Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine After you it comes: V

So anyone else catch it last night? I thought it was a pretty good begining but it could of used another hour so it wasn't so rushed. My other thought was how Laura Vandervoort going from Kryptonian to Vistor was kind of a downgrade as alien species go.

FYI the pilot is up on iTunes for those who missed it/want to watch it again.

...or for FREE on ABC's site starting Saturday!

Actually it's free on iTunes too, I just accidently left that part out.

The way I understand it, the first four episodes will make up one story arc, which is part of the reason there will be a hiatus before the rest of the episodes are shown.

I thought it was a promising start. I wasn't too impressed at first, but it got better as it went along.

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Clever twist that the Visitors have already been here undercover for decades. I wish we had gotten a full unmasking, though. The scene of Elizabeth Mitchell partially unmasking her partner can't hold a candle to the visceral impact of the scene in the original miniseries where Marc Singer rips off the Visitor soldier's entire face.</span></span>

yeah
but its hard to top something thats already been done, the shock is already gone.

I enjoyed the premiere, but like many I also wish we'd been given two hours to get acquainted with the characters and story.

Random thoughts:
- While many people were already expecting the V's to be malevolent reptiles, I thought they could've done a much better job with the reveal. Having that resistance guy just say it took away a potentially dramatic moment in the show.
- That teenage kid needs to die. Soon.
- Too bad we didn't get to see a "Firefly" reunion with Alan Tudyck and "Anna".
- If there really are V's among us who are on our side, why don't they just reveal themselves as lizardmen to discredit Anna? Maybe they don't want to force a confrontation where humanity can't win, but we'll see if that's their rationale.
- Are they saying George W. Bush was an alien? (maybe Dick Cheney...)
- Not that I know any priests, but the guy from "The 4400" doesn't seem believable to me.
- This show has a lot of potential, but the realities of what might actually happen in terms if real world reactions need to be addressed in a believable way as to not undermine the drama they're trying to tell here.

It was an alright premiere. I almost gave up on it about halfway through. The last 20 minutes or so saved it for me. They borrowed enough from the original, but changed up enough of the characters to make it at least different enough.

They also borrowed a little from the BSG redo with the sleeper agents that have been here a while.

I'll give it the initial run before the hiatus...then I'll decide for sure.

The fact that I watched the original killed the possibility of the show generating any real suspense. Still, I thought it was pretty good.

I'm still hopeful that they'll do something original in the course of the first few episodes.

Shows that are remakes of a concept have a lot to live up to in the wake of BSG.

Yeah, I have no interest in seeing some kind of starchild save the world in the last ten minutes.

Btw, how freaked out were you in the original "V" by the newborn lizard/human hybrid babies birthing scene? Freaked me the hell *OUT* when I saw it as a kid!!

I almost want to see Marc Singer make a cameo. (if Richard "Apollo" Hatch can make a comeback...)

I love the original mini's. My dad has them on DVD, so I can borrow them any time. Alien baby was wicked cool at the time.

I'd love to see Marc, Robert, or any of the core group make a cameo. Maybe with one like you said with a semi-recurring role.

how come no one says to the Visitors
Hey would you mind moving your ships to a more isolated area. The new york ship is right over central square, no sun anymore for that area.

I have one big problem with this series: if the humans actually ever defeat the aliens, then the series is over. (This is known as the Gilligan's Island syndrome - if the main conflict is ever resolved, the series' premise is undermined.) This is why V worked as a miniseries, and why I suspect it will fail as a series. Still, the show is good enough that I will keep watching for awhile.

The big question I have is: if the Visitors have such advanced technology, why don't they just take what they want? The answer, I suppose, is that the humans could easily defeat the Visitors - if they only knew how.

So, anyone still watching this?

Or watching it again, since it came back on last night?

I watched it last nigh because my wife's into it. Me, I saw the first episode and was mildly intrigued but never watched the other three on DVR. Last night was an eerie combination of the original series' campiness and an attempt at Lost-like sophistication. Still not sure what I feel about it, but I'll probably at least watch next week's episode.

Offhand, I'd say the writing could use an upgrade, and some of the actors are pretty good while others seem pretty bad. I dunno if it's just the material they have to work with or if they're just that bad. I do like Elizabeth Mitchell (whom I miss as Lost's Juliet) and Morris Chestnut as the friendly V and the new rogueish character just introduced who's apparently filling the Michael Ironside role from the original.

Troublesome is Morena Baccarin as Anna. I can't tell if she's trying to come off as alien or if her acting here is just wooden. I liked her in Firefly/Serenity, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

We'll see what next week has in store.

I gave up on it by the third episode. The most frustrating thing is that of all the oldies that could have been remade, "V" was one of the very few that could have easily accomodated a state-of-the-art 21st Century approach. Instead, it's bland and meh and...just there. Instead of falling back on the fake skin they should have had the aliens be shapeshifters -- think how cool and creepy that would be.

I borrowed the library's copy of the original mini-series on DVD recently, and except for the climactic chase and battle, it holds up remarkably well. So the concept is just fine, it's the execution.

I watched the first four episodes online the other night, and then the new one. There's a lot to like about it, but it kind of falls flat on some level. I'm not sure why, though.

I vaguely remember watching the original series when I was a kid, but don't really remember anything about it.

Elizabeth Mitchell is by far the best thing about the show, however.

Come to think of it, holograms would've made a lot of sense.

Shapeshifting is far more visceral than holograms, though.

I highly recommend watching the original mini-series again. At its best, it's almost like Kenneth Johnson is Steven Spielberg's shadow self! But avoid the second mini-series and the ongoing series -- Johnson had little to do with the former and nothing to do with the latter.

The second one wasn't terrible...nowhere as good as the first, but light years ahead of the series.

All that shit with the Star Child was where it jumped the shark in V: The Final Battle. That carried over into the series where things just devolved further and further into camp. Towards the end, they started shedding some of the better characters.

They were like desperate people on the Titanic by the end of the series. They couldn't get out fast enough.

Regarding "V: The Final Battle", I think it's merely an efficient potboiler where the first mini-series was visionary. But, yes, compared to the ongoing series, Final Battle is award-worthy.

Kenneth Johnson attempted to do an alternate-timeline sequel to the original in his novel "V: The Second Generation", but it just couldn't cut the mustard. Does anyone know if Johnson has ever elaborated on what the second mini-series' story would have been if he had done it?

Not that I've heard of. Been wanting to grab the Second Gen novel, but keep missing it when at the store. I have all of the original spin off V novels. Took years to get tehm all.

My wife bought and read "V: The Second Generation" and says it was really good, so I guess her opinion differs from yours, DD. While it doesn't directly continue the first miniseries as it takes place 20 years later, she says there's a lot of references to what Johnson intended to happen, especially how the first mini ended with the resistance trying to contact extraterrestrial enemies of the Visitors and pays that off. She says it features a mix of new characters and existing characters, including some that were killed off in the second mini and the series (but not in this universe), like Harmony and Martin.