Thought this episode was weak: The old "possible traitor in our midst" plot line!

Dr. Weir is REALLY not coming across well at all...she seems weak, easily swayed, and ethereally wispy, like she could blow away in a strong wind.

There's no substance here, nor much acting either, by Torri. Her two main expressions are (1) a pained smile; and (2) tight-lipped determination that comes across as just being stubborn.

I can't see how she's going to hold on to the respect of the masses much longer. The Athosians have already jumped ship!

So far, I'd have to award gold stars, out of a possible perfect 5: SG-1 -- 5 for 5; Atlantis -- 2 for 5 (I liked the opening 2-parter, mainly the first half hour, but that's all).

Similar with me. I've been looking forward to the advancement of the Wraith plot from the opener, but after the recent episode I don't picture it very interesting.

Almost seems so become a second class fantasy series, i mean perhaps little kids are scared by the Wraith's intimidation statements in the end of the episode, but I do not watch the series because the Wraith as an enemy excite me. This motive may be a frame for the series, but it has to be filled with interesting single episode plots.

The last three episodes each felt like "one day in the life of the Atlantis settlers", some documentation of their everyday's difficulties: running the city, working out command structures... I mean that's not intriguing, I almost think I could write those episodes myself. 38 minutes was better though because there was a tension build-up.

This post has been edited by ted_simple: Aug 8th 2004, 2:19 PM

The Wraith said that his friends would come for him. This might not be good for the Atlantis team!

It's time to find weapons! Find magical chairs! Blow Wraith up!

But I think eventually, although I doubt this early in the series, the Wraith will come to Atlantis itself. For a while, the SGC was protected, but it wasn't long before Apophis and others set a course for earth. In the event that the Wraith show up, I'm dying for an air-fight. Much like the one in "The Lost City, pt. 2."

But I don't see that happening for a while.

IMO this is the only Atlantis Episode so far that was better than the SG-1 episode it ran after on the same day. I didnt like the SG-1 epsiode but Atlantis wasnt bad.

So far Atlantis as a series has been good!

simple solution; weir needs to get laid

not a bad episode ***

Getting laid might help the Wraith have a more charming disposition, and who says they don't? As we can observe already, the do seems to have a male and female version of the species (and since they don't eat like we do, those boobs on the female Wraith must serve some err... other purpose)

However, getting laid doesn't solve the Wraith's need for nutritional requirment. Maybe they're just cranky because they're starving? Or they got out on the wrong side of bed (thanks to Sheppard's untimely alarm clock call)

It would have been nice if we had a glimpse of HOW the Wraith would track their missing member to Atlantis. And I do hope Sheppard and his team cleaned up after themselves by properly disposing of the 3 other Warith they killed (ok, maybe they didn't die but will resurrect again. I'm sure the producers will find it easier to recycle the disposable Wraith from each episode)

TauJin

It seems clear now the Wraith have sects. They have matriarchs, male field commanders, and male footsoldiers.

Yeah, I'm glad I'm not the only one who questions why they suddenly wanted to capture a Wraith. They didn't really give an explanation. Interrigation was obviously going to fail, and they can learn about Wraith physiology better when they're dead.

Well, that may be...but who's going to do it?
Maybe you should get Conan O'brien to do that "If they mated" bit to find out.

You know a lot of people are saying they think Shepperd( Sheppard Shepherd Sheperd...how ever the $%$# you spell his last name) and Weir are attracted to eachother, and have shown signs of it in the past 5 episodes.

I must be blind to these subtle showings of attraction.

Can someone explain to me how they see this?

I thought it was a reasonably good episode and that we've captured a Wraith is good so we can experiment on it! LOL! 6/10 for this one...

I'm with Bel on this one. I thought the episode was the same old tired storyline i.e. there's a traitor in our midst. No, not really. I won't say it was bad. because that's not entirely true. It was okay. Overall, I'd say 6/10.

I don't know about Dr Weir. On the one hand, yes she does listen to her subordinate advisors. But, she doesn't seem comfortable with giving orders. Sure, she can dress down an officer, but what does that accomplish ? She's supposed to establish herself as leader of team Atlantis and for me, I'm just not seeing real leadership qualities from her.

In some ways, Dr Weir is starting to get on my nerves too. I don't know what she's trying to do. I also don't like the way she talks down to the Athosians. Halling (I think that's his name) has clearly shown that he's a good, practical and thoughtful leader. She doesn't have to treat him like an inferior. At least that's how I see it.

