V - Red Sky, S01E12 - Season Finale

I am pleased as punch that V has been renewed. While this episode was a most excellent cliffhanger, leaving me excited for its return and full of questions, I would have been most angry if that had been the end of it. But there will be more! YAY.

The episode started with a rather hasty capturing of Val (Lourdes Benedicto), which left her doctor still alive. I guess someone had to contact Ryan (Morris Chestnut). He, brave and stupid man that he is, immediately went to the ship, crying "Anna has my baby. Let me on the ship!" It was fantastic. Of course, Val had the baby, then Anna (Morena Baccarin) killed her, and used Ryan's pain and paternal instincts to win him back to her side. We'll see how that cross over affects the 5th Column next season.

While Ryan took that course, the rest of our heroes planned to destroy all of Anna's soldier eggs when Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Tyler (Logan Huffman) joined Anna and Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) in the ship for dinner. Lisa, learning of the plan from Joshua (Mark Hildreth), wasn't sure she could betray her mother, but when the time came, she chose the humans. The moment where Joshua acknowledged her as his queen before going off to sacrifice himself was particularly touching.

Oh, yes, Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) decided to trust Chad (Scott Wolf) again. It didn't work out well the last time, and this time was even worse. He got Joshua captured and betrayed all of the 5th Column on the ship (except Lisa of course). Sure, Joshua has now managed to convince him that the V are NOT of peace, but it was a costly lesson. Frankly, I wish someone had just shot him in the head as an anti-V move a long time ago. We'll have to see if he improves at all next season.

So Erica managed to destroy the eggs, but then had to shoot Joshua to push her beyond suspicion. Obviously she didn't want to kill him but it was a necessary action. I was quite crushed at the idea of him not returning next season, but there is no need to fear as Marcus (Christopher Shyer) resurrected him.

What is the deal with Marcus? On the one hand, he's manipulating Hobbs (Charles Mesure) into doing what he wants - which is infiltrating the 5th Column apparently, and on the other hand he's bringing back Joshua and trying to stop Anna from enacting part of her evil plan (which made the skies red at the end of the episode). Now, it's possible that he's 5th Column. It is also possible that he simply didn't want Anna to move too quickly, and that he brought Joshua back so that he could question him. It's just that his "Welcome back, Joshua," didn't sound ominous. It sounded friendly. But he's a V...so he may just not have the proper handle on emotions.

And speaking of not having a handle on emotions, Morena Baccarin did a wonderful job feeling such powerful grief over the loss of her soldiers. Her pain, her screams, were beautifully done, and her vengeful reaction is going to make next season a lot of fun.

Clearly, this show has earned it's right to be renewed, and it will prove that next season, too.

V - Fruition, S01E11

Let's start by celebrating the fact that this exciting, interesting, and improving series about an alien invasion has been renewed for a second season! Hooray! I am looking forward to seeing how well humans are equipped to fight off an alien race bent on our destruction. And I can't wait for the season finale tonight to wrap up this season, likely with a lot of flare.

The series has greatly improved since the first 4 episodes aired in November. Then, Tyler (Logan Huffman) and Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) appeared as a Romeo and Juliet high school couple in the midst of serious adult confrontations, but over the more recent episodes, their romance has become pivotal.

Tyler has been the source of Lisa's developing emotions, so powerful that she is now immune to her mother's bliss, and committed to the cause of the 5th column. She may still be the Lizard Princess, but the Princess has lost all faith and loyalty to the Queen.

I loved the it is completely beyond Anna (Morena Baccarin) that she alienated her daughter. Thinking that Lisa was failing her, she punished the girl by making her appear to be the object of anti-V sentiment. The ploy was effective to rally the support of hundreds of sheep...I mean, humans...but not to retain the affections of Lisa. As a V, Anna has no understanding of the affection she lost, nor of the hurt Lisa feels which is now directed in anger at her mother.

Emotions may be our weakness, but the Vs lack of emotions is theirs.

