savingpeople

V Episode 4 Sneak Peek

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:45:12 GMT

One of the things I'm really loving about V is that it's...FUN. It's just plain FUN Television. Characters are great. The story is picking up momentum. There's action and explosions.

It's fist-pumping TV and I'm super excited about next week!

Charles What Now, Robert Carlock?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:54:56 GMT

Q. You’re not ever going to put Jack and Liz together romantically, are you?
A. No. … When you step back and look at the characters, I don’t think that’s what either of them is looking for. They’ll both find somebody eventually. He’ll give her away at her wedding.

Um, dude, I HAVE stepped back and looked at the characters (in fact, I stepped back and wrote a 3-part essay) and YOUR SHOW tells me otherwise.

All do respect, your answer makes no dadgum sense, Mr. Carlock, because about 98% of the time (it's a made up percentage, but basically, it means "almost all of the time"), they date people who are STAND-INS for each other.

Source

SciFi / Elizabeth Mitchell Tuesdays on ABC?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:53:38 GMT

Lost will be airing on Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

It would be DUMB NOT to pair V and Lost. DUMB, I tell you. SO MUCH crossover in the audience (a lot of Lost fans are watching V because of Elizabeth Mitchell and because it's another SciFi story) for the two shows. Most Lost fans I know are watching V and would LOVE if it they were paired up in the same night.

But, the only request? That it be V THEN Lost. Lost HAS to be second in that lineup because well...Lost has the tendency to break your brain and you can't focus on anything else after it. :)

V - "It's Only the Beginning" Trailer

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:13:39 GMT

Is it just me or does Erica look like Julie with that skullcap on? :)

LOOKS AWESOME.

V WAS FREAKING AWESOME TONIGHT!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:27:38 GMT

More thoughts to come later in the week :)

V Sneak Peeks - 1x03

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:27:36 GMT

Lisa and Tyler get busted by Erica.

Lisa's really sneaky. I'm starting to question her motives now because she's helping Tyler keep secrets from his mom.

Anna gets her Visa.

Still didn't fix the "M" on Lisa's Visa, but oh well. I DID like the "Just Daniel" bit.

Father Jack comes over to Erica's for coffee and Visitor talk.

They're such a married couple, but oh, Erica. Don't wear those pajama-lookin' shorts with the priest in the room. That might cause him to stumble a little.

Anna instructs other Visitors.

VERY cool to see Anna interacting with her Visitor minions and the effects are pretty cool. This might be the first episode where I actually FEAR Anna.

Erica meets her Visitor partner.

Erica is like, "Um, I don't trust you, but I'm gonna smile at you, knowing who you really are, dude."

Mary Faulkner speaks out against the Vs.

Oh, SHE is "the face of the protest movement", NOT Erica. That, in some ways, makes me happy because I'd love for Erica to still be off the radar for a while, so she can maybe go undercover and fun stuff like that. Although, I still want Erica to be "THE face of the protest movement" at some point.

Ryan, quit lying to your girlfriend...and, GEORGIE!

I think this episode is going to show WHY The Resistance can't just go public with their findings and why they can't just attack the Visitors head on and that sorta makes me very excited. :)

I'm officially a member of The Resistance.

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:03:11 GMT

My letter from Erica Evans.

Is that a new picture for 1x03? Erica meets Marcus?! OOH. That should be GOOD.

Visual Comparison for Jack/Liz

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:59:38 GMT

Can anybody think of a time when Liz was sitting with Jack like this in his office?

I feel like it's happened, but I'm too lazy to go looking and was hoping someone could help me out.

Thanks :)

V - "There Is No Normal Anymore"

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:22:06 GMT

It's SO nice to hear Elizabeth Mitchell say "Previously On V" for so many reasons. 1) It's Elizabeth Mitchell and her voice is very comforting and 2) we get MORE episodes of V!

Okay, so enough of my gushing over the Previously and onto the episode...

How soap opera was that pick up from the first episode with Erica and Jack having the same conversation (with slight differences)? SO soap opera, but I loved seeing them out there again and being a soap fan? I'm used to it, so it didn't bother me much. What did bother me? No hand-holding this time. However, there WAS hand-GRABBING when Erica told Jack that their emergency call had to be anonymous.

It cracks me up that both Erica and Jack love leather jackets. What's that about? I don't know, but it's sorta cute. I don't know that I'll go as far to say they both have a leather fetish, but it's out there...

I love the shot of Erica and Jack turning around to watch the mini ship fly passed them because if V had an opening titles sequence? That shot would be in it. I also loved the shot from behind Jack and Erica because it's sorta cute how close they are. I guess almost dying in an attack by alien ninjas will bond people to feel very comfortable with each other.

Speaking of the ship carrying the clean-up crew? FANTASTIC effects. Looked REAL. The lights showing on the building and the dirt, kicking up on landing really do a lot to make that come alive.

I love that Jack is immediately like "We have to do something!" and Erica knows they do, but they have to be smart about it (and she is, to an extent). It makes them heroic and bright and I'm glad I can think about my heroes like that. I can trust in them to do the right thing and NOT come across like big dummies.

New Characters

Angelo Russo: Another Member of the 5th Column?

Ryan goes to find Angelo, another "traitor" to his Visitor race, who disguises himself as a car mechanic. Angelo knows Georgie. Angelo has the equipment to repair their fake human skin (which was really cool to see because we never got to see how they did it in the original miniseries). Why doesn't Ryan have that stuff? Angelo knew about the attack on the warehouse, so he's keeping in touch with what is going on in their circle of peeps.

Hope we get to see more of Angelo, find out why the Visitors' arrival wasn't supposed to happen yet and why Angelo can't trust one of his fellow traitors? Did someone betray Angelo in the past?

Paul Kendrick and Sarita Malik: F.B.I. Good Guys or Visitors?

