About the needle...

With Alex’s needle, Samantha wasn’t actually in any danger of harm. With the bullet, the boiling water, etc. she was in genuine danger of injury or death, so her powers kicked in. She can't consciously control it; it seems to be more like a reflex. That’s my guess, anyway.

but it was strange that she "specifically said" "I'm afraid of needles....." I am doubtful they just threw that in there unless there was a purpose for it.

I noticed that too, it seemed like they were setting up a big reveal like "omg the needle isn't going in!!¡!" or something like that.
Sorry for the late reply, haven't been on in a while

With Alex’s needle, Samantha wasn’t actually in any danger of harm. With the bullet, the boiling water, etc. she was in genuine danger of injury or death, so her powers kicked in. She can't consciously control it; it seems to be more like a reflex. That’s my guess, anyway.

Well the only argument against that is she said she was scared of needles, so wouldn't that have kicked in the reflexive powers? It just seems very inconsistent

I'm not sure....of any of that, however........

There were times when Sam could not bend the steal, yet not long after that she stopped a bullet. Could it be that she can concentrate and make her body do what she wants it to do....could that be a part of her DNA? Could Reign be in more control of the "human" inside of her than we realize?

I don't know, but I hope that we do get an explanation....

Because Sam loses time, it makes me think there are two personalities here. Because of that I liken this to how Bruce Banner tried to kill himself with a bullet in the mouth and the Hulk spit it out. When it comes to survival, Reign keeps Sam alive, but when Sam is in control, her human side comes out unless Reign allows her powers to be used.

Kelly we do deserve an explanation of this...of course again the wonky writers strike again. Now as for the needle...well I am reminded of a panel in I think Superman #1...eighty years ago (Happy Birthday Kara' Cousin!) where at the doctor's office, he can't break Superman's skin.

Because Sam loses time, it makes me think there are two personalities here. Because of that I liken this to how Bruce Banner tried to kill himself with a bullet in the mouth and the Hulk spit it out. When it comes to survival, Reign keeps Sam alive, but when Sam is in control, her human side comes out unless Reign allows her powers to be used.

Interesting theory, probably the most plausible one. I was thinking something along the lines of that. My loose idea was that Sam and Reign were one person, but once Reign "awakened", the powers became tied to Reign and left Sam entirely.
All of this is pure speculation right now of course. It'll be interesting to see if and how they will explain this

Ah, the Hulk. I loved that show when it was on but, man was it depressing. One of my most vivid memories of it was Bruce Banner walking down a rainy street in his torn clothes, despondent after realizing that, in spite of his efforts, the Hulk had emerged yet again. But, I digress .

I had actually forgotten about the Hulk's dual personality. Wasn't it set up that as Bruce, he couldn't remember what happened when he was the Hulk? Plus, I think he was triggered by the emotion of anger. If so, that's a pretty good parallel to what's happening with Sam. So, you could be onto something there.

However, I do have a "but" ~based on what we have been shown in Wake Up, Reign's personality was dormant until Sam put the crystal piece in the newly erected Fortress of Solitude and we saw that she was impervious to bullets and boiling water as Sam, again before Reign was awakened. So, going only with what they have shown us, it appears as though her invulnerability is based on her genetics rather than a personalty. And, on a side note, my reasoning for her not being able to bend the crowbar is that she didn't "think" that she could do it. She was in denial of having powers and her being unable to bend it was because she was proving to herself that she didn't have powers - more or less, she talked herself out of it.

And, I don't know about the needle not awakening Reign as reason why the needle penetrated her skin. Unless Reign has some vast knowledge in genetics and in the capabilities of a DEO blood test, I don't believe that Reign would have known that Sam's blood would show a normal result ahead of time. I also wouldn't think that she would have known that an MRI wouldn't come back abnormal so, if she can willingly step in to protect Sam, why would she allow a test that could expose her?

I think that, if the writers would have shown a visual trigger for those incidents like they're doing now with the red eyes at the very beginning, there wouldn't be so many questions and doubts. Even though they didn't want to actually reveal Reign until Wake Up, that cue would have let us known that Reign's personality was in there and capable of keeping Sam safe, but was just not physically active at the time. But, I think that they were possibly trying to surprise us with the reveal (at least those who don't follow SG closely, which is probably a majority of the viewers).

