V: 1x01 "Pilot" 11/3/2009 - Grading & Discussion

[Maestro]

So, if we do this show the same way the original was done, why remake it? It's the same as having the next JJ Trek movie include Khan. We have TWOK, why remake it?

Since we have the big reveal upfront, I want to see what the show runners are going to do with the show as the original has already been sprung. Will they be hungry for man? Or is it our dogs? Maybe cats? Are they here to invade? Bring peace? Bring pizza?

And the "they're reptiles" bit? It doesn't matter how old you are, if you're going to watch this show and you're a Sci-Fi buff, you should already know that they're lizards. I mean, c'mon, that's like knowing that the name of the ship on Star Trek is the Enterprise, or that Soylent Green is people.

 

[broberfett]

The first half of the show was pretty bad. I only got interested when they had the resistance meeting with the exploding Kino. I want the bad guys to have some ray guns. I also want the ray guns to hit with more punch than a first degree burn.

FBI girl should have taken her first lizard head as proof. Nobody will believe her now. There were sharp weapons all over that the lizard men brought with them.

P.S.- Any viewers of Penn and Teller Bullshit should know that George Bush Sr. is a lizard man. That means that George W. Bush is at least half lizard man.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

In the original, I believe the Visitors came in one ship

No, in the original V, there were many ships. About 50, I think.

 

[davejames]

What the hell was THAT?!? That had to be some of the sloppiest, most ham-fisted storytelling I've seen in a long time.

There were a few interesting ideas and themes in there, and a few individual scenes that worked, but the story didn't give us a chance to care of get emotionally involved in ANY of it.

The thing was so damn rushed I felt like I was watching one of those season recap episodes they show occasionally before Lost to get people caught up. Although frankly even THOSE have a greater sense of mystery and nuance to them than what I saw tonight.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm probably not going to stick with this one. I've already found time for shows like Glee and Fast Forward, and this show's writing was not very good for me to keep going. I just couldn't get around the whole casual aspect of everyone loving that the Visitors arrived except for a select few. There was no urgency, and it seemed like everyone was talking a very ho-hum attitude. Also, I already have angst in Flash Forward and Glee, so having it in this show too feels a bit much.

 

[Aragorn]

V was underwhelming and seemed to skip a lot of important stuff, as if it were a four hour movie cut in half by the meddling executives who think shorter runtime equals more money even though they're gutting the movie to death. But I'll continue watching because I like Elizabeth Mitchell, Morena Baccarin and the guy from Journeyman and Push who plays the priest. Plus I've already given up on NCIS: Los Angeles and Eastwick.

 

[Snaploud]

Just watched the pilot:

Humanity is sooooooo screwed.

 

[Guy Gardener]

but you're screwed.

Historically being screwed is great.

You're in a total state of bliss from being screwed and then they eat you.

I'm annoyed that my every state of bliss has always been followed by life.

If only a sexy Alien visitor would blow my mind and then eat out of it like an egg cup.

What a happy ending!

Hey, it's a good enough philosophy for the preying Mantis' and the black grooms.

 

[Caliburn24]

Watched the pilot. Yeah the critiques are true enough, lots of the human reaction stuff doesn't feel true, the teenager stuff is silly, lots of stuff was rushed or omitted.

But for all of that, the show moved fast and with a purpose.

And now it can be about the forging of the resistance and the battle against the Vs.

I'm onboard, even though it is silly. And I'll stick around until it becomes another glorified slow moving soap opera like so many shows today.

Although honestly, it'll be done after these first four episodes probably.

 

[dru]

the original, while cheesier and an obvious allegory of the Holocaust, was funner, if one can say the holocaust and fun in the same sentence.

Ok, I'm going to call you out. Just what was "cheesier" in original 1983 mini-series than having TV screens on the bottom of your damn intergalactic space ships?

Seeing suits and ties on aliens made me roll my eyes.

I watched it again just the other day on DVD, it was not cheesy. I'm tired of anything that isn't "OMG RIGHT NOW" being dismissed as "cheese" from the SyFy crowd.

On to the new thing. I was bored. Of course I was reminded I already knew the basic plot (lizards, false pretenses) from the classic. Still, the characters were not anything to care about. In the original we meet regular people, we see full even multigenerational families. In this we get yet another feminist wet dream of the tough, take charge careerist single mom doing battle with feminized, easily led and adolescent (literally in this case) males getting in her way.

