I am very happy to report that after a second week of V (the 2009 one, not the old one), I'm liking the show more and more. Oh, in case you couldn't tell, we're probably going to be talking a lot about what happened in the episode last night, so if you don't want to know, don't continue reading.
Now, while the show has flaws (and we'll talk about those), I really did enjoy the fact that the producers didn't keep the evilness of the Visitors hidden. There seems little to make anyone believe that the Visitors aren't out to try and destroy humanity. Of course, they were evil in the original series, but I wasn't going to put it past the producers to try and flip the story on us – the resistance being evil, the Visitors being good. They still could do that, but it seems increasingly less likely.
The biggest issue that the show might face at this point is the creation of the Resistance. There are good aliens hidden among us, there are bad aliens hidden among us, and Elizabeth Mitchell's Erica and Joel Gretsch's Father Jack are going to be our leaders in forming the Resistance and right now they're scared of their own shadows. If that remains the case, if the Resistance doesn't come about in relatively short order, the show could end up floundering.
Obviously there's a danger in the show progressing too quickly, moving the storyline ahead too quickly, not really letting the here and now develop, and not really allowing the producers themselves to figure out where the show is heading. On the other hand, if our leads just sort of dither around
every week, hold off on forming the resistance, and do very little except covering their oh-so-light tracks, it could get awfully dull.
It could also get really dull if we get bogged down in a domestic dispute between Erica and her son, Tyler. I can't imagine that anyone really wants to see the show go down that road. No, what I think we all want is lizard on human fighting.
Article comments
1 - Nick
Nice review, Josh. The second episdoe was definitely better than the first but it still seems bland to me without many surprises. I'm hoping it gets better.
2 - TVEye
That's a good review, altho I am far less positive about the series than you seem to be, starting with my feeling that the second episode was drastically inferior to the debut. Elizabeth Mitchell is totally capable in her lead role, and can carry the series, but they really need to make her more credible and consistent. She knows not to trust anyone, and lectures the priest to that effect ... then spills her guts to her (highly suspect) boss! The whole FBI milieu they depict is unconvincing, from the Dragnet-reject offices on down. That needs work.
This is looking like it would have worked much better as a limited-run miniseries. I hope I'm wrong, but based on two episodes, 1/2 those they are going to run for now, pacing is a real problem. The first episode contained almost too much action and exposition; the second had the exact opposite problem (plus Father Jack seemingly having had a lobotomy between episodes).
Still, it's a great concept (wonder if these V's are human-eaters?); Mitchell is great to watch, and "Anna" is perfectly cast. She's got a foxy reptilian thing goin' on.
3 - NancyGail
Alan Tudyk lives! Apparently, dead on scifi deosn't always mean what you think. Dale is the Agent Scott from Fringe on this show, and the casting couldn't be more perfect.