V - "A Bright New Day"
This is the episode where V went from "pretty good" to "AWESOME!" for me.
"A Bright New Day" started off by addressing a question that I shared with Father Jack:
Jack: Why are the Vs doin' it like this? Why the infiltration? Why the sleeper cells? Why don't they just annihilate us and get it over with?
Erica: Because they're smart and patient and whatever their plan is? They need us for something. And, until we figure out what that is, we have to fight them the same way they're fighting us: one step at a time.
The Visitors have highly advanced technology and huge spaceships which give them tremendous advantages over the human race. They don't HAVE to win our approval. They could just blow us all up. So, why aren't they?
Because, as Erica suggests...they need humans for SOMETHING. What? We don't know yet. The original mini-series had them packaging humans as food, so that's a possibility, but since this is a re-imagining, I'm not going to hold them to that if they take a different route in storytelling. In fact, I welcome a different agenda.
The Resistance
Georgie's Backstory?
Ever since the Pilot, I've been intrigued by Georgie, but I didn't know all that much about him until this episode.
How does he know about the Vs? When did he first find out? How did he meet Ryan? These are still questions I have...but, we got some questions answered.
We now know that Georgie is cranky and broody because his family was murdered by the Vistiors. That would make anyone cranky and broody and a Visitor hater...
But, what I love about that is that it gives Georgie a personal motivation to go after them. He's not just against the Vs because they're coming to possibly harm humanity (although, that's not bad in and of itself), there's something at stake for him, personally.
A personal stake, though, makes him paranoid.
Him, approaching Father Jack, in the church, with a gun pointed towards his neck was interesting because it was a good reminder for Jack that things are serious business. Georgie even tells him not to just leave his card around because of their trust issues.
The cool thing is that Jack gets through to Georgie, in convincing him that they need to stick together (re-iterating Ryan's statement about there being strength in numbers) and that Georgie insists on Jack calling him "Georgie"...not the formal "George" on his records. To me, that showed a certain amount of trust that has developed between the two and it was good to see. I'd really like to see these two become good friends, in the vibe of Mike Donovan and Ham Tyler from the original mini-series/series.
Erica Evans
Erica got to play both sides in this episode and I really liked that because it shows that she's capable of acting like things are normal in her job, while getting information for The Resistance. I hope this means more undercover work in the future.
Erica's adorable when she tells Jack that she narrowed down the search for Resistance members to "a couple hundred". She's so proud of herself :)
Erica has started to use the list she "swiped" from the V Task Force at the F.B.I. and is putting it to good use, but trying to find people who would be willing to join up in fighting the Visitors.
I love that she has a pile of not only "Deceased", but "Crazies". Wonder what makes someone a "Crazy" when there are alien lizard people cloning human skin walking around? :)
Shallow Moment O'The Writeup: Elizabeth Mitchell's hair has been ROCKIN'. Kudos to that stylist.
I really liked the way Elizabeth Mitchell played Erica's hesitancy to work with a Visitor partner and in her introduction to Marcus. In both cases, there's a slight hint of disgust, even though she's trying not to show it. Not a lot of actors can pull that off, but she does it beautifully.
I like that she DID get to meet Marcus because a) Marcus will think Erica is on their side and b) the heroine got to meet one of her nemeses. She shook the hand of one of those she will be fighting against and I thought that was symbolic. It's almost like, she could have accepted them, had they not attacked and killed people and are lying about their true identities and intentions. It's the Visitors who bring the conflict.
It's cute to me in a way that Erica tells Paul that she doesn't need a partner. From everything we've seen, she truly doesn't...because she already has one. In Jack.
Of course, her not wanting a partner could also be because her former partner was a V and tried to kill her...:)
Erica suggests to Jack that she might be able to find something at the Visitor headquarters that might help them fight and she does, indeed.
