V stands for Visitors, but in this case it could stand for Victory as the 1980s cult television show gets a successful reboot in its debut episode on ABC.
Where were you when JFK was assassinated? Where were you on 9/11? Where were you this morning? Those are the questions that are posed to us as the show opens to feature those that will become the main characters. Tyler, the son of FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), is in hot water after he’s caught sneaking out of the house. Father Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch) is attending to his flock which includes Roy, a wheelchair bound man. Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut) is buying a ring for his girlfriend, Valerie Holt ,and newsman Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) is preparing for the day. Then, all hell breaks loose.
The ground shakes, people panic, and a plane falls from the sky, crashing into a high rise, leaving its pilot to hit the ground with a thud after deploying his parachute. Father Jack saves Roy from a falling Jesus statue, which hits the ground and shatters. A massive shadow crosses over the city, and we are introduced to the mother ship. Not as hamburger-looking as the original. More of an oval egg this time around. As millions of tiny mirrors flip over on the belly of the ship, and people shield their eyes, the face of the Visitors’ leader, Anna, appears. Remember how sexy those V’s were in the original? Yeah, that hasn’t changed.
There’s so much going on in this show, but it’s told in a way that gives you the perfect perspective from each character, flipping back and forth between their stories until they all culminate together at the end.
FBI Agent Erica Evans and her partner, Dale Maddox track a terrorist sleeper cell to end up at a secret meeting. Ryan is contacted by an old associate in order for him to attend the same gathering, and Father Jack encounters a wounded parishioner who gives him an envelope with an address that leads to, you guessed it, the same meeting as the rest. Chad Decker, on the other hand, is accosted by Anna, who insists that the V’s “are of peace, always,” to conduct a one-on-one interview, allowing him to further his career by being seen by millions.
It is revealed at the secret meeting that the V’s are really a race of reptiles that have cloned human skin, and have been here for years. The whole thing goes in the crapper, though, when some V’s crash the party. Erica kills her partner, who was really a V, and Ryan is revealed to be one, too. He’s a deserter though. Seems not all reptile aliens are bad. Thus begins the resistance.
Too bad Erica’s son, Tyler, has just joined on to be one of the V’s Peace Ambassadors. DOH!
With a good story that leaves room for character development, and with a conspiracy after my own heart, V is a must watch.
Comments
Jennifer Hudock
November 4th, 2009 - 10:09:43 AM
I still haven't had a chance to sit down and watch the pilot yet, but hope to later tonight or tomorrow morning. I think you did a fantastic job on your first recap article. You covered all the bases and have me intrigued and excited to check out the episode. The original series was one of the most terrifying notions of my childhood... that alien lizards might be lurking under the skin of everyone around me. I hope they do the original justice, without copying too heavily on it, sort of like Ronald D. Moore did with the Battlestar Galactica reimagining. It became it's own, standapart series, and I'd love to see that happen with V.
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Patrick
November 4th, 2009 - 9:19:32 PM
Awesome article, you hit it on the lizard nose! i loved the original series, have the dVd's and I am a V nut. The pilot was great, just what I had hoped for and then some. You never know how it is going to play out, rebooting a beloved series, but they did it for me. I can't wait for more!
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