Sanctuary

Instinct

Season 1, Episode 11, Aired 12/19/08

Episode Summary

Desperate to get their first exclusive news story, Amy Saunders and her cameraman Zach Spencer get inside an evacuated building. Earlier that day three people had been found inside, brutally murdered by a strange creature. With the police trying to handle the delicate situation, the duo enters the building in search of the culprit, but they are completely unprepared for the powerful beast that they find.moreless

8.3

EPISODE RATING: Great

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"Fair"
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"Bad"
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"Bad"
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"Terrible"
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"Terrible"
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"Abysmal"
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"Abysmal"

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Cast & Crew

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Amanda Tapping

Dr. Helen Magnus
Emilie Ullerup

Ashley Magnus
Robin Dunne

Dr. Will Zimmerman

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

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I can not give you a summery as I turned off the show due to bad camera work.

1.0

"Abysmal"

By freds1369, Apr 13, 2011 Report Abuse

I enjoy the show unfortunately the director and camera man ruined all chance of me watching this episode. The camera work was so bad that it made me and my wife sick. We turned off the show after 5 min and watched something else. I just wish that there was a way to get it through to the film studios that home movies suck because of the shaking of the camera. spend the money on a tripod for the cameraman. OK now i have to fill in the rest with nonsense to make my 100 words. Stop shaking the camera during filming.moreless

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2 12
insect terrorized warehouse - reality-show camera work.

2.0

"Terrible"

By gadgetgirl808, Apr 13, 2011 Report Abuse

I normally love this show, and look forward to it every week. Unfortunately, this episode really sucked. It was so unoriginal. I'm really tired of the shaky, reality-show style camera work ... it just makes me nauseous and feels totally fake. I wish they had ended that portion much earlier than they did. I literally had to look away for most of the episode.

I can't wait until the next episode where they'll hopefully go back to the old formula. Just a quick note:
Writers, can you guys please keep the sermonizing and hokeyness to a minimum? Sometimes it can be a bit much.moreless

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1 9
Unwatchable due to the HORRIBLE camera work! I get the idea of the "war fottage" motif, and I like that. But the camera is so shaky that I just plain couldn't watch the episode--it gave me a splitting headache after about 3 minutes.moreless

1.0

"Abysmal"

By natejohnstone, Apr 13, 2011 Report Abuse

Unwatchable due to the HORRIBLE camera work! I get the idea of the "war fottage" motif, and I like that. But the camera is so shaky that I just plain couldn't watch the episode--it gave me a splitting headache after about 3 minutes. That being said, the plot was pretty cool and the concept of watching the Sanctuary crew from the point of view of an outside was a good idea. Very Cloverfield in concept, but just horribly executed. The filming was WAY too shakey ... my 2-year-old could have held the camera more steady than this! Yet the guy filming was supposedly a professional videographer? yea right.moreless

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1 4
Instinct

8.5

"Great"

By TrueTvWatcher, Apr 07, 2011 Report Abuse

Instinct was a great episode of Sanctuary because it was a "Day In The Life Of" type of episode with a news crew following Magnus and the gang during an abnormal trapping mission that proves to be deadly for many. It was cool to see the group operate from an outside perspective and intriguing how some of the gang connected with Amy and Zach. The abnormals in this episode were scary and fast. It was fun to watch this episode which had action, intrigue, and drama. I liked the ending how Amy thought she won but Magnus definitely showed her the upper hand! I really look forward to watching the next episode of Sanctuary!!!!moreless

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0 0
A different view of things

8.6

"Great"

By Parricida, Aug 25, 2010 Report Abuse

So.. ambitions are leading a weather girl to film a mysterious creature and she meets with Magnus team. They are after a some creature and when it first looks like easy mission - oh it is far from it.

So, we have a most episode full of action, cat and mouse game between Magnus and the creature.

I most say the story itself was somehow maybe too plain - it had a one layer and that's all. But I liked the camera work and how the whole camera man was part of the story - and how we heard him but never saw until he was gone.. So - the way of doing this episode was stunning but story could have been better.

I did like the twist in the end that there was more than one creature.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The Short Wave Sonic Weapon is actually the same prop as the Anti Replicator Gun seen on both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis both of which Amanda Tapping played major roles as Samantha Carter. Edit
Notes
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- Christopher Heyerdahl is credited but does not appear. Edit
- Original International Air Dates
  Canada : December 19, 2008 on Space
  U.K. : December 22, 2008 on ITV4
  Australia : July 30, 2009 on Sci Fi Australia
  Czech Republic: September 21, 2009 on AXN
  Edit
Quotes
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- Ashley: Yeah, well. As much as we'd love to blow its ass to kingdom come, it's not cooperating. Edit
- Henry: I'm just sayin', chicks love dudes who go on missions. Edit
- Zach: Well, maybe there's a good reason why the cops are coming down here, like the fact that something dangerous is going on. You said some people died, right? Amy: Right, which means something very cool and newsworthy is going on. And whoever gets the exclusive on this is gonna be in the driver's seat for a network job. Zach: Okay, that's really cool. It's just, you know … You're a weathergirl. Amy: Meteorologist, and Bill O'Reilly started as a weatherman. Dan Rather was a sportscaster. All you need is one big break. This, my friend, is mine. Edit
Allusions
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- Cloverfield: This whole episode is filmed in a similar style as the movie Cloverfield, in which a group of people document their quest through a monster attack on New York City as seen through a participatory camera. Edit
- Amy: Look … we get footage of them bagging this thing, sell it to the highest bidder, this is Brangelina money, okay. This is way bigger than we thought. Brangelina is the nickname for the relationship between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Edit