The FBI has created a Visitor Threat Assessment Joint Task Force to handle information/complaints about the Visitors. Will Erica ever to have to work with that group? Her boss, Paul, says that half of his team has been re-assigned to it, so I wonder if she'll have to work with them at some point? I kinda hope she stays out of it, so that she can seem neutral in order to fool the Vs. I'm with Erica that there are probably Visitors on the V Task Force.

We're introduced to F.B.I. Agent Sarita Malik, who gets information from Father Jack about the man who died in his church the day before. I'm really glad that Father Jack reported that murder because I remember a lot of people after the Pilot going "He just left that man to die in his church?". It was good to see that he did the right thing and reported it to the authorities.

I liked the way Erica's paranoia in going back to work was shot with all the dutch angles and slow-motion. Definitely represented how chaotic that would be for Erica, going back to the place where she used to work with Dale. If Dale was one of the Visitors, who else could be one? That has to be crazy for Erica, being one of the few people in the city who know the truth and not being able to say something, knowing how dangerous the Visitors are and not really knowing how to handle the information.

Erica has every right to be suspicious of everyone she works with now and so should we. Paul gave me the heeby-jeebies and Malik in slow-motion made me raise my eyebrows, but ultimately, I don't get a Visitor vibe with them.

Paul seemed genuinely mad that Erica wasn't be upfront with him, concerned that Dale was a traitor, was willing to give Erica a chance to make her case, and didn't attack her when she stood up to him about all the questions. Malik seemed to really want answers from Father Jack. I'm trusting them until I have a reason not to.

If either of them were Visitors, I don't know...I don't think they would CARE as much about humans. I also think it's a little too much to have everyone who works with Erica to be Visitors, although, I think there are probably more. It would be really cool to see a few of those F.B.I. folks join The Resistance, though.

I knew the actor who played Paul seemed familiar and thanks to someone on Twitter, I found out that he played Dr. Mike Horton on Days of Our Lives. :)

Erica Evans

I know this is a small detail, but I love that post-warehouse fight, Erica has bloodied/bruised/messed up knuckles. It's cool to me that they would take the time to go into that detail to remind us that she is a fighter.

Erica may have gotten busted about her 9-1-1 call, but how was she to know that the Visitors would have taken over emergency calls? That's REALLY creepy to think about if that was the case in real life. The Visitors used 9-1-1 to track Erica and Jack down to try and KILL THEM, which contradicts the purpose of 9-1-1 to call for HELP to be SAVED. The corruption of 9-1-1 is a BIG deal. If they're controlling emergency services, what other agencies do they control?

I love that Erica destroys The Seeker like she knocked one out of the park. Lady is SMART and she's unafraid to fight. I think it's interesting that she says "I have to figure out what to do" like the weight of the world is on HER shoulders. Trait of the leader of The Resistance? I think so.

While the Pilot showed glimpses of Tyler's love for his mom, this episode showed him continuing to lie to her. Right now, the relationship between Erica and Tyler is one-sided. Erica says "I love you, Ty" and gets no response back from her son. To me, that is heartbreaking. He comes home, in the middle of the night, and all she can think about is his safety while he flat out lies to her face. Erica's in for some sad times ahead because I have this feeling that Tyler is going to get in too deep with the Visitors and he may betray her or hurt her in some way...moreso, than he's doing now because he, obviously, doesn't care that he's lying to and disobeying her.

Father Jack's Internal Conflict

Priest: Establishing ties with the Visitors is a good thing, Jack. More souls to save...

Father Jack is having a hard time. He still wants to believe that there are people within the government on the side of humans and he could have the tendency to trust the wrong people. He struggles with withholding information from Agent Malik and does the right thing and comes forward with the pictures he brought to the warehouse meeting (which, unfortunately, end up being ignored by the V Task Force).

It is kinda nice to see his internal struggle come out. He wants to believe in the best in people, but in times like these, it just might not be possible. Can he trust his fellow priest? He's telling Jack not to "upset the apple cart" and mess up any kind of diplomatic agreement between the government and the Visitors which makes him even more suspicious to me. Can Jack trust The Vatican? They accepted the Vs very quickly and didn't put up much of a fuss. Seems odd for The Vatican and The Pope to accept the Visitors so quickly that even Jack questions it in the Pilot.

Crackpot Theory about Father Jack: Maybe he's not really a priest?

When Jack is talking to Erica, he says "You're an F.B.I. agent, I am just a...I don't know." Why not say "I am just a priest"? And, in the last Jack/Erica scene, Erica asks him if he's undercover and he says "Just off-duty." Was that just cute, flirty conversation (which it most definitely was) or is there a deeper meaning there? Is Jack undercover as a priest? After all, he DID curse twice. Even Erica noticed it.

Just throwin' it out there...

Writing

Writing-wise, I thought there were a lot of good things in this episode.

I really, REALLY dug the fact that in Erica's dream/nightmare/whatever, Dale comes to her (interestingly, enough, with a gun to Tyler's head) and says "You left your gun in my car" and then, later on in the episode, she finds her gun in his car. The nightmare was also interesting to me because it showed Erica's fear of the Visitors taking Ty and not being able to do anything about it. In the nightmare, Dale even takes a shot at HER. So, while on the one hand, that vision helped her cover her tracks, it also showed us her biggest worries at the moment.

I liked that Chad said "When I'm done, she'll be the one calling me" and at the end of the episode, Anna does, indeed, call Chad.

Erica: I don't think he'll [Dale] show his face again. Double-meaning dialogue! Love it! Not only does Erica mean that Dale won't show back up to work, it could also be indicative of his REAL face. His lizard face that Erica saw.

It might be more of an editing thing, too, but I really liked the intercutting of Erica and Father Jack being questioned about Dale and the man in the church. They both struggle with what to say and what not to say because they've both just learned this crazy important information and not sure who to trust or how to handle it.

