The remaining soldiers, protecting the Jumper outside the base are attacked by Wraith Darts. The team is able to escape the planet with the Jumper, but is held up by Wraith Darts blockading the Spacegate. Sheppard eventually manages to maneuver the Jumper to the gate. Back in Atlantis Sheppard, Ford and Weir talk about the situation with the Wraith and Sheppard apologizes because he hasn't made them many friends. However, Weir then shows him the Athosians, and Teyla Emmagan agrees with her, since they will help them find more friends. While the expedition celebrates their arrival in Atlantis, Weir asks Sheppard which members he wants in his team, since they have to go out there to fight the Wraith. Production The pilot episode, "Rising (Parts 1 and 2)" was written by Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright, and directed by Martin Wood. The Pemberton Glacier in British Columbia doubles for Antarctica during the opening flying sequence. The Antarctic scenes in the start of the episode was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The budget for the two-part episode was estimated around $5 million US dollars. Rodney McKay was actually supposed to be African-Canadian under the name Dr. Benjamin Ingram, this didn't stop David Hewlett auditioning. The producers eventually came to a solution where Ingram would be replaced by McKay from the former Stargate SG-1 series. The character Teyla Emmagan was originally named "Mikala" in the early drafts of the Stargate Atlantis script. At the end of February, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) announced the inclusion of Robert Patrick's character Marshall Sumner. The official announcement said that he would only be featured in part one, but was later extended to both parts one and two. In January 2004 the Stargate producers announced including Jack O'Neill (portrayed by Richard Dean Anderson) and Daniel Jackson (portrayed by Michael Shanks) in the two-hour premiere pilot episode to make it easier for fans to relate to. Stargate Atlantis was supposed to be set on present day Earth, after Stargate SG-1 was canceled. This cancelation of SG-1 didn't happen and Stargate Atlantis was released while Stargate SG-1 was still airing, so the story arc was set in a new galaxy under the name, Pegasus. The story was set in another galaxy so the two running series would not collide with each other and to stop plot interferences. Reception "Rising" is Stargate Atlantis strongest episode of the series, with a