I'm not sure if Elizabeth meant to play it this way, but after she realizes the possible assassin they are looking for has on a V uniform, she goes and look around the headquarters to look for him/her and notices that there are LOTS of people walking around with V uniforms and...she smiles. I wondered if that was Elizabeth's way of having Erica realize that a good way to fight the Visitors was by infiltrating them, by using their wardrobe. I could be reading way too much into that smile, but, it did cross my mind.
I like that Erica notices everything around her and that ability gives her the code for the secret surveillance room that she's not supposed to know about. It makes Erica come across as very smart and good at her job and I like that.
Great CG work with these shots in this scene! I can't even IMAGINE how many shots they used as the "cameras". I loved the little touch with the Visitor alphabet :)
In the surveillance room is an image for every Visitor jacket that has a camera embedded in the front pocket. Erica can see everything the Visitors are seeing. I'm glad she found this because it gives The Resistance something of an edge. Not a HUGE one, granted, but they can mess with the Vs with this information. They can trick them or lie to them for their own purposes to get what they want. It's important that the Good Guys get some kind of knowledge to give them a little bit of an upper hand.
Anna counted on a human to fall for the fake assassination attempt, but didn't count on Erica's curiosity and sneakiness that would lead her to the jacket camera discovery.
My favorite Erica moment of this episode is when she hogties the would-be shooter. The "assassin" says something like (from what I could try to make out) "The Vs are playing you! Don't you get it?" and Erica responds "Yeah...I get it" with a little laugh. I thought that was absolutely brilliant because she, publicly, admits to knowing who they really are, but hides it in a sarcastic comment. Truth is, she DOES know they are playing the world.
Father Jack
I think Father Jack's inner struggle is one of the most grounded things in this story. He really wants to help people and to bring them closer to God, but his own questions are keeping him from accomplishing that, so he feels useless. I think we all probably feel like that from time to time. We just want to be able to matter and mean something to someone else or to something.
As soon as I saw the preview clip that Jack was at Erica's house, I figured a scene in which Jack and Tyler meet was coming. It's an important introduction, as I think Jack will one day be Tyler's step-"father" :)
It's not only important that Tyler meet Jack, but it's also important to note that up until this moment, Jack had no idea that Erica was a mother. Joel plays Jack's sort of stunned reaction very well.
As annoying as Tyler can be, it was sort of fun that he ribbed on his mom a little bit was "oh, that's cute" when Erica insisted that she and Jack just worked together.
I do wonder, how did Jack know where Erica lived? Did she give him her address? Had she invited him over before (she didn't seem shocked that he came over)?
Speaking of Jack and Erica, I thought it was cute that they were very comfortable with each other in the house. She was wearing, what looks like her jammies, and he didn't seem all that flustered by it. And, it was cute that she made him coffee and was trusting enough of him to let him stay there while she went out.
The Fifth Column
Ryan: The Fifth Column is down, but it's not out.
I had been saying that Ryan was a part of The Fifth Column since the Pilot, but it wasn't actually addressed until this episode. My nerd got all kinds of excited at the utterance of "The Fifth Column" because I always loved Martin from the original mini-series, who was a Visitor who led The Fifth Column and helped Mike and The Resistance.
Of course, The Fifth Column isn't specific to V. According to Wikipedia, the term has a long history:
The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, an insurgent
general during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. As his army approached Madrid, he
broadcast a message that the four columns of his forces outside the city would
be supported by a "fifth column" of his supporters inside the city, intent on
undermining the Republican government from within (see Siege of Madrid).
Knowing that terminology and the history behind it makes the name of The Fifth Column even cooler. They're the inside group, trying to undermine the Visitors from within the mothership and ranks.
I loved Martin in the original V for being a brave character, who stood up, even against his own people, because he knew what they were doing was wrong and I loved his relationship with Mike because they were joined together by a similar purpose, despite their differences. Ryan in this new version of V is the Martin equivalent and Erica is the updated version of Mike, so it doesn't surprise me very much that those are the two leads in the Resistance duos, who both come up with the idea of forming one.
