Stargate Atlantis Discussion: “Michael”

A Lieutenant suspects that he is a Wraith turned human by Dr. Beckett’s new drug.

11 replies on “Stargate Atlantis Discussion: “Michael””

  1. damn those Starfleet engineers
    Who didn’t see this coming? I’m starting to think the SG Atlantis people deserve to die… except maybe for McKay. He knew this was a bad idea.

    What will happen if three Wraith cubes–I mean, ships–make it to Atlantis?

    For a while, "Atlantis" looked like it could pick up the slack from the aging "SG1", but now I’m not so sure.

    • Re: damn those Starfleet engineers

      Who didn’t see this coming? I’m starting to think the SG Atlantis people deserve to die… except maybe for McKay. He knew this was a bad idea.

      What will happen if three Wraith cubes–I mean, ships–make it to Atlantis?

      For a while, "Atlantis" looked like it could pick up the slack from the aging "SG1", but now I’m not so sure.

      Uh… I didn’t but my brain is a little melty right now from multi-variable calculus.

    • Re: damn those Starfleet engineers

      Who didn’t see this coming? I’m starting to think the SG Atlantis people deserve to die… except maybe for McKay. He knew this was a bad idea.

      What will happen if three Wraith cubes–I mean, ships–make it to Atlantis?

      For a while, "Atlantis" looked like it could pick up the slack from the aging "SG1", but now I’m not so sure.

      See what coming? That Michael was a wraith. Or that he would freak out, turn violent and return to the nearest hive ship. I knew something was up and thought it was either what it turned out to be or that the whole Atlantis crew were fake, that is, everyone but Michael. Of course SG-1 had done a show where the latter was the case but when they showed the Atlantis crew talking out of view of Michael. I knew from what they were saying that it was probably the first guess.

      It took me a few minutes to recognize the guy from Enterprise. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place him. It is possible that he will be a re-occuring character. Maybe the experiment wasn’t a complete failure, maybe he waivers back and forth. Maybe his condition gives him unique insight into the human population of Atlantis. It would give more character developement to the Wraith. There are no personal enemies among them, like they had among the Genii. Michael may be like Tasha’s daughter on Star Trek TNG. He would be someone we recognize and identify with who is the supergenius enemy with an ax to grind. He will want revenge on them. He could become the Moriarty for the Atlantis team to work against. Then again he might be a one time throw away character.

      • Re: damn those Starfleet engineers

        See what coming? That Michael was a wraith. Or that he would freak out, turn violent and return to the nearest hive ship.

        Either/both.

        Michael may be like Tasha’s daughter on Star Trek TNG. He would be someone we recognize and identify with who is the supergenius enemy with an ax to grind. He will want revenge on them. He could become the Moriarty for the Atlantis team to work against. Then again he might be a one time throw away character.

        Actually, I kept comparing him to Hugh, the Borg the TNG crew captured and humanized, who then returned to the hive and "infected" them with humanity. That, of course, led to the coolest Borg, who were later… um, disavowed?

  2. my low point, ethics, etc.
    I thought it was an interesting episode. It actually got me thinking about things more than most SG Atlantis episodes do, in spite of (or perhaps because of?) its flaws… Hence the long post.

    It seems like this storyline had so much potential, and the way they handled it had so many problems. There is no way Michael, even with amnesia, should feel even remotely at home in Atlantis, surrounded by humans. And what about muscle memory? His whole body should have felt wrong, his voice should have sounded wrong.

    The episode description I had pretty much spoiled this for me; it seemed like it might have been a lot more engaging if the audience was left at least partly wondering, like Michael was, what exactly was going on… (In fact, even after reading the ep. description, I second-guessed things because I thought it was way too obvious– but nope, the obvious interpretation was correct.)

    My low point was the drug that "suppressed" the wraith traits– that’s a pretty good drug, if it can change his appearance, and so quickly, too. And when did they have time to give their patient such a stylish haircut, or was that an effect of the magical drug, too?

    This kind of storyline could be used to raise some interesting ethical questions about where to draw lines. (And why weren’t any of the characters, least of all the doctor, who should have a strict ethical code, concerned about these ethical issues?) Is it okay to kill off a race of parasites who use humans as hosts? (e.g., the Goa’uld in SG-1) What about changing the genetic code of a completely different species who feed off of humans (in a semi-parasitical way)? What about "medicating" human enemy nations so they won’t be aggressive and war against your nation?

    I hope they actually follow up this storyline, and that Michael doesn’t just disappear, because, in spite of all the flaws, this does have some interesting possibilities.

    • Re: my low point, ethics, etc.

      I hope they actually follow up this storyline, and that Michael doesn’t just disappear, because, in spite of all the flaws, this does have some interesting possibilities.

      Potential spoilers…

      They do.

      He doesn’t.

      Very, very, interesting.

    • Re: my low point, ethics, etc.

      it seemed like it might have been a lot more engaging if the audience was left at least partly wondering, like Michael was, what exactly was going on…

      There were absolutely no teasers for upcoming episodes when it aired in Canada, and it probably kept that feeling much more intact. Advantages of it airing on a subscription channel, I guess.

      • Re: my low point, ethics, etc.

        it seemed like it might have been a lot more engaging if the audience was left at least partly wondering, like Michael was, what exactly was going on…

        There were absolutely no teasers for upcoming episodes when it aired in Canada, and it probably kept that feeling much more intact. Advantages of it airing on a subscription channel, I guess.

        That’s where I was coming from into this. I hadn’t seen any previews for this week’s episode, and all I knew about it was Connor Trinnear was guest starring. I think this has a lot to do with how the episode impacted me, as I was quite moved by the character of Michael. The acting was well done, which had the side effect of me feeling bitter-sweet about Enterprise yet again. Bitter: script. Sweet: cast.

    • Re: my low point, ethics, etc.

      My low point was the drug that "suppressed" the wraith traits– that’s a pretty good drug, if it can change his appearance, and so quickly, too.

      Agreed. Also, if you start with something completely not human, that then assimilates human DNA into its own, and then can strip away the original, non-human DNA and be left with a human, it makes one wonder how human the Wraith are, exactly.

      Aren’t the Wraith a failed Atlantean experiment? The Atlantean equivalent to a Frankenstein’s monster?

    • Re: forget it.

      Can we just talk about how absolutely awesome BSG was?

      I’m waiting for that thread, too. :D

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