Kelly, I also hope that they provide a thorough explanation because I would really like to believe that there is a method to their madness on this one because otherwise, it's a pretty big inconsistency.

What if as Sam/Reign....anger turns her to Reign and fear turns her to Sam (PHYSICALLY SPEAKING)

And in anger her physics, whatever you want to call it kicks in as Reign and in fear her human side kicks in. Because again, she was created.... so, possible when Psi had her in fear mode, they could have actually knocked her out and captured her. Of course they didn't know that...and that may not be, but it was strange that she "specifically said" "I'm afraid of needles....." I am doubtful they just threw that in there unless there was a purpose for it. Also, every time she has changed from Sam to Reign she was angry at someone, or about someone.

What if as Sam/Reign....anger turns her to Reign and fear turns her to Sam (PHYSICALLY SPEAKING)

And in anger her physics, whatever you want to call it kicks in as Reign and in fear her human side kicks in. Because again, she was created.... so, possible when Psi had her in fear mode, they could have actually knocked her out and captured her. Of course they didn't know that...and that may not be, but it was strange that she "specifically said" "I'm afraid of needles....." I am doubtful they just threw that in there unless there was a purpose for it. Also, every time she has changed from Sam to Reign she was angry at someone, or about someone.

When the tower fell on Ruby and Sam used her powers for the first time in Episode 1, I think she would have been experiencing fear rather than anger. It's really hard to pigeonhole this one, I think anyway.

What if as Sam/Reign....anger turns her to Reign and fear turns her to Sam (PHYSICALLY SPEAKING)

And in anger her physics, whatever you want to call it kicks in as Reign and in fear her human side kicks in. Because again, she was created.... so, possible when Psi had her in fear mode, they could have actually knocked her out and captured her. Of course they didn't know that...and that may not be, but it was strange that she "specifically said" "I'm afraid of needles....." I am doubtful they just threw that in there unless there was a purpose for it. Also, every time she has changed from Sam to Reign she was angry at someone, or about someone.

When the tower fell on Ruby and Sam used her powers for the first time in Episode 1, I think she would have been experiencing fear rather than anger. It's really hard to pigeonhole this one, I think anyway.

Well that would be the matter of...fight or flight syndrome. Something, if I may link to the Hulk, was discussed during the pilot episode of how people can get such amazing strength (or to quote Ted Cassidy from the iconic open..."searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have."

What if as Sam/Reign....anger turns her to Reign and fear turns her to Sam (PHYSICALLY SPEAKING)

And in anger her physics, whatever you want to call it kicks in as Reign and in fear her human side kicks in. Because again, she was created.... so, possible when Psi had her in fear mode, they could have actually knocked her out and captured her. Of course they didn't know that...and that may not be, but it was strange that she "specifically said" "I'm afraid of needles....." I am doubtful they just threw that in there unless there was a purpose for it. Also, every time she has changed from Sam to Reign she was angry at someone, or about someone.

When the tower fell on Ruby and Sam used her powers for the first time in Episode 1, I think she would have been experiencing fear rather than anger. It's really hard to pigeonhole this one, I think anyway.

Well that would be the matter of...fight or flight syndrome. Something, if I may link to the Hulk, was discussed during the pilot episode of how people can get such amazing strength (or to quote Ted Cassidy from the iconic open..."searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have."

Yep and I believe that fight or flight is response to the emotion of fear. Whether or not Sam's ability to lift the tower was supposed to be shown as an example of a power is not especially clear but, when you put it into context with the bullet, etc., I lean toward interpreting it as an example of her super-strength.

The way I see it is that earlier in her life Sam was in full control and didn't have any super powers.

After the incidents at the beginning of the season the Reign side of her started to exert itself and she started gaining powers.

After she went to the fortress, evil hologram lady caused the Reign side of her to become dominant and she turned into Reign, occasionally slipping back to Sam.

In Fort Rozz, Psi's psychic fear attack knocked Reign out of control and caused the Sam side to become dominant again, and she lost her super powers temporarily.

Now, both sides are fighting each other and Reign is coming back into control again.