Of all the negative comments about the show in this thread, I personally find the multiple mentions of "teenage characters" the most terrifying. 
V: 1x01 "Pilot" 11/3/2009 - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter jefferiestubes8
- Start date
I voted average.
I liked the idea of sleeper cells of aliens, laying the ground work decades perhaps in advance of the Visitors arrival. However, I didn't like the idea that the sleepers might be behind all or most of the turmoil the Earth of "V" is going through. I would think that humans could mess up a planet pretty well on their own.
I also didn't like the aliens calling themselves Visitors or how that was quickly and 'coolly' shortened to just "V's."
My main issue with the pilot was that everything was sped up. In the original the Visitors' plan took some time to unfold. But in the new one, even their arrival is ominous and causes some calamity. In the original, I believe the Visitors came in one ship and there was a general sense of wonder and awe on the part of humanity and the old mini really did a good job of capturing that. Perhaps the new show was more realistic in terms of showing how the arrival of Visitors might cause some massive riots/disturbances around the world, but I think the old mini was better at slowly revealing the fascist nature of the Visitors, of sucking humanity in until it was almost too late. There was some skepticism in the old mini early on, but it wasn't laid on as thickly as it was in the new show. Nor were the Visitors so obviously manipulative as Ana. Diana was sort of in the background at first, while the friendly, avuncular John took center stage in greeting the citizens of Earth.
I did like how the new show portrayed the media pelting Ana with questions, but I liked the old mini's way of how the Visitors co-opted their media spokesperson. It wasn't so upfront. It almost made sense for the lady in the old show to become the voice of the Visitors. But the dude in the new one knows up front that its a bogus deal, and he's going to do it anyway.
The reptilian reveal came too early in my opinion. In the old show it was shocking, as was the eating of rodents. Now they've sort of messed that up. Perhaps the old mini's characters were stock characters, but I found them more relatable and likable than the new characters. The friendship between the FBI agent and the Priest is way too sudden.
Also don't like that the new Visitors don't have updated red uniforms. Those old uniforms were one of the coolest parts of the old show. As were the modulated voices. And I kept waiting for someone to say the aliens felt cold to the touch, but no such luck.
One thing that might be good about the new show is that with the more prominent role for the Priest there might be more religious/spiritual questions/elements/themes in the show regarding the arrival of the Visitors. That was something not really explored-to my knowledge-in the original.
I was disappointed that Alan Tudyk was killed off until I saw the previews. He's too good to not keep around for a while. Also like Morris Chestnutt's sleeper alien. Both Morena Baccarin and Supergirl were hot though. Most of the other characters didn't really do much for me.
I liked the idea of sleeper cells of aliens, laying the ground work decades perhaps in advance of the Visitors arrival. However, I didn't like the idea that the sleepers might be behind all or most of the turmoil the Earth of "V" is going through. I would think that humans could mess up a planet pretty well on their own.
I also didn't like the aliens calling themselves Visitors or how that was quickly and 'coolly' shortened to just "V's."
My main issue with the pilot was that everything was sped up. In the original the Visitors' plan took some time to unfold. But in the new one, even their arrival is ominous and causes some calamity. In the original, I believe the Visitors came in one ship and there was a general sense of wonder and awe on the part of humanity and the old mini really did a good job of capturing that. Perhaps the new show was more realistic in terms of showing how the arrival of Visitors might cause some massive riots/disturbances around the world, but I think the old mini was better at slowly revealing the fascist nature of the Visitors, of sucking humanity in until it was almost too late. There was some skepticism in the old mini early on, but it wasn't laid on as thickly as it was in the new show. Nor were the Visitors so obviously manipulative as Ana. Diana was sort of in the background at first, while the friendly, avuncular John took center stage in greeting the citizens of Earth.
I did like how the new show portrayed the media pelting Ana with questions, but I liked the old mini's way of how the Visitors co-opted their media spokesperson. It wasn't so upfront. It almost made sense for the lady in the old show to become the voice of the Visitors. But the dude in the new one knows up front that its a bogus deal, and he's going to do it anyway.
The reptilian reveal came too early in my opinion. In the old show it was shocking, as was the eating of rodents. Now they've sort of messed that up. Perhaps the old mini's characters were stock characters, but I found them more relatable and likable than the new characters. The friendship between the FBI agent and the Priest is way too sudden.
Also don't like that the new Visitors don't have updated red uniforms. Those old uniforms were one of the coolest parts of the old show. As were the modulated voices. And I kept waiting for someone to say the aliens felt cold to the touch, but no such luck.
One thing that might be good about the new show is that with the more prominent role for the Priest there might be more religious/spiritual questions/elements/themes in the show regarding the arrival of the Visitors. That was something not really explored-to my knowledge-in the original.
I was disappointed that Alan Tudyk was killed off until I saw the previews. He's too good to not keep around for a while. Also like Morris Chestnutt's sleeper alien. Both Morena Baccarin and Supergirl were hot though. Most of the other characters didn't really do much for me.
Above Average.