As we come to the conclusion, we are again left in a panic over what is going to happen next. The V ships have entered our solar system, Anna's soldiers are about to hatch, Hobbs (Charles Mesure) may be betraying the 5th column to the V, and the only man who has any knowledge of a weapon against them is in their power.

How is a dinner for Tyler, Anna, Lisa, and Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) going to affect the outcome?

V - Hearts and Minds, S01E10

The Vs always seem a step ahead of the 5th Column. That may be because the 5th Column is human, is feeling emotions, and is driven in a non-mindless way to achieve its goals. Anna (Morena Baccarin) has no such scruples and even has some humans on her side, as well as many agents who appear human.

Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) has some issues about death. He put the entire 5th Column in danger when he warned Chad (Scott Wolf) about the danger to the V only shuttles. Not only was it foolish as how can he be sure that Chad, who spends so much time with the V, isn't seduced by Anna's power and personality, but also because there is no way that Anna would have put any human on a ship with V planning to come down to Earth to annihilate some humans.

The question of whose side Chad is really on gets tricky when this betrayal is considered. Even if feeding Anna information to make him seem like a compliant source is necessary, this particular move just put the 5th Column at the top of the FBI's most wanted list. And, along with Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell), Malik (Rekha Sharma) is now leading a government agency in the work of her queen - BTW, I hope you all saw it coming that she was the other V in the agency.

We are promised an interesting competition as the two leaders of that team have opposing intentions - Erica wants to save the world and the 5th Column, Malik wants whatever Anna wants.

Finally, although Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) supposedly passed the emotions test, her mother is becoming suspicious, and, when Lisa failed to achieve her target (well, actually, when Lisa let her target go), Anna had no qualms about beating her own daughter to a pulp to achieve a desired affect. Too bad Anna doesn't understand emotions well enough to realize that she may have lost her daughter's loyalty by that move.

I guess we will have to wait to see how everything develops!

V - Heretic's Fork, S01E09

Despite last week's fantastic episode, the audiences did not come out in force for this episode. Not that I can blame them, as the quality and interest level dipped again. It's a shame that in all likelihood this show will get cancelled, but, since they keep missing the mark, it's hardly surprising.

Val (Lourdes Benedicto) went with Ryan (Morris Chestnut), but that did not mean she trusted him. She just couldn't seem to get her head wrapped around the danger. Then, Anna (Morena Baccarin) sent a Soldier after them, and Val figured out pretty quickly that she was in real danger. But, despite all that, she remained angry at Ryan and so his entire reason for wanting emotions and joining team "Let's not destroy all the humans" walked away from him without any warm words. Not that this is going to make Ryan revert to his original V ways, which would actually add something to the show.

I was also not at all impressed that, although Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) didn't want their prisoner to come to any harm, he answered the incoming call from Joshua (Mark Hildreth) in front of the man and named his ally on the V ship. What a brilliant plan! They couldn't have let him go at that point even if he had proved not to be a particularly bad guy. Well, I suppose he had to die from the moment he saw their faces, but really...anyone remember why it's a bad idea to monologue? Sometimes your prisoner escapes. They were just lucky that didn't happen this time.

And I am in no mood to address the Lisa (Laura Vandervoort)/Tyler (Logan Huffman) story.

V - We Can't Win, S01E08

Alright, now this episode of V I liked a lot! There was action, there was death, there was suspense, and there was stuff you might find in a science fiction program. If V keeps making episodes like this, the ratings might go back up and the show might have an actual shot at getting renewed.

We finally got to see Anna (Morena Baccarin) playing in the political sphere of Earth, and, while she made a very good showing, someone asked the question "If they are only visitors, why do they need political clout?" A very good and interesting point. Finally we are seeing that the governments are not completely oblivious, although perhaps they have let things go to far anyway.

We also got to see Blue Energy, which is apparently a sustainable source of clean energy, but one over which the V have complete power. They can give it to us, and when it suits them best, they can take it away.

