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V - Season 1 - Page 2

post #31 of 339
11/3/09 at 7:31pm
The first episode was good enough to keep me coming back for more.  Let's hope that ABC doesn't screw this one up (like they do with so many other series).
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post #32 of 339
11/3/09 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RAF View Post

The first episode was good enough to keep me coming back for more. 


Same here. I just watched this because it was on and I was kinda curious but they've got me interested.
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post #33 of 339
11/3/09 at 8:21pm
I've been curious for some time how this reimagining would work. Would it cover the ground of both miniseries? Would it start where the TV series did? In effect, it has covered the ground of the miniseries and is pretty close to jumping in where the TV series tried. There are small little changes to distinguish, yet tie, to the previous telling. For instance, Diana is now Anna. I don't even know why bother to change it.

Anyway, I liked it while I was watching it. I'll have to reflect for awhile to see if it sticks with me.

The resistance leader did say the V's have been here for a long time, it's just they're now revealing themselves. He knows about them because he's been in the resistance for a long time and has learned about them. We haven't been given all the information on that, but we have the broad strokes. He isn't a V. Morris Chestnut is.
 
For some reason I kept wondering where the ships were hiding that neither NASA nor any of the other telescopes or observatories across the world never picked them up. Hiding behind the moon, I guess.

It'll be interesting to see Juliet as leading woman material. She's quite laid back and subdued in her delivery. Whoever is playing Anna, however, leaps off the screen as deliciously evil (for lack of a better word). Attractive and sinister. Just like Diana was, but even more glossy and sophisticated (it is 2009, after all). She's a reason to watch.

That's one heck of s space ship.


Edited by Mikah Cerucco - 11/4/09 at 7:11pm
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post #34 of 339
11/3/09 at 8:32pm
True, I didn't find Juliet very believable as an FBI agent, personally.
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post #35 of 339
11/3/09 at 8:35pm
I enjoyed it (and I have no prior experience with any of the previous 'V' endeavors).  Although I thought they revealed a bit too much for a series pilot.
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post #36 of 339
11/3/09 at 8:39pm
V was one of the big mini-series I grew up on in the 1980s as a child. I bring them out every couple of years for a re-watching. 

Likes:
  • The idea of sleeper cells is very 9/11 and real. In V they mentioned they had been here from sometime in John's address at the UN but I like the idea of planting unrest in cells to give themselves the best possible chance to achieve "devotion"
  • Technology.... Special effects.... to be expected
  • I like how the visitors are hidden among us. The vocal chord issue and sunlight in V limited their ability to infiltrate which made the push against scientists and the brainwashing of key citizens such an important tool. 

Dislikes:
  • Rushed.. I understand this is not a two night miniseries as it was in 83 but they through ALOT at you quickly. The patience that V earned made the reveal of the Visitors as aliens and the Fifth Column memorable. The scene where Martin saves Donovan and confides in him as a friend is moving 20+ years later. 
  • Did we get to know any visitor besides Anna? I know Wondergirl was there and was it Evan who was Anna's right hand?


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post #37 of 339
11/3/09 at 9:21pm

Quote:
Diana is now Anna. I don't even know why bother to change it.
Probably because the name Diana today doesn't seem youthful or trendy.

Yeah, I also felt that the show seemed a bit rushed. I liked the slow build of the original miniseries better where the strange things that were happening were more subtle. I think they could have stretched it out for maybe another episode.

It did seem like there was some allegory to a certain figure, from the immediate applause of people after Anna's initial message to even a direct reference to a controversial issue that the Vs were offering.

One thing that bothered me is that if you were an alien race trying to appear peaceful, why would you show up in a ship, and open it up like you're about to attack and scare the shit out of people, couldn't they have just said "we're opening up a display panel, don't be frightened" I guess maybe since they are "always peaceful" they never bothered to think that other races might perceive them as a threat (or at least what they would want us to think)

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post #38 of 339
11/3/09 at 9:37pm
V for VERY bad... sigh, Julia is not believable AT ALL as an FBI agent.
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post #39 of 339
11/3/09 at 9:42pm
Thought it was pretty good and I'll definitely keep watching. Like pretty much all of the cast.
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post #40 of 339
11/3/09 at 10:16pm
 I didn't think it was rushed. I have not seen the original V since it was originally broadcast. So I can't remember how it was more subtle. I think the audience of today has a far shorter attention span then my generation does. So I think they felt they had to cut to the chase. Plus, this does feel like they have something else going on that's deeper in mind for the allegory to today's post 911 world.

