Grade 5x08 - "The Queen"

[Nerroth]

The Michael experiment was to try and turn Wraith into humans - essentially, destroy them as a unique species.

This time around, it's a more subtle modification, letting Wraith be Wraith, but while switching their food supply to a less talkative one.

[Broccoli]

hxclespaulplayer wrote:

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That would be it. Looking at my, ahem, "online" copy, the ending came awfully close to the credits! Ep definately ran long.

Well...the ending typically does come close to the credits in any given episode...

[SmoothieX]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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I hope this fruit is as tasty as the farmers who grew it.

That was the high point for me too!

[Hermiod]

I gave this an Above Average.

The idea is interesting enough but we'll have to see if it's followed through. I had a little trouble buying the idea of Teyla as a Wraith Queen because, quite frankly, she's too short. The usual Wraith Queen actress, Andee Frizzell, is 6'1" and then they put her in heels. I haven't been able to find out how tall Apollonia Vanova (the Primary here) is but she is certainly a lot taller than Rachel Luttrell.

[Brent]

I gave it an Average, actually, almost an Above Average. I really enjoyed Teyla as a Wraith, she plays a better Wraith than she does a Teyla. Todd was of course excellent, he really made the episode enjoyable, if it wasn't for him it would have been Below Average.

I really love that we have finally learned something about Wraith society. We learned much more about the queens, how their command structure works, and how one comes to power. I feel like this kind of episode should have been done several seasons ago, to flesh out the Wraith sooner.

[Gertch]

^ But learning too much about them takes they mystery away. It's a very fine line to walk.

[amalie]

I gave this one an excellent, enjoyed it much more than last week and was pleasently surprised by Rachel's performance.

I'm finding Ronan a little annoying at the moment, he does that to me on occasion. Why does he always pull his gun out on people in the worst possible situations. If I was John I'd be having a right go, he's going to get them killed one day by doing that

I liked the twist when Todd killed the Queen, his true motives are left fairly ambiguous at the moment and the final scene between himself and Teyla was very good. He wasn't expecting that.

Rachel was really good in this episode. I like Teyla well enough but Rachel never usually has the chance to shine in episodes, she was excellent when portraying the Wraith queen.

No Woolsey this week unfortunately, I'm missing my Robert Picardo fix (love that man). I hope he's back next week.

Pretty good episode overall

[steveman]

It's going to be sad when TPTB look back over Atlantis and realize that the only thing they really got right was a recurring Wraith character who popped up every so often.

[biotech]

Not a bad episode, I just find it hard to get worried for the characters because no matter how dangerous a situation they get into, you know they wont be killed.

Again no Woolsey.

How did Todd kill the wraith he stunned twice, sky cut that scene.

[Hermiod]

^Snapped his neck, IIRC.

[Bob The Skutter]

biotech wrote:

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Not a bad episode, I just find it hard to get worried for the characters because no matter how dangerous a situation they get into, you know they wont be killed.

Again no Woolsey.

How did Todd kill the wraith he stunned twice, sky cut that scene.

Ah, good old Sky, still cutting scenes in post watershed shows... and people complain about terrestrial channels.

[Etched]

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this one. I wasn't expecting much from reading the premise and I'm not normally a fan of Teyla episodes, less to do with Rachel Luttrell and more to do with the bad handling of her character, but this one was pretty enjoyable. I especially liked her threatening Todd at the end - we really need to see more of Teyla being a bad ass its the only time she really shines. Though I kept expecting someone to say "Aren't you a little short to be a Wraith Queen?"

[Hermiod]

^Given that the usual Wraith Queen, Andree Frizzell, is 6'1" in bare feet, yes she is a little short.

[Etched]

^If you notice they didn't use Andie for the other Queen in this ep, I wonder if that was partly because the height difference would have been too noticeable. I really didn't like the actress they did use in the role but maybe that's because Andie is so good at it.

[biotech]

Wraith used to be so hard to kill, you would think queens would be even tougher, yet a single small blade is enough to despatch one in seconds?