"V" -- New Series -- "Pilot" -- Premieres 11/03/09

[gmanca]

Well, to be fair, it's the pilot of a series, not a miniseries. That scene you're describing happened at the final bit of the second hour of the Original Miniseries. Whose to say it doesn't evolve from a V-friendly marketing scheme to an ironic, resistance-based statement?

[Giantrobo]

Originally Posted by Deep_lurk

Much more shallow than the original miniseries. Okay, that's saying something when referring to a show about space lizards disguised as humans coming to steal our water and then eat us, but the original was, of course, an allegory of fascism and the Nazis. Having the "V" painted symbols as a result of internet viral videos is soooooooo much less compelling than the scene in the original that I remember so well-- teens defacing Visitor propaganda posters-- old Jew who was survivor of concentration camps stops the kid tells him "no, this is how you do it" (paraphrasing), guides his hand to make the V for victory. And everyone calling them "Vees" really grates at me. It is V 90120. Or maybe Melrose V.

To each their own.

"much more shallow than the original series"

[wmansir]

I agree some of the symbolism was lost in the translation, but I also think it was necessary to make the changes. The Visitors are smart. They've obviously done their homework, and so their arrival shouldn't be clumsy or obvious.

The whole point is that their message is compelling and, more over, the government buys into it. Well, Obama/Dems are our government now. It may not be PC, but I don't think the show should pretend the country didn't embrace the Obama Hope/Change campaign and have the Visitors arrive promising to fight terrorism, illegal immigration and high taxes.

[Josh-da-man]

David Icke should sue for a story credit.

I thought the pilot was all kinds of okay, though I agree that it felt kind of rushed. Too many things happened too quickly, like the reveal of the Reptilians, the alien rebels, etc. It does feel like we're missing an hour or so somewhere.

Liked Morena a lot; she did a good balancing act between having a pleasant demeanor and being sinister and menacing. Every time she's on screen, you can see something lurking behind those dark eyes and pretty smile.

[Nth Power]

I thought it was decent, but agree it could have used a two hour premiere, since it did feel really rushed. Almost zero government involvement with the Visitors showing up and people flying up to the ships almost immediately? It seemed like they wanted to get to a resistance as soon as possible and gloss over semantics of them arriving.

[wmansir]

The quick acceptance of the Visitors reminds me the sf story "First Contact", which I believe coined the term. Written in the early days of the Cold War it has a very different vision of Earth's first contact. In the story Earth has explored much of the galaxy but never encountered intelligent alien life. When a ship does encounter a technologically equal alien ship in deep space, they are at a stalemate because neither ship will leave and risk revealing the location of their home planet to the other. The entire premise is based on mutual distrust.

[mnementh]

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin

Never seen the original but I loved this one.

If you loved the pilot, watch the original ASAP.

[mnementh]

Originally Posted by Tommy Ceez

Wait, so no member of the decade long alien infiltration of all aspects of society has ever been to the doctor or had an autopsy performed?!?!!?!?

Why would they need to see a doctor? Either they have access to better medicine and technology or they have visitors posing as doctors.

Likewise, I assume they have visitors in place to clean up any incidents that would require an autopsy.

[mnementh]

Originally Posted by Draven

I was thinking about that, but I also think they had to get to the lizard reveal in the first episode. Everyone watching pretty much knows they are going to be lizards, so why stretch it out?

I can't bear waiting to see Morena eat a guinea pig.

[Michael Corvin]

Originally Posted by mwbmis

Hard to say...Lourdes Benedicto has been a regular/semi-regular in quite a few things: NYPD Blue, Titans, ER, Dawson's Creek, 24, The Nine, Cashmere Mafia, and that's not counting all the one shot guest spots.

Wow, I've seen every episode of those bolded shows and I'm still drawing a blank. I'll have to do some googling later.

[Snowmaker]

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin

Lastly where do I know Val from? (black guy's fiance) She looks VERY familiar. One of those, "I'll kick myself" when somebody tells me things.

24 was the first and only thing I could think of right away. Season 5 I think. She was an annoying bitch at CTU that was always against Michelle IIRC.

[starman9000]

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin

Wow, I've seen every episode of those bolded shows and I'm still drawing a blank. I'll have to do some googling later.

It's not her, but I thought she was Sha're from Stargate SG-1 for a minute. Maybe you are falsely recognizing her like I was.

[Luds]

I liked the pilot, it certainly lacked decent character intro for most, compared to the initial miniseries episode, but given that it was 60 minutes and the good pace of the show, it wasn't bad. I'm sure we'll get more info on the main characters in the upcoming episodes. I would have preferred a 2h premier though.

[Michael Corvin]

Originally Posted by Snowmaker

24 was the first and only thing I could think of right away. Season 5 I think. She was an annoying bitch at CTU that was always against Michelle IIRC.

Okay, thanks... believe it or not 24 was the first thing that came to mind while watching, I just couldn't place her character/season-wise. She's a solid addition to the already hot cast.

*edit - actually it was season 2.

Back on topic....

[Double_Oh_7]

Liked the reference to "Independence Day", but it was ironic considering this version of V is "borrowing" from Marvel Comics' "Secret Invasion".

[pinata242]

I liked the first 8 or 9 minutes, but the 20-30 that followed that was about the most asinine TV I've seen in some time. The acting is horrendous, the FBI is made to look like a couple of renegade Private Dicks, and common sense and logic are thrown out the window.

