(S01E02) See, now things are starting to make more sense. The important thing, as a fan of the old V, is to remember that this is a whole new kind of war. The Visitors aren't coming down in bright red suits with funny voices. Instead they've been infiltrating our society for years, possibly decades.The question of why Erica wouldn't just go straight to her bosses at the FBI with what she knows is self-explanatory when you consider that her partner of seven years was a Visitor. They look and act like us, and they could be any one of us. So who do you trust takes on a whole new meaning.
I think it's a smart move to establish more of a guerrilla war against the Visitors. And now that the one resistance cell Erica and Jack found has been scattered to the wind, it's a matter of starting over. But, as seen with the developments this week, it may be a race to uncover the truth before it's too late.
We don't know for sure if the Visitors' reasons for being on Earth are exactly the same as they were in the original series, but I suspect they are -- or at least are very similar. Regardless, it's bad news. Even worse news, despite spending much of the episode showing reluctance, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Visitors, along with most of the rest of the world. I don't think we know about Russia yet, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if a nation refused Anna.
She certainly wasn't happy with Chad's on-air interviews that looked at both sides of the Visitor issue. I'll give Morena Baccarin credit for one thing: I absolutely cannot tell what she's thinking ever. And that quick little eye blink she does seems to be telling of dissatisfaction, but who knows. She's definitely nailed the concept of alien.
I wonder, though, if she learned something by the fact that the debate Chad moderated actually helped convince people to support the Visitors. Maybe she's realized that sometimes an opposing viewpoint can strengthen your own. Probably not, though.
As for Chad, I'm still not sure what his motives are. He seemed genuinely upset that he chose the glory of an interview with Anna last week rather than asking her serious questions. Is he now playing her? I'd kind of like to think he is, because he'd be a great addition to the resistance at some point, with the access he has to the Visitors. He can be the Mike Donovan (Marc Singer) of the new generation.
At this point, there's a lot of waiting to see how the resistance comes together, and waiting to see how quickly the Visitors begin to take more active control of the United States. Will it get as far as it did in the original series? I'm looking forward to seeing Ryan hook back up with Erica and Jack. He's an interesting dynamic, in that he's fallen in love with a human and doesn't want whatever the Visitors are up to to happen.
Perhaps even more intriguing, he established that the ships have arrived before schedule, and he and his mechanic co-hort don't seem to know exactly what Anna and the Visitors intentions are. If they're just foot soldiers sent in to infiltrate humanity, that's possible. Do you think the Visitors aboard the ship have a way to track down all their agents, like Ryan, no matter where they hide?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-11-2009 @ 1:27PM
Daritan said...
I am enjoying the remake so far, though I wonder with the pacing if two more episodes will be enough to make us willing to wait till it comes back.
Anyone else like the address of the rebel meeting... 4400? A little nod to Joel Gretsch's previous series? Loved it.
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11-11-2009 @ 1:49PM
HD said...
Again, let me say I love Elizabeth Mitchell - that said, this show is all kinds of bad and I'm not sure I can power through much more.
Good writing matters folks.
While were on the subject of writing - hey ABC, just go for the easy money and turn Flash Forward into a Lost spin off.
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11-11-2009 @ 1:57PM
jay lewis said...
Only reason I'm watching this show is because of Anna. I agree that not knowing what she is thinking is big draw for me. I wish they show her more and less of Erica and Jack. First of all I'm not buying that he is a priest, and Erica should be back in Lost as Juliett. She looks cleaner than Juliett but it is really distracting. Just like Ryan makes me think about The Boyz and the Hood.
They have opportunity to really make some bold moves in the story, like addressing racism and just other human frailty in general.
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11-11-2009 @ 11:43PM
Tom said...
Bold moves?
11-11-2009 @ 2:32PM
charles said...
I think they would have been well-served to have a two hour premier, or mini-series, or something to get a lot of preliminaries out of the way. Right now, I feel like they are putting their pieces on the board. That's cool, but they need to cover a bit more ground a bit more quickly.