Ryan and Val

Ryan: Maybe I should hide rings all over the house.

I like Ryan, but him lying to Val is NOT cool. He even makes up a story about some incident with a filing cabinet to explain that HUGE cut on his left arm. I really want him to come clean with her because I want to like him and while he's keeping secrets, i don't know if I can.

I still don't really like Val because I don't know her as an individual character (which I think is important), but I liked that she gave the ring back to Ryan so he could propose to her in his own time. I thought that was cool of her because I hear so many stories (some of them friends of mine) of girls who pick out their own rings and basically, lay out scenarios to their boyfriends of how they want to be proposed to. It's refreshing to return to an old-fashioned idea of engagement.

Chad Decker plays hardball.

Chad Decker is starting to feel like he got played and he should because he did. I liked him in this episode because he stepped up to Anna and showed him that she's not the only one who can play the game. I'd still love to see him join The Resistance at some point because I think they could really use his influence with the Visitors to undermine them a bit and it would also be a great way to redeem his character from helping the Vs in the way that he has.

I also loved him smarting off to Marcus, who DOES NOT LIKE HIM AT ALL. Chad Decker, showin' some FI-YAH. I like it!

Jay and Jack made a great point on their podcast. Only 80 million watched the Anna interview? What was everybody else doing that night? Watching Grey's Anatomy?

What's funny about that is, I was thinking this passed week while driving home about how if that REALLY happened...if Visitors really came and motherships were hovering over major cities of the world...how would I react? Because I work in downtown Atlanta and if that happened, I'm sure a ship would be RIGHT above where I work. At first, I'd be curious and freaked out...but, after a few weeks, I might get annoyed with them. Like, all those times Anna's face announcements just turn on and people are supposed to pay attention? I'd be like, "Look, Anna, I don't have time for you and your little proclamation tonight, I gotta get home to watch Comedy Night Done Right on NBC!". You know? So, part of me is like, did people just ignore them because they had gone back to their lives?

Of course, maybe it was just a number goof on the part of the writer.

Aliens have cool toys.

Anna's virtual closet was pretty cool. I'm glad they're having fun in coming up with cool technology for the Visitors to have. It's stuff like that I'm loving because you didn't see unique ideas like that in the original miniseries (and part of that is probably because they didn't have the effect capabilities that we do now). It gives us an insight to how they live and it also shows how calculated Anna's moves are. She's kissing up to the countries of the world, by dressing as the people of the cultures would, and adapting to their ways of life in order for them to trust her. She's definitely doing her homework.

Anna and Marcus have different approaches when dealing with the humans and I think that's going to make for an interesting dynamic between the two. Marcus seems to be more of a military/spy type, monitoring The Seeker's footage and torturing the human they recovered from the warehouse with virtual snakes, but Anna is more about getting humanity on her side to trust and be devoted to her.

The Visitors know about a first attempt at Resistance, which in my opinion, will make seeing The Resistance outsmart and defeat them even more delicious because The Visitors think they can stop anybody.

Marcus: A new Resistance would be unacceptable.

The snake torture sorta reminded me of the conversion process Diane used on Julie in the original miniseries. I don't think it WAS the conversion process, but it just reminded me of how they used snakes/reptiles that weren't really there to get inside the heads of the humans in order to freak them out and get them to do what they wanted.

India, Russia, and the U.S. are among the hold-outs to granting the Visitors freedom and Anna's focus is on the U.S. to set an example to the rest of the world.

Visitor Headquarters

The Visitors have now set up camp on Earth, aside from their motherships, with their Peace Ambassador building. Is it an embassy of sorts? I like that people ARE protesting the Vs because it shows that there ARE people out there who would/could join up with The Resistance. Humanity is not going to make this easy for the Visitors.

I also really love that they use a V in their logo/symbol.

I loved Brandon's "Two words, man: aaawwweee...some."

I'm really liking all the images of the NYC mothership over the city because of the scale of them. How HUGE is that thing?

Dale is still alive?!

Visitors must be REALLY hard to kill, which brings up a great question in the story...How DO you KILL them? Erica stabbed Dale and he lost a lot of blood, but somehow, he wakes up at the end of this second episode, with his head patched up.

How to kill a Visitor was a major question in the original miniseries and I'm curious to know if they will use the same storyline with this new version.

Paul: I just can't believe Dale crawled to the other side. LOL. "Crawled". Is it right to say lizards "crawl"?

We learned from this episode that Dale had been Erica's partner for 7 years, which means, the Visitors have been on Earth, at least, that amount of time before the ships showed up. We know that he had been married (to a human or another Visitor?). We know that he didn't drink. We know that he had been calling SOMEONE to tip them off about the actions of the F.B.I.

I like that Dale is still alive because it gives Erica a nemesis. I figure, towards the end of the series, her MAJOR nemesis will be Anna because an Erica/Anna throwdown will be epic, but at this point, I like the idea that she might meet up with Dale again because they could have a whole "How could you betray me like that?" conversation.

I really liked the scene with Erica, studying Dale's file and then shredding it. The image of that eye left behind in the shredder is uber creepy. Dale betrayed Erica. He is the first Visitor she encountered. He is the reason she believes Georgie's crackpot theory. So, I think Dale will always be a key player for Erica.

Dale's wife, Joselyn

I'm leaning on the side of Joselyn being human and NOT a Visitor.

Is Lisa good or bad?

I suspect we're going to be asking the same question about everyone all the time. Is this person good? Or, is that person bad? Visitors AND Humans...or, people we THINK are humans. And, that's going to be part of the fun, I think.

Right now, I think she might be good because she seemed to be very upset that Tyler punched one of the protestors and if she was evil, I don't think she would care at all.

But, then, it's a little too early to make a judgment because by all accounts, she is the Brian character, from the original miniseries, and he was NOT good.

