V - "Pound of Flesh"
This week's episode of V had a little bit of everything I've wanted from the show: character backstory, characters meeting other characters, undercover work (I've been wanting this since DAY ONE), intimate Jack/Erica moments, big Ryan moments mixed in with Fifth Column story, and The Resistance having to deal with a loss as well as a win.
The one thing that tripped me up about this episode was that I didn't understand the title. With previous episodes, the title referred to a bit of dialogue from the episode. "There Is No Normal Anymore" was said by Erica in 1x02. "A Bright New Day" was said by Chad Decker in 1x03. "This Is Only The Beginning" was said by Anna in 1x04. "Welcome To The War" was said by Erica in 1x05.
But, nobody said "Pound of Flesh", right? Did I miss it?
Google became my friend on this problem, so I searched for "pound of flesh" and found out that it was a Shakespearean term from Merchant of Venice.
Shylock:
Most learnèd judge, a sentence! Come prepare!
Portia:
Tarry a little, there is something else.
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;
The words expressly are "a pound of flesh."
"A pound of flesh" is a figurative term referring to "a harsh demand or spiteful penalty" or as otherwised explained, "a debt harshly insisted upon".
When relating the term to this episode, I think of Anna and the Bliss and how when she was weeding out Fifth Column members, she would insist that they take the suicide pill to prove their loyalty. I'm not sure if that's the correct way to see it, but it's all I got.
Anna
Anna is a cold-hearted snake...err, lizard.
She finds out that some of her people have become immune to her Bliss because they've developed human emotions, so she has Joshua help her set up a test to figure which of them are Fifth Column. She takes the test first to set the bar of the norm because she has NO reactions to destruction and terror she is shown. All Visitors should react that way and whoever fails the test is deemed Fifth Column.
I think it's cool that we get to see Anna's test results and Ryan's test results because it really does show the contrast of the two groups of Vs. Ryan fails the test because he cares about people and the world. What kind of society do THEY live in when that is FAILURE?
I wonder how Anna's Live-Aboard Program is going to work if she's afraid of her people developing human feelings. Wouldn't having humans living on the ships make that worse? Wouldn't being around humans encourage them to think and feel that way? I fail to see your logic, Anna.
Chad Decker
Seeing Chad Decker sign autographs cracked me up. He's still enjoying his fame that Anna has dangled in his face. It's his reward for being her "mouthpiece" as both Marcus and Georgie call him.
I liked that Father Jack used his clergy status to talk to Chad and warn him that the people in his church were concerned of Visitor activity and suggested that Chad keep an open mind and look into it. Chad definitely knows Anna has an agenda so for someone else to corroborate how he thinks, I think Chad is going to be growing more backbone in how he deals with her.
Also, it was cool to see Chad get to interact with other characters on the show besides Anna and Marcus. It must've also been nice for Scott to get out of the green screen sets and in real-life environments. I've heard/read that the green screen can mess with you after awhile.
Dr. Pearlman
So glad to see Dr. Pearlman again! Ryan's lucky to have her helping him out with this whole lizard baby thing. It's good to see that she's not only helping him take care of Val, but encouraging him to tell her the truth.
We find out through Dr. Pearlman that the growth of the baby inside Val is accelerating (SORASing the Star Child from the miniseries/series, anyone?) and is draining phosphorus, which is making Val sick. It was cool to know a little more about Visitor health in the fact that they have high amounts of phosphorus, which would satisfy a lizard baby.
I like that this show seems to have researched lizard/reptilian anatomy. I did a Google search for "phosphorus lizards" and found out that phosphorus levels in lizards are a big deal. Of course, that site talks about HIGH phosphorus levels instead of LOW ones that the show mentioned, but I figure that the desired level is in between them and high and low levels are of concern.
Dr. Pearlman gives Ryan a reason to go up on the mothership: he has to get a denser form of phosphorus that humans can't produce or Val won't survive the pregnancy.
The Fifth Column
Anna: If they find a way to unify, they could become a real threat.
"Pound of Flesh" showed us that the Vs CAN fight Anna's bliss. They can CHOOSE to break free of her control, which is very good to know. Gives us some insight into how Ryan and Dr. Pearlman were able to decide for themselves not to follow her anymore. Of course, it was probably a lot easier for them to avoid Anna's control while off the ships, but all the same, it's very cool to see that the Vs choose Fifth Column because they develop human emotions and feelings, most specifically, LOVE.
