Watching Rise is an experience like no other: There are highs and lows within each episode, so sometimes I find myself wanting to hug the characters (mostly Maashous and Simon) and other times I want to yell at them (mostly Mr. Mazzu). Whenever I watch Rise, I feel so many emotions that just can’t be expressed in words, which means…it’s time to break out the GIFs!
So here is what it’s like to watch Rise, as told by GIFs.
1. When you first hear that there’s going to be another musical series on NBC…
2. But are saddened to learn that it’s not the reboot of Smash you are desperately wishing for
3. Then, you watch the first episode and realize that a Disney Princess and former Newsie are both lead characters
4. For a minute you think Idina Menzel plays Lilette’s mom, but you quickly learn that you are wrong
5. They announce that Spring Awakening is the musical and you are getting hype for some epic musical numbers
6. Only to find out that you’ll be lucky if you get one song in an episode
7. You don’t get attached to any of the characters, until you are introduced to Maashous, that is.
8. After realizing that Maashous’s name is actually Maashous, you spend at least five minutes per episode trying to figure out how that combination of letters can make those sounds.
9. After your linguistics lesson, Mr. Mazzu does something that is meant to be inspiring, but just kind of irritates you.
10. Then Ms. Wolfe says something sweet and reasonable, which makes everything alright.
11. You spend most of the episode rooting for one of the many couples on the show, only to be disappointed when their relationship has not progressed at all.
12. The episode ends with a song and you’re kind of mad that it’s just another Spring Awakening cover, but you can only be so mad because it sounds so good.
13. And even though this show can irritate you to no end, at the end of each episode, you eagerly watch out for clips from next week.
14. Because like it or not, you’re invested, and you kind of love this show!
Rise airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m., on NBC.