I loved that for parts of Tyler and Lisa's interactions, they were separated by a gate, looking like either of them was in prison.

In my opinion, the most important part of Tyler getting kicked out of the Peace Ambassador program was finding out that the Visitors have a "council". Is Lisa being honest about being in "trouble" with whatever council this is or is she feeding Tyler some story to manipulate him?

Erica/Jack

I loved Erica and Jack's little fight in this one. Erica tells him not to trust ANYONE and gets angry with him when he trusts the V Task Force. It was super cute that she went to find him at his church to apologize and recognized that he WAS trying to do the right thing, even if his trust was misplaced.

Jack's little "You walked away from me" bit was cute because he seemed genuinely hurt, which made her groveling even more fun to watch.

Erica: I can't stop thinking about what you said, that I walked away from you.
Jack: Kinda busy.
Erica: I know that you were trying to do the right thing.
Jack: If you're trying to apologize, fine. Forgiven.

How fated was it that they didn't know what each other did for a living, but he wound up in her F.B.I. office where they would have a second encounter?

I totally called her reaction to finding out he was a priest because he introduces to himself as Jack and not "Father Jack Landry" and she was probably a little disappointed and/or mad in knowing that she might not be able to pursue him.

It was also fun to me that when Malik asked them if they knew each other, the priest couldn't lie, but the F.B.I. agent does.

I love that they know each others' full names and where to find each other now. Since they are the only ones they can each trust, it helps to know where they can find each other.

There was "us" and "we" talk with them. Jack refused to recognize an "us", but by the end of the episode, was the one to refer to them as a "we".

The Jack/Erica scene at the end of the episode was total LOVE (despite the ADR being distractingly bad). I love that he waited for her to get off of work. I love that she called him "Father" and he came up with the snappy comeback of being "off-duty" (which is cute considering what she does for a living). I love that she invited him to walk with her and called him out on his cursing.

They're of the same mind regarding the Visitors and I like that because it helps make them great partners.

Erica: That's the second time I've heard you curse.
Jack: Must be hangin' out with the wrong kind of people.

Oh, flirty dialogue, how you slay me with cuteness! I've only known Erica for two episodes, but it makes me happy to see her smile, knowing how loser-y her ex-husband is and that the last guy (Dale) she had flirty dialogue with betrayed and tried to kill her. Pour on top the fact that she can't trust her son, who is still lying to her, and it makes the fact that she can trust Jack, who makes her smile even sweeter.

Erica is a smart cookie for swiping the V Task Force's list of people who have ever contacted the F.B.I. about aliens or The Visitors and having the idea of getting in touch with them in order to recruit for their Resistance. It'll be interesting to see who they contact. Will it get them back in touch with Ryan and Georgie?

Miscellaneous Thoughts

The nod to The 4400 was much clearer in this episode because they showed it during the daytime. I have never seen The 4400, but I can appreciate it.

Who the heck is Cyrus? And, how did he get in Ryan and Val's apartment? Is he another member of the 5th Column? Because I would like that VERY much.

Kudos to the production / effects departments for paying attention to the small details, with the ship images on the F.B.I. computers.

Oh yeah, and the way Scott Wolf says "comfortable" is weird.

While second episodes after Pilots are always having to wrap things up from the premiere and usually, serve as transitional episodes, continuing to set up the universe and characters of the story, I thought this second showing of V was GREAT. I enjoyed all the character interactions of the folks we already met and the introductions to new characters we hadn't met before. I loved the progression of the Chad vs. Anna game. I loved seeing how the Vs fix their human skin. I loved the paranoia of not knowing who to trust. I loved seeing Investigative!Erica. And, I loved that Jack and Erica can move ahead with setting up their Resistance by having the names from the V Task Force.

Looking forward to the third episode and seeing where they take things from here, now that by the end of 1x02, the U.S. has agreeed to diplomatic relations with the Visitors.

Lois Lane = Mary Magdalene

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:25:55 GMT

...the close associates of Clark mirror the figures closest to Christ and thereby highlight Superman's messianic identity. Editor Perry White can be seen as John the Baptist, the prophet devoted to revealing the Savior. Biblically, his last name, "White" as noted before, signifies holiness. Cub reporter Jimmy Olsen can be seen as a combined representation of the apostles. His full names is actually James Bartholomew Olsen; in "James" and "Bartholomew," he bears the names of three apostles: James, son of Zebedee, James, son of Alphaeus, and Bartholomew.

Most notably, girl reporter Lois Lane can be seen as Mary Magdalene, a prominent woman in Christ's circle of friends. Notice the alliteration in the name Lois Lane, the repetition of the same first letter, which seems borrowed from the name Mary Magdalene.*

*From biblical times, the name Lois means "more desirable." Lane, as is obvious, means "narrow path." Put together, "Lois Lane" connotes a "more desirable narrow path," biblically resonant with Christianity: "Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Of Superman's girlfriend, Kozlovic reports, "Sarah Kozloff argued that Lois Lane...'roughly parallels Mary Magdalene...the prostitute reformed and converted by Jesus who becomes one of his most faithful followers...Lois Lane...assume the role of Superman's most devoted and most favoured disciple, and while she is not presented as a prostitute...she is repeatedly associated with sex." In her initial interview with Superman, first she asks if he has a wife or girlfriend, next she asks how big he is (instead of how tall), then she asks him to use X-ray vision to tell the color of her underpants. He tells her "pink," and later she asks if he likes "pink". The most blatant point of the connection between Lois and sex is reached in the title of her article: "I Spent the Night with Superman."

Nevertheless, it is a misinterpretation of the Bible that Mary Magdalene is a prostitute. (This widespread misperception probably started with a sermon by Pope Gregory I in the year 591, and the Vatican officially rejected this idea in 1969.) While Scripture tells us Jesus cast seven demons out of her, it does not explicitly say she is a prostitute. (With these exact same stipulations, we'll beat fans of the Aprocrypha to the punch by acknowledging that the subsequent romance which develops between Lois and Superman echoes "the many extra-canonical stories of Mary Magdalene being the secret lover of Jesus.")

