Wr: Kenneth Johnson & Scott Peters
Dr: Yves Simoneau
Synopsis: Dozens of UFOs hover in the sky. Anna, the leader of the V's, wants everyone to unite as one and puts her faith in humanity's key element which is devotion. The V's are considered to be a threat; however, they overcome any obstacles thrown at them and become an instant attraction. FBI Counter Terrorist Agent Erica Evans finds a secret hidden beneath the skin of every V. For Chad Decker V, it could make his career sky rocket as a news anchor when he gets to interview Anna, the leader of the V's. Meanwhile, Father Jack questions his faith as he seeks answers outside the church.
Synopsis: A competent start to what looks to be a fairly faithful, yet suitably different, adaptation. Sensibly, Peters and Johnson's script resists the temptation to linger, longingly, on the fateful moment that life changed for every last soul on Earth and, instead, gets on with the business of propelling the narrative forward, manoeuvring a number of seemingly disparate characters into position such that they unite in their efforts to form a resistance to the duplicitous Visitors. This gives the episode a sense of purpose, a momentum that would otherwise have been lacking had the production crew chosen to waste their time whacking off over their suitably gargantuan effects budget. We do get a delightfully disturbing sequence in which some form of aircraft smashes its way through the streets of New York, and very nearly through your television screen, and lots of lovely shots of the Visitors' spaceships, but that's pretty much it. There's no overt dramatic fanfare, very little time spent in awe of events. It's all confined to a pleasingly uneasy opening sequence, shot from each player's geographical perspective, that quickly gives way to a three week time jump; the kind of which the writers of the rather similar, and pretty damn awesome, District 9 would be proud.
With such a great deal of time spent getting to grips with the plot, getting to a place where the key components of the show are set up, we don't do much more than scratch the surface of the characters that will be driving V in the weeks to come. Currently, they're all fairly standard archetypes, which is a little regrettable. There's clearly a great deal of talent around: Juliet Landau is typically excellent as the suspicious Erica, but she remains a fairly bog-standard Hollywood FBI agent, distrusting of others (thanks to marital problems - who didn't see that one coming, eh? Oh, and while we're on the subject, Logan Huffman's Tyler: the jury's still out on you, pal) and paranoid enough to find her way to the truth while everyone around her has the wool pulled over their eyes. Mind, at least she doesn't just happen to figure everything out on her own; instead, there's a pre-formed resistance movement that she stumbles upon, which is a far more believable and organic method of establishing this important narrative beat. US sci-fi staple Joel Gretsch (The 4400, Taken) is also on top form as the doubting Thomas, sorry Father Jack, but currently, his difficulties with his faith are simply a convenient way of getting the character together with Landau. Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we'll get a chance to explore his motivations. And then, of course, there's Party of Five and Everwood's Scott Wolf as Chad Decker, the television anchorman shooting for the stars, who manages to successfully convey the character's deep-seated reservations about 'getting into bed' with the deceptively serene Anna with the scantest of dialogue. As his story is so intrinsically intertwined with the most interesting aspect of the entire show, - the mysterious Visitors themselves - the lack of any deeper exploration of Decker's character feels more acceptable than the others... or perhaps just because Wolf and the superlative Morena Baccarin steal the show. Either way, the game of cat and mouse between the journalist and the ambassador is decidedly intriguing and shows much promise for the weeks to come.
Aside from the various gripes about character development, 'Pilot' is an effective and well written introduction to the wonderful world of V. Johnson and Peters' script is taut and entertaining, the cast slip effortlessly into their respective roles and Yves Simoneau's direction is superbly methodical and understated, reserving bombast and dramatics for when they're most needed, and shooting the whole thing through with a palpable feeling of unease. The death of the gentleman in the church is bereft of hyperbole, and is a thousand times more disturbing because of it, while the one-note ambient sounds that underscore the majority of the episode's scenes make even the most mundane of developments seem as eerie as Paranormal Activity. Well, almost. Plus, it's got a freaking awesome title sequence (if you can call it that.) It may have a few creases to iron out, but for now, V is definitely worthy of your attention... and your patience. 8.4
With such a great deal of time spent getting to grips with the plot, getting to a place where the key components of the show are set up, we don't do much more than scratch the surface of the characters that will be driving V in the weeks to come. Currently, they're all fairly standard archetypes, which is a little regrettable. There's clearly a great deal of talent around: Juliet Landau is typically excellent as the suspicious Erica, but she remains a fairly bog-standard Hollywood FBI agent, distrusting of others (thanks to marital problems - who didn't see that one coming, eh? Oh, and while we're on the subject, Logan Huffman's Tyler: the jury's still out on you, pal) and paranoid enough to find her way to the truth while everyone around her has the wool pulled over their eyes. Mind, at least she doesn't just happen to figure everything out on her own; instead, there's a pre-formed resistance movement that she stumbles upon, which is a far more believable and organic method of establishing this important narrative beat. US sci-fi staple Joel Gretsch (The 4400, Taken) is also on top form as the doubting Thomas, sorry Father Jack, but currently, his difficulties with his faith are simply a convenient way of getting the character together with Landau. Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we'll get a chance to explore his motivations. And then, of course, there's Party of Five and Everwood's Scott Wolf as Chad Decker, the television anchorman shooting for the stars, who manages to successfully convey the character's deep-seated reservations about 'getting into bed' with the deceptively serene Anna with the scantest of dialogue. As his story is so intrinsically intertwined with the most interesting aspect of the entire show, - the mysterious Visitors themselves - the lack of any deeper exploration of Decker's character feels more acceptable than the others... or perhaps just because Wolf and the superlative Morena Baccarin steal the show. Either way, the game of cat and mouse between the journalist and the ambassador is decidedly intriguing and shows much promise for the weeks to come.
Aside from the various gripes about character development, 'Pilot' is an effective and well written introduction to the wonderful world of V. Johnson and Peters' script is taut and entertaining, the cast slip effortlessly into their respective roles and Yves Simoneau's direction is superbly methodical and understated, reserving bombast and dramatics for when they're most needed, and shooting the whole thing through with a palpable feeling of unease. The death of the gentleman in the church is bereft of hyperbole, and is a thousand times more disturbing because of it, while the one-note ambient sounds that underscore the majority of the episode's scenes make even the most mundane of developments seem as eerie as Paranormal Activity. Well, almost. Plus, it's got a freaking awesome title sequence (if you can call it that.) It may have a few creases to iron out, but for now, V is definitely worthy of your attention... and your patience. 8.4
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