But the highlight of the episode was when Joshua (Mark Hildreth) got Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) to take the empathy test and she failed. She is beginning to feel things for Tyler, things that a good V should not be feeling, but she is not 5th column yet. So Joshua had a choice to make, risk everything by asking her to join him or lose her potential support by allowing her to die. Both had risks and losses, but both had rewards as well. But Joshua was even smarter than that. He found a third option; he did not tell Anna, but, instead of hoping Lisa was ready now, he told her he saved her so that she would later owe him a favour. Lisa has time to let her feelings develop, time to become the enemy of her mother, and I can't wait to see the outcome.

Has V been meeting your expectations of late, too?

V - John May, S01E07

I have not yet given up on V yet, but I am still waiting to be wowed. The potential is there, the characters are there, the creepy aliens are there...but somehow it still hasn't come together to make a great show. Then again, it took Stargate Universe 10 episodes before it started to work, so I'm not giving up.

What I liked about the episode:

- We learnt that John May (portrayed by BSG hottie Michael Trucco - so excited about his upcoming stint on Castle) has been dead these last 10 years. The slogan John May Lives is about the ideas he spread.

- Better than learning that John May was dead was learning that Ryan (Morris Chestnut) killed him. Not before he had been too affected by his words and by emotions. Reminded me a lot of Equilibrium and Sean Bean and Christian Bale.

- Georgie (David Richmond-Peck) survived Hell, but did not betray his allies. He then allowed his life to be taken so that they would not risk themselves to save him.

What I did not like:

- Anna's pregnancy confuses me. At first I thought she must have laid eggs. But then, it turns out that is not what happened, and that she was pregnant. And suddenly she is laying a whole bunch of eggs in a whirlpool? I mean, I guess that's not far off from how reptiles lay eggs, but either it was trying to be too scientifically exact, or it fell short of that mark, because I am sitting her not understanding proper V reproduction.

- Chad (Scott Wolf) and his revelation of doubts to Anna. He wants a bigger story that they are already giving him, or he's going to reveal what he has been learning about possible nefarious activities. Well, suddenly he's a bad guy, and a stupid one at that.

- Tyler's big secret was such a let down, and his parents are idiots. Especially his father. The reason they divorced is because husband suspected wife of cheating after doctor tests revealed that Tyler was not husband's son. If husband still loves Tyler as a son, he should not be talking about him as if he were not his son. Stupid Stupid Stupid.

So, will next week's episode lean towards what I like or towards what I think is stupid? We will have to wait and see.

V - Pound of Flesh, S01E06

V continues to show that it has tremendous potential to be riveting, while failing to achieve greatness. There are moments where I am pleased and excited, often followed by either disappointment or annoyance. And with crashing ratings, it had better prove itself quickly.

One of my favourite characters of the series is Joshua (Mark Hildreth). This may be partially because I have always like the actors, since he played Finger on the Odyssey back in the early 90s, but mostly, I love the position Joshua is in. He is a close associate of Anna's (Morena Baccarin). She trusts him as one of her closest advisers, have has no suspicion that he could possibly be one of those that might betray her.

In this episode, this proved both an incredible asset and a huge tragedy. Joshua was able to help Ryan (Morris Chestnut) and implant the rally call for the 5th Column, but he was also forced to betray friends and potential allies, to reveal their potential to feel, and to allow them to die by a test he administered. Certainly, he has some control, but not nearly enough.

The only other point I'd like to address is how grateful I am that the writer's made Georgie (David Richmond-Peck)'s sacrifice valid. When we first saw that he was going to the V ship to help Ryan, I could not understand his choice. I could not see how he could be of help if Ryan was in trouble, or what good it would do. But not only did he allow Ryan to escape the ship, and get back to his pregnant girlfriend (who is carrying a very creepy alien baby), he also allowed the rally call to be blamed on outsiders, keeping Joshua's cover.

I'm not sure what's going to happen to Georgie, or what I want to have happen to Georgie - perhaps a death worthy of Science Fiction?? I wouldn't miss him. I would miss Joshua, however.