In the World Without a Superman collection, where the part of this story --- his burial --- is contained, it is immediately made clear that Superman is in fact dead, rather than unconscious. (This is a common objection of skeptics to Christ's death and resurrection.) In the Superman story, the first proof of the Christ figure's death is brought by Dubbilex, a mind-reader: "I've been scanning Superman's mind, and there's nothing there --- no brain-wave activity --- nothing!"

Lois and Jimmy, in their roles as Magdalene and an apostle, are the first to attend to the body. The Daily Planet newspaper is again the gospel of Superman. Not only does Lois write about the passion of the fight, but Perry White, as John the Baptist, prophesies to Jimmy, "Olsen, one of these photos will serve to remind this city --- no, the world, of the tremendous sacrifice one man made."

Though White is the last name of her fiance', Lois reveals that Richard White is not Jason's father. The boy is Superman's son, the result of their romance in Superman II (a boon to those fans of Jesus-and-Magdalene romantic apocrypha!)

- excerpts from The Gospel According to the World's Greatest Superhero by Stephen Skelton. (page 109, 133, 155)

"Date Night" trailer!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:25:05 GMT

THIS.LOOKS.HILARIOUS.

Elizabeth Mitchell on Jimmy Kimmel

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:24:38 GMT

Jimmy's like "You lied to me!" and Elizabeth's like, "I"m a really bad liar!" :)

Also, did she just confirm that we would see Juliet IN THE PRESENT in Lost Season 6? Because that's...interesting...

V - "Pilot"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:38:26 GMT

My most vivid memories of V as a child are both terrifying and fun.

I remember one night, going with my family to eat dinner at some friends' house and when the adults were talking, my older brother and I snuck around the house, trying to find a TV. What program did we wanna watch? The one show we weren't allowed to: V.

The most memorable image of watching it was seeing people's faces getting ripped off to reveal reptilian features.

What's funny about those memories is that those are probably some of the earliest memories in my life because I was 3 or 4 (depending on if we watched the miniseries or the TV series, of which, I don't remember exactly) at the time.

So, you could say V holds a special place in my heart.

When I found out they were doing a new V, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was excited that Elizabeth Mitchell was attached...but, when we first heard about it, she was only a "guest star", so who knew how long that would last and I didn't want to get attached to her character, only to last an episode or two. On the other hand, I was a little nervous about them re-doing something that had been pretty good in the first place. I'm not big on remakes and would rather people bring something fresh to the table, so I didn't know what to think.

But, then (after Comic-Con) I saw THIS. And, that totally calmed all my fears and apprehensions about whether or not it would work. Of course, it helped that by then, we knew Elizabeth Mitchell would be the lead and a series regular, so I was, gladly, ready to get on board the train she was on.

I love that V IS a re-imagining, but does intend to pay homage to the original in solid, fun ways.

The red-painted V and the lizard skin were great to see right off in the Pilot. We don't have to see the whole lizard face yet. Just give us the tease.

Some felt that maybe that was too rushed of a reveal, but I think it's smart. It gets it out of the way to tell more story. It's not dragging it out forever to make people antsy to where they start going "So, when do we get to see someone's face ripped off already?!". People know they're not messin' around and we can feel good and get excited about the familiarity.

The Resistance

Erica Evans

I'm a big, self-admitted Elizabeth Mitchell fan and her exit as Juliet from Lost needed to be rectified on TV. And, I'm glad that it happened with this butt-kicking role of as FBI Agent/Possible Leader of the Resistance in V.

Elizabeth mentioned in an interview that the new V took Mike Donovan's character (the "male protagonist" as she says) from the original and made him into a woman and you can see how. They both have sons, both are divorced, both may have love interests within the Resistance, and both are extremely important to the Good Side.

I think Erica has a bit of Julie from the original in her, too. Besides looking very much like her, she is also a woman who may be thrust into the leadership position of the Resistance. Erica will probably be a little more confident in that role because of her FBI experience, whereas Julie was a med student, who didn't know anything about war...but, I have a feeling that just like in the Pilot, we'll see some insecurities, worries, and vulnerabilities come out over time.

I love that there are two sides of Erica. She's feminine. She's a mom. She has a soft side and a good heart.

But, then...

She doesn't need a man to save her.

She needs a man to STOP her from stabbing a man to his death...TWICE.

She's just an all-around, good-hearted, butt-kicking heroine.



I love our introduction to Erica.

We know a lot about her before she even opens her eyes. We see she has an FBI badge, so we know what she does for a living. We see the framed picture of her and Tyler, so we know she has a son and they seem to be close.

And, just from a production standpoint, I'm glad to see that they are intentional about what they put in the shot. When I first watched the shot for the first time, I was like, "Why is there a random glass of water there?", but then of course, the shaking starts and we get the necessary Jurassic Park effect with the water moving. It's good to see that it wasn't a random glass of water. Tells me a LOT about their prop department / set dressers / production people.

We also get a seemingly, fun nod to Lost with the close-up of her eye opening a la Jack Shepherd on the island.

I loved that during the attack on The Resistance, (from what it looked like to me anyway) Erica takes time to assess the situation. She doesn't just run out without thinking and do something stupid, but she takes a second to understand what is going on and what she can do about...and sees the gun, laying on the floor. Of course, while trying to get the gun, she gets attacked by Dale and interrupts her mission. BUT, I really liked that. She's a smart character, who by all accounts, is probably, REALLY good at her job.

I really look forward to see more from Erica, not only because I absolutely love Elizabeth Mitchell, but because I can't wait to see her develop into a real force to be reckoned with among The Resistance.

