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

[Michael Corvin]

I'm fine with the double meaning. Seems like a petty thing to take issue with.

[Tommy Ceez]

Originally Posted by paradicelost

I agree.
I also found it somewhat symbolic because many Christian Scholars dismiss aliens because the bible is pretty clear about Jesus dying for all of mankind's sins. If aliens were out there then God clearly would have known about it and Jesus would have had to die more than just one death(something like that its been awhile since i've read it). The young priest even mentions something similar to this belief to the older priest. And the Cross doesn't just fall, it shatters. So when the alien ships first appear our idea of Jesus and his death are somewhat shattered. Plus like the above quoted post, the Visitors represent a new messiah(savior) that requires our devotion, Jesus is no longer needed. That was my take on it anyway.

But these are Catholic priests and...

Extra-terrestrial life is possible, Vatican astronomer says May 14, 2008

In an interview for L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's astronomer has offered his opinion that it is possible for Christians to believe in the existence of extra-terrestrial life.

Father José Gabriel Funes, an Argentine Jesuit, told the Vatican newspaper: "Just there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth there could be other beings, intelligent ones, created by God."

The astronomer's remarks appeared under the headline: "The extra-terrestrial is my brother." The interview in L'Osservatore Romano spawned dozens of headline stories in the secular press, many of them suggesting-- inaccurately-- that the Vatican had given official approval to belief in life on other planets.

Father Funes offered a more limited view, saying that the possibility of extra-terrestrial life cannot be disproved, and "does not contradict our faith." He argued that Christians should not attempt to place arbitrary limits on what God might have done in creating the universe.

However the Jesuit astronomer went on to speculate that if intelligent beings exist in another solar system, "they might have remained in full friendship with the Creator," and thus might not require salvation as the human race does.

Citing the perspective of St. Francis of Assisi, Father Funes said: "If we view earthly creatures as our brothers and sisters, why can't we speak of a brother from another planet?"

That last part indicates that they are open to the possibility that Origional Sin might not exist in an alien race, so they may in fact still be living in thier own version of EDEN.

[mikehunt]

Originally Posted by Chew

Enjoyed it

I'm happy a lot of the little elements from the original were still retained: the youth peace corps, the Visitors claiming to want water, dozens of ships over the major world cities, manipulating the media, etc.

Hopefully, a series can be maintained though.

didn't the visitors in the original not claim to be after water. wasn't it some chemical, that they them dumped into the air while actually storing water

[Pistol Pete]

Yes. The Visitors claimed that they needed the water for processing the chemical. Only later did it come out that water was what they were really after.

[Baron Of Hell]

Poor poor Wash. He died again like a leaf on the wind. But the whore lives on. What a cruel world.

[Double_Oh_7]

Originally Posted by JuryDuty

The stuff you mention on CYE on the other hand (which I haven't seen) just sounds a bit tasteless and offensive.

Seems to me you should see it before commenting and passing judgment.

[Dr. DVD]

Originally Posted by Baron Of Hell

Poor poor Wash. He died again like a leaf on the wind. But the whore lives on. What a cruel world.

Spoiler:

You must not have seen the teaser for next week, where he looks more like "Alpha" than Wash.

[JuryDuty]

Originally Posted by Double_Oh_7

Seems to me you should see it before commenting and passing judgment.

I totally agree. That's why I specifically posted that I haven't seen it and that it "JUST SOUNDS tasteless and offensive." But I could be totally wrong. I loved Seinfeld and it's very possible I'd think it was hilarious. But from the description of it, I think it sounds a bit tasteless, that's all. Despite my username, no judgment passed here, I promise.

[milo bloom]

That comment from Johnson about the meaning of "V" is a little over the top. Even when I was only peripherally aware of the mini and the series way back when, I knew it was a double meaning.

The more I think about this show, the more I'm interested in seeing where they go with this, even if they did get off to a somewhat rocky start.

[riley_dude]

I did seem like they had a two hour pilot and edited down to an hour. 15 minutes and they are already on the Visitors ship?
Is there no such thing as a slow build in TV today? Do the networks think that unless there is an explosion in the first 10 minutes that people will change the channel?
They should have continued Kenneth Johnson's story not remade it and they should have done a mini. How is this show going to last multiple seasons??

[pinata242]

Originally Posted by riley_dude

Do the networks think that unless there is an explosion in the first 10 minutes that people will change the channel?

You mean like how they just had to throw in that jet crashing because they had the budget?

[riley_dude]

Originally Posted by pinata242

You mean like how they just had to throw in that jet crashing because they had the budget?

Yes. Pretty much.

[Baron Of Hell]

Yeah I bet when this hits video there will be 30+ minutes extended edition of episode one. B5 and BSG didn't have add peace keepers until half way through the seasons. Plus giving tours on day one? No wining and dinning. Straight to the bedroom. At this rate the alien/human baby will be due any minute.

[SmithsGuy]

So are we going to learn anything about the Vs? What planet they hail from? Actual language or names? Culture? Does everyone have skin glued on their scales or just several hundred or so who interact w humanity?

Hoping for some backstory to go with creeping blinking by the lizards... flik flik...