We met another member of The Fifth Column, with the introduction of Joshua, who is the head medic on the NYC mothership. I don't know why I didn't catch it at first, but Joshua wears white while Marcus wears black and that should have been a dead giveaway that he was a good guy. Now, that I know I can count on V for that visual, I'll know to look out for it from now on.
Joshua is smart because at first, I thought he was just trying to get information out of Dale to find out what happened to him, but as the episode went along and as soon as he mentioned that Erica would make an excellent ally? We were finally given Joshua's true intentions.
I can't wait for Joshua and Erica to meet! I love that Joshua already sees her as an ally and has some respect for her.
Joshua had, hands down, THE best line in the episode with "The Fifth Column says hello". That was fist-pumping TV at its best. There might have been a "Heck YES" that came out of me in that moment.
The name "Joshua", interestingly enough, can mean "salvation", "to be liberated or delivered", and "to be victorious". Joshua, in The Bible, is famous for his role in The Battle of Jericho.
This is the first episode in which we not only hear "The Fifth Column" for the first time, but also, the name "John May", who is the leader and the one to start the first group who would turn against the Visitor leadership. Georgie thinks he's just a myth, but Ryan confirms he's real and that if he gets into this, "he'll bring an army".
The Resistance = The JLA
This episode made me SO INSANELY HAPPY at the end when the Resistance founding members finally came together. It might have been the way the music swelled, but it felt like watching the freakin' Justice League meet up. As I thought more on that feeling, I came to realize there was something to that idea...
Ryan = Superman
He's an alien, who fights for the good guys and lives among the humans, is strong and protective, and has a dual identity, which involves him lying to his girlfriend about who he really is. As he tells Georgie in the Pilot, there IS hope and to me, that is VERY much an idealistic/positive Superman thing to say.
Georgie = Batman
Georgie's a character with a tragic background, involving the murder of his family, which causes him to be paranoid and broody. He's friends with Ryan, which parallels Superman and Batman's friendship.
Erica = Black Canary
I had to think on Erica's mirror in the JLA because her being Wonder Woman just didn't fit, even though, the JLA has a big 3 that involves Wonder Woman.
The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that Black Canary was a better fit. Erica's a blonde who can kick all kinds of butt, wears lots of leather, is a founding member of the group, and falls in love with a hot blonde dude (Green Arrow), who is also a member of the Justice League.
FUN FACT: Morena Baccarin, who plays Anna, was the voice of Black Canary in the animated shows, Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited.
Jack = Green Arrow
By default in being Erica's future love interest, Jack becomes Green Arrow because after all, Black Canary and Green Arrrow get married. Now, I know...Jack is a priest and not the womanizing, arrow-slinging, political man that GA is...
What I WOULD point you to in paralleling Father Jack to Green Arrow is Green Arrow's crusade for the working class and the disadvantaged. Father Jack's work in the church and his care for people like Roy, in the wheelchair, make him something of an Oliver Queen to me.
I shared my the Resistance = JLA theory to theninthdoctor and he referenced it in his advanced review for 1x04, which made me quite giddy. Even though it may be childish and me sticking in my love for the JLA into somewhere it might not belong, if you think about it...in a world without superheroes, THIS really WOULD be our JLA. A group of people who come together to save the world from injustice and destruction.
And, that my friends, is part of why I love (and always have loved) V.
The Visitors
The Vs are given America Visas and that is, partially, due to Chad Decker, helping them look good in the public eye. I loved that moment of Anna going up in the elevator, giving Chad the evil eye because I think that's going to define their relationship. She is, literally and physically, above him, symbolically, controlling him, even though, he thinks he's helping THEM.
We get to see our important Visitor characters get their Visas: Anna, Marcus, and Lisa.
Lovin' the V Stamp!
The sign in the Visitor Headquarters in what could be a lobby of some kind translates from Visitor language to English as "We are of Peace". And, yes, I translated that on my own, like a total nerd.
Paul Kendrick, Erica's F.B.I. boss, is totally a V. He was sketchy in 1x02, but I think this episode confirmed it, with him allowing the Visitor security team to take the shooter into their own custody. Even Erica thought that was weird and Dale confirmed that he wasn't the only V at the Bureau.