I thought Mitchell was believable as an FBI agent. (I love how everyone recently has been calling the actors in this show and Flashforward with the character names they last played! Sulu, Charlie and now Juliet!  )

I was a little disappointed with the reveal to their reptilian nature. It was staged well and I never guessed it was her partner. But I would have thought they'd do something more original then a Gorn like alien who have human skin on top. Perhaps the ability to create a telpathic image in our mind or something like that. But this was their homage to the original, so I can accept that.

The new Diana is very creepy. I hope the Newscaster decides to grow a pair, looked like he was about to. They pretty much spoon fed many clues that were no surprise, like the Sleeper Cells. I was amused to the ID4 reference by the Geeks.

It did leave me wanted to see more. The show is very much more direct and upfront. It's actually refreshing after watching Lost and Fastforward. And that is not a knock on those shows. I didn't realize that Kenneth Johnson is credit as creator to this re-imaging. I didn't think he was actually involved.

edit: Opps, I have not been keeping up with current events, I just read one article that Johnson is not happy with this remake and has been trying to get a major motion picture of V made. Don't know how reliable that news I read is. But it sounds feasible. 
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post #41 of 339
11/3/09 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WillG View Post

Yeah, I also felt that the show seemed a bit rushed. I liked the slow build of the original miniseries better where the strange things that were happening were more subtle. I think they could have stretched it out for maybe another episode.


The question is why? Why pad things out when the story can be told fluidly in a single episode. After trying and failing to get into Flash Forward, which has the pacing of a snail, I found the cheetah pace of the pilot really engaging.

By introducing all of the major revelations from the original miniseries in the first hour, it allows the show to embark on its own direction. Tonight's pilot was both an introduction to our eclectic cast of characters and a declaration of basically, "Here's what we're keeping from the original. Now see where we go with it."
 

It did seem like there was some allegory to a certain figure, from the immediate applause of people after Anna's initial message to even a direct reference to a controversial issue that the Vs were offering.


You can read a Barack Obama allegory into the Visitors, but I think you can also read a FreedomWorks/Tea Party allegory into it as well. The larger idea, which I found fasinating, is that the Visitor sleeper cells actively worked to increase political polarization into more radicalized camps around the world. The more radical each side is, the more discord and turmoil in the world. The more discord and turmoil in the world, the more the population will desire a savior. Adolf Hitler exploited the discord and turmoil of Germany under war reparations between the world wars to build support for his national socialist party. What the Visitors have essentially done is artificially manufacture the conditions that allowed someone like Hitler to thrive politically so that they themselves could thrive politically.
 

One thing that bothered me is that if you were an alien race trying to appear peaceful, why would you show up in a ship, and open it up like you're about to attack and scare the shit out of people, couldn't they have just said "we're opening up a display panel, don't be frightened" I guess maybe since they are "always peaceful" they never bothered to think that other races might perceive them as a threat (or at least what they would want us to think)


My guess is because they're not peaceful. I would bet these ships are warships which have been hastily retrofitted to their current diplomatic purpose. I would bet that more civilizations have experienced the Visitors' ships "about to attack and scare the shit out of people" than have experienced them in the manner that humanity has experienced them. Even if that's not the case, scaring the shit out of people before reassuring them convinces them of your power.


I don't have any "Lost" baggage, so Elizabeth Mitchell didn't really bother me. I had a tougher time buying Alan Tudyk as her happy-go-lucky, insanely selfless partner. When he turned out to be a homicidal reptile, my concern was resolved.

I think the thing that excites me the most is having Scott Peters running a show again. While "The 4400" sometimes suffered from wooden dialog and questionable acting, it was IMO indisputably the smartest science fiction show on television during the years it aired. It regularly went to places that were serious science fiction in the way that other shows like "Heroes" rarely seem to. That he brought Joel Gretsch along with him is an added bonus. Morena Baccarin is so excellent as the head Visitor that the creepiness might impair my enjoyment of "Firefly". Scott Wolf's likeable in anything he seems to show up in. Laura Vandervoort looks about as attractive as she did on "Smallville", which is very attractive indeed.
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post #42 of 339
11/3/09 at 10:35pm
My only thought is the Vs must be rather small if they have such thick flesh covering them.