Father Jack Landry

The original miniseries had a priest among the ranks of The Resistance, but he was a side character, who, stupidly, trusts Diana, and ends up getting shot and killed for it.

I sure hope that doesn't happen to Father Jack because I want to see this guy through until the very end because I kind of love him :)

Father Jack is a truly compassionate man, who cares about his small congregation that comprises of two bag ladies, a heroine addict, and Roy, a wheelchair-bound man. Him touching Roy, I thought, was very Christ-like, in that people probably don't give Roy the time of day, but here Father Jack is, laying a hand on him in friendship and love.

Not only is he a caring man, but he's a man of faith who is not afraid to ask the tough questions. What I think is cool about that is that you're not going to get answers if you don't ask questions. He's not just going to believe and do what people tell him, which is very important once he learns that the Visitors have placed themselves among all walks of life, including religion. Could it be that the Visitors have people in high positions within the Vatican, telling people of the Catholic faith that the Visitors are not to be feared? Could be.

Georgie did say that the Visitors were embedding themselves into religion, twisting faith into extremism. I thought that idea was symbolized beautifully with the crucifix falling and almost killing Roy in the church.

Faith has been tainted. The message of hope, love, redemption, and salvation has been taken and twisted and has become a vessel for violence.

I think it's cool that with that symbolism, Jack swoops into save Roy's life. Not only does it tell us Jack is a hero, but maybe Jack will help save the faith? Maybe he'll realize that there are wolves in sheep's clothing among the church and will refuse to help them lead people astray? I don't know. Just speculation and hope at this point.

Georgie

I <3 Georgie and I don't know a whole lot about him yet.

I know that he knows a LOT about the Visitors and has known for a while. I know he has tried to have meetings to recruit people to the cause, but has failed and people have died. I know that he has some kind of connection to Ryan.

And, I know he is intense.

I love his intensity because I think The Resistance needs a character to reinforce how SERIOUS this all is. They'll need to be reminded of that every now and then because I could see it being easy to just give in because the rest of the world is.

But, I also want to give him a big 'ole hug.

I sorta hope he turns out to be the new V's version of Ham Tyler, but I'm not sure yet. I think he'd be the kind to want to blow crap up, though :)

Ryan

Ryan: There IS hope.

I was REALLY hoping there would be a "Martin" character within this re-imagining and MAN, I'm so glad it's in the form of Ryan.

Martin and The 5th Column were so cool in the original miniseries because they were Visitors who cared about humans and stood up (though, in secret) against their own people because they believed what their leaders were doing was wrong. That takes a lot of courage and I've always loved that, so it's good to see that's come into play during this telling of the story.

I don't really care about Val at this point, but that's, mostly, because I know relatively nothing about her. I know Ryan loves and wants to marry her, but other than that? Nada. Hope we get more from her soon.

I'd love to see Ryan be open and honest with her, though, because wanting to propose to someone and not telling them what your REAL deal is about is uncool.

It seems like Ryan and Georgie will be something of a team and that could be all kinds of interesting, considering that Georgie had no idea about Ryan's real identity as a Visitor and was a little freaked out about it.

One of the things I'd LOVE to see from this series is backstory of The 5th Column, which is something that was never told in the original miniseries. I wanna know how and why they got started. Do THEY have meetings? So many cool things you could do with The 5th Column.

One of my favorite parts of the Pilot was Ryan smacking this guy in the face with just his palm. SO AWESOME.

I can already tell Ryan is going to be one of my favorite characters.

One of the things I thought was really cool about The Resistance was how SMART they were in the Pilot. Before they talked about anything serious during the meeting, Georgie had the doctor do a test to check for skull bone to make sure none of them were Visitors. I thought that was really cool because then, from that point on, they know they can trust each other. Jack and Erica can team up because they have it confirmed that they're on the same side.

Even when Ryan reveals himself to Georgie after the attack, Georgie can now know the truth about Ryan and that there are some Vs who ARE good.

I thought that was a really smart writing decision because then you have this core group of four characters who know they can count on each other and from there, they can start their movement to take on the bad guys.

And, I love the cut for the test being in the shape of a "V".

The Visitors

Anna

I'm not 100% sold on Anna as the all evil being of the Visitors yet. I think Morena really is playing as though Anna is just looking out for her people. So, I'm looking forward to the moments when some of her villainness comes out.

Not to say that I don't find Anna creepy because I do. Her look is inviting, but there's also something else about it that's sort of terrifying. The fact that she could just joke around with Chad during one interview and then, totally manipulate him in another did a great job in showing the different dynamics of her character.

Creepy No. 2 is Creepy.

While Anna was being more manipulative than scary, the scary, for me anyway, was found in her No. 2 man, Marcus.

There's something about Marcus that ain't right. He wears a lot of dark suits and the angles for him are very sinister-looking. At this point, I think he is the more threatening of the two for me.

Tyler Evans

So, let's just get it out of the way: We all want to smack Tyler.

He's a typical, rebellious teenager, BUT, as we saw in the beginning of the episode when the earthquakes were happening, he WAS concerned about his mother and went across town, looking for her.

I'm putting him on the Visitor side of things for now because he's supporting their "message of hope" and trying to hang out with them, to the point of joining up with their Peace Ambassador program. But, I'm hoping at some point in the story, Tyler learns their real agenda (whatever THAT is) and will join up with his mother's cause in The Resistance. He IS the first in this re-imagining to spray-paint the V. Maybe he will be the one to later adopt it to stand for "Victory"?

I think he's a good kid, but the whole lying to your mother and going against what she says because you wanna do what you wanna do is going to make us all hate him for a while. But, then, who didn't act like that when they were teenagers?  I think there's parts of all of us in Tyler.

Lisa

We don't know enough about Lisa at this point to make a real sound judgment on her character. I don't know if she has an ulterior motive with Tyler or if she genuinely likes him.