Anna must have studied humanity for a long time because she's become a master manipulator. She handled the Mary Faulkner situation well enough to get things back in her control.
She tells Marcus to get her everything they have on Mrs. Faulkner because they have to stop the protest movement. Anna knows it's bad PR and bad PR will turn the people against them and that just won't stand because whatever they need with humanity, they need people to trust them.
Anna's fake tears and sympathy made me laugh. She's such a faker. The interesting thing is that she can turn it on and off at will. Kudos to Morena for acting the heck out of that. She is going to be REALLY fun to watch as Anna.
I love that the Visitors form "V" shapes when they are together.
The revelation at the end of the episode telling us that Anna is Lisa's "mother" is not only an awesome twist (that I didn't see coming), but, is more proof that she has studied humanity so well that she knows to send her hot daughter out to seek out some human dude. I suspect the whole "council taking Tyler out of the Peace Ambassadors and then, later, decided to let him back in" scenario was a way to make Tyler grateful for his position.
She knows of the way human relationships are and how we're attracted to other people.
She knew that she needed to handle Mary Faulkner because she knew hatred was contagious and Mary could infect others around the globe.
She knew how to stage the assassination, counting on a smart and competent F.B.I. agent like Erica to pick up all the crumbs they dropped, like the shooter picking up a V jacket.
Anna finally scared me in this episode. She was manipulative and very intentional on corruption and that really pulled me into her as a villain.
Cyrus
Cyrus works in a restaurant, in some capacity, and used to be part of the Fifth Column, but ends up betraying Ryan because he's told he'll be "reconnected" if he turns in his Fifth Column brothers and sisters.
Ryan tries to argue reason with him, but Cyrus brings up the "bliss" and asks Ryan if he misses it. Ryan suggests to Cyrus that the "bliss" is how Anna controls them and compares them to junkies, addicted to drugs.
Ryan leaves the words "John May Lives" on the kitchen door after his skirmish with Cyrus and I got the sense that Marcus is actually a little fearful or worried of this John May person.
Writing
I have to say that even though, some of the writing in V is sort of simplistic (as opposed to say, time travel craziness on Lost), they do what they're supposed to. I like that they set up and pay off.
For example, Erica has the idea that maybe if she protects the Vs, she can find something to help them fight and by the end of the episode, she does, by discovering that the jacket have camera that record audio and video.
That sort of writing is good to me because you can count on everything having meaning.
This episode highlighted what I've always loved about this story: that it's a Good Guys vs. Bad Guys battle.
Erica: There's been a death threat against the Vs.
Jack: You're going to protect the Vs?
Erica: Yeah. Well, if a human kills a Visitor, that makes us the bad guys.
Jack: And, they'll be the good guys.
I love that there are concreted Good Guys and concrete Bad Guys. It's very refreshing because it allows you to be able to cheer on the Good Guys and hiss at the Bad ones. That's what makes it fist-pumping. You WANT the Good Guys to win because they really ARE Good Guys.
Who is this lady?
Jack meets her when trying to track down Georgie. Is she related to Georgie? His Mom? His Sister? Will she be important later? Or, was she just a plot device to tell Jack about Georgie's tragic past? Hmm.
Mothership Establishing Shots
I've been trying to keep track of these because they're so awesome...but, holy crap, there are SO MANY OF THEM. I keep thinking that at some point, they'll start recycling them, but in these first four episodes, they're keepin' 'em pretty fresh!
I just really like the scale of these shots because they show just how HUGE the mothership is and how much of the city it covers.
I wonder if the mothership ever moves or if it just hovers in place? Probably a question that will never be answered, but meh...I've wondered about it.
Final Thoughts
This episode was a great example of how calculated the Visitors are and how much they are in control. Anna found a way to turn things around with Mary Faulkner and quiet a protest movement and they put a plan into action to gain sympathy from humans by faking an assassination attempt on Marcus, using one of their own people as the shooter.
