V 2009 - WTF?

[Lord Pounder]

I know there was a thread on V 2009 already but it was so long ago I figured it would be bad form to resurrect it.

I was always a big fan of the 80's original and was delighted to hear the series was being remade. So the first four episodes come out and then they take a break, it's annoying but it happens. Now after really sucking me it in I hear that on a cliff hanger with a fucking invasion force of motherships in orbit spraying red shit into the sky and I heard that there may not be any more made until next year. FFS network assholes this is why shows die, give the people a chance to like something before fucking around with it.

[Adrian McNair]

I know there was a thread on V 2009 already but it was so long ago I figured it would be bad form to resurrect it.

I was always a big fan of the 80's original and was delighted to hear the series was being remade. So the first four episodes come out and then they take a break, it's annoying but it happens. Now after really sucking me it in I hear that on a cliff hanger with a fucking invasion force of motherships in orbit spraying red shit into the sky and I heard that there may not be any more made until next year. FFS network assholes this is why shows die, give the people a chance to like something before fucking around with it.

I'm not entirely sure why there was such a lengthy hiatus between the fourth and fifth episodes, but that episode with the cliffhanger was in fact the season finale. There were only 12 episodes for the first season. The second will apparently have 13. So it's not a case of network meddling in this context.

On another note, I'd have to say that what I've seen of the first season of the V revamp was quite patchy (Eleven episodes have aired in Australia so far). Sure, there were engaging moments here and there but the plot holes, annoying characters (Tyler and Chad in particular) and rather slow pace when it comes to advancing the plot prevent it from reaching a higher level of quality.

• For one thing why don't any of the human Fifth Column (It's strange that the rebellious Visitors would use a term coined during the Spanish Civil War to describe their resistance movement) members pump their resident lizard buddy Ryan for information about the Visitors and their motives? That's a potentially rich vein of intel that they aren't exploiting. And even if he doesn't have much in the way of useful information, they should at least show the others asking such questions. Instead he doles out the occasional piece of information when the plot demands it, never by default.

• Why do the Visitors speak in English amongst themselves? Why do they refer to themselves as Vs as opposed to whatever name they have for themselves? Where are these trackers that were mentioned in episode 10? Why hasn't Anna deployed them en-masse if she wants to eradicate the Fifth Column? What is so devastating about the Visitor soldiers, apart from their resilience and enhanced senses? The show makes them out to be a devastating weapon, but that clearly wasn't the case.

• Why aren't there more skeptics on the show? Do they really expect us to believe that humans would near-unanimously accept everything the Visitors spout? That UN Secretary General in the eighth episode was a nice addition to the series. It's too bad we probably won't we'll never see him again. Most importantly, why doesn't anyone cast a shadow aboard the motherships? Oh wait, that's just some dodgy green-screen work.

• Finally, why does the show expect us to believe that the war can even be won? As it stands this battle is hopelessly lopsided. Four against an entire invasion force isn't remotely close to even. Why hasn't the Fifth Column brought in more members? Why hasn't the resistance tried to remove a Visitor's "human" skin and broadcast the footage (complete with before and after pictures)? Yes, I know Ryan got pissed off about it when Georgie brought it up earlier in the season, but I'm sure that he could be persuaded eventually. I doubt he'd object if they skinned the soldier that tried to kill Valerie in episode nine. At the very least such an action would cast some much-needed doubt on Anna and company.

Hopefully, they'll resolve these issues in the second season. I'm not particularly optimistic at this point, though.

[Korgeta]

Big fan of the orignal, was actually the first Sci-Fi I actually watched, unfortunely I haven't got much chance to watch the new season of this, it looks intresting, and I like the idea they have with Anna, more of a PR represenstive, useing the power of the media (espacilly useing the hull of the ship into a means of televised communication with everyone) In comparison to the militrized cold Diana. Saying that Diana was mainpultive in her own way. So hopefully I can get some DVD's of the currant series and hope they make another.