What about you?

V - Welcome to the War, S01E05

I really want V to succeed. The cast is quite good, and the storyline is mysterious enough to make me want to find out what is going to happen and creepy enough to suit my SciFi-loving self. Unfortunately, despite all the potential, it continues to miss the mark, and I can't help but fear for its success.

Elizabeth Mitchell's portrayal of Erica Evans may be the cornerstone of my interest. I understand Erica's motivations - her sense of betrayal because her partner was a V double agent, her desire to protect her son above all else, her common sense in not being taken in by the Vs so easily. Her decision in this episode to make a deal with a known terrorist was one that she made with confidence, knowing fully the necessity of the move, but her own self-doubt when she had concluded the deal kept her grounded in reality. Yes, she is a tough FBI agent who believes in protecting her country first, but she is also a woman with values she has to compromise to accomplish her first goal.

I can't say what drama will be caused by the fact that Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) was injected by the R6 serum. Though I doubt he will turn into the reptilian Vs, it certainly appears that some sort of genetic change will occur and make him their slave, or possibly even a supersoldier.

But that is the beginning to V's problems. Why did we see the thousands of ships supposedly on their way to Earth when they may not arrive in time to accomplish anything. The Vs are possibly converting humans to fight for them, and Anna (Morena Baccarin) definitely produced some soldier offspring at the end of the episode. Does Anna not think that they can manage to bide their time till the rest of the ships arrived? If so, why did she announce their presence before the other ships were in range? And if she and those ships that are already at Earth are defeated, other than what that would mean for her, won't Earth still be screwed?

Those questions annoy me, but what really irks me is that V is not going far enough. Although Val (Lourdes Benedicto) wanted to eat a dead mouse because her half-human/half-V child was giving her strange cravings, she did not. Please let her eat live rodents soon. And the carnage we should have gotten when Anna mated also fell short. Of course he was going to kill her mate after the eggs were fertilized. Frankly, I wanted her to open her mouth so wide she bit off his head while in the middle, like a praying mantis. Instead, she said "And now I must provide sustenance for my children," as if we would not have been able to figure that out, and then her mouth opened to reveal bad CGI teeth, which darted at the camera. Why haven't they figured out that that is actually more cheesy than her biting a chunk out of his neck?

I really hope that over the coming weeks, the episodes develop the moments that I have been loving. Of they do, the audiences will respond. Or are you loving it just the way it is?

V - It's Only the Beggining, S01E04

As a regular episode of a regular season, V did a solid job, but as the last episode before a multiple month hiatus waiting to see what people thought, I think it may have missed the mark.

Don't get me wrong, I will be SO pissed if ABC doesn't bring V back in March as it is currently supposed to do. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure why it decided on the break in the first place, but we don't need to go there.

The episode had solid plot markers throughout, leaving me with questions and fears that I want the show to answer. But it also left me with a raised eyebrow and a "really?" on my lips.

When it resumes in the fall, we will hopefully find out whether Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) survived a stabbing and what exactly Ryan (Morris Chestnut) and Valerie (Lourdes Benedicto)'s baby will look like. We'll learn what Anna (Morena Baccarin) has planned for Tyler Logan Huffman), as well as for the rest of the planet. We may even learn if Anna is a fan of gerbil. I look forward to that. But the set up was a little cheesy - basically what happens when you build the hype through commercials, and then have to leave a bunch of cliffhangers to build more suspense when you are only 4 episodes in.

I wanted to see more of the conspiracy - okay, so the V are clever and wanted to put something in our flu shot, but what? Tell me more? And Joshua (Mark Hildreth) had to skin his best friend to protect himself - did we get to see any of that? The pain and agony of both of them was merely hinted at and I wanted more. And I wanted to see how much Anna's Bliss brought Joshua back from the brink of all that pain, and whether any part of him wanted to resist it, or whether Anna would know if he did.