"A Bright New Day" started off by addressing a question that I shared with Father Jack:
Jack: Why are the Vs doin' it like this? Why the infiltration? Why the sleeper cells? Why don't they just annihilate us and get it over with?
Erica: Because they're smart and patient and whatever their plan is? They need us for something. And, until we figure out what that is, we have to fight them the same way they're fighting us: one step at a time.
The Visitors have highly advanced technology and huge spaceships which give them tremendous advantages over the human race. They don't HAVE to win our approval. They could just blow us all up. So, why aren't they?
Because, as Erica suggests...they need humans for SOMETHING. What? We don't know yet. The original mini-series had them packaging humans as food, so that's a possibility, but since this is a re-imagining, I'm not going to hold them to that if they take a different route in storytelling. In fact, I welcome a different agenda.
The Resistance
Georgie's Backstory?
Ever since the Pilot, I've been intrigued by Georgie, but I didn't know all that much about him until this episode.
How does he know about the Vs? When did he first find out? How did he meet Ryan? These are still questions I have...but, we got some questions answered.
We now know that Georgie is cranky and broody because his family was murdered by the Vistiors. That would make anyone cranky and broody and a Visitor hater...
But, what I love about that is that it gives Georgie a personal motivation to go after them. He's not just against the Vs because they're coming to possibly harm humanity (although, that's not bad in and of itself), there's something at stake for him, personally.
A personal stake, though, makes him paranoid.
Him, approaching Father Jack, in the church, with a gun pointed towards his neck was interesting because it was a good reminder for Jack that things are serious business. Georgie even tells him not to just leave his card around because of their trust issues.
The cool thing is that Jack gets through to Georgie, in convincing him that they need to stick together (re-iterating Ryan's statement about there being strength in numbers) and that Georgie insists on Jack calling him "Georgie"...not the formal "George" on his records. To me, that showed a certain amount of trust that has developed between the two and it was good to see. I'd really like to see these two become good friends, in the vibe of Mike Donovan and Ham Tyler from the original mini-series/series.
Erica Evans
Erica got to play both sides in this episode and I really liked that because it shows that she's capable of acting like things are normal in her job, while getting information for The Resistance. I hope this means more undercover work in the future.
Erica's adorable when she tells Jack that she narrowed down the search for Resistance members to "a couple hundred". She's so proud of herself :)
Erica has started to use the list she "swiped" from the V Task Force at the F.B.I. and is putting it to good use, but trying to find people who would be willing to join up in fighting the Visitors.
I love that she has a pile of not only "Deceased", but "Crazies". Wonder what makes someone a "Crazy" when there are alien lizard people cloning human skin walking around? :)
Shallow Moment O'The Writeup: Elizabeth Mitchell's hair has been ROCKIN'. Kudos to that stylist.
I really liked the way Elizabeth Mitchell played Erica's hesitancy to work with a Visitor partner and in her introduction to Marcus. In both cases, there's a slight hint of disgust, even though she's trying not to show it. Not a lot of actors can pull that off, but she does it beautifully.
I like that she DID get to meet Marcus because a) Marcus will think Erica is on their side and b) the heroine got to meet one of her nemeses. She shook the hand of one of those she will be fighting against and I thought that was symbolic. It's almost like, she could have accepted them, had they not attacked and killed people and are lying about their true identities and intentions. It's the Visitors who bring the conflict.
It's cute to me in a way that Erica tells Paul that she doesn't need a partner. From everything we've seen, she truly doesn't...because she already has one. In Jack.
Of course, her not wanting a partner could also be because her former partner was a V and tried to kill her...:)
Erica suggests to Jack that she might be able to find something at the Visitor headquarters that might help them fight and she does, indeed.
I'm not sure if Elizabeth meant to play it this way, but after she realizes the possible assassin they are looking for has on a V uniform, she goes and look around the headquarters to look for him/her and notices that there are LOTS of people walking around with V uniforms and...she smiles. I wondered if that was Elizabeth's way of having Erica realize that a good way to fight the Visitors was by infiltrating them, by using their wardrobe. I could be reading way too much into that smile, but, it did cross my mind.
