Posted on: March 21st, 2010 PREVIEW: ‘V’ Clip Show – The Arrival
V is back, after a three month break, with a recap/clip show titled ‘The Arrival’ airing Tuesday March 23 on ABC.
The series began in November of last year, airing four episodes, and then took a break for the Olympics or possibly as an ABC marketing stunt. Either way, the clip show will help us all catch up with the story, so we are prepared for the first new episode, ‘Welcome to War,’ which will air Tuesday March 30th.
V (short for Visitors) is a re-imagining of the 1983 mini-series by Kenneth Johnson. I was born that year. It was a good year. Being an infant at the time, I haven’t seen the original series. That’s not much of an excuse, more of a confession, but it means that I can’t tell you if V ‘the re-imagining’ is true to V ‘the original’.
I’m sorry. I tuned in for Alan Tudyk. That is all. Then he dies, because sci-fi writers think it’s some sort of sick joke to murder Alan Tudyk whenever the opportunity arises. That isn’t a spoiler. He always dies. It’s just a fact.
I kept watching the show, under protest, because Morena Baccarin is spectacular as the Visitor’s public face, Anna. If Anna is the slave master, where do I sign up for slave duties?
Right right right… the plot. The Visitors come to Earth, en masse, in giant spaceships. They offer to share their technology and knowledge with humans. This, of course, divides humanity into two camps: those pro-Visitors and those anti-Visitors. Formal diplomatic relations with the United States are soon established (suckers), and the Visitors even start recruiting junior ambassadors among humans.
However, after some humans discover that under their pretty human-like skins, the Visitors are actually scaly reptile alien dudes (sniffle…poor Alan), a resistance movement starts. This resistance is led, so far, by Erica, an FBI agent; Ryan, a reformed Visitor who wants to save humanity; and Father Jack, a priest who is just sorta caught up in the mess.
It’s hard to become a fan of any series after only four episodes. I will say though that I currently lack much of an emotional connection with any of the characters. I find Anna interesting, and Scott Wolf’s character, Chad, slightly entertaining in a slimy reporter type of way. I am looking forward to learning more about the Visitors themselves: their motives, their technology, and their neato spaceships, so I will keep watching for a few more episodes.
If you haven’t been following V, tune into the recap show on Tuesday, and you’ll be all caught up to speed and ready for the Spring run.
All episodes are also available on ABC’s website, if you can survive the l’Oreal commercials.
And please, keep protesting the unnecessary slaughter of Alan Tudyk. It is an atrocity that must be stopped at all costs.