I think a lot of Anna's creepiness is in her odd blinking patterns. In that final scene it seemed she was sending out a message in morse code. :)
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post #43 of 339
11/3/09 at 10:41pm
"Die Diana!" never flowed trippingly off the tongue.
Quote:
Diana is now Anna. I don't even know why bother to change it.

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post #44 of 339
11/3/09 at 10:47pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson Au View Post

(I love how everyone recently has been calling the actors in this show and Flashforward with the character names they last played! Sulu, Charlie and now Juliet!  )

 

I mentioned this in the Flashforward thread, but I just can't remember the character names on that or this yet. 

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post #45 of 339
11/3/09 at 11:03pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Yee View Post

"Die Diana!" never flowed trippingly off the tongue.


Perhaps you had this in mind:

Die.....Anna

I liked that they just removed the "Di" from her original name.

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post #46 of 339
11/4/09 at 1:22am
Loved the original series.  But this new version doesn't give much hope after watching the 1st ep.  People clapping in the streets at the beginning after she gave her message is where it started to loose me.  I was like the entire of Season 1 of the original crammed in to one ep.  Meh effects, meh reveals, didn't really entice me to tune in to the next ep (even though I will).

Let me take a guess at the next ep since they want to go at light speed here-

The son of the FBI agent who is all flirty with the V recruit girl will have a hot and steamy sex scene, then an episode later she will tell him that he is pregnant with her child......thats how it is done on the V world.
Edited by Spero D - 11/4/09 at 3:00am
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post #47 of 339
11/4/09 at 6:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt View Post

You can read a Barack Obama allegory into the Visitors, but I think you can also read a FreedomWorks/Tea Party allegory into it as well. The larger idea, which I found fasinating, is that the Visitor sleeper cells actively worked to increase political polarization into more radicalized camps around the world. The more radical each side is, the more discord and turmoil in the world. The more discord and turmoil in the world, the more the population will desire a savior. Adolf Hitler exploited the discord and turmoil of Germany under war reparations between the world wars to build support for his national socialist party. What the Visitors have essentially done is artificially manufacture the conditions that allowed someone like Hitler to thrive politically so that they themselves could thrive politically.

 


You nailed it. Like I said earlier, you can see whatever message that you're looking for in the show but the reality is more likely that they're just making a broad comment about people and their behavior rather than making a statement about any specific person or time.
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post #48 of 339
11/4/09 at 7:01am
So, when do we revisit the part where a cheap plastic lizard crawls out of the woman's belly? 
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post #49 of 339
11/4/09 at 7:11am
I loved the miniseries as a youth and even toiled through the series for it's single season. Which leads me to my comment...I'd prefer a miniseries. A regular series will put the pacing all over the map. Fast set-up, interminably drawn out sub-plots, too quick resolutions. We will see. Didn't like the ep much, but I'll still give it a few chances. I much prefer Diana and the 80s hotness, but beggars can't be choosers. And if they have infiltrated...why not use your own newsman to interview with softball questions? Why risk a journalist?
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post #50 of 339
11/4/09 at 8:12am

Quote:
 People clapping in the streets at the beginning after she gave her message is where it started to loose me.  I was like the entire of Season 1 of the original crammed in to one ep.  Meh effects, meh reveals, didn't really entice me to tune in to the next ep (even though I will).
 

 


Yeah, that gave me a groan as well. I certianly wouldn't be clapping because of an Alien message that perports all kinds of great and happy things (call me cynical). This is where I started seeing allegory to a certain person.
 


Quote:

 You can read a Barack Obama allegory into the Visitors, but I think you can also read a FreedomWorks/Tea Party allegory into it as well. The larger idea, which I found fasinating, is that the Visitor sleeper cells actively worked to increase political polarization into more radicalized camps around the world. The more radical each side is, the more discord and turmoil in the world. The more discord and turmoil in the world, the more the population will desire a savior. Adolf Hitler exploited the discord and turmoil of Germany under war reparations between the world wars to build support for his national socialist party. What the Visitors have essentially done is artificially manufacture the conditions that allowed someone like Hitler to thrive politically so that they themselves could thrive politically.
 