The shuttle design is hideous and the CG flight scene wasn't even good.

The original mini-series had better pacing, more relatable characters, more mystery, more tension.

From this pilot it isn't at all surprising production was halted for script rewrites, the show delayed and I read today they just canned the show runner for a new guy.

I had to say "average" since it's the first episode and I'm feeling generous.

 

[Trubinator]

An excellent pilot episode. I do think they gave everything away too quickly though. They should have dragged it out more because I think they'll lose all their plot steam in a few episodes and then get canceled unless they work some magic. Or they could just do what LOST, BSG and every other show like Heroes does and bullshit their way through ... pretending there's really a mystery storyline.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

the original, while cheesier and an obvious allegory of the Holocaust, was funner, if one can say the holocaust and fun in the same sentence.

Ok, I'm going to call you out. Just what was "cheesier" in original 1983 mini-series than having TV screens on the bottom of your damn intergalactic space ships?

Seeing suits and ties on aliens made me roll my eyes.

I watched it again just the other day on DVD, it was not cheesy. I'm tired of anything that isn't "OMG RIGHT NOW" being dismissed as "cheese" from the SyFy crowd.

On to the new thing. I was bored. Of course I was reminded I already knew the basic plot (lizards, false pretenses) from the classic. Still, the characters were not anything to care about. In the original we meet regular people, we see full even multigenerational families. In this we get yet another feminist wet dream of the tough, take charge careerist single mom doing battle with feminized, easily led and adolescent (literally in this case) males getting in her way.

The shuttle design is hideous and the CG flight scene wasn't even good.

The original mini-series had better pacing, more relatable characters, more mystery, more tension.

From this pilot it isn't at all surprising production was halted for script rewrites, the show delayed and I read today they just canned the show runner for a new guy.

I had to say "average" since it's the first episode and I'm feeling generous.

i dunno a young Robert England saying: "I'm just.." "Just what?" I'm just..." hence to say is kind of cheesy in itself, but I understand, it was the 80s, it was a different time. We still loved it! The pre-AIDS, mid-coke era. Ya know? The 80s will always have a special place in all our hearts.

But yeah tough crowd tonight. I mean c'mon, it's only the pilot. Don't you guys think we should at least give it a little time for it to flesh itself out more. Who knows it could either turnout to be a really good remake or just another failed attempt to bring Sci-Fi into the fold. (ie Threshold, Surface, Invasion, etc) I dunno does The Nine count? And back to the drawing board they go.

I do agree that the reveal should have at least been within another 2 episodes. But perhaps they've got something even better in store for us. Is it 6 episodes a network show normally gets, before its decided that they get picked up for a full season?

And I do agree the kid and his chubby buddy are annoying and should be fed to the Visitors immediately! Forgery is bad...

 

[Psion]

I'll be back next week. Probably. Reluctantly.

Largely because the premise has possibility even if they rushed through all their big reveals like a spoiled brat tearing through his Christmas presents.

I'm hoping, as others have speculated, that the rushed pace was simply to get on with the story and not waste time telling us all what we already knew. That the new production team has something good waiting for us. I doubt this, suspecting instead that the writers and producers felt uncomfortable with the space crap and wanted to get back to the more tried and true cliches of cop dramas, office politics, and teenage angst. The only thing missing was the dedicated emergency room surgeon battling his/her own inner demons while giving every patient a new lease on life and their families a new perspective on living.

Oh barf city. Puke-a-rama in 3D. I don't watch those shows and I don't want their content in my sci-fi escapism.

And where are the scientists? Don't you think a scientist character might be kind of useful to have in a freaking alien invasion story? Naturally the agents of media and state are invoked and once again glorified, and there's even an agent of God. But I suppose someone in the breakdown room decided that scientists can't be cool. They can't be action-adventure heroes, because in their moribund, sessile imaginations, only a cop can hold a gun and only a reporter can dig for the truth. And scientists have to be socially-awkward lab-coat hangers who can't contribute excitement, and whose only purpose might be found in a non-recurring role presenting a banal analysis that the cop ingeniously finds to have great significance that ultimately puts her and her partners in danger again before the next commercial break.

