V - Pilot, S01E01

The show began with ominous questions - where were you when JFK was murdered? on 9/11? where were you this morning? For those of you who read my Mad Men posting, you know that I consider the first two questions very important. Anyone and everyone alive at that time remembers exactly where they were when they heard the news. And so too would we all if one morning 29 alien space ships earthquaked their way above the capital cities of the world (3 of which were in the states).

I would hope, though, that we'd respond better to the earthquaking. You know, stand in doorways and such, rather than under falling statues of Jesus.

And so aliens, who bare a strong resemblance to mankind, arrive on Earth to be our friends, and our saviors. The Visitors, or Vs, immediately begin recruiting young men and women from Earth to learn about their culture and help spread the word around the community. How many Vs are bothering to learn of Earth's culture is not mentioned.

It is not even asked. Some very important questions, in fact, are not being asked. For instance - what exactly do they want from us, water and minerals? Which ones and in what quantity? And do we really want to allow them to have an outpost in every major city of the world, even if they refer to it as a health care provider?

Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) is a reporter who should be asking these questions, and wants to, but when threatened by Anna (Morena Baccarin), the head of the Visitors, he simply does what she wants - he refrains from asking questions that would paint the Vs in a negative light. She had requested that he conduct the interview when, at an early press conference, he had commented on the attractiveness of Anna and her people rather than asking some of the difficult questions the other reporters were pestering her with. And while that question might seem superficial, he is quite right to ask it.

We learn from the story lines of Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), an FBI agent, and Father Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch), a Catholic priest, that the Vs are not what they appear. Erica follows some leads on a terrorist organization with her partner Dale (the delightful Alan Tudyk*) which leads her to a meeting Father Jack was instructed to go to with photos by a man who died in his church...apparently killed by the Vs. There Georgie (David Richmond-Peck) informs them of the Vs true identity. They are a reptilian race, who has cloned human skin to disguise themselves. And they have been here for some time, infiltrating the governments, etc, and they are the cause of our most recent wars and economic crises.

Perhaps this would have seemed over the top, but Erica saw the photos Father Jack brought - men who's identity she could not determine, but whom she believed to be part of a terrorist cell. A V terrorist cell.

And then all hell broke loose when a group of animalistic V attacked the group, killing all but Erica, Father Jack, Georgie and Georgie's friend, Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut). In the skirmish, Erica was attacked by Dale. Turns out, he was one of them, and when she bashes him on the face, his reptilian skin is revealed. Ryan also turns out to be a V, but he is a deserter, siding with the humans.

And so, the battle begins. Can the few humans who know the truth fight against the increasing devotion to the V that so many others feel? Well, considering the numbers that watched the premiere, I am not the only person curious to find out.