George Allen Miller One Geek's take on all things SciFi

I just finished watching V. The ABC reboot of this 80′s classic. I loved the original. I watched every episode of both miniseries and all the shows that followed. Though I have to admin, in the original, the supreme leader being a light bulb was a little disappointing.  That said, I was looking forward to the reboot of this cult classic. My initial rating, a C+.  My rating is based on casting, special effects and plot line.

Lets work backwards from the plot. I watched the show on my DVR this morning at 8am. At the very onset of the show, I was taken aback by the Visitors calling themselves “Vs”. In a word, gay (I am not homophobic and my gay friends would characterize it the same way). V, in the original show, stood for Victory, not for a catchy name that they called themselves. Yes, they called themselves visitors but not v’s. Why? Cause it sounds stupid. That part aside, it’s truly a small point, I continued to watch the show hopeing nothing else was cheesy. Seeing the big face of Anna (formally Diana from the original) was kinda neat. It spoiled the whole “They don’t even look like mr. spock” moment from the first show, but as BattleStar Gallactica showed us, you don’t have to stick exactly to the original story, it can get rebooted for a new generation.

The rest of the episode revealed just about everything. The Visitors (i refuse to call them V’s) are here for bad reasons, are lizards, there are traitors among them, and we now have a resistance movement comprised of an “Other” and the cop from 4400. So, basically, the plot is the same. My problem here is, why did they have to reveal everything in the first episode? What’s the rush? It would be like BSG running into the Pegasus in episode 1. Let it evolve already! Don’t show the traitor visitors (Fifth Column in the original) in the first episode! Don’t show that they are lizards in the first episode! Let it evolve already! It just felt a bit rushed to me, they could have let it build a bit more. That though may be the difference between a pilot of a TV show and a miniseries in the 80′s. The pilot, in today’s world, may have to get to the point a bit quicker to grab an audience. In the 80′s there were 3 channels, mostly. Today there are hundreds. Its hard to grab your share. Still, seeing the son turn into a traitor so fast, and putting on a Visitor coat in the end of the show, was a bit fast. Maybe i’m comparing it too much to the original as to how fast it developed, but it did seem fast. On the point of plot, I have to give a D. Was just too rushed for my tastes and far too predictable.

As for special effects and casting, here I give higher marks. Casting is top notch really. A host of former SciFi stars from Stargate, Firefly, 4400, Lost and more. All good actors and actresses in their own right who are comfortable with the whole scifi feel and story lines of this show. Special effects are good, the interior of the ships are pretty cool. For casting, acting and special effects I have to go high to a B+. Keep in mind that’s a solid A for casting and a B for special effects.

I also read how V got a strong market share to audiences. That’s great! I do hope the show does well. Perhaps they wanted to get us to the point of the resistance quickly, in that respect the Pilot did it’s job well. They are here now, the resistance is forming, the Fifth Column is there, and we are ready to roll. I am looking forward to future episodes, which if that is any mark of success, the show did very well.

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