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- TV Series: V
- Episode: Pilot
- Starring: Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Morena Baccarin, Alan Tudyk, Scott Wolf, Josh Blacker, Logan Huffman, Laura Vandervoort
- Written By: Scott Peters, Kenneth Johnson
- Directed By: Yves Simoneau
- Network: ABC
- Series:
V TV Premiere Review
ABC launches new rebooted V. By
Stephen Lackey
November 05, 2009
Morena Baccarin says she comes in peace in ABC's new series V(2009).
© ABC/Bob Trate
Pilot episodes of any series these days are generally shaky, probably because when a network finally decides to do something ,they tend to rush it. That wasn’t the case with Dollhouse. That show was rebooted before it ever aired. V, on the other hand, has been in “development hell” for years and when it finally got the green light, everything seemed to happen really quickly. V is one of those “classic” franchises that are ripe to make a comeback. It’s highly beloved but far from perfect in its original form, similar to another recent series: Battlestar Galactica. The original miniseries(s) were allegories for World War II. In some parts of the original story, the allegory is cleverly handled and in other parts it was handled with that unfortunate 80’s nighttime soap opera way that’s laughable these days. This new V is most definitely a modern interpretation of the “visitors” story with a predictable but smart new allegory focused on terrorism. The visitors disguise themselves as our friends in order to move close to us to accomplish their endgame. There are even visitor terrorist “cells” in the traditional sense in this pilot. Much like the original series some of the ideas are handled well and some are handled fairly ham fisted.
Right away, you’ll start to wonder who “isn’t” in this new series. The cast is just stellar for a genre fan from Elizabeth Mitchell (LOST) to Morena Baccarin (Firefly) and Morris Chestnut (24) to name just a few. Mitchell plays an FBI agent investigating terrorist activity in New York City who also has a rebellious son who is dealing with a split up home and a mother that’s always at work. The character of her son is one that is taken right from the original series. His home life is slightly different but his story arc appears to be on a similar trajectory to a character from both of the first two miniseries. Mitchell is an interesting pick for an FBI agent. She seemed perfectly cast as a doctor in LOST because there’s something calming about her voice and demeanor. She brings that same personality to this new character making her a little unpredictable and that’s a good thing. Joel Gretsch (The 4400) is this generation’s Mark Singer so it’s hilarious and brilliant that he is also in this new series. His character appears to be set up substantially different than Singer’s version but again the trajectory of Gretch’s character mirrors that of Singer’s Donovan from the original. The stand out in this episode is easily Morena Baccarin as Anna the supposed leader of the visitors. She appears to be truly reveling in the evilness of her character. The little smirk that she constantly wears is scary and funny at the same time. Every scene she’s in is extremely entertaining. The actors are all great though. The question is will their characters get the development they need to matter?
The biggest problem with this pilot is that it feels crammed full and rushed. The miniseries did a great job of slowly setting up all of the characters and building the Visitors from benevolent to purely evil. The creators of this new series appear to want to rush past all of that set up and focus on the resistance era of the story. There are some real issues with the story in a few places but the writers have given themselves paths to repairing those issues by placing the Visitors on the planet for years prior to the appearance of the ships in this pilot. Terrorist Visitor cells have been setting the planet up over many years in preparation for this step in their master plan. So, it makes sense that the small band of resistance fighters doesn’t immediately go to the police because chances are that the police have been infiltrated. This element is demonstrated at least once in this episode. There’s just so much to be done to get the story to the place the writers want it to be for episode two that many of the characters either get no development or the development they do get comes of like templates of characters from previous similar stories. It’s imperative that the characters get some depth and are made whole soon so that this epic story has impact. In the end, building the characters is even more important than filling the plot holes if the creators hope to make this series last. Also, this is a global story so it should feel epic. This is just the pilot so there’s plenty of time to make changes.
The creators of the show did a really solid job of casting their show and the design of the ships and other special fx are also fun. There’s tons of potential for this new version of V and the bones are in place for the show to meet that potential. Even with its flaws, this pilot was entertaining and exciting.
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I liked the FBI angle and terrorist cells.
I did feel it was rushed, should have been two hours. It obvious that they are trying to get to the point accross in case it does not last.
ABC...enough said.
Again I liked it and will continue to watch.