I very much enjoyed it. I thought they did a good job building up the suspense and the feeling of impending doom. The beautiful Elizabeth Mitchell, as always, was quite good. Thought it could have used more time to establish the characters.
I very much enjoyed it. I thought they did a good job building up the suspense and the feeling of impending doom. The beautiful Elizabeth Mitchell, as always, was quite good. Thought it could have used more time to establish the characters.
Regrettably, I don't remember lots of details about the old V, even though I watched it all. I mean, of course I remember Robin and the Starchild, Diana and the really important stuff, but after 25 years of not seeing it, most of the memory of the details is gone.
Exactly. Someone up-thread sais they might have done it since "everyone already knows they're aliens in disguise."
I didn't. I've never seen the original mini-series and I'd suspect many haven't. "Because some segment of the population may already be clued in to plot details" is a poor reason to dispense with all exposition and tension built over several episodes and just splurt out an entire half-season's worth of information in one episode of premature plotjaculation.
I mean, the same logic could be used for any number of things. "Everyone alread knows" that Peter Parker got his powers through a spider-bite and he too control of his powers and destiny when his Uncle died, so why do we need a whole half-movie establishing this?
No, sorry, good story telling shouldn't work like that.
Everything that happened in this episode should've taken place over several episodes. Instead in one freaking episode the aliens arrive, meet with world leaders, are accepted with open arms by the populace, a resistance to them has built up, and we discover they have undercover agents living on the planet for years, and that the aliens are reptilian with human-body suits on.
It's too much, too fast. I think at one point in this episode we're told weeks had passed! A single episode in an serialized TV series like this shouldn't span weeks of time.
If they're going to blow their wad all in one episode like this the next few episodes better give us some damn good cuddling and pillow talk.
I'd have to watch it again, but at one point I think we're told a period of some number of weeks had passed. (I think this was said around the time the aliens visted the UN, or when the stupid teenagers took their little field trip to the Mothership.
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I liked it, also Alan Tudyk getting hit with metal sticks is becoming a trend. Serenity, Dollhouse, V have all involved something either impaling or hitting him.
Exactly. Someone up-thread sais they might have done it since "everyone already knows they're aliens in disguise."
I didn't. I've never seen the original mini-series and I'd suspect many haven't. "Because some segment of the population may already be clued in to plot details" is a poor reason to dispense with all exposition and tension built over several episodes and just splurt out an entire half-season's worth of information in one episode of premature plotjaculation.
I mean, the same logic could be used for any number of things. "Everyone alread knows" that Peter Parker got his powers through a spider-bite and he too control of his powers and destiny when his Uncle died, so why do we need a whole half-movie establishing this?
No, sorry, good story telling shouldn't work like that.
Everything that happened in this episode should've taken place over several episodes. Instead in one freaking episode the aliens arrive, meet with world leaders, are accepted with open arms by the populace, a resistance to them has built up, and we discover they have undercover agents living on the planet for years, and that the aliens are reptilian with human-body suits on.
It's too much, too fast. I think at one point in this episode we're told weeks had passed! A single episode in an serialized TV series like this shouldn't span weeks of time.
If they're going to blow their wad all in one episode like this the next few episodes better give us some damn good cuddling and pillow talk.
I'd have to watch it again, but at one point I think we're told a period of some number of weeks had passed. (I think this was said around the time the aliens visted the UN, or when the stupid teenagers took their little field trip to the Mothership.
Maybe ABC didn't want this to suffer the same fate as Invasion and felt a need to lay it all out right away rather than risk losing the ADD viewers.
And with this sentence, tons of fan-fic is born.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
It was almost crap. It was condensed, yet not engaging. I mean, if I can remember to tune in, I'll give it another shot or two.
Maybe Marc Singer and Michael Ironside will appear and tell the resistance that "this has all happened before and will all happen again."
Maybe Marc Singer and Michael Ironside will appear and tell the resistance that "this has all happened before and will all happen again."
Yeah, it's not likely they have a wildly popular TV series that has taken it's entire life-span to give its viewers tidbits of information.
Touche.
That was surprisingly dull. It seems like part of actually re-making a show should be changing it up enough that it's not utterly predictable. Giant spaceships arrive? Yes, that's your premise. They're secretly EVIL! Well, no fucking kidding--wouldn't be much of a show without conflict, now would it. Aha, but they're reptilian! As anybody who has even heard of the initial miniseries already knew. And look, one of them is on our side. The bloody episode had been so simplistic thus far that was practically inevitable. A bad reaction to have to a 'new' show, that it's an entirely routine, paint-by-numbers exercise without any surprises (well, other than Alan Tudyk being in the show, which I did not know about but, yay Wash!). And I just had to shake my head at the setup... 'they walk among us!' Gee, you think this might reflect a fear of infiltration in a post 9/11 society? How insightful and timely of them! (When I say 'Cylon', you say 'hey'.)