I think in a lot of ways, she is the female equivalent of Brian from the original miniseries, who is the hot Visitor Robin Maxwell is attracted to. Do I think Tyler will get her pregnant?  I don't know, but that would be an interesting twist for HER to have the baby and not an Earth girl. I don't know how different that baby would be because it would still be a hybrid.

It's really great to see Laura V. again because she was great as Kara in Smallville. I hope the role of Lisa turns out to be a big player in the story and she gets a lot to do. Will Lisa turn out to be a good Visitor or does she have an agenda in recruiting Tyler?

Dale

I didn't suspect Dale was a Visitor, but, I figured something was up with him when this dialogue happened:

Erica: They're calling themselves "The Visitors".
Dale: You say that like it bothers you.

After that, I was a little suspicious of him. I definitely thought something was up when he ended up being alone in the car when Erica went into the meeting. Funny enough, though, I was still shocked by his betrayal when he attacked Erica at the warehouse. One of the things that kept me from thinking he was a Visitor was the fact that he was eating a sandwich at the FBI office. In the original miniseries, the Visitors would refuse Earth food and only ate live animals. I'm interested to see if that comes up in future episodes.

I really like the premise that Erica's partner at work turned on her because it proves to her how serious being able to trust someone is. If she couldn't even trust her own partner, what does that mean? It makes the need for a Resistance even greater.

Chad Decker

Chad Decker is totally the male equivalent of Kristine Walsh from the original miniseries. He's an ambitious reporter who the Visitors recruit to be their voice to the world.

I love that Chad is so about himself that he showers to his own TV appearance.

But, I think deep down, Chad is a good guy. For him to question things during the interview with Anna shows that he DOES have some sort of conscience, even though, ultimately, he goes along with her.

I would love to see Chad end up being in The Resistance. I don't want him to die like Kristine did, even though, she went out against the Visitors when she was killed. It would be really cool to see him join the ranks of Erica, Jack, Georgie, and Ryan and for them to use his position with the Visitors to their advantage.

The Most Inappropriate Ship Ever.

I was shipping Jack/Erica before the show even premiered, but I feel validated about them now that we've gotten to see them together.

The reason I DID ship them without ever seeing them together is that a) they look like Mike and Julie from the original miniseries (which I don't think is a coincidence) and b) they're two of what seemed like leads among The Resistance. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to recognize that two beautiful people who are the "good guys" of a TV series are going to, eventually, hook up.

Now, I know. He's a priest...and it seems terrible to ship them because of it.

I'm not a Catholic, but I am a Christian and for me? I don't see it as a big deal that Jack might fall in love with Erica over the course of the series. My dad worked in the church (as a protestant clergyman, which is different) and he had a wife and family, so I don't see it as an impossibility for them to get together. I will say right now that I believe that by story's end, Jack and Erica will end up together and Jack will be a "father" to Tyler. You know because he's "Father Jack"?  :) Much like how Darth Vader actually means "Dark Father" and Anakin ends up being Luke Skywalker's dad. Tyler could use a good male influence in his life because his bio-dad sounds like a real loser.

My hope is that they tread lightly on the subject because I think people COULD get upset if they have a relationship while he's a priest. And, I'd like to see that if he gives up the priesthood, that he doesn't do it for her and that he doesn't lose his faith. If anything, I see him leaving the church because it's been corrupted by the Visitors and he won't stand for it.

Erica: You did a brave thing, coming here tonight.
Jack: Well, I'm so brave, why am I scared to death?
Erica: I think that makes you human.

I love that the show gave Jack and Erica a Meet Cute as it were. Their introduction has her complimenting him on his bravery and reinforcing both of their humanity. I really liked that a LOT. They come out of that meeting knowing they can trust each other and I think that will prove to make them a good partnership.

I was a little bummed that the Visitors have some sort of video of Jack and Erica already because I think it would've been cool to see the two of them go undercover and if the Visitors know who they are, that would be very difficult. Of course, the video The Seeker recorded is sort of blurry, so maybe they can still get away with it? :)

I absolutely, ABSOLUTELY love the ending scene with Jack and Erica, outside, trying to figure out what has just happened and what they should do about it. It's not just the forming of The Resistance (which it is), but it's the beginning of Jack and Erica's partnership. They are the only ones they can trust. Erica has her son, but she knows he's being courted by the Vs and has a hard time controlling him. So, Jack, truly, is the only one she can trust and count on at this point.

The beautiful (and it really WAS beautifully shot with an old-school looking glow) imagery of the two of them sitting outside, under the stars, with him comforting her by holding her hand (which I think is cute because she might not have had someone be there for her like that in a long time) is a good contrast to the fact that they just survived a terrible massacre and are outside with a massive spaceship, hovering over their city.

I think the Pilot set up Jack and Erica VERY, VERY well.

The Special Effects

What has impressed me most of the new V is the special effects. I hope they can keep it up throughout the series because that's probably super expensive because it looks SO GOOD.

The image of the mothership creeping up on the Chrysler Building and the details of the inside of the mothership are just hands down, FANTASTIC. I hope we get to see more of the inside of the mothership and get to see what all of that contains because it looks like a city in there. Sorta reminds me of Argo City in Supergirl: The Movie. :)

Why isn't visitmothership.com a REAL site? Come on, ABC. Dropped the ball on that one.

Jack: What do we do now?
Erica: We help build a resistance. We recruit...bring more into the fold. We have to be careful.
Jack: We'll be careful, but we have to fight.
Erica: Oh, we'll fight...they have a big head start. They're arming themselves with the most powerful weapon out there.
Jack: Yeah? What's that?...Erica, what big weapon?
Erica: Devotion.

What's cool in a writing-sense to me is that earlier in the episode, Father Jack has a conversation with his fellow priest about how devotion can be a dangerous thing when twisted and Erica echoes that same worry at the end of the episode. The Visitors will rely on Devotion to get humanity on their side and it's up to The Resistance to stop that from happening.

