MAJOR SPOILERS -- "Rising" complete synopsis
For those who want to be surprised by elements of "Rising," DON'T READ THIS. Now, this is my first attempt at writing a synopsis, so please bear with me. 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-----------------
Overall, "Rising" looks very good. It draws together many of the positive elements of Stargate SG-1, including high production quality, good writing and likable characters. Although almost every special effect in the copy I viewed wasn't complete, I think that as with the effects in its parent series, the effects in Atlantis will be some of the best on television, and better than some movies.
"Rising" opens with Atlantis lifting off from Earth, leaving behind a woman who looks similar to Ayiana from "Frozen," then the city does an Asgard flash and disappears. The scene changes to the present day, and the Antarctic research station over the site where Jack led the team to the Ancient's Earth defense station, and apparently the same place where Atlantis lifted off.
Beneath the research station a multinational team of scientists is busy examining the station. We pass by several busy scientists studying Ancient technology. In the room with the control chair, we find McKay arguing with Beckett to get him to sit in the chair Jack used to activate the station. It turns out Beckett is one of a handful of people who possess a rare gene that is the same as one possessed by the Ancients and allows people with it to operate some of the Ancients' more lethal technology.
As usual, Daniel hurries in with exciting news to help advance the story. He's figured out the location of Atlantis. It seems that as in "The Fifth Race" the location of Atlantis requires eight symbols, not seven, placing it somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy.
Sheppard and Jack arrive later by helicopter, after some deft flying by Sheppard to avoid a "seeker" accidentally activated by Beckett. Jack meets with Weir, Daniel and McKay, who tell him about the location of Atlantis and ask if they could use the Zero Point Module to power the journey. Jack gives them the OK. Although this would leave Earth seemingly defenseless, SG-1 can keep Earth safe. We have to get to Atlantis.
Once again, back at the popular control chair, Beckett is telling Sheppard about it and the rare gene. Then for those who didn't see it coming, Sheppard, who must be tired from the flight, sits down and the chair and entire room of equipment lights up signaling his possession of the Ancient gene. Sheppard doesn't want to join the mission, but Jack tells him he's crazy if he doesn't want to go through the Stargate, and that if he doesn't agree to go, he has no use for him.
Sheppard heeds Jack's advice and we next see him at SGC walking among the large group of international scientists and military preparing for the Atlantis trip. Colonel Sumner is in charge of the military aspect, and lets Sheppard know he doesn't like him. Like Jack, Sheppard disobeyed direct orders at one point in his career.
McKay and the techs get the ZPM hooked up to power grid and they dial up Atlantis. The MALP finds a structure and atmosphere, so it's a go. Daniel makes one last bid to go with them, but Jack nixes that, ending his and Daniel's roles in the pilot.
Weir asserts her authority over Sumner as they go through the gate. After a quick check of the area, the rest of the team is sent to Atlantis. When the last ones are through, a champagne bottle rolls out from the gate right before it closes. Weir opens the card on it to reveal good luck wishes from Jack.
The city's architecture and design have Frank Lloyd Wright influences, although the technology looks more advanced than the usual DHD and gates back in the Milky Way. The teams begin exploring the city and find out that they're actually under several hundred feet of water. One pair finds a room of small ships (puddle jumpers as we'll find out later), while Beckett runs across a hologram message from the Ancients.
The hologram gives us some background about Atlantis and this galaxy. As in the Milky Way, the Ancients seeded life and Stargates in this galaxy as well, but came across a darkness they underestimated. This darkness, the Wraith, started taking over the galaxy and eventually drove the Ancients back to Atlantis. The Ancients, unable to defeat the Wraith, submerged the city and the last survivors went back to Earth.
McKay then finds out the power levels in the city are dropping rapidly, so everyone is pulled back to the gate room. The shield protecting Atlantis from the water is shrinking because there's only one ZPM with power left, it's draining fast, and the Naquada generators don't have near enough power to keep the shield up. So, Weir sends Sumner and crew (including Sheppard) to the first working address they find in the Ancient computer to look for a new ZPM. McKay, always the optimist, thinks they might have to abandon Atlantis.