The Wraith, I don't like the Wraith. They don't strike me as much of a threat when even Teyla (a snack to them) can beat them so thoroughly. But, I did enjoy her fight scene. Was it me or did anyone else notice that it looked alot like one of those Kung Fu movies out of Hong Kong ? You know, the long white haired evil master versus the good gal with sticks warrior ? Just watching that white hair fling around reminded me so much of a Shaw Brothers movie. Just like the ones starring Gordon Liu.

A slight nitpick. I found it convenient that the two sticks of wood Teyla picked up off the ground were strong enough to beat up that Wraith. I don't know if any of you remembering being kids. But, I remembering picking up sticks and hitting them against trees. And boy, didn't they shatter into a gazillion pieces when I did. Nice that Teyla found two handy weapons laying around. But, do have to commend their stunt people. That was a good fight scene.

I still don't know what to think about Teyla. Unfortunately, she still reminds me too much of Dr Who's companion Lela. Or is that just me ?

Now the one character I did think was good in this episode was Major Sheppard. He struck me as being the most level headed this time around. He seemed less of a snide, snarky Jack ripoff and more of his own man.

Mckay, what can I say about McKay ? I am wondering what's going to happen to the guy in the next episode because it sure seems like he's going to be very accident prone. I mean, the poor guy got stuck with that energy shield last week. This episode, he gets hit full blast with a Wraith weapon. I wonder what happens to him next ??? It's almost like the writers are having sessions where they try to think of ways of torturing poor ol' McKay. This might be fun.

Storywise, nah... Bel was right. This wasn't anything we haven't seen before. Nothing original. Which is too bad. Because it did have some potential. Somehow, I'm hoping they can open the gate (back to earth) just long enough to have Weir's replacement get through. I thought she started out okay, but now her character doesn't seem to be developing very well.

Oh, DO really like the secondary "ethnic" characters like the Czech scientist as well as Beckett. Hope to see more of them.

My two cents

I missed the episode. Does anyone know where I can download it?

try downloading an IRC program, takes a bit to get used to but once you find a good room, you can get some really good quality episodes. But..shh I never said anything about it.

One thing that reallly struck me with this episode is that the Wraiths gear really doesnt seem up to much. Those stun sticks are about as effective as a Zat in a fight, only their stun lasts longer, yet they are much bigger. The Wraith leader, apart from his kung fu, seemed pretty wimpy.

So far, I dont find them that scary. I know that the show has a limited budget in its first season, but they need to give the Wraith something that makes them more of a menacing foe.

Just remember, they'd rather stun you and then suck out your energy.
Like a lot of spiders. They give you poison to immobilize you and they eat you later.

Pretty good episode. The show is still spreading its roots in my opinion. My only nitpick is that Dr. Wier still seems like a weak character to me. Growth is needed.

As for the episode itself it was quite interesting with the whole traitor thing going on, and the movement out from atlantis to a landmass. I wonder if the captured wraith can become the first real enemy with an identity we can associate with something like Ba'al, Hathor, Sokar, etc.... So far its pretty much been a faceless mass of baddies.

Cant wait for the next episode.

Dr. Weir is...a bit off key somehow. I'm really missing a strong leader such as Hammond was or O'neill (if he can get things organized someday ).
Good episode, but I find 103 and 104 were a whole notch better.

Seems McKay will be SGA's red shirt to a certain extent!

Really hope they can manage to find some ZPM's soon and at least be able to make contact with Earth. Things certainly seem far over their heads at the moment. I wonder if the Asguard know about the Wraith - certainly they could at least give them some tips Seems we won't be seeing guests from SG-1 too often though I bet it'll stay around the level and style of the Barclay/Deanna Troi (sp?) episodes on ST:Voyager.

Edit: You know what a good fight would be? Replicators vs. the Wraith! After seeing this episode and the bits with the Wraiths, it seems to me the Wraith didn't defeat the Ancients by a scientific superiority, but rather due to their special abilities and a (likely) completely different type of overall advancement.
Sure sounds like how the Replicators could defeat the Asguard.

This post has been edited by Drizzt's Syn: Aug 12th 2004, 9:30 PM

I agree, Weir (Torri Higginson) has a somewhat monotonous style to her delivery that was not present in her previous incarnation (Jessica Steen). Atlantis's Dr Weir comes off as a rather uninteresting personality.

Does anyone know why TPTB opted for Higginson rather than Weir?