Not only is that conversation the actual forming of The Resistance (even though, Georgia had tried before, he had been failing), but it's, brilliantly, intercut in between Tyler joining up with Lisa and in a sense, joining the Visitors.

The Resistance AND The Visitors are recruiting. Both sides need to gain numbers in order to fight each other. It's two sides of a war. And, THAT is what I have loved about the original V and probably will love about this new one...it's Good Guys vs. Bad Guys. It's the Underdog Vs. the Powerhouse. It's this group of people who see something is not right and decide to do something about it, even if maybe they are outnumbered and becoming a real threat to those in power, who are abusing the people.

I'm pleased with the new V and look forward to whatever new episodes we get. I'd love to see it make it to a second season because there is so much story to tell that the miniseries never did. My only qualm was the two uses of "You rock" in the episode. Who says that anymore? And, it sounded so dumb when Erica and Tyler said it. But, you know what? If that was my biggest problem with the Pilot? They're doing something right.

ABC's 'V' premiere lands big ratings

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:47:42 GMT

They came, they saw, they conquered primetime.

ABC's "V" premiere was Tuesday's highest-rated program in the adult demo, cracking usual leader CBS' drama-series choke-hold on the evening.

"V" was seen by 13.9 million viewers and had a 5.0 preliminary rating among adults 18-49.

That's the biggest scripted series premiere rating for a freshman show this fall.

"V" bested tough competition from "NCIS" (19.4 million, 4.2), which nonetheless ranked as the evening's most-watched show. The alien invasion drama gained 4% from its first half hour to its second.

The 8 p.m. "V" surge put ABC just a tenth of a point behind CBS for the nightly win. Compared to "Shark Tank" in the time period, "V" was up 213%.

Critics were a bit all over the map on "V", ranging from a rave in USA Today to NY Times calling it slapdash and formulaic.

Source

Never underestimate the public's love for Elizabeth Mitchell and a cheesy, but loveable miniseries from the early 1980s.

Well done, America.

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:54:14 GMT

V came in 2nd to NCIS last night, according to Ausiello.

No official numbers yet, but that is HUGE. V was put in a very tough timeslot, going up against the #1 show in the country and to have it open so strongly? Good to see.

I thought V might have done well last night since "Watching V" was trending on Twitter :)

It's been my opinion that NCIS does so well because it hadn't had any competition except for a few reality shows and 90210. Of COURSE that show would do well against that programming.

Hope V can keep it up. People seem positive about it so far.

TAKE THAT, NCIS.

More Coherent Thoughts and Review to Come Later, but...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:41:42 GMT

OMG, Y'ALL, V WAS SO FREAKING FUN AND I WANT IT TO BE NEXT TUESDAY LIKE, NOW.

And, the Pilot did not help on my quest to STOP shipping Erica/Jack. In fact, it egged me on. DANG YOU, SHOW. :)

But, seriously, GOOD STUFF, PEOPLE.

And, "Watching V" trended on Twitter, so I hope that's good news in terms of viewership.

FOUR MONTHS? WE HAVE TO WAIT FOUR MONTHS?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:21:35 GMT

Bwah!

Cracks me up that some people in the media are predicting failure for the new V, based on the fact that we get four episodes and then, have to wait until March for the rest.

Um...have they ever met any Lost fans? We wait EIGHT FREAKING LONG MONTHS (that's 3/4 of a YEAR, y'all) for new episodes and we've done that, for about 3 years.

I DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA BE A PROBLEM IF THE SHOW IS THAT GOOD.

4 MONTHS IS NOTHING.

"One More Day" Promo

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:18:34 GMT

If V doesn't want me to ship Erica/Jack, they are doing a terrible, terrible job. :)

Lost Shout-Out in the new V?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:48:22 GMT

Apparently, there really IS an Oceanic Plaza in Vancouver, where V is being shot, but still...funny stuff.

Pointed out by a poster named Ham Tyler in the VisitorSite forums.

Jack Buying a Food Franchise = Love?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:40:31 GMT

Jack bought an Arby's franchise when he was married to Bianca and when they divorced, it was a big issue over who would get to keep it.

Jack and Liz go to Stone Mountain and she's excited (until she later gets sick) about Fatty Fat's Sandwich Ranch, of which, Jack buys a franchise.

Hmm.

Oh, man.

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:02:30 GMT

Elizabeth Mitchell on the Lost Season 5 finale and Juliet's exit:

“At the time, I didn’t think I was ever coming back. So for me it was just a really big goodbye and easily heartbreaking. It wasn’t one of those things to think about it. Also, Josh [Holloway] is really strong, so I was on this pulley, and I had them loosen the pulley so he’d really be holding me up, and it killed both of us every time. When my hand slipped from his, it was because he couldn’t hold on any longer."

No wonder that scene is SO DANG GOOD.

Source

Comparisons with Suliet and Des/Pen

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:28:32 GMT

This post is made of win even if Juliet is well...whatever. I DO like the comparisons because I think they're the two strongest and most awesome love stories in Lost.

V Spoilery Gif and Icon

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:19:54 GMT

Wanna watch (or re-watch) the Original V?

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:42:01 GMT

Syfy Channel Schedule:

Sunday, November 1
1PM-5PM V: The Original Miniseries
5PM-11PM V: The Final Battle
11PM-3AM V: The Original Miniseries

Monday, November 2
8AM-7PM Syfy will be showing V all day. We're assuming this will be comprised of episodes of the original series.

Tuesday, November 3
8AM-4PM Again, Syfy is doing a marathon that we assume is made up of episodes of the original weekly series.
4PM-8PM V: The Original Miniseries - Then catch the premiere of V on ABC at 8:00!

30 Rock "Audition Day" Promo

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:32:55 GMT

LOL @ Brian Williams!