Hey, guys? Indiana Jones was a freaking archeologist (that's a type of scientist you self-pleasuring cretins) and Indiana Jones has one hell of a lot more hero potential than ANY of these bureaucrat-inspired button-pusher characters who specialize in nothing more compelling than long gazes that are supposed to look significant.

Agents of state, media, and God. Maybe they're pushing for social archetypes or something. Maybe there's a mythological epic behind the story that I haven't seen that drives the writers past all the superficial crap and rips it all away like so much fake skin over delicious, original reptilian scales underneath.

And maybe I put too many beans in my chili last night and I'm just blowing more wind than this thing deserves.

 

[DarKush]

I rewatched part of the original on SyFy the other day and I don't see what was cheesy at all about it. Sure, the creature effects aren't great, but they were pretty good for 80's TV, so I'm not rolling my eyes at that. Some of the characters might've been stock characters, or even a bit stereotypical (Elias, I'm thinking about you), but for the most part the characters had differently layers and were well acted. Even Elias had some depth after scratching the surface and became an important member of the resistance.

What's cheesy about an alien having translation problems? That's no more cheesier than me, being an American, going to a foreign country and mispronouncing a phrase. If nothing else, it made the Visitors, Willie at least, seem more endearing.

BTW, thanks Mr. LB for letting me know there was more than one ship. Couldn't remember that.

 

[Roshi]

I felt it was too rushed. I deplore the lack of scientists and the parallel with Nazi Germany.

 

[Gibraltar]

There is a really good show to be had in this...the problem is that it was rushed.

The original took its time introducing the Visitors. Hell in the original, the Visitors took their time before even making the initial communication. In the original, the first meeting at the UN was a HUGE event.

The new version was simply too much too quickly without giving us or the characters a chance to really absorb the monumental nature of what was happening. Perhaps the writiers decided that since the Visitor's "secret" was not much of a secret anymore, they saw no reason to drag it all out. I can appreciate that logic, it just hurts the story.

This sums up my feelings on it perfectly, thanks.

 

[23skidoo]

I enjoyed it and I hope it has a longer lifespan than the last Kenneth Johnson remake (Bionic Woman). It's definitely a lot more successful in recapturing the spirit of the original because except for changing up the names and such, it's very much following the same path.

I punched the air when they made the little dig a Independence Day which was critiicized for being a ripoff of V!

Unfortunately, the show is doomed. It has all the earmarks of being a "slow developing arc". American TV viewers have shown in almost 99% of the cases (Lost being the 1% exception) that they don't want slow-moving arcs. The pilot might get good ratings, and good reviews, but trust me if we aren't seeing space battles by episode 3 people will be tuning out. My fear is that this is what ABC is worried about which is why they forced a regime change 4 episodes in. If this just becomes another space-battle show, or worse yet a clone of Earth Final Conflict (which granted was a clone of V anyway) the show will collapse.

Alex

 

[rac76]

I watched with not much enthusiasm. I guess I shouldn't have watched the marathon on SyFy, because I was trying to compare it to the original. Sorry, but I was. For me, this should've been a total revamp of the original, like nuBSG came out to be. So I don't think that I will keep watching, it just didn't do anything for me.

 

[Gertch]

Thinking about it overnight I'm not so enthused any more. The idea they have been living among us for a long time has been done too many times. Hopefully they'll develop special sunglasses to see the truth.

I'll still watch for a while since I've dropped FF.

 

[TerriO]

In retrospect, I can think of a prime example of the problems that the script had. We shouldn't have been told by the guy in the resistance cell that the V's were reptilian. We should have found that out when Erica hit Dale and broke the mask. Telling us ahead of time took at least half the whollop out of that moment. All we needed was that moment as filmed, without the telling in advance, to give us the "they've been among us for a long time" "they're reptilian" and they're bad guys reveals all at once. But no, we get spoon-fed the information in the most ham-handed manner possible instead of letting the events show the story. Instead of letting that moment have some major dramatic impact on the story, all it does is tell us that her partner's one of them. They tried to cram a novel's worth of story into a short-story format. A good writer could do that. Would that a good writer had gotten their hands on this script before principal photography.