Once off world, Sumner and his teams come across some people who at first seem technologically less advanced than them, but who later reveal they were as advance or more advanced than Earth. Teyla takes Sheppard on a field trip to some nearby caves where her people have hid from the Wraith in generations past. She tells how they have been hunted by the Wraith for centuries and abandoned their cities for fear that it attracted the Wraith. She also reveals that she has visited dozens of worlds and every one of them has been touched by the Wraith.
Back at the gate, Ford radios in that three ships have just come through. Teyla recognizes the sound as that of the Wraith and she and Sheppard hurry back to camp. The Wraith's mental powers make the team see phantoms on the ground while they are able to use a kind of raking transporter to take several villagers and team members captive. But as with the death gliders, the Wraith ships are also susceptible to ground-to-air missiles, as the team is able to take one out before being swept up.
In the end, Teyla, Sumner and about 10 others have been taken by the Wraith, but Ford was able to watch the symbols on the DHD to learn where the Wraith gated-in from. Taking charge, Sheppard then leads the remaining people from Teyla's world back to Atlantis, but Weir starts lecturing him that they don't have the power to maintain Atlantis or help these people.
On cue, the city starts shaking, the shield fails, and the city starts rising to the surface, solving the problem of how to keep the water out. This sequence gives a good look at the architecture and allows for much better lighting of the sets. Now on the surface, the team's Naquada generators are able to power some of the city, but not the shield.
Beckett's examination of a Wraith hand brought back by the team reveals the Wraith likely never die of natural causes and would be very hard to kill. In spite of this, Sheppard wants to mount a rescue and successfully convinces Weir to let him at least try.
The only gate address combination from the symbols Ford memorized connects to a Stargate floating in orbit around a planet. All seems lost until McKay leads Sheppard to the hangar containing the puddle jumpers. Sheppard is able to start one up and finds that many of the controls, including a cloaking device, react to his thoughts. There is also a handy system to move the ships to the gate room for launch.
On the Wraith world, we find the abductees in a holding cell and get the first good look at the Wraith. Resembling a kind of vampire, the Wraith speaks with hisses to the guard Wraith, who are covered by too much armor to really get a good look at. After one person is taken, Sumner offers himself as next. He's led to a room where a Wraith woman explains that everything needs to feed. She is able to read his mind, finds out about Earth, then proceeds to drain his life energy by putting her hand on his chest, causing him to age rapidly.
Sheppard and team then land on the Wraith planet and sneak inside the large ship-like structure inhabited by the Wraith. Sheppard tells Ford to help free the abductees while he goes to find Sumner.
Sheppard finds him at this moment and tries to save him. He shoots the two guards who go down quickly, but the Wraith woman just shrugs off several shots to her back, confirming the hard-to-kill estimate. Seeing Sumner's imminent death, Sheppard ends up shooting him to end his pain, but is then zapped himself by the earlier Wraith using one of their electric rifles, which fire a bigger and less-precise electric charge than a zat.
The Wraith have Sheppard pinned down and it startles them to discover Ancient technology on him. Ford then blows the door to the holding cell along with some other well-placed explosives, allowing Sheppard to wrestle free. Bullets may have little effect, but an electric rifle to the gut is enough to stop the Wraith woman. She doesn't go quietly, informing Sheppard that she is just a caretaker, and that now the rest of the Wraith will awaken, and they'll be hungry.
Sheppard and team get back to the puddle jumper and manage to take off and cloak before the dozens of Wraith ships can spot them. But getting through the gate won't be easy as the Wraith have it staked out. Sheppard uses his exceptional flying skills to draw the Wraith away from the gate, destroying a few with the thought-activated weapons along the way. He manages to slip through the gate and back to Atlantis, where they activate the energy shield around the gate, much like the iris at SGC, splattering the three Wraith ships that followed him.
At the celebratory dinner later, the main cast -- Weir, Sheppard, McKay, Ford, Teyla and Beckett -- are talking about what's next, along with what kind of food they're eating. Teyla says she'll help them make more new friends and help fight the Wraith, while Weir tells Sheppard he's now the ranking officer and he needs to pick his team, then opens Jack's bottle of champagne to mark the occasion.