I thought it was a little harsh at the beginning to see the dude Fifth Columnist commit murder-suicide to help him and the girl he loved get away from Anna's grip, but I guess that shows how serious it is. They would rather die than live under Anna's rule.
I love that other Fifth Columnists can notice each other through their compassion. Ryan is spotted by Samuel because Ryan looks over at the crying baby.
Fifth Column members aboard the mothership have Biblical names: Joshua, David, Samuel. Hmm. Wonder if that will continue?
Erica and Jack
Priest did two tours as an Army Chaplain. Testified against two staff sargeants in Baghdad who broke the Rules of Engagement. Boy Scout.
...ex-partner's M.I.A. Supposedly, working with terrorists. A lot of personal baggage on her, too.
SO in love with the shot that starts off by racking in the focus onto the cross and then tilts down to reveal Erica and Jack! WELL DONE.
On a storytelling note, I like that Erica has finally started opening up to Jack and feels comfortable. It started with "Welcome to the War" and continues in this episode. Not only does she talk about her worries about Tyler, but how she feels like something of a failure in her leadership role. She blames herself for not being around and Georgie going up to the ship in her absence. Jack encourages her about it, saying that she was where she supposed to be. I'm glad that Erica has someone to lean on and keep her spirit up because she's gonna need it to move forward.
It's gotta be tough for Erica to have to worry about and try to protect her son while also working with and leading The Resistance in trying to protect the WHOLE WORLD from the Visitors.
Erica and Tyler
I think it's funny that not only have humans shortened "Visitor" to "V", they've also shortened "Peace Ambassador" to "PA". I guess that's pretty true to life, but it still sorta cracks me up and weirds me out at the same time because Visitor things have gotten to be so commonplace to them.
What even further cracks me up is that Tyler thinks as a PA, he is important. He IS important to the Visitors, for reasons still undetermined...but, NOT as a stupid Peace Ambassador.
Erica: If the Visitors needed you, they'd call, right? What am I talking about? They wouldn't call. They're from outer space. They'd probably just beam you up.
Did Erica just make a joke? AWESOME.
Erica is in a tough spot. I'm glad to see her wanting to tell Ty the truth about the Visitors, but at this point, with him being so involved with them, her options kinda suck. It's pretty much a lose-lose for her. If she tells him and he believes her, he would cut ties with the Visitors, want to join the war, and Anna would get suspicious. Erica would get to be honest with Tyler, but then he'd be in even more danger.
Side Note: Elizabeth Mitchell turning on the tears in a split-second like she does when Erica walks away from Tyler is why I consider her one of THE best actresses on TV today.
Tyler and Lisa
This was the first episode where I had trouble separating Laura V.'s Supergirl from her Lisa characters. It's tough when she's rockin' the red and blue and has her hair down, all Kara-like. Not sure if that was intentional, but I was like, "Hey, Supergirl!" when she showed up at Mr. Evans' house.
Joe and Tyler
Great to finally meet Erica's ex! Although, I'm a little disappointed that he didn't seem like the jagweed who, in the Pilot, called Erica and Tyler to tell them that HE was okay. He actually seems like an All-American guy: works in construction, wears flannel, and cooks out for dinner.
Tyler seems to really love his dad, so Erica's move to take him there wasn't necessarily a bad one. I just wish she had told Joe more about what was going on like "Hey, the Visitors? Yeah, they're lizard aliens who have killed a lot of humans and have bad intentions.". But, maybe she's still in "Trust No One" mode? Maybe he needs to have the little skull-bone test done?
Joe to Erica [about Tyler]: It's time that we told him to the truth...about who he really is.
Say WHAT? What does that mean?
The Resistance
It's great to see The Resistance actually having to work through things and come up with plans. Hobbes is their go-to man to coming up with ways to fight and making those plans, but I think it's awesome that Erica (as the leader) has to sign off on it. Erica listens to everyone's thoughts (Hobbes making his case for the call to arms plan and Ryan's take that it's a suicide mission) and then, makes a decision.
I love that the woman who gets the dirt on Erica, Jack, Georgie, and Ryan for Kyle calls them "The Fab Four".
I love all the wide shots of The Resistance members meeting together. They're shot like a team, even though they still need to hammer out some trust/teamwork issues. I think they're getting there, though, and it'll be fun to really see them have each other's backs in an all-out fight, whenever that comes.