I like that Erica notices everything around her and that ability gives her the code for the secret surveillance room that she's not supposed to know about. It makes Erica come across as very smart and good at her job and I like that.
Great CG work with these shots in this scene! I can't even IMAGINE how many shots they used as the "cameras". I loved the little touch with the Visitor alphabet :)
In the surveillance room is an image for every Visitor jacket that has a camera embedded in the front pocket. Erica can see everything the Visitors are seeing. I'm glad she found this because it gives The Resistance something of an edge. Not a HUGE one, granted, but they can mess with the Vs with this information. They can trick them or lie to them for their own purposes to get what they want. It's important that the Good Guys get some kind of knowledge to give them a little bit of an upper hand.
Anna counted on a human to fall for the fake assassination attempt, but didn't count on Erica's curiosity and sneakiness that would lead her to the jacket camera discovery.
My favorite Erica moment of this episode is when she hogties the would-be shooter. The "assassin" says something like (from what I could try to make out) "The Vs are playing you! Don't you get it?" and Erica responds "Yeah...I get it" with a little laugh. I thought that was absolutely brilliant because she, publicly, admits to knowing who they really are, but hides it in a sarcastic comment. Truth is, she DOES know they are playing the world.
Father Jack
I think Father Jack's inner struggle is one of the most grounded things in this story. He really wants to help people and to bring them closer to God, but his own questions are keeping him from accomplishing that, so he feels useless. I think we all probably feel like that from time to time. We just want to be able to matter and mean something to someone else or to something.
As soon as I saw the preview clip that Jack was at Erica's house, I figured a scene in which Jack and Tyler meet was coming. It's an important introduction, as I think Jack will one day be Tyler's step-"father" :)
It's not only important that Tyler meet Jack, but it's also important to note that up until this moment, Jack had no idea that Erica was a mother. Joel plays Jack's sort of stunned reaction very well.
As annoying as Tyler can be, it was sort of fun that he ribbed on his mom a little bit was "oh, that's cute" when Erica insisted that she and Jack just worked together.
I do wonder, how did Jack know where Erica lived? Did she give him her address? Had she invited him over before (she didn't seem shocked that he came over)?
Speaking of Jack and Erica, I thought it was cute that they were very comfortable with each other in the house. She was wearing, what looks like her jammies, and he didn't seem all that flustered by it. And, it was cute that she made him coffee and was trusting enough of him to let him stay there while she went out.
The Fifth Column
Ryan: The Fifth Column is down, but it's not out.
I had been saying that Ryan was a part of The Fifth Column since the Pilot, but it wasn't actually addressed until this episode. My nerd got all kinds of excited at the utterance of "The Fifth Column" because I always loved Martin from the original mini-series, who was a Visitor who led The Fifth Column and helped Mike and The Resistance.
Of course, The Fifth Column isn't specific to V. According to Wikipedia, the term has a long history:
The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, an insurgent
general during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. As his army approached Madrid, he
broadcast a message that the four columns of his forces outside the city would
be supported by a "fifth column" of his supporters inside the city, intent on
undermining the Republican government from within (see Siege of Madrid).
Knowing that terminology and the history behind it makes the name of The Fifth Column even cooler. They're the inside group, trying to undermine the Visitors from within the mothership and ranks.
I loved Martin in the original V for being a brave character, who stood up, even against his own people, because he knew what they were doing was wrong and I loved his relationship with Mike because they were joined together by a similar purpose, despite their differences. Ryan in this new version of V is the Martin equivalent and Erica is the updated version of Mike, so it doesn't surprise me very much that those are the two leads in the Resistance duos, who both come up with the idea of forming one.
We met another member of The Fifth Column, with the introduction of Joshua, who is the head medic on the NYC mothership. I don't know why I didn't catch it at first, but Joshua wears white while Marcus wears black and that should have been a dead giveaway that he was a good guy. Now, that I know I can count on V for that visual, I'll know to look out for it from now on.
Joshua is smart because at first, I thought he was just trying to get information out of Dale to find out what happened to him, but as the episode went along and as soon as he mentioned that Erica would make an excellent ally? We were finally given Joshua's true intentions.
I can't wait for Joshua and Erica to meet! I love that Joshua already sees her as an ally and has some respect for her.
Joshua had, hands down, THE best line in the episode with "The Fifth Column says hello". That was fist-pumping TV at its best. There might have been a "Heck YES" that came out of me in that moment.
The name "Joshua", interestingly enough, can mean "salvation", "to be liberated or delivered", and "to be victorious". Joshua, in The Bible, is famous for his role in The Battle of Jericho.
This is the first episode in which we not only hear "The Fifth Column" for the first time, but also, the name "John May", who is the leader and the one to start the first group who would turn against the Visitor leadership. Georgie thinks he's just a myth, but Ryan confirms he's real and that if he gets into this, "he'll bring an army".
The Resistance = The JLA
This episode made me SO INSANELY HAPPY at the end when the Resistance founding members finally came together. It might have been the way the music swelled, but it felt like watching the freakin' Justice League meet up. As I thought more on that feeling, I came to realize there was something to that idea...
Ryan = Superman
He's an alien, who fights for the good guys and lives among the humans, is strong and protective, and has a dual identity, which involves him lying to his girlfriend about who he really is. As he tells Georgie in the Pilot, there IS hope and to me, that is VERY much an idealistic/positive Superman thing to say.
Georgie = Batman
Georgie's a character with a tragic background, involving the murder of his family, which causes him to be paranoid and broody. He's friends with Ryan, which parallels Superman and Batman's friendship.
Erica = Black Canary
I had to think on Erica's mirror in the JLA because her being Wonder Woman just didn't fit, even though, the JLA has a big 3 that involves Wonder Woman.
The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that Black Canary was a better fit. Erica's a blonde who can kick all kinds of butt, wears lots of leather, is a founding member of the group, and falls in love with a hot blonde dude (Green Arrow), who is also a member of the Justice League.
FUN FACT: Morena Baccarin, who plays Anna, was the voice of Black Canary in the animated shows, Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited.
Jack = Green Arrow
By default in being Erica's future love interest, Jack becomes Green Arrow because after all, Black Canary and Green Arrrow get married. Now, I know...Jack is a priest and not the womanizing, arrow-slinging, political man that GA is...
What I WOULD point you to in paralleling Father Jack to Green Arrow is Green Arrow's crusade for the working class and the disadvantaged. Father Jack's work in the church and his care for people like Roy, in the wheelchair, make him something of an Oliver Queen to me.
I shared my the Resistance = JLA theory to theninthdoctor and he referenced it in his advanced review for 1x04, which made me quite giddy. Even though it may be childish and me sticking in my love for the JLA into somewhere it might not belong, if you think about it...in a world without superheroes, THIS really WOULD be our JLA. A group of people who come together to save the world from injustice and destruction.
And, that my friends, is part of why I love (and always have loved) V.
The Visitors
The Vs are given America Visas and that is, partially, due to Chad Decker, helping them look good in the public eye. I loved that moment of Anna going up in the elevator, giving Chad the evil eye because I think that's going to define their relationship. She is, literally and physically, above him, symbolically, controlling him, even though, he thinks he's helping THEM.
We get to see our important Visitor characters get their Visas: Anna, Marcus, and Lisa.
Lovin' the V Stamp!
The sign in the Visitor Headquarters in what could be a lobby of some kind translates from Visitor language to English as "We are of Peace". And, yes, I translated that on my own, like a total nerd.
Paul Kendrick, Erica's F.B.I. boss, is totally a V. He was sketchy in 1x02, but I think this episode confirmed it, with him allowing the Visitor security team to take the shooter into their own custody. Even Erica thought that was weird and Dale confirmed that he wasn't the only V at the Bureau.