[Draven]

Originally Posted by Baron Of Hell

Yeah I bet when this hits video there will be 30+ minutes extended edition of episode one. B5 and BSG didn't have add peace keepers until half way through the seasons. Plus giving tours on day one? No wining and dinning. Straight to the bedroom. At this rate the alien/human baby will be due any minute.

Weeks had passed. And if the Visitors wanted to let people see their ships...would we really be in a position to say no?

[Michael Corvin]

Originally Posted by pinata242

You mean like how they just had to throw in that jet crashing because they had the budget?

Didn't even cross my mind until you posted that. That was totally filmed just to make the trailers.

[Feneant]

I know it would go against the story but anyone else find it odd at the end how the FBI agent and the priest are discussing how to make a resistance and go about it... You have a bunch of dead lizards... if it was up to me, I'd have gone right to the media with that and exposed them. Forget the quiet resistance, just bomb the shit out of their spaceships. That was my main pet peeve besides for it feeling rushed like everyone else has said.

[pinata242]

I think part of the problem is that the Visitors have infiltrated every facet of our government and law enforcement. There's nowhere to go with that information necessarily.

And if you expose them publicly, they'd know just as fast and take whatever action they needed to to eliminate us in a decidedly non-peaceful manner.

[Dr. DVD]

Originally Posted by Baron Of Hell

Yeah I bet when this hits video there will be 30+ minutes extended edition of episode one. B5 and BSG didn't have add peace keepers until half way through the seasons. Plus giving tours on day one? No wining and dinning. Straight to the bedroom. At this rate the alien/human baby will be due any minute.

Judging from the teaser with the footage of the son and blonde visitor chick kissing (and possibly getting jiggy), the baby might make an appearance before the initial four eps. are through.
However, this might not be that bad of an approach. If they get all references and story aspects of the old series out of the way immediately, then this new version can finally become its own creation and do all new stuff to surprise everyone.

In terms of why they didn't expose the visitors after killing some of them, remember they tried to expose a live one in the original and it got shot down as a hoax. Remember, the Visitors control the media (or will at some point).

[Groucho]

They crammed way too much in there. I was actually surprised that they didn't show Morris Chestnut and his girlfriend getting married!

[mikehunt]

I'm hoping for no baby
the star child in the original is about the only thing I couldn't stand

[bunkaroo]

Pretenama - it means peace!

[kstublen]

Originally Posted by pinata242

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!

The Priest was already having doubts about the Visitors and when the guy came in and said that the Visitors did that to him and he needed to get the information in the envelope, the Priest believed him. I don't find it so hard to believe that the Priest would go, especially given his sermon and what he said to the other Priest.

[Rypro 525]

Is ABC's 'V' anti-Obama? Let the debate begin!
by Jeff Jensen
Categories: Politics as Entertainment, Sci-Fi, Television, V
Does ABC’s politically charged reboot of the eighties sci-fi series V have something against President Barack Obama? A number of critics and bloggers have noted what seems to be a critique of the new president’s messianic perception in the show’s pilot episode, which premiered on Tuesday to blockbuster ratings. In case you missed it–or in case the political reading completely escaped you–here’s the basic idea: In V, there’s a charismatic, telegenic extraterrestrial leader Anna (Morena Baccarin) who comes to Earth promising peace and offering universal health care. Anna and her attending alien armada may truly have Earth’s best interest at heart–or they may be leveraging their buzz, celebrity, sex appeal and idealism to lure the planet down a road to ruin.
In my recap of the pilot, I argued that V wasn’t really politically partisan, but rather a mirror to the wide range of reactions–positive and negative; hopeful and skeptical; gullible and cynical–that Obama has inspired. But apparently, the folks at unabashedly conservative Fox News see V as being more pointed and personal in its polemics. According to a new study by Media Matters In America–described as “a progressive research and information center dedicated to monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the media” (read: a non-profit liberal-leaning watchdog group)–Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck have all “endorsed” V as “a critique of ‘Obama-mania.’” The report quotes Hannity as saying: “You know, I think this is one show that I can actually get behind.”
Now, I can see V being a commentary on “Obama-mania,” but I’m not convinced the show is commenting on President Obama himself. It’ll be interesting to see if V continues to be a favorite of the Fox News set if it’s revealed that Anna has genuinely good intentions but is being thwarted and subverted by her own alien people–like, say, a political faction that’s transparently right-wing. At the same time, I have to wonder about this “Media Matters In America” outfit trying to make some noise with their study: it seems to me they’re exploiting both Fox News and the current hype around V to promote themselves. Perhaps they’re trying to court donations from Geeks For Obama?
Regardless, what do you think of V’s political metaphor? Do you think the show is pro-Obama or anti-Obama–or neither? And what would happen to your interest in the show if it revealed itself to be clearly Right or clearly Left in its political worldview? Would that annoy you? Intrigue you? Inspire you to watch something else?

[whotony]

Originally Posted by Feneant

I know it would go against the story but anyone else find it odd at the end how the FBI agent and the priest are discussing how to make a resistance and go about it... You have a bunch of dead lizards... if it was up to me, I'd have gone right to the media with that and exposed them. Forget the quiet resistance, just bomb the shit out of their spaceships. That was my main pet peeve besides for it feeling rushed like everyone else has said.

I like d the show, but I was confused by this section.
Dead aliens in that building, could they have taken the bodies to the press or anywwere and said hey look, dead aliens who tried to kill us.