I thought it was interesting how the writers outed the lizards up front. Makes me wonder where the emphasis will ultimately be. If it's just another showdown at the OK corral, then that will be a real let down.
Oh, and will there be lizard/human sex. THAT'S the important question! #v
I think there was a huge mistake made in not presenting this as a two-hour premiere. The characters were anemic and uninvolving, and there was so much exposition packed into a single 45m episode (though less than Dr Who manages) that they totally skipped over any sense of awe or tension.
In the original, most people were originally quite thrilled, and it was only gradually that the unease set in. And yet they told the story (leaving room for a sequel) in just four hours.
In this one, it's like "oh hai, alienz!" and then "three weeks later, most people love 'em but some people hate 'em." We don't even see the healing centers or any of that. Way to develop a world, guys.
I couldn't believe that the big dramatic moment when the V shuttle landed at the UN was shown ON TV as other characters talked over it. Good grief.
And then at the end, somebody says "oh, they are not friendly, they are evil, plus they are lizards, plus they've been here for years starting wars & stuff!" Give me a break.
Not to mention the characters are TOTALLY under-developed.
Plus, there was NO mouse-eating or face-ripping. WTF is that about?? #v
I am not ever watching another hollywood remake.i really do not care about remakes and have a large library of media to keep me busy when this show is on.
give me new scifi and i will give it a chance but no more remakes.
forme BSG is the last remake i will go near.i have to say enough is enough weith all these remakes. #v
@gorehound: I am not ever watching another hollywood remake again. I don't really care about remakes and have gigs of hard drive space taken up with content to keep me busy when this show is on.
give me new, original scifi and i will consider giving it a chance but please no more remakes.
BSG is the last remake i will go near. i must say enough is enough with all these remaekes . #v
I learned that any new leadership that comes along and promises to help the population will destroy Jesus and that Universal Health Care will lead to humanity's doom.
This show was the most heinous example of beat you over the head with a 2x4 allegory in scifi since Ronald Moore had the cylons calling the human resistance on New Caprica "insurgents".
I haven't groaned so loud or roll my eyes so much in a long time. Great job V.
Worse yet, as others have pointed out I simply didn't like the characters. There was no one to grab onto. Who cares?
The Visitors were too over the top sinister and nefarious acting. As smooth talking as Anna is she can't talk her way around difficult questions? Any idiot political intern knows how to do that.
And the show was cheesy. Not in a cool campy tongue in cheek 70s/80s way either. In a trying to be serious but laid it on way too thick way. #v
@Motoki: I have to meddle with the use of insurgents- it's an old and proper term anytime the shooters come from areas you ostensibly control and thus the opponents are not recognized legal belligerents- it just left the vocab when various powers-that-be decided it lacked the punch of "terrorist." I was actually pleased at that particular usage for just that reason. I have a couple old books on COIN (counter-insurgency) from the '40's, so it waxes and wanes as a term of art.
But now that I have policy-wonked out, yes, it's true. The V 2x4 was swung with great force. #v
Whatever socio-political commentary the series was hoping to make was lost in it being bad melodrama. The symbolism was different but as heavy handed as the original (a woman grabbing an apple...gee what Biblical allegory have I seen that in?). They sacrificed character introductions for shitty effects and lame riot scenes. And the worse offense? I hate all of the characters. At least the original had Marc Singer and Robert Englund to chew the scenery. #v
@PostMarque: I liked it too. While far from perfect, it was a huge improvement over the original, especially in production value and cheese reduction factor. I do wish we got some cameos though. I liked how they referenced Independence Day, because my first thought when I saw the first ID4 trailer with all the saucers was that somebody was remaking 'V'.
I liked the reveals of Wash and the Freddy Kruger analog - they were nicely done, though I was beginning to suspect Alan Tudyk just based on his guest star status, though I wondered if he was going to be the Tony the cameraman analog - faithful sidekick who's killed by the Vs. Tony was my and my sister's favorite character in the original series, and he went out almost unceremoniously.
I also like how we find out that the arrival is only the latest move in a long campaign and that the resistance is already underway. That and how Julia from lost gets roped into the whole thing sideways by hunting terrorists and trying to ignore the arrival. That was a nicely done.
I'd've like to have seen more people organically questioning with healthy skepticism rather than having sides lining up on snap decisions. Someone should have been smart enough to smell something funny in their behavior - if they can speak all of our languages and know about our diseases, it should have been obvious they've been watching for a while. And just showing up in the sky above cities is a subtle show of strength, if they knew so much about us, why didn't they discreetly contact governments rather than just reveal themselves? How does an alien race know so much about modern PR and media manipulation? I hope we see the characters debating this when they have to convince people.
But I doubt this level of subtlety is going to be present in the show based on what I've seen, which is too bad.
