Rising

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S1 (Rising)

I skipped this to go straight to 'Stargate Universe' simply because that was a shorter series, but I'd got to the point in my 'SG-1' watch-through that I either continued that series or watched 'Atlantis' concurrently with it, the way it was made to be seen, and so here I am. If 'SG-1' was the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' of its franchise, and 'Universe' the 'Voyager,' I'm hoping 'Atlantis' will be the 'Deep Space Nine' - deeper, more texture and high production values, with a side order of well developed characters and a genuine continuing threat, wrapped up in strong writing and storytelling. By the looks of it, the visuals and values of the series are set to fulfil that hope, with a definite step up from 'SG-1' in sets, effects and makeup, with an attractive 'station' in the form of a giant snowflake floating on an ocean beneath a beautiful horizon, CGI that looks pretty good, and aliens that look pretty bad, in the best possible way, of course. Stargate Command, let's face it, doesn't take much beating in the aesthetic department, being a spare, concrete military installation underground where the need for CG set extensions or views out the window, were entirely unnecessary and not particularly doable when it was created in the late nineties. But technology had moved on since then and by the mid-2000s TV was capable of much more, especially off the back of a successful TV show that had been running, to that point, for seven seasons.

This pilot wasn't a bad introduction to the first 'Stargate' spinoff, but neither is it easy to judge how successful a genesis it was, relying a little too much on throwing lots of characters at us and spinning out a basic story that tries to present all the facts of the situation for this series. 'SG-1' was much simpler, and came off the back of a film release, but by this point they'd racked up an impressively convoluted backstory and large roster of characters. With 'Atlantis,' we plunge right in with a continuation of the project begun in 'SG-1' when O'Neill saved Earth from attack by the use of a nifty chair in Antarctica (I think). It's had a bit of a facelift since then, looking all shiny and fancy with the sheen of a whole new series' pilot budget to throw around. The main cast isn't entirely clear yet, perhaps one reason I felt slightly out of my depth with this story, but it's good to see Dr.'s Weir and McKay, both previously introduced on 'SG-1,' Weir expressly with the purpose of taking on the Atlantis mission. Then there's Colonel Sumner, played by a 'name' actor (Robert Patrick), so you know he's not going to make it out of this mission - why would you have a leader over and above the guy introduced as O'Neill's helicopter pilot, who just so happens to have a strong Ancient gene in him, as well as Weir who's the overall commander, with a higher authority. That 'just so happens' is also something of a theme of the first episode (it just so happens the Wraith, who only attack every few centuries, come on the very day the team visit a particular planet, for example), though it's difficult not to have contrivances.

We also meet the natives of the planet they visit in the search for a ZPM (those things again!), essential if they're to get enough power to regain contact with Earth again. It was nice to hear McKay call it a Zed-Pee-Emm, instead of the American pronunciation of Zee-Pee-Emm, and they even made it a joke ("He's Canadian" - makes me think of 'Due South'!), but I was a little hazy on the exact mission: visit Atlantis, a city in the Pegasus galaxy, hoping to meet The Ancients, which for the first time in the mythology we actually see on screen, though it's a flashback at the very opening of the episode. And then? I guess the old mandate to seek out new forms of technology and weaponry and boldly go where no one has gone before was part of it, coming as it does, out of a very 'Star Trek-y' sci-fi model. Major Sheppard, the guy with the gene, ends up taking the military leadership, having shot Sumner to save the guy a worse fate as his life is drained away by a nasty Wraith woman. I can't help thinking it would have been a better choice to keep firing at her so she was forced to stop her devastating procedure, though it was already too late for Sumner - thanks to Sheppard's hesitation or slow reactions, he'd become an elderly man. So far Sheppard isn't objectionable, but has yet to prove himself as a strong character that we care about in the same vein as O'Neill, Jackson, Carter or Teal'c.

That's the real trouble with something like this: the characters were always the best thing about 'SG-1' and it's difficult to come up with new ones without straying too far from the established archetypes of soldier (O'Neill), historian/expert (Daniel), scientist (Carter), or warrior (Teal'c). We have Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford in the military camp; Weir, McKay and Beckett in the science area; and I suppose Teyla may turn out to be the warrior type, a female version of Teal'c (she has that look about her, though she hasn't actually done anything in that vein yet). I didn't feel the characters were that well sketched out, and on the whole it was a bit messy with so many people around, visually busy with crates and equipment all over the place, and not all that directional in the story - they're reacting to the apparent looming destruction of the newly found city, then the abduction of Sumner and the others, and while it was fine, and the scenes set in the Wraith compound gave it a harder edge than usual (though it's worth bearing in mind that 'SG-1' began it's first few episodes with a bit more nastiness to proceedings than became the norm, as tends to happen with series pilot), I'm still not entirely sure what they're going to be doing. 'SG-1' were all about missions, 'Universe' was about survival day to day, but 'Atlantis'?

It certainly had the aura of an important, life-changing mission, especially as so many of these people may never return to Earth (the main reason Daniel wasn't going to be allowed to go, since 'SG-1' still had a few seasons left in it and they wouldn't want to lose him again!). I can imagine the sets for the city being a good base of operations, the Stargate itself had a more advanced design, without the usual revolving chevron locker (or whatever the technical term is), replaced by lights. No doubt the Wraith will prove an unpleasant and deadly enemy, and certainly seem much more potent than the pantomime villains the Goa'uld so often were. Perhaps there's less of the flippant or world-weary tone so popularised in its forebear, but you still get that sense. It was nice to have O'Neill and Daniel there to get the series off to a start (not to mention Siler and a couple of familiar faces - the main guy in the village had been on 'SG-1' before, as, I think, had Weir's husband or partner, receiving her message at home. I believe he was the alien that fell in love with Carter, or one of them anyway!). It didn't feel quite complete without Carter and Teal'c, but I suppose they didn't want to overwhelm the new cast by featuring too much of the old, and I can respect that. And there were nice little touches such as the champagne bottle rolling out of the Stargate as a final goodbye, or the 'Star Wars' reference (Sheppard tells a villager they're from a galaxy far, far away).

In all, it certainly has the feel of a 'Stargate,' but it definitely needs time to bed in. To reveal the character of these people in better definition, not to mention the purpose and hopes they have. I was a little put off by the lack of opening credits, but that could be because it's a pilot - it'll be interesting to see if they go the route that became popular around this time, of dispensing with an opening theme and cutting to the episode, or whether an 'SG-1' montage will be coming for the regular episodes. I didn't think a great deal of the theme played in the end credits, sounding far too derivative of 'SG-1' without the bold unique flavour of that score. But that's always the great difficulty with a spinoff: the balance between making it true to what came before and carving out its own identity, distinct from its inspiration. Talking of inspiration, I couldn't help thinking of Superman's origins: a race that had to abandon its home (or were destroyed in it), telling their story in holographic form. It was all very Kryptonian.

I can see potential in the series, though it will be hard to do much in the way of crossovers with the still airing 'SG-1,' at least until they get the ability to dial Earth, though with five seasons I'm sure little details will get worked out somewhere along the way. And in a way it's nice to still have mystery as to what the series will be about. Fighting this latest threat of evil Wraiths is the obvious guess, but aside from that it remains to be seen. A pilot has so much to do in setting a tone, setting up characters and bringing viewers in. They tend to concentrate on action over too much exposition, so you can't generally judge a series by them. For the moment I'll be happy to see how it pans out.

**