Episode 3: A Bright New DayDon't know how long I'll be keeping tabs on this show for the blog. I'll be watching it, but writing about it? Not sure. The biggest part of the reason is that NOT ENOUGH HAPPENS. Or really, NOT ENOUGH HAPPENS FOR ME. And it's totally my bias for BBC and HBO productions that keeps seasons between 6 and 13 episodes, fully packing each hour (yes, full hours!) with CHARACTER and STORY. Now it's not really V's fault. It's just following the American model, losing 20 minutes to commercials and mini-cliffhangers going into those commercial breaks. Furthermore, it's following the "deep mystery built for DVD" trend started by "24", ending each episode on a small twist that makes you want to play the next episode ("just one more"). But on a weekly basis, it's not quite as engaging. A week passes, and I forgot what intrigued me at the end of the last ep.
If V is to play out over 4 seasons as planned, the first season will probably just build the Resistance. The fight begins in Season 2, the Vs win over Season 3, and humanity's inevitable comeback occurs in Season 4. But at 20-something episodes per season, none of that is compacted. In episode 2, our good sleeper sought out another sleeper only to get whacked on the head. This episode, same thing happens. Not exactly the same result, but do we need to see each recruitment attempt? The answer is yes, because we've got all those episodes to fill.
I'm also missing out on the Visitor's alienness. What kind of culture do they have? Right now, they've taken human names and use concepts such as the Fifth Column, which are decidedly humanocentric. I understand the need to keep secrets, this early in the game, but even when they're alone together, they keep things close to the vest, only a sometimes sufficient reptilian performance supporting the scenes. And yet, I admire their media games, staging events to help their P.R., that's all very well done. And even among the V, you can't trust the bad guys to necessarily be bad. Looks like both sides are manipulating humanity. But aside from the high tech elements, this could be a conspiracy story without the aliens.
Did anyone else have sound problems in one of the acts? All I had was the soundtrack and folley, but no dialogue (or dim, very distorted dialogue). Rather bizarre. Thank the Lords of Geekery for Close Captioning. And speaking of production problems, I think the creators missed out on giving their episodes titles that start with the letter V, something I have availed myself of on this blog. A simple thing, easy to miss or to find unworkable over the series' projected ±100 episodes, but I don't particularly care for the titles they DID come up with. In this one, the Vs get Visas. Writes itself.
Comments
Example: Morris Chestnut's character. Sure, he's a V, and he's a renegade...but why? Why is he betraying his people? And what, exactly, is his day job? All of his actions come out of nowhere, because he isn't a real character.
Similarly, other characters feel like cutouts spouting expected cliches, and not actually responding to what's happening. Erika had to team up with a V security officer, and when their mission was done, he said, "I'm sorry I doubted you." Uhhh...fine...but you never bothered to actually give us a scene where he expressed that doubt, so the apology comes out of nowhere.
I just feel the creators are on complete auto-pilot here. If next week weren't the last one for a few months, I'd be bailing already.