Rewatch : Rising

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

 
Yay!  Time to start.

Synopsis of the Pilot:  When SG-1 discovers what it believes to be the remnants of the Lost City of the Ancients, the originators of the Stargates, Stargate Command launches an investigation. A new team of explorers, headed by civilian Dr. Elizabeth Weir, travels to the distant Pegasus Galaxy, where it discovers an advanced but deserted city on the ocean floor, a group of nomadic humans and a deadly enemy that feeds on humans as an energy source.

Comments

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I remember being so skeptical that I was going to like this show. Little did I know...

What's cool about the rewatch, is that I'm picking up things I never new were significant the first time though. Although, I don't get the bit between the two Ancients who are just standing and staring at each other in the very beginning.

Heh, I love Rodney being all, 'having the gene doesn't make you advanced, its just random.'

I haven't seen SG-1 (that'll have to go on the list at some point), was Dr. Jackson on that original show? I know O'Neil was.

[cjoelle.livejournal.com]

I actually started to watch being so dead certain I was going to hate the show (mostly because I had been very disappointed with quite a few spin-off at the time).

So I watched Rising... and they just made it impossible to hate! ^_^. I still get goosebump whenever the City rises from the ocean *shivers*.

Although, I don't get the bit between the two Ancients who are just standing and staring at each other in the very beginning.

The woman is the on they found in the ice in Antarctica in SG1 (can't remember which season, it had Jonas still). So basically she stayed on Earth while her partner left with the City to the Pegasus Galaxy. And they left because of that sickness they talked about in the SG1 episode. Well, that's how I understood it at least :p.

[ldyanne.livejournal.com]

I didn't catch Atlantis in season 1. I caught some episodes, but the show just didn't catch with me. But I had some online friends who were fans and I started reading the fan fic and I was hooked. I went back to rewatch season 1 and I was so surprised to find that I loved it! Season 1 is still my favorite season - I love it that everything is new and exciting.

By the way, yes, Dr. Jackson was on SG-1 from the beginning ;-)

[margec01.livejournal.com]

I remember being so skeptical that I was going to like this show.

Oh, me too. I had watched all of SG-1, and TPTB (The Powers that Be) kept promoting SGA as a "new" and "fresh" take on Stargate--suggesting that SG-1 was "old" and "tired." (It kind of WAS, but it pissed a LOT of SG-1 fans off that TPTB would just desert us and run off for something new, instead of trying to make SG-1 new and fresh again. Gee--sound familiar?)

I watched Rising for the same reasons many SG-1 fans watched it--to see Jack and Daniel and to see if the new kids on the block would fall on their faces. Jack and Daniel did not disappoint, and the show wasn't horrible. I enjoyed the banter and the sense of humor which was one of my favorite things about SG-1. I decided that I'd just set the old VCR for both shows each week and see how things went. But I was NOT, NOT, NOT going to like this usurper over my long-time favorite. (LOL)

Several weeks later, when I was more hooked on the show, I rewatched all of the first episodes again. Since I wasn't quite so ticked off this time, and since I'd seen some of the follow-on things, I also caught a lot of the small things I'd missed the first time through. The second (and third and fourth) time through Rising, I saw the beginnings of the chemistry between the characters. A lot of it was that the actors were good enough that they weren't shouting their feelings from the treetops, but were letting them develop in a bit more understated manner. (Joe Flanigan has specifically mentioned he prefers to show his emotions in this way.) What seemed a bit wooden upon my first, somewhat sullen viewing, now looked more like people who are thrown together and who must work together, but then learn that they can rely on each other and even start to respect and like each other. In this case, knowing how things are going to work out as the series progressed, Rising is even better, since we see the seeds of what is to come.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Heh, what John first comes into the base at Antarctica, it looks like a couple of the women are checking him out. Not that I blame them. It's just a fun bit of extra put in. I wonder if it was planned, or genuine appreciation by the actresses.

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. Thanks for pointing that out.

