V - "Pilot"
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 Shephard 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.
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 Shephard 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.