Colonel Carter
03-12-2005, 02:09 AM
Title:The Gift
Directed by:Peter DeLuise
Written by:Robert C. Cooper and Martin Gero
Original Air Date:January 17, 2005 (The Movie Network)
Synopsis:Plagued by terrifying nightmares, Teyla tries to dive into her past offworld, where she finds an abandoned Wraith lab. Bringing back the findings, Dr. Beckett makes a surprising discovery in her DNA makeup, leading to a possible way to gather information from their enemy.
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Well that answered the question of where the Wraith came from. I had honestly believed the Ancients were responsible for the Wraith and I was right, I just hadn't guessed how exactly they were responsible. Very interesting concept and I'm kicking myself for not having thought of it before after we encountered those Wraith like bugs.
In case you didn't pick up on it - the Ancients populated a world where those insects existed. Those insects then infected the humans and transformed their DNA and the end result was the Wraith. So I would assume that if they had not managed to get that bug off of Sheppard, that he would have eventually turned into a Wraith as well. A rather interesting and bizare concept.
One thing confused me at the end. Teyla went on and on about how important it was that she saw the exact path the Wraith were taking. However, her answer was that they knew that the Atlantis Stargate was the only one that went to earth and that's why they were coming - but how does that explain this exact course they were taking? What's so special about the path they're taking when all she really said was the end result that they were after?
If I was Dr. Weir or anyone else there at Atlantis, I would not be so quick to assume Teyla is right that she must first make contact. That just doesn't seem right considering the Wraith have a far greater mental ability and now that they know they can connect with her, I would think they could and would do so whenever it suited them. I see this being used again in a future episode or more.
Overall the episode was interesting. The little flash dream scene of her as a Wraith saying she wants to feed I think was a little silly to watch. But then I think the Wraith are rather silly creatures. Half bug, half human, always wanting to feed, having razor sharp teeth they apparantly have no need for since they have mouths in their hands.
Man, can you imagine going through that transformation process and losing yourself and your identity like that? I wonder, if like the Wraith, the original person is buried deep inside there somewhere, screaming to escape. Along the lines of "something of the host survives." Because it really does sound similar to the Goa'uld taking over a person. It's just that the Goa'uld does not transform the DNA make-up of a person. These insects were basically parasytical in nature and took over humans as hosts. But their merging is different in that instead of being a seperate entity inside the human, they change the molecular structure of the human to become a Wraith.
So I wonder if before the end of the series, if they won't find a cure for this disease. A way to kill the insects DNA out of the person and restore them to their original human state. I imagine it would feel like waking up from what seemed like a never-ending nightmare. Kind of like when we saw Apophis's host briefly emerge when he was in the SGC.
So the more I think about it, the more similarities I see between the Goa'uld and the Wraith. Both are evil. Both are a parasytical lifeform which infects human hosts and takes control of them.
Directed by:Peter DeLuise
Written by:Robert C. Cooper and Martin Gero
Original Air Date:January 17, 2005 (The Movie Network)
Synopsis:Plagued by terrifying nightmares, Teyla tries to dive into her past offworld, where she finds an abandoned Wraith lab. Bringing back the findings, Dr. Beckett makes a surprising discovery in her DNA makeup, leading to a possible way to gather information from their enemy.
*********************************************
Well that answered the question of where the Wraith came from. I had honestly believed the Ancients were responsible for the Wraith and I was right, I just hadn't guessed how exactly they were responsible. Very interesting concept and I'm kicking myself for not having thought of it before after we encountered those Wraith like bugs.
In case you didn't pick up on it - the Ancients populated a world where those insects existed. Those insects then infected the humans and transformed their DNA and the end result was the Wraith. So I would assume that if they had not managed to get that bug off of Sheppard, that he would have eventually turned into a Wraith as well. A rather interesting and bizare concept.
One thing confused me at the end. Teyla went on and on about how important it was that she saw the exact path the Wraith were taking. However, her answer was that they knew that the Atlantis Stargate was the only one that went to earth and that's why they were coming - but how does that explain this exact course they were taking? What's so special about the path they're taking when all she really said was the end result that they were after?
If I was Dr. Weir or anyone else there at Atlantis, I would not be so quick to assume Teyla is right that she must first make contact. That just doesn't seem right considering the Wraith have a far greater mental ability and now that they know they can connect with her, I would think they could and would do so whenever it suited them. I see this being used again in a future episode or more.
Overall the episode was interesting. The little flash dream scene of her as a Wraith saying she wants to feed I think was a little silly to watch. But then I think the Wraith are rather silly creatures. Half bug, half human, always wanting to feed, having razor sharp teeth they apparantly have no need for since they have mouths in their hands.
Man, can you imagine going through that transformation process and losing yourself and your identity like that? I wonder, if like the Wraith, the original person is buried deep inside there somewhere, screaming to escape. Along the lines of "something of the host survives." Because it really does sound similar to the Goa'uld taking over a person. It's just that the Goa'uld does not transform the DNA make-up of a person. These insects were basically parasytical in nature and took over humans as hosts. But their merging is different in that instead of being a seperate entity inside the human, they change the molecular structure of the human to become a Wraith.
So I wonder if before the end of the series, if they won't find a cure for this disease. A way to kill the insects DNA out of the person and restore them to their original human state. I imagine it would feel like waking up from what seemed like a never-ending nightmare. Kind of like when we saw Apophis's host briefly emerge when he was in the SGC.
So the more I think about it, the more similarities I see between the Goa'uld and the Wraith. Both are evil. Both are a parasytical lifeform which infects human hosts and takes control of them.