Though I hear there is some character on the show called Tyler who is reported to be more unbearble then wesely crusher to quote one review. Is that even humanly possible?

[Korto]

Only seen bits of it, enough to make me wonder "Why is Diana so stupid?"

Case in point, at one point she believes someone in her medical team is a traitor, so she threatens that unless the traitor step forward, she will torture to death a randomly selected team-member.
Ohhh...kayyyy... and if there was only one traitor, with a team of at least eight (from memory), his motivation to step forward would be what, exactly? I'd sooner take the good odds of not being picked, you pointlessly murder some loyal crewmember and spread disloyalty further, as loyalty certainly isn't rewarded.
But someone steps forward (the only good reason for that is to protect someone more important), and so she orders him tortured to death. What?! You mean "Interrogated to within an inch of his life and only allowed to die when we've squeezed every last drop of intel out of him" don't you? No. Just kill him. Apparently as a "Test of the loyalty" of the team leader, by making him carry out the sentence. Alone, unobserved, and not even recorded. If memory serves (and it might not), I think the TL painlessly killed the guy with anathestic first, before flaying his skin.

I just pray they're not "After our water" this time.

[Lord Pounder]

I figure that the human 5th column dudes did grill Ryan, but he couldn't answer due to lack of information. Anna doesn't seem the type to let her operatives know more than they need to know, maybe even less than that. Ryan was sent to earth with orders to kill John May nothing else.

The storyline seems a lot more sophisticated than the original so I feel it's a fair bet that the new updated bad guys have a more sophisticated motive than a resource rab. IIRC in the original the lizard's spoke of other enemies that their leader was at war with. My guess is that in this one there are also enemies and the Visitors (I refuse to call them V's) are going to use human's as cannon fodder and a buffer zone.

[Darksider]

Can someone please explain to me why the entire first season did it's best to show Anna as a callous bitch who doesn't show any emotion whatsoever, and that the Visitor's species are all emotionless sociopaths when they're exposed to her "bliss" and then completely disregard all that buildup for the finale?

This woman was so callous she had her own daughter beaten as a PR stunt, and then the destruction of the eggs of a bunch of soldier drones she plans to use as cannon fodder anyways sends her into an emotional rage that causes her to disregard the Visitors' carefully planned timetable and spread the red gas shit? how does that make sense?

[Koolaidkirby]

Can someone please explain to me why the entire first season did it's best to show Anna as a callous bitch who doesn't show any emotion whatsoever, and that the Visitor's species are all emotionless sociopaths when they're exposed to her "bliss" and then completely disregard all that buildup for the finale?

This woman was so callous she had her own daughter beaten as a PR stunt, and then the destruction of the eggs of a bunch of soldier drones she plans to use as cannon fodder anyways sends her into an emotional rage that causes her to disregard the Visitors' carefully planned timetable and spread the red gas shit? how does that make sense?

agreed, that was completely out of nowhere with no development whatsoever, the only reference at all to ANY motherlyness was earlier in the season where she made an off-hand comment about a mother protecting its young is a universal instinct.

[charlemagne]

This show is so badly written I felt insulted by it. And I not only mean the storylines for each episode are bad (they are), the whole setting is plain awful.

I've never seen the original V show, but I sure hope it's better than this big steaming pile of crap.

This show has big-ass alien ships with oh-so-advanced technology but still those aliens don't think of putting any surveillance at all anywhere, especially not their most sensitive areas (like the soldier breeding room). They actually make sure that those most sensitive areas are the most deserted, too. It has an FBI agent stroll around all day doing terrorist stuff, yet no one catches on to her. Said FBI agent also wears her gun tucked in the back of her fucking trousers on occasion, like some street gang member. It pulled the good old "deleted picture file vanishes from the monitor while being displayed" stunt. It has one character react to a companion's death with "oh well it's a war people die" in one episode and look all watery-eyed and sad the very next episode. It has the aliens use a fast and lethal drone to wipe out a full room of resistance fighters and then completely forget about those useful little things. It centers around the awful old "human emotion is so special" brainbug and has a completely alien species catch emotions from humans.