(frozen)

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

What a way for Elizabeth to tell her husband/boyfriend/significant other. Loved John flipping a coin. Also loved him telling that Colonel that Elizabeth was the one that gave the orders. The snark on this show is amazing between all of the characters.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Got caught up in watching - the Wraith have just arrived on Teyla's world. The Wraith are making people see things - is this the only time that ability is mentioned? I don't remember it in the future.

I liked Teyla's and John's first meeting. John telling her he likes roller coasters and tea. Even the tight-assed Colonel seemed a little charmed.

[cjoelle.livejournal.com]

The Wraith are making people see things - is this the only time that ability is mentioned? I don't remember it in the future.

I thought this was a pretty cool effect and made the Wraiths even scarier than they already were.
I think they probably abandoned that idea because of the FX costs.


Teyla and John first meeting was awesome. He's behaving like an über-dork and she wonders where these strange men come from. And they had instant chemistry, which always help when people are going to be in a team together :).

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

The Wraith are so cool - I love the hair and skin, although the teeth are freaky. Especially since they don't use them to eat.

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

That wraith queen is incredible. I liked that little look into their culture when she said, "Hunger is distasteful".

And the very creepy, "We don't require our food to agree with us." yikes.

[cjoelle.livejournal.com]

Makes you wonder how a race that doesn't even use their mouth to eat managed to grow such a set of teeth right ?

It's like against the very nature of every evolution process :p.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

It's hard to stop at just one. I wanted to keep going. I really enjoyed watching it again. As a pilot, it does an exceptional job in giving us an overview of all the characters, along with some wonderful interactions between them.

There are no characters I dislike in this show, and that's rare for me. Usually there is one member of an ensemble cast that I don't like. I'm looking forward to seeing what other's have to say.

[mezzo-cammin.livejournal.com]

I'm going to rewatch it before going to bed, and will add to comment in the morning!!

Yes, Daniel Jackson was on SG1! I loved the first four seasons of that show!

One of the things that I noticed the last time I watched was Elizabeth saying, "Only a handful have the genetic component... " and I wondered how they knew that? Did they test people? Everyone? Was it just a premise they set up so that John's having the gene made it necessary for him to go?

I loved how things started turning on, and she says, who is DOing that? The awe in their eyes!

The other thing was I had forgotten what they said about the Wraith, "Then one day our people stepped foot on a dark world where a terrible enemy slept. Beings with powers that rivaled our own..."

So, the Wraith existed in parallel with the Ancients, and weren't 'created' by them, right? And they just stumbled on them and woke them up, much the same way John did.

Oh, oh, and the Ancient city on Athos has always fascinated me. "Our people have long believed the Wraith will come if we venture into the Old City." Why? What's there? Why did the team never revisit Athos and find out??? I mean, other planets that were culled, the people didn't abandon their planet, did they? Again, probably a construct by the writers to add some conflict into the show's premise, having the Athosians on Atlantis, but it's always bothered me a little as to why they left the planet.

And all that without me actually rewatching the episode.*g*

[x-varda-x.livejournal.com]

I agree it was a shame about Athos! They must've gone back though (from the beginning of The Storm)

TEYLA: Halling believes the first crops will have a good yield.

SHEPPARD: You still miss home?

TEYLA: There is still talk of returning, even though I've told them the Wraith have scorched Athos bare in revenge for our resistance.

SHEPPARD: Well, maybe in time this place will start to begin to feel like home.

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

It was interesting to see Daniel and Rodney working together since we now have the knowledge of that epi in season 4 where Daniel guest starred.

Also, I had forgotten that Rodney had discovered what was powering the ZPM. Very cool.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I wondered about how they know about the gene thing, too. I wondered if they just meant the people on the base, and not everyone. I suppose they could have test one hundred people and extrapolated for the rest of the population.

I caught that about the Wraith, too. I did sound like the Wraith existed and were not just created. Either the writers forgot those lines in the beginning, or they were hoping that people wouldn't notice (which is stupid, because lovers of a SciFi show notice everything).

Yeah, I remember wondering about that, too. At least as we got a few episodes in. I didn't understand why the people left their planet. I can understand John inviting them to, however. Since it was his first encounter with the Wraith, he'd want to try and protect them, but I don't know why they accepted.

I alos wondered how John found that necklace of Teyla's so easily, when she'd looked for it when she lost it.