Much of the show wasted on pointless, trite crap. Like Flashforward, this show seems to think that what's really interesting during phenomenal, world-altering events is the same kind of boring shit you get in primetime soaps. I'd like to single out for particular contempt the astoundingly original premise of a teen who resents his/her parent for being away doing unimportant things like stopping terrorism instead of--what? making you sandwhiches? Jerkwad, you're seventeen years old--either cut the cord or fulfill your Oedipus complex already (nobody would blame you; your mom is hot). Never mind this everyday filler; give us something new. What I want to find out about is the aliens, not the petty troubles of the people below.
Must praise the SFX, however; very well done for TV. I loved those shots of the ships floating over the various cities, the interior of the New York vessel, the fighter jet crash... if nothing else, at least it was pretty.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Much of the show wasted on pointless, trite crap. Like Flashforward, this show seems to think that what's really interesting during phenomenal, world-altering events is the same kind of boring shit you get in primetime soaps. I'd like to single out for particular contempt the astoundingly original premise of a teen who resents his/her parent for being away doing unimportant things like stopping terrorism instead of--what? making you sandwhiches? Jerkwad, you're seventeen years old--either cut the cord or fulfill your Oedipus complex already (nobody would blame you; your mom is hot). Never mind this everyday filler; give us something new. What I want to find out about is the aliens, not the petty troubles of the people below.
Must praise the SFX, however; very well done for TV. I loved those shots of the ships floating over the various cities, the interior of the New York vessel, the fighter jet crash... if nothing else, at least it was pretty.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
I'm OK with the acceleration and the reveal being in the pilot. Why? Because we already know that they're reptiles from the original. Unless the writers weren't going to use that, there's no big reveal when it happens. If you're going to do it, it doesn't matter if it's in Episode 1 or 100, it's not going to shock.
Wash being a bad guy was more shocking.
Now, we've got a pre-invasion infiltration to work with and the big reveal right away. I'm not gonna sit here and gripe about the big reveal, but I want to see what they do with things now that we all know from the pilot.
Wash being a bad guy was more shocking.
Now, we've got a pre-invasion infiltration to work with and the big reveal right away. I'm not gonna sit here and gripe about the big reveal, but I want to see what they do with things now that we all know from the pilot.
The teenage angst stuff is going to be quite annoying.
You know that only because you're aware of the original. There's plenty of people, myself included, who may watch this show who do not know that.
People who'e read what Flash Forward is based off-of already know everything that's happening, doesn't mean they should shoot out the entire plot in one episode. Getting there is half the fun. Show don't tell, all of that.
Exactly. FlashForward went beyond the interesting stuff and turned into a dull soap opera. If I want that shit, I'll watch Days of Our Lives (or whatever airs nowadays; I don't even know if it airs anymore.)
I don't give a shit about some divorced woman's woes or some bratty teen or evil/bad/corrupt/stupid goverment (FlashForward), sleeper cells, etc. I can read/hear about that daily on the news.
Interesting things grab me. First contact is definitely interesting.
I know there's a paucity of imagination when it comes to TV and movies (part of the reason why so much is remakes and not new ideas) but jeez, is it REALLY that hard to tell a good, interesting story?
Can't believe that NOBODY acknowledged or asked WHY they look human
There was the comment about being attractive, but nothing asked about why they look exactly human, where they were from or anything
This really bothers me, its like people didn't care
Yeah, everyone just took the whole thing in stride. People seem downright bored that friggin aliens had just parked spaceships over our cities!
They smiled and aplauded when the alien said he piece? Instead of completely flipping out?!
Unless there's an in-show explanation given with the aliens polluting our waters with an alien-form of Xanax then I'm going to call Shenanigans on this show. Like said above, it's like Flash Forward. Everyone just took the whole thing in stride, other than mentioning what they saw it seems like eveyone has completley forgotten that the whole fucking planet blacked out for 2-some minutes and that thousands have died. And the hospital seems surprisingly calm considering how many injured people there'd likely be.
Interesting, engaging, premises like this shouldn't be just brushed aside.
It's sort-of like when Jericho first came out -before the hiatus afterwhich I understand it took its premise more seriously- everyone seemed to fairly quickly or shrug-off that nuclear bombs had been detonated around the country. Nope, it's ok. We'll just have friggin' bar-b-q on picnic tables damp with rainwater tainted with the likely radioactive ashes of a major American city.
Nope, we need to have more family-fun angst!
Wow, you and I had the exact opposite reaction. You thought it was all too fast; I felt it was all déja vu. Already underwhelmed, I don't think I would have stuck with it if they had dragged it out more. Though I suppose I wouldn't have minded if some of the 'reveals' came a few episodes later as long as they were doing interesting things in between (which they weren't even doing here in an episode that had a high concentration of plot points, so I'm not exactly hopeful).
With respect, this is wrong. Flashforward (the show) covered a large chunk of the book in their premiere, from the event itself to the birth of Mosaic, and then, at the close of the episode, radically diverged from the book such that even those who have read it now have no idea what's coming, and has been doing it's own thing since (other than the soap elements, that is). That's an element missing here; it's all good and well to be faithful, but without an element of originality, there's little to hook one in.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman