reViewing V

I think how you view ABC's new (remade? re-imagined?) series V probably depends on what expectations you came in with.

If you were expecting red & black jumpsuits, big hair, and people pretending to swallow rats, you were in for a disapointment. This isn't your father's V. Well, not your childhood's, anyway. ABC is making a stab at a more sophisticated take on the Visitors, at times succeeding, at times not. The converse of the "expectations" caveat is that, if you're hoping this will blow you away the way the BSG miniseries or Torchwood: Children of Earth did, you'll probably be left wanting. It's pretty clear they were hoping to have that kind of effect, but IMO didn't quite make the grade.

Still, when you consider how many wobbly pilots and first season shows have (dis)graced the airwaves, it's hard to get ultra-critical.

There is no attempt to resurrect any of the old 80's V characters explicitly, although the new series did borrow some ideas. We've got a "Willie"-equivalent character who's a lot more sophisticated (and better looking) than Robert Englund's. The "Donovan/Julie" pairing is apparently going to be a priest/FBI agent, and the annoying V-Hitler-youth kid is...well, an annoying kid. And of course we have Anna in the "Diana" position. I still think Morena Baccarin was a really good casting choice, as she has an otherworldly ability to maintain this creepy placid composure. We haven't seen her get angry yet, and I can't wait for that to happen.

As for plot, well - I saw a lot of it coming. I mean, it was really obvious that the Visitors had been to Earth in years prior, so the "revelation" was anything but. Also, did anyone not guess that Wash was the mole in the FBI operations? I bet Alan Tudyk is getting tired of getting impaled by sharp objects.

So I'm not sure what's going to happen now. They revealed the "terrorist" cell mystery a bit too soon, IMO - that was one of the more interesting subplots, and could easily have stretched out over a few stories. I suppose the next step is revealing exactly what the Visitors' nefarious plan is.

Also - the series does a lot of ephasizing that the human race is in a really crap sort of way, and are thus vulnerable to the Visitors' influence. Aside from the homeless at the church, I wasn't seeing any evidence of that. Everyone seems to be wearing nice suits, talking on cell phones, living in clean houses...

So, in summary: I was hoping V would've had a smidge more "Pow" to it, but am nore than willing to give it a chance. But then, I'm also less attached to canon than some of my contemporaries, since I was approximately 7 at the time of the original series, wasn't allowed to watch anything other than PBS at the time. It wasn't until adulthood that I watched the full series + movies.

I probably need to get an appropriate icon for my V posts...

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: okay