Pretty good for someone who hadn't started rewatching, yet.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Waaaaah. I couldn't watch last night because we were stuck outside a restaurant waiting for our ride home. ::sighs::

So I'll try to rewatch today. I not only have the boxed set(s) but also the separate pilot for Rising. I should check to see if the length matches. [Silly wabbit, I should already know that bit of trivia.]

As for finding the show, we'd turned on the TV ... just HOW many years ago, planning to watch a scheduled epi of SG-1. But, to our surprise, this NEW show was on. Well, new to us. And that's when I got SO hooked.

Baaaaaaack later.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you got stuck at a restaurant, but thanks for sharing your story about how you got into the show. I find stuff like that interesting.

Oh, I hope you share trivia. I don't have the DVD's, so I don't get any of the extras.

[melagan.livejournal.com]

I expected to like the show. I didn't expect to love the show. I think it's the first time since the original Star Trek that a international expedition of explorers were put together to go forth and make discoveries. My heart did a wicked little squee. They put a civilian woman in charge of the expedition. Not by default, but because she was capable. Just try to remember how many times something like that has happened.

Mercy, I could talk about my mad, crazy Rising love all day so I'll just leave one question instead.

Did or did not the Atlantis chair 'call' to Sheppard to sit there? Because I still can't figure that one out. And yes, I do like thinking about it :)

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Oooo, cool question. I do remember thinking last night, while watching, that John seemed drawn to touching the chair. He couldn't keep his hands off it. And then he sat in it for no reason. John doesn't strike me as a man how will sit when he can stand, especially after sitting in a helicopter for an unknown amount of time. I certainly think there is a case to be made for him being drawn/compelled to sit in it.

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

I'm still a regular reader of Joe Mallozzi's blog. As many of you know, David Hewlett was not cast until a day or so before filming started. Mallozzi recently wrote that they didn't have time to do any script changes before Rising (besides the basic name changing. Originally it was going to be Dr Benjamin Ingram, but they couldn't find anyone they liked ... then someone suggested they bring back McKay).

To me, that makes it even more remarkable how much Hewlett was able to put his own stamp on the role right from the beginning. The way he moves his hands, his face, his phrasing... we see some of Rodney's uniqueness right from the beginning.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I don't know the blog you're talking of, but thank you for sharing that bit of trivia. I had no idea the David was such a last minute decision. Wow. I wonder what they were doing, beginning filming before casting such a key character. That makes no sense to me. What would they have done if they hadn't been able to fill it, or if David said no (thank goodness that didn't happen).

Did David play McKay pretty consistently from his SG-1 role to SGA, or was his personality/mannerisms different in some way?

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

Squeee.
I love that Rodney and John walked onto the main control room stairway together.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

::sighs::
I've only reached the 2:40 mark (opening credits) and I'm already entranced ... all over again.

Poor Rodney and his hope-filled attempts to be found a gene-carrier.

Elizabeth's nervous giggle.

Daniel's absent-minded scientist meandering.

And that delicately sparkling music dancing in the air before the opening credits. I've probably said it a bajillion times, but Joel Goldsmith's music is exquisite. In yet another window, I'm reading an interview he gave in 2006 where he says he wrote the opening theme to SGA after reading the script and before the pilot was shot. And, yet, we listen to the music and watch the spires rise majestically from the ocean and are awe-struck.

Okay, back to listening and watching.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I love that look on Rodney's face when he's reminded he doesn't have the gene, and he protests that it's just random and not proof of any superiority.

I'm so bad at noticing the music, so thank you for pointing it out. I plan on rewatching again sometime next week, this time keeping in mind things that people have said here, so I can appreciate them more.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

So ... does the scriipt say it was SUMMER in the southern hemisphere, 'cuz it's an awfully bright day in Antarctica.

