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.

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

I've seen Rising two or three times but I never realized who that woman was. After you pointed her out I was able to recognize her. Thanks.

[cjoelle.livejournal.com]

The first time I watched it, I just thought : "hum, this lady looks familiar", and didn't go any further because other stuff were happening; but when I did a re-watch, I put the commentary on, and I think Martin Wood talks about that scene and explains who she is ^_^.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Since I'm watching on Netflix, I don't have the extras that come with the DVDs. It's too bad, as I usually love the trivia you can find out by watching the commentaries, bloopers, etc.

I feel so deprived *sobs*. Eventually, I'm sure I'll get them, but it won't be for a while. I'll at least wait until they are being offered through Blu-ray.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about spin-offs, they aren't usually as good. I was convinced I wasn't going to like it because I'd tried an episode of SG-1 and been disappointed (I'll need to give that one another chance). I decided to give SGA a chance because a few people on my flist were enamored with it.

Thanks for explaining the bit with the Ancients. I didn'trealize there was crossover before SGA even started. It's kind of cool that they used information from one show to start another - a nice piece of continuation.

[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 ;-)

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

I've read a few fanfics here and there, and it actually left me feeling disappointed in the show in one respect. I thought the city was going to be much more responsive to John, especially that it wound up being. Many of the fanfics I've read had the city using an Avatar to talk to John, or lighting up brighter for him than anyone else, etc. So, I kept expecting things like that to happen. When they first get to Atlantis, that's what I was thinking was happening with the lights. When John wonders what's going on, I'm all but wiggling, waiting for that moment when he realizes it's him. It never comes though, and it winds up being a generic response to live bodies being in Atlantis.

That expectation colored the first few episodes for me, but I got past it after that, when I realized that the response was a fanfic invention.

[ldyanne.livejournal.com]

*nods* I thought we never explored that aspect of the city enough. Fortunately there *is* fanfic that does that.

This is one of my favorite episodes. Like I said, partly because everything is new and they're all so excited about everything. I loved all the characters and how we were introduced to them. The characters are all so amazing and they're all so different. I was immediately caught by Rodney McKay, which was kind of funny because I didn't like him much in SG-1, but there was more vulnerability about him in Atlantis (in my opinion) that I found very likeable.

I loved how the show was about the people. I really liked how they walked through the gate not quite sure if they were ever going to get to go home again. That took amazing amounts of courage.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

That feeling of amazement as they see the city under the water the first time or as the lights come on by themselves is wonderful. I really enjoyed all those moments, too. Those moments don't last long unfortunately, so I'm glad they gave us so many of them in the Pilot.

[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]

I can understand you being upset with the newer version. TPTB don't always handle things in the most diplomatic way. I'm glad you were able to enjoy it eventually, though. Smart going back to rewatch those early shows. It's surprising how much our attitude can affect what we're watching.

[margec01.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was fanfic that got me to go back and rewatch the first 10 episodes when they did a catch-up marathon on SciFi. Fans really picked up on some of the small things, especially McKay and Sheppard. I'd read a story and think, "I don't remember that. How'd I miss that? Surely that wasn't in the episode?" Of course, sometimes the missing scenes were what the author wrote, but they were often based on some small part of the episode that I had totally missed. And because of this, my infatuation with my alltime favorite show started earlier than it might otherwise have done.