New question: between Elizabeth Mitchell ("Lost"), Alan Tudyk and Morena Baccarin (both of "Firefly"), and now Rekha Sharma (Tory from "Battlestar Galactica"), is this a Sci Fi Actor Works Program?
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11-12-2009 @ 4:37AM
010111 said...
i think ABC might be an ex-Firefly actors work program. Nathan Fillion is on "Castle" and Gina Torres has a very very very minor role on "Flash Forward".
Ron Glass was in "Dirty Sexy Money" which was also ABC and canceled last season.
Dollhouse of course has had a bunch of ex-BSG people on it ... and one ex-Firefly so far... possibly 2... if Summer Glau is in one of those final episodes.
11-11-2009 @ 4:21PM
Ian said...
Why do we take it for granted the way many of the visiting aliens find humans "attractive"?
The sleeper cells of lizards must surely have been placed on earth for a purpose known to the most recent alien visitors. So why no contact between them? Or are the prior visitors from another political group?
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11-11-2009 @ 4:32PM
LordPaul said...
I'm really enjoying this so far!!
I dunno what's not to like - bear in mind I never saw the original so I haven't go that issue to deal with & I'm pretty sure that it's probably the best way of watching it & most people won't have.
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11-11-2009 @ 8:21PM
Tim-1 said...
I liked this episode. While not action-packed, it took a long step in the formation of the various storylines that will anchor the series. Erica is proving to be the "take charge" woman that we have come to expect from our heros. I think the whole was better then the parts, in terms of finding momentum.
I wonder how the visitor's faces will look when they are revealed. When you really think about it, those fake skins are a perfect mold to the faces of each visitor. So that would mean each visitor would have to be shaped exactly like a green human? In TOS when exposed, they took on the features of the more, shall we say.... conventional lizard. At least it was that way in TOS. My point is that it would be a tough rabbit to pull out of the hat to pull it off so seamlessly (just a little fun here).
I had a few Battlestar Galactica moments in this one. Closeups of Chad....for the life of me it looked like he had Leobon's facial expressions. The priest guy reminded me a little of Helo. And that torture table of the visitors looked like a downloading chamber. Then there was Rekha Sharma.
I wish the producers would read this. I could tell them about an actress that could propel this series into a league of its own. She could make her character possess the tenacity and athleticism of Riply from "Alien", the leadership abilities of Janeway from "Voyager", the intelligence of "T'pol from "Enterpise", and more beautiful than Helen of Troy. Her name is Grace Park. I know this is a "V" post but someone else mentioned BSG so I just thought I would mention it.
I don't like the idea of that long layoff this winter either but if a show is good enough, people will come back.
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11-11-2009 @ 11:44PM
Tom said...
I agree, another good episode. I especially liked Rekha Sharma. Some of these shows are so incestuous, with actors from SciFi series all hoping beds. Its like they are all typecast--but with the shows we keep getting, that's not a bad thing. BSG and Losties keep turning up everywhere. What is Katee Sackhoff up to these days?
What I want to know about where this show is headed (it was addressed but never answered in TOS, and it was implied in the opener for this series) is whether there is going to be the introduction of a different alien race--the natural enemy of the visitors. I always wondered where they could have gone with that in the original.
11-11-2009 @ 5:57PM
RT said...
Love the show so far but bring back Jane Badler. "Anna" isn't at all scary. We need an actress who is attractive and evil.
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11-11-2009 @ 9:55PM
HD said...
If you hadn't said attractive I would've suggested Ann Coulter - now that woman is scary. She may actually be a giant lizard covered in human flesh...wouldn't shock me.
11-12-2009 @ 4:43AM
010111 said...
has anyone set up a pool on when Tim-1 will pull a Robert John Bardo on Grace Park?
it has to be only a matter of months at this point. eventually the candle-lit room covered with magazine clipped photos and stuff stolen from her trash just won't be satisfying enough anymore.
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11-12-2009 @ 7:05PM
DiscoStu said...
Resurrection? Really??? A little too much BSG-lite for me.
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11-12-2009 @ 9:05AM
Travis said...
