Stargate Atlantis Season 2 Episode 18

Almost qualifies for a "Too Dumb to Live" TV Trope Award.



Allow a wraith to run about free in Atlantis?

Michael was an intense episode starting with a LT Michael who is having Haunting Nightmares about Wraith. The nightmares are pretty scary, as are the Wraith which inhabit them. There is something else going on, which is established, but it is fairly easy to figure out if you watch the show regularly. The main characters in the show have mixed feelings about whats really going on, and its interesting to see that range. Michael decides to take his fate into his own hands and takes Teyla hostage. Luckily she is rescued, and Michael is left for the Wraith, from a hive ship which just landed on the planet where they had fled to. The Wraith now have access to know that Atlantis still stands, will Michael reveal this information?

Not an improvement over the last three episodes. Unfortunately this series stalled about two thirds of the way thru the second season and is faltering as we speak. This was serious madness on someones part. Take a Wraith and use the retro virus on him. Then bring him to Atlantis which the Wraith aren't even aware still exists and allow him semi-free reign as long as he behaves himself. Then when the experiment starts to go bad move him off world with little to no security where if he escapes he can return to his people and make them aware of what is happening. This couldn't have worked better if it was a Wraith plan to infiltrate a human stronghold.





The story was somewhat interesting but Ronon's actions gave everything away before it was all revealed. Although everyone else did a good job of hiding it he is not built to react that way and the Wraith did basically reduce his race to about three hundred people.





There's only two more episodes this season. I sure hope they bounce back soon. I enjoy the characters but the stories have either been moronic or boring. Thanks for reading...

wow.. this episode was shocking and frightening - the moment when Michael was sleeping and then waking up, pouring water and... The all concept - what they did. I first did not believed it. I was sure it will be something - like they did the memory lose by themselves to avoid something bad what happened with him, but I was never even thinking that he is a wraith they turned human.





And all the thing, that they lied to him.. Ok, this is nothing, thinking what they did. I am shocked Wier let them do that and it looks like they are going to pay for it badly.

The idea for this episode was interesting. Beckett used his retro virus to morph a wraith into a human. The process erased the memory of the wraith and he woke up, as a human, not remembering anything. The personell fed him lies until he found out the truth. In the end, he escaped and eventually will turn back into a wraith. I liked the idea, but it was poorly executed. The episode was slow and boring. I hated the whole "connection" between Teyla and Micheal. It was annoying and stupid. Overall, hopeful idea, but bad episode. It also led the way for the season finale.

This episode was a little hard to follow at the beginning, but i knew from the start that something was not right about Micheal. Slowly thoughout the episode it is revealed that he is in fact a Wraith who has been made into a human with Beckett's new drug. Eventually Micheal works it out and escapes with Teyla they team fight to get her back. When they go a hive ship takes Micheal, so why don't i think that will be the last we ever see of him? Overall this was a great episode and it is not to be missed.

A very intresting episode so it turns out that Micheal is a wraith but Carson made him human-i don't blame him how he reacted i think most of us would react in same way and i can't believe they actually allowed him on Atlantis base that was rather stupid to say the least -they should of used off-base complex- That was one hell massive risk they took. Now wraith know Atlantis exist-of all the stupid moves to make this got be worst -Guess Roland was the one that away something wrong with him. Unless you watch this episode very closly you might think he did something Roland.

Plot elements from the first half of the season finally come back into play in this episode, and it’s a welcome change of pace. The writers were struggling since the less-than-stellar Lt. Ford subplot last reared its ugly head, and part of that was a lack of focus. If this episode is any indication, the intention is to shake things up a little just in time for the season finale.





If I were going to emphasize the negative a bit more, I would note that the writers chose a convenient time to remember, all of a sudden, that they had been messing with the “cure” to the Wraith for quite some time. After all, it hadn’t been mentioned for several episodes. More to the point, after flirting with several possible leaks regarding the survival of Atlantis, now one appears just in time to force a battle (presumably) in the finale. It’s a bit predictable (and now “The Tower” seems even more contrived as a means to an end).





That said, I enjoy the idea of self-inflicted wounds, because Weir took a morally questionable choice, and now it’s blown up in her face. It takes the story back into the kind of desperate territory that the series was supposed to address, and something that the links to Earth this season may have stripped away. Weir didn’t play it safe this time around, and if anything, the entire team let their defenses down, with the exception of Ronon.





What I like about this is the dangerous quality of the choice. Weir and the team conducted a biological experiment against the will of the subject. It’s morally ambiguous at best and a war crime at worst, especially since the ultimate goal would be to generate a biological weapon to eliminate the enemy. As it is, one cannot predict how Michael’s reintroduction will affect the Wraith. Michael has a lot of reason to hate the humans, but he also seemed unable to treat them as prey anymore.





In a lot of ways, Ronon was the weak link of the plan, and Weir should have done something to keep him away from Michael. If it wasn’t for his hostility, would Michael have tried to uncover the truth so quickly? For that matter, this is where the self-inflicted wounds come into play: it was far too easy for Michael to find the record of his conversion. It’s as if the experiment came along before anyone was properly prepared to conduct it.





A larger question emerges: is the goal of wiping out the Wraith and making them into something more human really a good idea? Especially if the long-term effect would be unpredictable at best? What if the process ended with Wraith characteristics returning, but with the human appearance intact? Then the problem becomes much worse. Of course, it’s already worse, because the Wraith now have evidence that Atlantis is intact and the humans living there are close to finding a way to wipe out the Wraith, possibly for good. The Wraith have every reason to attack Atlantis regardless of internecine warfare, and while that’s a predictable direction going into the finale, I really like how they finally decided to get there.

I have to admit, this is the first really good episode in a while. While this experiment of Becketts is a noble one, it should have never taken place on Atlantis. I mean since they took him off world anyway, why didnt they just do the experiment there. McKays part was very small and thankfully he did not whine. I guess we will find out somewhere down the road if this experiment comes back to haunt Atlantis.

It\'s good to see a familiar face from another show, but other than that it was another great episode. Rodney\'s parts were top notch again, and the storyline, though a bit pestimistic about not being able to get rid of the wraith even though they got rid of the wraith in a person produced a new good storyline for future episodes, would be really neat to get that girl back again that took it originally and it went bad on her. (Kaylee from Firefly Wraith girl person)

this was slow at times, but great writing and plot devolpment.. I think the idea to try to turn a wraith human was misguided at best.. Ronin was right it is a wraith whether it looks human or not


now the wraith have somone who knows alot about Atlantis.. if the experment was to happen.. it should of been carried out very differant

I liked this episode. One of the most interesting things about this episode is how they make you feel bad for Michael despite the fact that he's a soul-sucking alien. I kept thinking while I watched this episode how I would feel if aliens turned me into one of them and tried to convince me that I was always like them. I found I agreed with Michael. This project somewhat villified the Atlantis team. It makes them seem pretentious and xenophobic enough to belive that being human is superior to being a Wraith. It takes good writers to take every weeks' heroes and give them a hint of villainy. It makes them seem more like real people.

This was a mediocre episode, lacking creativity, realism, believability, and good acting. The Stargate Atlantis series is suffering from uninspired writing and acting. An episode/show is only good if the audience can believe what is happening and care about the results. Everything from the beginning of this episode on suggested that the "cure" wouldn't work. Think about it. It cannot work or the purpose of the series is gone. How can a drugged up person, who is guarded by the "best" military escape much less kidnap a key person.





I am enjoying this series less and less. Perhaps the Stargate era is over.