Overall, a good episode with plenty of action, backstory, plot advancement and interesting characters.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-----------------
Overall, "Rising" looks very good. It draws together many of the positive elements of Stargate SG-1, including high production quality, good writing and likable characters. Although almost every special effect in the copy I viewed wasn't complete, I think that as with the effects in its parent series, the effects in Atlantis will be some of the best on television, and better than some movies.
"Rising" opens with Atlantis lifting off from Earth, leaving behind a woman who looks similar to Ayiana from "Frozen," then the city does an Asgard flash and disappears. The scene changes to the present day, and the Antarctic research station over the site where Jack led the team to the Ancient's Earth defense station, and apparently the same place where Atlantis lifted off.
Beneath the research station a multinational team of scientists is busy examining the station. We pass by several busy scientists studying Ancient technology. In the room with the control chair, we find McKay arguing with Beckett to get him to sit in the chair Jack used to activate the station. It turns out Beckett is one of a handful of people who possess a rare gene that is the same as one possessed by the Ancients and allows people with it to operate some of the Ancients' more lethal technology.
As usual, Daniel hurries in with exciting news to help advance the story. He's figured out the location of Atlantis. It seems that as in "The Fifth Race" the location of Atlantis requires eight symbols, not seven, placing it somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy.
Sheppard and Jack arrive later by helicopter, after some deft flying by Sheppard to avoid a "seeker" accidentally activated by Beckett. Jack meets with Weir, Daniel and McKay, who tell him about the location of Atlantis and ask if they could use the Zero Point Module to power the journey. Jack gives them the OK. Although this would leave Earth seemingly defenseless, SG-1 can keep Earth safe. We have to get to Atlantis.
Once again, back at the popular control chair, Beckett is telling Sheppard about it and the rare gene. Then for those who didn't see it coming, Sheppard, who must be tired from the flight, sits down and the chair and entire room of equipment lights up signaling his possession of the Ancient gene. Sheppard doesn't want to join the mission, but Jack tells him he's crazy if he doesn't want to go through the Stargate, and that if he doesn't agree to go, he has no use for him.
Sheppard heeds Jack's advice and we next see him at SGC walking among the large group of international scientists and military preparing for the Atlantis trip. Colonel Sumner is in charge of the military aspect, and lets Sheppard know he doesn't like him. Like Jack, Sheppard disobeyed direct orders at one point in his career.
McKay and the techs get the ZPM hooked up to power grid and they dial up Atlantis. The MALP finds a structure and atmosphere, so it's a go. Daniel makes one last bid to go with them, but Jack nixes that, ending his and Daniel's roles in the pilot.
Weir asserts her authority over Sumner as they go through the gate. After a quick check of the area, the rest of the team is sent to Atlantis. When the last ones are through, a champagne bottle rolls out from the gate right before it closes. Weir opens the card on it to reveal good luck wishes from Jack.
The city's architecture and design have Frank Lloyd Wright influences, although the technology looks more advanced than the usual DHD and gates back in the Milky Way. The teams begin exploring the city and find out that they're actually under several hundred feet of water. One pair finds a room of small ships (puddle jumpers as we'll find out later), while Beckett runs across a hologram message from the Ancients.
The hologram gives us some background about Atlantis and this galaxy. As in the Milky Way, the Ancients seeded life and Stargates in this galaxy as well, but came across a darkness they underestimated. This darkness, the Wraith, started taking over the galaxy and eventually drove the Ancients back to Atlantis. The Ancients, unable to defeat the Wraith, submerged the city and the last survivors went back to Earth.
McKay then finds out the power levels in the city are dropping rapidly, so everyone is pulled back to the gate room. The shield protecting Atlantis from the water is shrinking because there's only one ZPM with power left, it's draining fast, and the Naquada generators don't have near enough power to keep the shield up. So, Weir sends Sumner and crew (including Sheppard) to the first working address they find in the Ancient computer to look for a new ZPM. McKay, always the optimist, thinks they might have to abandon Atlantis.
