good to see more into how the wraith are and how they are dependent on humans through need. Female wraith got pretty scary at the end there. They should of taken a sample of her blood after she died.