I think it was an ok way to tie in getting a Wraith boss type dude ... It seems better than them saying 'ok lets go get a Wraith even though theyve upped camp and left'. It also got rid of Teylas people for most of the time now.

As for Weir I think her character will develop even if it takes half the first season ... Right now Weir is supposed to be making the decisions for almost everything and until its set up and theres routine and shes settled into it I think she will only have 2 modes -on and off.

A good episode in my opinion. Looks like the writers have found a way of removing the cast of extras in Atlantis. Im just confused as to why they didnt bring Zats. If they thought to pack tasers surely some one would have thought Zats would have been more effective.

Im glad to see that the writers decide to use the main enemy's leaders more than they did in SG1.

I thought this was a good episode. The storyline didn't seem so old to me, though I was a bit annoyed that they had to have an ep where they were all so nasty to each other- I really like all the characters (yes- I even like Weir! *gasp*) and it rubbed me up the wrong way to see them accusing each other.
I think Teyla came off really well in this episode. Rachel Lutrell (sp?) is a good actress and I think she should be given some stronger storylines in the future. I especially liked her saying "Where would you go?" to her people without thinking- it shows how loyal she already is to Sheppard/Weir and co.
Again, a good episode for Mckay. What can I say? He's hilarious! I liked the scene with Ford and Sheppard as they were about to go onto the ship and explore the planet as well, that was funny.
I think Weir should be given a chance. Admittedly there are reasons not to like her, but she has got a lot on her plate- she's responsible for all those people, they're on a different planet, and if there had been an Athosian spy she probably would have been blamed for not paying enough attention.
It was a good idea to have the locket as a transmitter- I was absolutely convinced that Sergeant Bates (I think that was his name...the mean one who seems to hate the Athosians?) was to blame.

I do just have one question though- if there is ploughable land on that planet, why did the ancients put their city underwater? It makes me think that there's something wrong with the land. I could have just missed a really important point for why the city was underwater though, so feel free to correct me.

And I was disappointed with the distinct lack of Carson Beckett as well. But apart from that...good ep.

The girl wants to be corrected. Ok. The ancients hid the city underwater to hide it from others like the wraith from getting it. Although they left it available for any tom dick or harry to gate into the city but they didnt really think about that!!

And i liked this episode too i thought it was good, nothing wrong with it and they set up future plot lines for it too with the whole capture wraith thingy!! I also like weir shes fine in my opinion.

And i must say that im starting to get the impression that ill prefere this to sg1 in not that long, which last week i didnt think would happen but i think it will now.

A good episode though, and certainly better then this weeks sg1 to!!

Hey, I didn't say I want to be corrected.
So if the people in Atlantis know that, why are they letting the Athosians live on the land? As the wraith leader said, it's only a matter of time until the wraith find the planet, and then they are royally screwed.

I may have been on land to begin with. When the Wraith began their attacks on the Ancients they moved it into the ocean. As Atlantis held the only gate that could dial Earth, they would want to keep it a secret from the Wraith.

Big hole in the point you made. If the Ancients hid Atlantis before the Wraith discovered where it was, the Wraith wouldnt have known there was a Stargate on that planet and therefore wouldnt have tried to dial it up.

Also proving my point that the Wraith dont know Atlantis exists.

This post has been edited by Dafmeister: Nov 10th 2004, 4:42 PM

That does make sense Dafmeister, the Ancients would have wanted to hide their city for that reason. The last thing they would want would be for them to get a hold of Earth's address... I doubt there would have been anything wrong with the land, i mean think about the Ancients abilities technological wise. I'm sure they could have sorted out any problems in that area.

This was a good episode, it was good to see some tension... although at times it did seem a little fake. And is it me, or does Weir not seem to be the same kind of woman from SG1? I mean, wasn't this the woman who could help create peace aggrements in tough situations? Wasn't she chosen because she was supposed to be an accomplished diplomate? If she was, i have to say she isn't living up to this big image they painted of her in the finale of the last season of SG1. I can understand the idea of pressure perhaps changing how she acted, but it still seems off. Just my opinion ofcourse.

Other than that, i have to say this show seems to be getting stronger with each episode. And again Mckay is hilarious in this, it's great they put him in this.

Oh and to add, it was good to see they are finally showing how tough the Wraith are. Being shot and knocked down, but yet getting back up to keep fighting. Having them blow themselves up aswell... it's all going to show how tough these guys are, and that i think is going to be interesting to see.