Joel Gretsch (the priest - Taken, 4400) and Scott Wolf appear to be the strong points of the show besides the eye candy (and they're not bad themselves ). But the priest going to a secret meeting at an address on a bloody envelope handed to him in his church by a man that died from an obvious nefarious wound instead of handing it over to the police? Give me a fucking break!

Hopefully this episode suffered out of necessity. Rushed to get to the point of conflict since an hour or so of "peace and cures" sure would make for some boring TV. Actors not comfortable in their roles yet. Roles slightly out of character/reality due to the rush.

This episode alone bordered on retarded but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.

[Snowmaker]

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin

Okay, thanks... believe it or not 24 was the first thing that came to mind while watching, I just couldn't place her character/season-wise. She's a solid addition to the already hot cast.

*edit - actually it was season 2.

Back on topic....

Was it that long ago? Geesh!

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by gmanca

Wow, that was really good; I'm glad they went straight for the reveal that they are lizards, that people are sympathizing with them, and that there are dissidents within the Vistors' ranks. Those are all of the well known aspects of V and to linger on them would be a waste.

I really enjoy the sleeper cell angle and the human-history conspiracy because it allows a greater arc as to why the dissidents change sides as opposed to the original V where it was based on issues solely from their world.

I felt the same way. They needed to do something different than the original and I think this works well.

Scott Wolf was the weakest part of this IMO. He just doesn't look or sound like a newsman. Is he that bad an actor in other things? I did like the question about why they are all good-looking though.

[Timber]

Things that bothered me:
Calling them "Vees" really got on my nerves. Is it too hard to call them Visitors?
Anna's blinking seemed strange to me.
The huge spoiler in the previews (I know the preview police will say that that's why they don't watch them but that one was over the line)

Overall I really enjoyed it even though it was a bit rushed.

[rfduncan]

Originally Posted by Tommy Ceez

Wait, so no member of the decade long alien infiltration of all aspects of society has ever been to the doctor or had an autopsy performed?!?!!?!?

Obviously they were "in the background" so seeing a doctor would be handled by what the government would call a "terrorist" group in hiding. Apparently they don't require much medical attention except for their cloned skin (HEY! New "skin jobs"!). I mean if they had a plan to blend in, I doubt it was as simple as pepper the world with aliens to cause civil disorder. They'd all need back stories, credentials, etc. Who knows? Maybe they were replacing people who died alone in car wrecks, freak accidents and such. I'm sure we'll learn more about this down the road.

Originally Posted by Giantrobo

Spoiler:

Hmmm....did they? did you see "On the Next V" promo after the show?

Exactly! You beat me to it!

Originally Posted by pinata242

Joel Gretsch (the priest - Taken, 4400) and Scott Wolf appear to be the strong points of the show besides the eye candy (and they're not bad themselves ). But the priest going to a secret meeting at an address on a bloody envelope handed to him in his church by a man that died from an obvious nefarious wound instead of handing it over to the police? Give me a fucking break!

I have a sneaking suspicion that his character is going to be the moral compass for the show while also generating a new "spirituality" that is going to contract what the Catholic Church (and perhaps all religious groups) will be saying about the Visitors.

I agree that the "Vee" thing is just weak.

Was I the only one amused that Joel Grestch steps out of the front door of the church in the beginning to find Leo in his wheelchair on the middle landing of two flights of stairs? How the HELL did he get there in a wheelchair? If someone helped him, why did they just leave him halfway up the steps?

I'm glad they rushed this pilot. I think the story is going to be more about convincing people that they're already among us (some evil AND some good) - much harder in this day and age than proving they're lizards. Wasn't it TV footage that eventually exposed them in the original? With camera phones and everything else out there, someone discovering this was the case and exposing it with a viral video was only a matter of time.

[wmansir]

Originally Posted by rfduncan

Was I the only one amused that Joel Grestch steps out of the front door of the church in the beginning to find Leo in his wheelchair on the middle landing of two flights of stairs? How the HELL did he get there in a wheelchair? If someone helped him, why did they just leave him halfway up the steps?

I was ing at that too.

[Patman]

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin

Lastly where do I know Val from? (black guy's fiance) She looks VERY familiar. One of those, "I'll kick myself" when somebody tells me things.

What's weird is that she and Scott Wolf were on the show "The Nine" that aired on ABC a few years ago as well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0801426/

[Neeb]

Originally Posted by Double_Oh_7

Liked the reference to "Independence Day", but it was ironic considering this version of V is "borrowing" from Marvel Comics' "Secret Invasion".

Which was completely original and had no indications that it was boring key characteristics from a show called Battlestar Galactica.

[JuryDuty]

To my surprise, I thought this was a solid, enjoyable and tense premiere episode. I agree that 2 hours would have been better--I couldn't believe that they basically brought the show to the point they did within 1 hour and the original took several hours to get there. I preferred the pacing of the original in that respect.

Part of what made the original amazing was its parallels to WWII. This was updated to bring parallels to terrorism (kind of), but it lost a bit of depth in the translation.

That said, I thought it was a solid, well done premiere. Let's hope these 4 episodes are all strong enough to keep the audience till next spring.

[Gooter]

I really enjoyed the Pilot. My wife actually sat through it with me for the entirety and didn't ask any off the wall questions! I was explaining the plot of the original series as we watched it.