The Queen
The Queen is the focal point of a Wraith Hive, the grand alliance is still struggling to deal with the emergence of Atlantis but unlike before there are Wraith who deal directly with the humans who now control the great city. In this episode the team approach a hive on a diplomatic mission, they board and are greeted by Todd and around a table filled with food (Todd at the farmer earlier). They discuss the use of the latest version of the retrovirus which could eliminate the need for Wraith to feed on humans and take sustenance from ordinary food. Todd is sceptical but agrees that it could give his hive an advantage but without the consent of the Queen who dominates the alliance nothing can be done. The only way to approach the ruling Queen with the idea of the retrovirus would be through another Queen and as Teyla has Wraith DNA it is decided that she will undergo drastic procedures to turn her into a Wraith at least in the short term.

After much deliberation Teyla undergoes the surgery and is transformed into a Wraith Queen. Todd teaches her some of the basics she needs to know as well as making her understand that attitude and confidence is everything when dealing with Wraith let alone another Queen. They board the Queen's hive which then jumps into hyperspace and after some uneasy introductions Teyla is invited to discuss her purpose for the visit but Todd seizes his chance and drives a knife into her throat and as the alarms sound he jams the knife into Teyla's hand. As the Wraith and Drones rush in Teyla plays her part shouting down descent and proclaiming that any Queen who could die so easy was not worthy of leading the alliance and now she is the Queen of this ship. The Wraith commander is not happy but accepts the new dynamic but then messages arrives telling of an incursion of one of their feeding grounds by another hive, Teyla reluctantly agrees to leave their position (knowing John and Co will have more trouble finding them) but a Queen would not ignore this incursion. Upon arrival she immediately orders an attack against the trespasser and Todd is unable to stop the wholesale slaughter of Wraith pilots and crews but even as things turn bad she is saved when the puddle jumper arrives via the Stargate and puts six drones into the opposing hive. Alas they are then captured and Teyla tells them to bide their time but is overheard by the commander who attempts to kill her, she defends herself and Todd finishes him off. She now has total control of the hive which she leaves in the capable hands of Todd with the promise to the crew that she is still their Queen and will protect them, she takes her leave with a warning to Todd that if he does anything stupid she can return and take command once again.

I think you may glean that I quite liked The Queen, it's an excellent story giving the Wraith a lot more depth and opens up their society a little more. It also makes good use of the long term narrative of some Athosians being "tainted" by Wraith DNA and even offers the possibility that the Wraith and the humans are not as different as was indicated from the pilot of Atlantis and subsequent Wraith specific episodes. The makeup and prosthetics were stellar, the transformation of Teyla was spectacular and Rachel's performance as she wrapped the cloak of her Wraith Queen persona around her was a sight to behold. Christopher was as ever wonderful as the uber intelligent and manipulative Todd and lets not forget Kenny either :)

Many thanks to Ian for joining us on the sunday afternoon to record this episode, he will return later in the season and thanks for the feedback over on google+ as well as continued support on Twitter and Facebook. This weeks promo is for the SciFi Diner podcast and next week we are taking a look at Tracker.
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