Even though they've been lashing out at each other some, it's good to see them smile when they get a win.
Ryan
He's a stock broker. Outside of a knocked up girlfriend, he's the cleanest of the bunch. Maybe too clean.
Ryan really stepped up to his responsibility to represent The Fifth Column in this episode.
I liked that Ryan came up with a plan he knew would work because he knew inside Visitor stuff. Hobbes couldn't have pulled the plan off, even though, his F.B.I. costume was pretty convincing. Ryan knows how the Visitor tech works and how to speech in the native Visitor tongue. He's finally using who he is to their advantage.
I was really happy to see that his plan to get on the mothership utilized different people's strengths. He used Erica's F.B.I. contacts to find a new identity to use. He used Hobbes ability to fabricated documents to fake a Visa using the identity that Erica found.
My own qualm about Ryan in this episode was him being all "If I don't make it, tell Val about me". Dude, you need to tell your girlfriend who is preggers with your lizard baby who you really are!
Ryan, as Martin was before him, is probably going to end up being my favorite character (especially, once he tells Val the truth; it's the only thing keeping him from going over the top right now) because I love his determination to fight Anna, his love for his girlfriend, that he's developed human emotions, and how much he cares for his friends.
Georgie Sutton
George Sutton: Worked as a Chemical Engineer. Went crazy after his family was murdered. Claimed aliens did it.
Is it important that we find out that Georgie is a Chemical Engineer? I'd like to think so.
I really liked that Georgie got some one-on-one time with Resistance members. I like his budding friendship with Jack as well as his long-time friendship with Ryan. I felt like his conversation with Erica was very organic as he can relate to the Visitors messing with his family. I think, for Erica, it was probably nice to have someone to talk to about that who really knew what she was going through.
It was also really good to see Georgie interacting with Val, who, though, not a Resistance member at the moment, is indirectly involved with them, due to her relationship with Ryan. Not only was it good to see Georgie meet his buddy's girlfriend and baby mama, but it was nice to see Val get to share some screentime with someone other than Ryan for a change.
I thought the moment when he finds out Val is pregnant was similar to the scene where he talks to Erica about her son. Georgie has a moment where he thinks about his kids. For Georgie, his motivation and his reason for living is to avenge his family and to stop the Visitors from doing to others what they did to him and his family.
Storywise, it makes sense to me, that Georgie would have these interactions with all of these characters before he gets stuck up on the mothership in trouble because him being their friend and teammate gives The Resistance even MORE reason to want to rescue him. I just hope, for his sake, Georgie learns how to become a team player. He allowed himself to be taken instead of Ryan, yes, but if he had listened to Erica, they may have found another way to deal with Ryan going M.I.A. Can't just go solo when working in a group. Strength in numbers, Georgie.
Kyle Hobbes
How awesome was Kyle Hobbes showing up at Erica's F.B.I. office in disguise?! SO AWESOME.
I love that Erica challenged Hobbes to come up with another plan and he DOES. If Ryan won't go up to the mothership, he figures he'll take the chance, by trying to pass himself off as a Visitor. Fans of the original miniseries/The Final Battle/series recognize this type of plan because it was used quite a bit. Resistance members passing themselves off as Visitors in this new version is both easier and harder than the original canon. In the original miniseries, the Visitors spoke differently and folks like Mike Donovan would have to wear voice modulators around their necks to sound like Visitors. Kyle Hobbes won't have to worry about that, BUT, he does have to worry (as Ryan alerts him) about knowing the Visitor language and scanners that would reveal him to be human.
Ultimately, Kyle doesn't go up on the ship, but I was glad to see that he has good plans (which Ryan ends up going through with) and takes them to the boss (Erica).
I don't think Hobbes getting info on The Fab Four is bad as some might think. I, personally, think he needed information on them to find their strengths and weaknesses so he could know how to use them in whatever Resistance movements they have going forward. Thought it was smart of him to gather information like that.
Nerdery
So, almost anytime they show the Visitor alphabet, I try and take the time (if I feel like it) to translate. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but it's kinda fun because they aren't just throwing things onscreen. It's actually another language with words that say things.
First Line: Edit Profile
Second line = Sa (?) Macro
Third line = Cue Access
Fourth line = Run Out Bound
Fifth line = Parse Incoming
Docs Sixth line = User Doc
I'm still loving this show! The characters are getting so much better, the story is being pushed forward, and it is still a fun hour of TV for me!