Even so, I found it worth watching. I hope the fickle hands of execs don't make it worse to watch. #v
@twophrasebark: The 4400 brought him back in time to live and learn about the promycin inhibitor and stop the Vs and zzzzzzzzzI just fell asleep trying to care much about this new miniseries. #v
@Dashiell Bennett: I liked the nickname "Vees" as a commentary on American society's tendency to abrev. every other word. I think it was esp. pertinent to youth culture and their obsession with netspeak, lol. #v
I'm not sure what I think. I believe the big ship designs are totally blah (they just don't have the imposing look of the original Vs or the ID4 saucers) and the aliens don't seem alien enough. The acting has been at best wooden or just non-committal...Scott Wolf is just channelling Michael J Fox from Spin City without the zingers. It didn't help that our local channel cut away to an election bulletin literally seconds after Tudyk's big reveal, so I don't know how it ended, but I'll give it another episode or two. #v
It's on the DVR and I'm going to give it every chance even though I didn't much care for the original. I have high hopes for this really good cast.
Still, comparing it's problems to Dollhouse, Bionic Woman and Life on Mars isn't fair to those shows. I can't remember a show that had 3 showrunners and 2 hiatuses (hiati) before the pilot ran that lasted 5 - 7 episodes, much less 5 - 7 seasons. If this were on FOX, it probably would have been replaced with a reality show during the first commercial break. #v
11/04/09
Is anyone from io9 going to do recaps? #v
11/04/09
Oh, and will there be lizard/human sex. THAT'S the important question! #v
11/04/09
I think there was a huge mistake made in not presenting this as a two-hour premiere. The characters were anemic and uninvolving, and there was so much exposition packed into a single 45m episode (though less than Dr Who manages) that they totally skipped over any sense of awe or tension.
In the original, most people were originally quite thrilled, and it was only gradually that the unease set in. And yet they told the story (leaving room for a sequel) in just four hours.
In this one, it's like "oh hai, alienz!" and then "three weeks later, most people love 'em but some people hate 'em." We don't even see the healing centers or any of that. Way to develop a world, guys.
I couldn't believe that the big dramatic moment when the V shuttle landed at the UN was shown ON TV as other characters talked over it. Good grief.
And then at the end, somebody says "oh, they are not friendly, they are evil, plus they are lizards, plus they've been here for years starting wars & stuff!" Give me a break.
Not to mention the characters are TOTALLY under-developed.
Plus, there was NO mouse-eating or face-ripping. WTF is that about?? #v
11/04/09
11/04/09
give me new scifi and i will give it a chance but no more remakes.
forme BSG is the last remake i will go near.i have to say enough is enough weith all these remakes. #v
11/04/09
11/04/09
give me new, original scifi and i will consider giving it a chance but please no more remakes.
BSG is the last remake i will go near. i must say enough is enough with all these remaekes . #v
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
This show was the most heinous example of beat you over the head with a 2x4 allegory in scifi since Ronald Moore had the cylons calling the human resistance on New Caprica "insurgents".
I haven't groaned so loud or roll my eyes so much in a long time. Great job V.
Worse yet, as others have pointed out I simply didn't like the characters. There was no one to grab onto. Who cares?
The Visitors were too over the top sinister and nefarious acting. As smooth talking as Anna is she can't talk her way around difficult questions? Any idiot political intern knows how to do that.
And the show was cheesy. Not in a cool campy tongue in cheek 70s/80s way either. In a trying to be serious but laid it on way too thick way. #v
11/04/09
But now that I have policy-wonked out, yes, it's true. The V 2x4 was swung with great force. #v
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/04/09
I liked the reveals of Wash and the Freddy Kruger analog - they were nicely done, though I was beginning to suspect Alan Tudyk just based on his guest star status, though I wondered if he was going to be the Tony the cameraman analog - faithful sidekick who's killed by the Vs. Tony was my and my sister's favorite character in the original series, and he went out almost unceremoniously.
I also like how we find out that the arrival is only the latest move in a long campaign and that the resistance is already underway. That and how Julia from lost gets roped into the whole thing sideways by hunting terrorists and trying to ignore the arrival. That was a nicely done.
I'd've like to have seen more people organically questioning with healthy skepticism rather than having sides lining up on snap decisions. Someone should have been smart enough to smell something funny in their behavior - if they can speak all of our languages and know about our diseases, it should have been obvious they've been watching for a while. And just showing up in the sky above cities is a subtle show of strength, if they knew so much about us, why didn't they discreetly contact governments rather than just reveal themselves? How does an alien race know so much about modern PR and media manipulation? I hope we see the characters debating this when they have to convince people.
But I doubt this level of subtlety is going to be present in the show based on what I've seen, which is too bad.
Even so, I found it worth watching. I hope the fickle hands of execs don't make it worse to watch. #v
11/04/09
11/03/09
Ha, ha. Nice essay, Charlie. #v
11/03/09
So when did Tom stop working for NTAC and become a priest? I'm confused. #v
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/03/09
Seriously, how obnoxious was that? #v
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
Still, comparing it's problems to Dollhouse, Bionic Woman and Life on Mars isn't fair to those shows. I can't remember a show that had 3 showrunners and 2 hiatuses (hiati) before the pilot ran that lasted 5 - 7 episodes, much less 5 - 7 seasons. If this were on FOX, it probably would have been replaced with a reality show during the first commercial break. #v