Instead of getting more answers and development, something I crave at this early stage in the game, we got more questions...some of which did not feel necessary. Is Jack a soldier or a priest? Couldn't he be both? Does that really matter right now?

Regardless, I want to watch more - even though the prospect of hundreds more V ships makes me wonder more why they need such numbers that feel any more terror for the fate of the human race - do you?

V - A Bright New Day, S01E03

V continues to mount tensions, with surprising discoveries and delightful questions confusing audiences. Is it even possible that the Vs, with Anna (Morena Baccarin) at their head, could truly be of peace, always?

To that, I have no answer. It would be a really great trick if they were. Or maybe it is simply that they honestly believe that. Sure, Anna is going around carefully manipulating public opinion to win the affections of the humans of the world, but regardless of her true intent, good or ill, she would want to do this so that interaction can continue. Just because she knows just how to get what she wants does not mean that she wants to annihilate all humans.

We learned from Ryan (Morris Chestnut)'s former ally that the Vs are hooked up to something directly from Anna which gives them bliss. Maybe Anna wishes to use the same thing on humans to take away all their tension and anger - it may well be to then use them as slaves, but drugging them into unaware happiness is not such a terrible plan for that.

I also wonder what they know about Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell). Though Dale (Alan Tudyk) did remember that she was his partner and that she had seen his face, Joshua (Mark Hildreth*) prevented his superiors from finding this out. Joshua, like Ryan, is a member of the 5th column, the V resistance. So Joshua knows Erica's predisposition towards the V, but does Anna?

Her daughter, Lisa (Laura Vandervoort), is romancing Tyler (Logan Huffman) for some nefarious part of Anna's plan. But was that look at the end of the episode an indication that Lisa has feelings for Tyler that might thwart those plans?

Who can we trust? Who is a V, and what does it mean to be a V? Clearly some of them have a great hate for humanity, while others like us, and still others, Anna in particular, have some sort of plan or use for us. Where is all this going to take our heroes, and when will we discover that their intentions are no more pure than anyone elses?

What are your thoughts?

V - There is no Normal Anymore, S01E02

V has held up to my expectations a second week in a row.

I simply love watching Morena Baccarin as Anna, the leader of the Vs. She is simply so beautiful and yet alien. Normally I would describe her as exotic rather than alien, but the colour of her skin reflecting through the lights of the spaceships is just a shade off from anything human. It's fantastic. Plus, her annoyance with her second in command for his utter lack of understanding of humans makes her so powerful. She knows us, she knows us very well. It would not be difficult for her to bring us to our knees.

And that's the real question, how long before they bring us to our knees? How long will the manipulation last, what is their true goal? We won't be able to get rid of them with an awesome solution like in War of the Worlds, since they've been there too long, and much as I love Independence Day, we can't give them a computer virus...but maybe some sort of anti-reptile spray?

I have to wonder how much trouble Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) is in. Dale (Alan Tudyk) may have died last episode, but he's not out of the picture yet. Apparently the Vs have some sort of healing device. And with Erica having just managed to prove that he is a traitor...well, if he shows up again at work, she might have some explaining to do. Plus I don't at all trust Agent Malik (Rekha Sharma*) from the are-the-Vs-terrorists? task force. That may be because I absolutely hated her from day 1 on BSG, but needless to say, I don't like her much here either.

I also love how Tyler (Logan Huffman) got kicked off of the Vs peach ambassador's because he punched a guy. Silly Vs, don't you know what humans are like? We love a good fist fight. I'm surprised though that the incident didn't end up in the paper; Erica should have found out about it. But then, she and her son might need to build some trust before we pull the carpet back out again.

And finally Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) is getting some backbone. Too bad it's still too early to see if he's actually going to get her to ask the tough questions. But no one has seen enough alien movies to have enough sense to be suspicious. I mean, after all the anti-terrorism legislation that's been going on, do you really think that the USA, Japan, or any other country in this world would so easily open their doors. I really hope not.

But now let's hear from you. What do you think of the show?

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.