Anna must have studied humanity for a long time because she's become a master manipulator. She handled the Mary Faulkner situation well enough to get things back in her control.
She tells Marcus to get her everything they have on Mrs. Faulkner because they have to stop the protest movement. Anna knows it's bad PR and bad PR will turn the people against them and that just won't stand because whatever they need with humanity, they need people to trust them.
Anna's fake tears and sympathy made me laugh. She's such a faker. The interesting thing is that she can turn it on and off at will. Kudos to Morena for acting the heck out of that. She is going to be REALLY fun to watch as Anna.
I love that the Visitors form "V" shapes when they are together.
The revelation at the end of the episode telling us that Anna is Lisa's "mother" is not only an awesome twist (that I didn't see coming), but, is more proof that she has studied humanity so well that she knows to send her hot daughter out to seek out some human dude. I suspect the whole "council taking Tyler out of the Peace Ambassadors and then, later, decided to let him back in" scenario was a way to make Tyler grateful for his position.
She knows of the way human relationships are and how we're attracted to other people.
She knew that she needed to handle Mary Faulkner because she knew hatred was contagious and Mary could infect others around the globe.
She knew how to stage the assassination, counting on a smart and competent F.B.I. agent like Erica to pick up all the crumbs they dropped, like the shooter picking up a V jacket.
Anna finally scared me in this episode. She was manipulative and very intentional on corruption and that really pulled me into her as a villain.
Cyrus
Cyrus works in a restaurant, in some capacity, and used to be part of the Fifth Column, but ends up betraying Ryan because he's told he'll be "reconnected" if he turns in his Fifth Column brothers and sisters.
Ryan tries to argue reason with him, but Cyrus brings up the "bliss" and asks Ryan if he misses it. Ryan suggests to Cyrus that the "bliss" is how Anna controls them and compares them to junkies, addicted to drugs.
Ryan leaves the words "John May Lives" on the kitchen door after his skirmish with Cyrus and I got the sense that Marcus is actually a little fearful or worried of this John May person.
Writing
I have to say that even though, some of the writing in V is sort of simplistic (as opposed to say, time travel craziness on Lost), they do what they're supposed to. I like that they set up and pay off.
For example, Erica has the idea that maybe if she protects the Vs, she can find something to help them fight and by the end of the episode, she does, by discovering that the jacket have camera that record audio and video.
That sort of writing is good to me because you can count on everything having meaning.
This episode highlighted what I've always loved about this story: that it's a Good Guys vs. Bad Guys battle.
Erica: There's been a death threat against the Vs.
Jack: You're going to protect the Vs?
Erica: Yeah. Well, if a human kills a Visitor, that makes us the bad guys.
Jack: And, they'll be the good guys.
I love that there are concreted Good Guys and concrete Bad Guys. It's very refreshing because it allows you to be able to cheer on the Good Guys and hiss at the Bad ones. That's what makes it fist-pumping. You WANT the Good Guys to win because they really ARE Good Guys.
Who is this lady?
Jack meets her when trying to track down Georgie. Is she related to Georgie? His Mom? His Sister? Will she be important later? Or, was she just a plot device to tell Jack about Georgie's tragic past? Hmm.
Mothership Establishing Shots
I've been trying to keep track of these because they're so awesome...but, holy crap, there are SO MANY OF THEM. I keep thinking that at some point, they'll start recycling them, but in these first four episodes, they're keepin' 'em pretty fresh!
I just really like the scale of these shots because they show just how HUGE the mothership is and how much of the city it covers.
I wonder if the mothership ever moves or if it just hovers in place? Probably a question that will never be answered, but meh...I've wondered about it.
Final Thoughts
This episode was a great example of how calculated the Visitors are and how much they are in control. Anna found a way to turn things around with Mary Faulkner and quiet a protest movement and they put a plan into action to gain sympathy from humans by faking an assassination attempt on Marcus, using one of their own people as the shooter.