I honestly have no idea why I kept on watching, I think it was because I was genuinely curious how much worse it really could get with each new episode.

[neoolong]

This show has big-ass alien ships with oh-so-advanced technology but still those aliens don't think of putting any surveillance at all anywhere, especially not their most sensitive areas (like the soldier breeding room). They actually make sure that those most sensitive areas are the most deserted, too.

Hilariously, they have wireless cameras in the form of jacket patches. It should be child's play for them to just mount the things in sensitive areas.

[Vympel]

I've seen all of Season 1 now.

I found the lack of surveillance on their own ships excusable when the 5th Column wasn't considered much of a threat/ didn't even know they were around, but really, by the time they were hacking their own Public Announcements with "John May Lives" and as things escalated from there, the complete lack of surveillance was a nagging annoyance to the believability of the plot.

I agree also that the pacing of this first season was really slow - however I found the last three episodes to be good television, and much more fast-paced and exciting than those that came before it.

As for Anna, this wasn't out of nowhere or out of character at all - its been established that the longer the Vs stay in 'human' mode, the more likely they are to develop emotions - Anna has been a human for some time, why shouldn't she express rage/ sorrow at the deaths of thousands of her children when this has been established for several episodes? This isn't bad writing, its just happened to her too, just like it happened to her daughter, Joshua, Ryan, etc.

I will say I enjoy Flash Forward (which I haven't finished watching) more than this until the last three episodes, so I'm sad that Flash Forward got cancelled whilst V got a second season.

[charlemagne]

I will say I enjoy Flash Forward (which I haven't finished watching) more than this until the last three episodes, so I'm sad that Flash Forward got cancelled whilst V got a second season.

I totally agree. In direct comparison, while FF also has it's pretty stupid moments, it's no way as terrible as V.

Oh, and about the emotions thing: as far as I remember, they only talk about "catching" human emotions from humans. It's not like they're Vulcans who just repress their emotions and being around emotional humans brings them out in them or something like that. That's why I thought it's so stupid. They don't plant their lizard minds in human bodies with human brains, they just slap on human skin, so... ah well. I just thought it's dumb.

[Sabastian Tombs]

I have some problems with Father Jack. He has been injected with that RU-6 (?) formula that allows the Vs to track individual humans. Since then, he has fought a V soldier and helped destroy a V shuttle. But the Vs haven't thought to check the locations of the people that they are tracking even to look for potential witnesses?

Also, he warned Chad Decker of the upcoming attack on a V shuttle because he was afraid Decker might be on it. A shuttle that was landing in an isolated area to off-load Tracker Vs that the Vs don't want humans to know about. Am I the only one who sees the failure of basic logic in this thought process?

And in the final episode, he gave Decker a message to deliver to the Medical section of the Mother ship. This blew the cover of Joshua, their only contact with the Vs. I didn't understand his reasoning then, I don't understand it now. Can someone else clue me in?

[Darksider]

Father Jack is a retard?

[charlemagne]

Also, he warned Chad Decker of the upcoming attack on a V shuttle because he was afraid Decker might be on it. A shuttle that was landing in an isolated area to off-load Tracker Vs that the Vs don't want humans to know about. Am I the only one who sees the failure of basic logic in this thought process?

This one is not that retarded. He just wasn't that sure about the intel they got, how reliable it was. He was afraid that their intel might be wrong and that there might be humans on board that shuttle after all.

[Darth Lucifer]

I've never seen the original V show, but I sure hope it's better than this big steaming pile of crap.

Trust me it is. Sure it's got 80's cheese all over it, but the storyline is good and the parallels to Nazi Germany (scientists = jews, Visitor Youth = Hitler Youth, Visitor symbol resembles swastika, etc.) are what made it so cool. The characters I think are developed much better and at certain points in the show I cried, it was that emotionally powerful. I had the pleasure of watching it when it originally aired and as a fan of the original V, the new version seriously disappoints.