Okay, if you’re reading this, chances are you watched the premiere of V.
Here’s my B+ review to read, so you know where I stand. In brief: I liked it, I thought it had a lot of clever things to say about media cynicism and human-race optimism, I thought Elizabeth Mitchell was terse-tough good and Scott Wolf masterful at playing a soulless, ambitious guy with whom we could still identify.
But I’d be very curious to know what you thought, because sci-fi or fantasy shows on major networks are always dicey, sometimes-devisive affairs. For every Lost, there’s a Manimal, know what I mean?
I’m particularly interested in whether you thought the V writers handled the whole here’s-how-America-would-react-to-aliens stuff. Would we really look up in the sky, see a pretty woman with a soothing voice, and burst into applause, or would something NRA-ish in our hearts and minds get stirred up?
Obviously, if you haven’t had a chance to watch V yet: DON’T READ THE COMMENTS BELOW, BECAUSE I’M INVITING YOU TO DISCUSS THE ENTIRE SHOW, SPOILER-DETAILS AND ALL!
Let me know what you think below, please. Thanks.
Just watched the “V” premiere. So far, I’m sold on the intensity. They need to fill it out a little with some sub-plots, maybe, but that can come later. I’m interested to see what week-to-week episodes will be like.
ReplyDeleteI was engaged by “V” but it packed way too much in the first show. That’s perhaps better than the opposite extreme, but here in the first hour the resistance meeting where the rebel guy just spelled it all out for Elizabeth Mitchell’s character, and us–wow, exposition much? On the one hand it’s good they go the story going but instead of creating curiosity they just told us what’s really happening and even who several of the infiltrated Vs are. Since this is a remake there is not as much mystery as there could be, but this makes me wonder if a slow-revealing but brilliant show like “Lost” would make it if it was starting now in this era of 3-minute YouTube clips.
ReplyDeleteI thought that too, until I considered that a hearty chunk of this show’s audience has literally seen this before. I think maybe they packed as much in as they did to demonstrate that this is not THAT “V.”
ReplyDeleteI watched the originals in the ’80’s, and rewatched on syfy past couple of days. I think this new series does a good job of giving a nod to the original while remaining it’s own thing. I’m hooked so far…
ReplyDeleteI thought the first episode was fantastic, especially the V reveals in the final ten minutes. The applause was a bit of a stretch for sure, but I’ll definitely keep watching. Fingers crossed that the story doesn’t go totally haywire, which is always a risk with sci-fi shows.
ReplyDeleteI agree…I rolled my eyes at the applause part.
ReplyDeletetoo. New Yorkers would be more likely to yell at the ship for causing traffic jams.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Snarf. And I kept thinking that some people would get miffed at the spaceship blocking the sunlight all the time. To be honest, I didn’t think any of the human reactions were very realistic.
ReplyDeleteThe promo for next week seemed exciting. But there was some stuff that I had a hard time buying. Sometimes it seems like the lingo that is added to make it seem like a different world just comes across as awkward (I’ve got the same problem with everybody talking about their “FlashForward” with huge seriousness on that other new sci-fi show). But overall, it was at least interesting, and the action was good. I’m not sure how accurate the acceptance amongst the general population would be (the applause did seem a bit much), but I’m willing to go with it for the time being.
ReplyDeleteGood touch on making the meeting take place at a 4400 address. For those of you who watched the 4400 (the show the priest was in on Scyfy before this) you would have liked it.
ReplyDeleteI just watched the show. And as a luke-warm fan of the science fiction genre, I have to say that the show definitely hooked at least for now. I think that it is off to a good start. We’ll see if “V” continues to sizzle or will it fizzle out. Time will tell but so far I like it.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else think the black chick is pregnant already?
ReplyDeleteThe “black chick” is Lourdes Benedicto, and she is of Filipino and Dominican/Spanish descent. And yes, the idea that her character might be pregnant did occur to me, making the reveal at the end even more unnerving.
ReplyDeleteGod I hope they don’t do the alien hybrid thing again. That was the worst part of the original miniseries. First they had to play the “it’s a woman’s choice” abortion angle, and then they had the freaky “Rosmary’s Baby” c-section birth scene. Ick.
ReplyDeleteOh, come on! The lizard baby was the highlight of the original version! If the “traitor’s” girlfriend is pregnant, I’m definitely on board.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely loved it! It was awesome! Didn’t see the ‘V’ reveals coming at all, totally surprised me. I don’t like that we only get four episodes and then have to wait until March for some more. Doesn’t ABC remember that this didn’t work very well when they did it with LOST?
ReplyDeleteHow is Scott Wolf still the same age he was on Party of Five? Wasn’t that show on 15 years ago?
ReplyDeleteHe must have a portrait hidden in his attic.
ReplyDelete“dorian grey” pretty highbrow there elizabeth. kudos
ReplyDeleteVampire.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they won’t resort to having a retarded visitor like they did in the original mini-series.
ReplyDeleteWillie wasn’t retarded. He was rushed into the job without proper training. By the end of the series, he wasn’t slow.
ReplyDeleteWillie was supposed to be stationed on a ship in the Middle East and spoke Arabic. And don’t forget: Willie went on to become Freddie Krueger! LOL
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Mitchell rocked. She can immerse as well as any actor I’ve seen, no sign of Juliet AT ALL. Impressive. Also enjoyed the nods to The 4400. (One of the best first seasons ever, all downhill from there….) Just wondering when the often ubiquitous Billy Campbell will show up in one of those ambiguous supporting roles. (Although I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Summer Glau!) Thumbs up so far, we’ll see how it goes. As for the hiatus – remember the original was a miniseries before it was a series. (Remember minis? Or is that just for us old-timers? So maybe this is another way to offer homage to the original.)
ReplyDeleteVery true. The original was a two part, four hour miniseries that ended on a cliffhanger. It took them two years to come out with the disapointing “V: The Final Battle.”
ReplyDeleteI suppose it was inevitable in this day when we no longer delay gratification, but I preferred the way the original ‘V’ built up to creating the resistance and reveling the visitors plans. I liked the arrest of the scientists being the tip off that something was up. This seemed somewhat rushed and with very weird political references.
ReplyDeleteStill, interested in what develops but right now the pacing feels a tad off.
i have to agree with you, laura. I felt rushed also. i felt disconnected early on, but sat thru it for my hubbys sake. not sure if we will stick with this one.
ReplyDeleteI liked the show BUT I agree the original took it's time in exposing the truth about "the visitors" and I feel that ABC rushed it a bit here in the script. I guess that might be because we today as opposed to in the 80's are more of a "I want it right now" generation and as such they might have felt that they needed to just give us the instant satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the nod to the old series when the boy said "this is Independence Day" and then the other boy said that "ID" was a rip off of sci fi shows that came before. Who of us could forget the original V is the one that FIRST had ships coming and hovering above cities!!! Great nod to the original -- now what would truly make my day would be to incorporate some of the old cast in new roles!!!
Could you imagine Jane Badler playing say Anna's MOTHER or the LEADER!!! What say you all???