::giggles::
RDA giving the Flan his patented WTF expression when Sheppard says he likes it "here".
~ ~ ~
John: "That was different."
Jack: "For me, not so much."
~ ~ ~
Jack: "He likes it here."
Daniel looks perplexed and John merely shrugs.
~ ~ ~
Daniel: (after the whole Zed-Zee thing) "He's Canadian."
Jack: "Sorry." VBG 'cuz that NEVER gets old.
~ ~ ~
Oh, God. John just sat down in the chair. When Rodney rushes in and the displays appear, Rodney gets this LOOK on his face. Man, he's already suffering from John gene-envy. Poor woobie. And the music allows us to imagine what an experience it is for John to be feeling the alienness in his brain and throughout his body.
~ ~ ~
John's youthful, dorky face on the trip back to McMurdo, listening to Jack.
~ ~ ~
I said "No kidding" a breath before Simon did.
~ ~ ~
Hearing all of the various languages of the expedition members. And Rodney's face lighting up when the ZedPM does!
~ ~ ~
Oooooh. John's smirky face. "That would be Dr. Weir, right?"
~ ~ ~
Around the 32 minute mark, Rodney's chant of "Using power, using power, using power." And, oh, how much I love young Rodney. Make that young everybody. ::sighs in nostalgic haze::

Okay, I think I've babbled enough for this post. Just too bad that I'm watching and commenting on the only computer ('cuz the TV/DVD is on the opposite wall).

Back with more squee soon.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

So many wonderful lines you have here. For the amount of screen time he had, O'Neil had several of them. And yes, Rodney's moment of gene-envy (great phrase, btw) was marvelous.

I hadn't noticed the different languages everyone was speaking. Something else for me to pay attention to when I watch it again in a few days.

I loved that little exchange between Daniel and Jack about Rodney being Canadian, too. The snark on this show is absolutely fantastic. I love the interplay between all of the characters; it's one of the things that had me fall in love with the show - it would be hard to put my finger on just one thing, however, because there was so much to love.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Oooooh.
Mosquito-whining darts.
The first culling beam.
The eerie ghostly manifestations.
The grotesque crawling severed Wraith arm.

Mmmmmm. Competent bossy Rodney.

And then the city rises.

Ohhh, mathy geeky boyz. 'Cuz 720 permutations.

Hello, Frank Lloyd Wright balcony (after those lovely windows revealed by the receding waters).

::giggles::
John: "Flight, this is ... puddlejumper."

Eeeeeeeee. John looking around furtively for that hoped-for turkey sandwich. Nah, sorry, John. Only in Trek.

Sumner's stick-up-the-ass character got some redeeming features, first on Athos when he does realize that John has the gift of the shmooze; and, then, with the far more expected stoicism when being tortured to reveal Earth's location.

Ummmmm, why do Wraith Queens have that blood-red hair? And boobs? And wear - like - evening gowns? PTB, WHAT were you thinking (or more likely NOT).

And does anybody else find it weird that the woken-up Wraith could get to darts so quickly, unless there were more around the ship already awake. And I find it odd that a P-90 can bring a dart down.

Yay for Captain John with the welcome to Atlantis speech.

Then up comes Rodney with the munchies and Carson's wonderful "how much more out can you get" line that can be so subversively interpreted with slash-coloured goggles.

Finally, yes, people, we're going to have five years of trouble.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Okay, my butt officially hurts and I'm hungry. Until next week's episode, ciao for now. And ::sighs:: they were SO young back then.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I loved the whole conversation around the name of the Puddlejumper. The name is a good one. I felt so bad for Ford though, getting his choice mocked and being told he can't name anything. In fact, if I remember correctly, the naming thing was a schtick during a few episodes.

Hah, I thought of Trek too when he asked for a turkey sandwich.

Sumner didn't wind up being too bad, and I admired John's courage in shooting him like that. I like how that comes back later in the show, with an old friend of the Colonel's showing up...but, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm sorry your ass hurt. I'd forgotten that this was a two-part episode, but I'm kind of glad I did. I'd have hated to divide it into two weeks. Having to stop half way through would have been so hard.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

One last point which has to do with organization and trying to keep track of these rewatch posts. Could you create a tag for each week's rewatch (whether it's S1x01 or adding the epi title), so that it'll be easy for commenters to find a particular episode if they want to contribute something upon further rewatching.

Thanks!

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't do tags, but it looks like one of the mods already did.