Once off world, Sumner and his teams come across some people who at first seem technologically less advanced than them, but who later reveal they were as advance or more advanced than Earth. Teyla takes Sheppard on a field trip to some nearby caves where her people have hid from the Wraith in generations past. She tells how they have been hunted by the Wraith for centuries and abandoned their cities for fear that it attracted the Wraith. She also reveals that she has visited dozens of worlds and every one of them has been touched by the Wraith.
Back at the gate, Ford radios in that three ships have just come through. Teyla recognizes the sound as that of the Wraith and she and Sheppard hurry back to camp. The Wraith's mental powers make the team see phantoms on the ground while they are able to use a kind of raking transporter to take several villagers and team members captive. But as with the death gliders, the Wraith ships are also susceptible to ground-to-air missiles, as the team is able to take one out before being swept up.
In the end, Teyla, Sumner and about 10 others have been taken by the Wraith, but Ford was able to watch the symbols on the DHD to learn where the Wraith gated-in from. Taking charge, Sheppard then leads the remaining people from Teyla's world back to Atlantis, but Weir starts lecturing him that they don't have the power to maintain Atlantis or help these people.
On cue, the city starts shaking, the shield fails, and the city starts rising to the surface, solving the problem of how to keep the water out. This sequence gives a good look at the architecture and allows for much better lighting of the sets. Now on the surface, the team's Naquada generators are able to power some of the city, but not the shield.
Beckett's examination of a Wraith hand brought back by the team reveals the Wraith likely never die of natural causes and would be very hard to kill. In spite of this, Sheppard wants to mount a rescue and successfully convinces Weir to let him at least try.
The only gate address combination from the symbols Ford memorized connects to a Stargate floating in orbit around a planet. All seems lost until McKay leads Sheppard to the hangar containing the puddle jumpers. Sheppard is able to start one up and finds that many of the controls, including a cloaking device, react to his thoughts. There is also a handy system to move the ships to the gate room for launch.
On the Wraith world, we find the abductees in a holding cell and get the first good look at the Wraith. Resembling a kind of vampire, the Wraith speaks with hisses to the guard Wraith, who are covered by too much armor to really get a good look at. After one person is taken, Sumner offers himself as next. He's led to a room where a Wraith woman explains that everything needs to feed. She is able to read his mind, finds out about Earth, then proceeds to drain his life energy by putting her hand on his chest, causing him to age rapidly.
Sheppard and team then land on the Wraith planet and sneak inside the large ship-like structure inhabited by the Wraith. Sheppard tells Ford to help free the abductees while he goes to find Sumner.
Sheppard finds him at this moment and tries to save him. He shoots the two guards who go down quickly, but the Wraith woman just shrugs off several shots to her back, confirming the hard-to-kill estimate. Seeing Sumner's imminent death, Sheppard ends up shooting him to end his pain, but is then zapped himself by the earlier Wraith using one of their electric rifles, which fire a bigger and less-precise electric charge than a zat.
The Wraith have Sheppard pinned down and it startles them to discover Ancient technology on him. Ford then blows the door to the holding cell along with some other well-placed explosives, allowing Sheppard to wrestle free. Bullets may have little effect, but an electric rifle to the gut is enough to stop the Wraith woman. She doesn't go quietly, informing Sheppard that she is just a caretaker, and that now the rest of the Wraith will awaken, and they'll be hungry.
Sheppard and team get back to the puddle jumper and manage to take off and cloak before the dozens of Wraith ships can spot them. But getting through the gate won't be easy as the Wraith have it staked out. Sheppard uses his exceptional flying skills to draw the Wraith away from the gate, destroying a few with the thought-activated weapons along the way. He manages to slip through the gate and back to Atlantis, where they activate the energy shield around the gate, much like the iris at SGC, splattering the three Wraith ships that followed him.
At the celebratory dinner later, the main cast -- Weir, Sheppard, McKay, Ford, Teyla and Beckett -- are talking about what's next, along with what kind of food they're eating. Teyla says she'll help them make more new friends and help fight the Wraith, while Weir tells Sheppard he's now the ranking officer and he needs to pick his team, then opens Jack's bottle of champagne to mark the occasion.
Overall, a good episode with plenty of action, backstory, plot advancement and interesting characters.
Submit a Theme 
Comment