Anyone else waiting for the seemingly obvious reveal that the head priest is a V?
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11-12-2009 @ 4:32PM
Tim-1 said...
Tom
Many actors from BSG ( including Reka Sharma) could be the leading star in their own series. And Tom, I read somewhere that Katie Sackhoff is going to appear on "The Big bang Theory" on Nov. 23 and will be playing herself.
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11-12-2009 @ 10:53PM
Susan J said...
I must have been more naive when the original V was aired because a whole bunch of unanswered questions come to mind almost immediately with the new series. Nobody is questioning how the V's all speak perfect English (Chinese, Russian, Japanese, etc.) upon arrival? Why are they all good-looking, fashion-forward beings? High-heels are a universal footwear? Where are the kids/babies? That they conform so perfectly to human dress, speech and behavior should send warning bells off.
The FDA, AMA and insurance industry are going along with the "healing centers" without any investigation? Sure....
Nobody has a problem with the ships parked right over the main world cities? I think the typical New Yorker response to that is - "move your &*(%$# ship so I can get some sunlight in my apartment!" NASA isn't pounding on the door asking for a ride to Mars? The governments aren't looking for the blueprints to the ships and all the neato gadgets in exchange for diplomatic recognition?
If the Vatican is recognizing them, I'm thinking the Pope is an alien.
I do hope Diane and Willie (from the old series) make an appearance. I'm guessing the old priest in the new show is an alien also. I do hope that re-incarnation isn't going to be happening - maybe he wasn't quite dead yet? Or do they have to be smashed to smithereens? What - they don't dissolve?
I am wondering what reptiles would want with this planet? Maybe they want Australia so they can resolve the bunny problem? Apparently whatever they want isn't all that pressing if they have been prepping for how many years? Back to Roswell????
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11-13-2009 @ 4:40AM
J0phus said...
I thought the same thing about the healthcare issue, but I am a political junkie. I ruin shit for people all the time. I try my best with the whole suspension of disbelief for the real world red tape.
I have to admit I didn't think about where the ships were parked at all. That wouldn't work at all would it?
11-13-2009 @ 10:22PM
been there done that said...
This episode is the first one in which I realized that it is supposed to be set in New York City. Unbelievable. I am a New Yorker. The sets don't look anything like New York. No group of New Yorkers would have applauded their arrival, and Mayor Bloomberg would have made them move the spaceship that is blocking the sun for so many people. The thing would be covered in graffiti by now. The Vs would have been mugged and had their rubber suits torn off. If it really happened in NYC, the Vs would be running back home with their lizardy tails between their legs. You just don't screw with New Yorkers. Even if you're slime from outer space.
To the person who wondered how they could speak different languages, be high-fashion, why there are no kids: If you wanted to conquer a planet by infiltration, wouldn't you make sure to know their languages, the appearances they find attractive? And wouldn't you leave your kids at home? And these are space creatures: they have all kinds of non-Earthly abilities.
As to what "reptiles want with this planet" -- they are not Earth reptiles so who knows what they need or want. We still don't know which mineral they're after. And they may not be "reptiles" as we know them, just a live-form with a similar appearance.
And to the person who said the reptiles underneath must look like lizard versions of their outer faces, I can only say "Duh?" Really, when you put on a Halloween mask, is it the same as what you really look like? Just because it's form-fitting does not mean it conforms to the same shape inside and out.
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11-17-2009 @ 5:10PM
Mimsy said...
There has been a human vs. lizard dynamic in the Science Fiction genre for a long time - anyone remember Dennis Quaid/Louis Gossett, Jr. in "Enemy Mine"? The lizards always are made to hide behind some facade, while the human naturally distrusts them. Would "V" be a good story if the lizards were not disguised? Probably not. It's our human nature to not like slithery things, so the real story here is about trust and the encounter with a reptilian life form that not only knows ahead that we won't trust them, but uses our ability to be fooled as the exact tool for their "mission". I can't say it hasn't been "done" before, but it still makes an excellent story premise. I enjoyed the last "V" series, and I am enjoying this one, too. You just can't beat a good storyline.
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