 

Absolutely you could. As I said, I doubt you would see a Hollywood production be directly or exclusively critical of this certain person. "The Devoted" could easilly be applied to the religious people. I think we'll find that there will be parallels to many types of people and speficic people as well. But the other themes you mention are intresting.

 


 

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post #51 of 339
11/4/09 at 8:33am
Also The Twilight Zone episode, To Serve Man, comes to mind.
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post #52 of 339
11/4/09 at 8:54am
Morena Baccarin is about the hottest woman on the planet in my mind.  Oh yes, I will be watching this...
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post #53 of 339
11/4/09 at 9:11am


Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristopherG View Post

Morena Baccarin is about the hottest woman on the planet in my mind.  Oh yes, I will be watching this...

I have a friend who saw her in a play, and the audience gasped when she entered the stage because she was so beautiful.  And since you are a fan, keep an eye out for Death in Love.

But WTF is up with the hair?  Looks horrible.

Interestingly, when my wife saw her in the Swarley epsiode of HIMYM, and she instantly hated her.  When she asked me if I found her attractive, I just looked into my shirt and mumbled incoherently.  *whew*
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post #54 of 339
11/4/09 at 9:19am
She was one of the best things about Firefly that's for sure.

The ladies had Nathan Fillion to gawk at and we had Morena.
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post #55 of 339
11/4/09 at 9:25am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn Shultzaberger View Post

Wash!!! and Inara.  I was not expecting to see Alan Tudyk.  That was a nice surprise.  Still watching it now.
 


Since I wasn't aware of Tudyk's participation on "V", my spidey sense was screaming "dead meat", i.e. early kill victim, or as the episode wound down: mole.

But it's always good to see ABC showing some love to the Firefly crew, nonetheless.

I never realized how crooked Morene'a mouth is when she speaks, it was a bit distracting during her first addressing of the human race via the ship screen.
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post #56 of 339
11/4/09 at 9:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson Au View Post

Also The Twilight Zone episode, To Serve Man, comes to mind.


That's the same thought I had. I'd want to believe that they were there for benevolent reasons but I'd be cautiously optimistic rather than clapping or going right onto one of their ships or spray painting 'V' on walls, etc.
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post #57 of 339
11/4/09 at 10:47am


Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post



That's the same thought I had. I'd want to believe that they were there for benevolent reasons but I'd be cautiously optimistic rather than clapping or going right onto one of their ships or spray painting 'V' on walls, etc.

Group think does funny things to - well, groups. ;)
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post #58 of 339
11/4/09 at 10:58am
I don't know why people have a problem with the clapping, it seemed very believable to me. People will clap at anything. How many of us have been to the movies and after an intense scene, or good build up and payoff people clap? And this is at a screen where none of the participants can see or hear you clapping. So why wouldn't people clap after the huge build up of these giant ships coming over their city ID4 style (which they surely have seen) not knowing if they are hear to blow us up and to finally get a peaceful message with promises of new technology. I sure would be clapping right along with them.
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post #59 of 339
11/4/09 at 11:14am
early reports is that V has flopped
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post #60 of 339
11/4/09 at 11:19am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt View Post

I think the thing that excites me the most is having Scott Peters running a show again. While "The 4400" sometimes suffered from wooden dialog and questionable acting, it was IMO indisputably the smartest science fiction show on television during the years it aired. It regularly went to places that were serious science fiction in the way that other shows like "Heroes" rarely seem to. That he brought Joel Gretsch along with him is an added bonus. Morena Baccarin is so excellent as the head Visitor that the creepiness might impair my enjoyment of "Firefly".
 

The address of the Sleeper Cell meet was "4400 ______."  I thought that was a reference even though I didn't know one of the people involved in V was from that show (besides Gretsch).  Morena.  Yum.  I liked the show, but also thought it was quickly paced.  I'll keep watching.  The mole angle was delivered without much subtlety so I wasn't surprised it was Tudyk.  He was listed as a guest appearance in the credits so I was waiting for something bad to happen to him.  I hate that they have to do that.  Worst thing about the show was that (I assume) my local station came out of the last commercial break in SD.  So after watching HD video Dolby sound for 45 minutes, I saw the battle in the sleeper cell in 4:3 stereo.  Definitely not the reason I have a projector and screen setup.
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V: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]
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