V - Re-Imaginging The Original Series

I like the new V series so far. I never saw the original before, but much like the original to Battlestar Galactica, I am not even going attempt to watch those since I am sure it will burst the revisionary bubble.

I like the fundamental messages V conveys. From what I understand, the original V series was supposed to illustrate the insidious nature of a fascist party rising in popularity, preying on the fears and hopes of a disenfranchised populace. In fact, the original V series is supposedly a mirror of what happened during the rise of the Nazi party in America during the 1930's. Does this then mean that Anna is going to be defeated by the IRS for embezzlement and tax fraud alla Kuhn? LOL! The new V series has had parallels drawn to the Obama administration (i.e. the emphasis on hope, change, etc) and Obama-mania. Is Obama a V? Stay tuned? LOL!

My only complaints about the new series are this. It has a slow tempo that I think a lot of fringe watchers will not really like, but many sci-fi watchers come to expect and enjoy. Simply, it takes four episodes to convey one thing. People like to be told what to expect and preferably within the context of a single episode. BSG (Battlestar Galactica) was also of a very slow tempo, but damned if it wasn't entertaining. Each episode was an existential dilemma fitting tightly to a dynamic plot. I do not expect even a fraction of that from V. But that does not mean I won't watch V though. It still has a great deal of potential.

Also, since its ABC, I don't suppose they could have left out the corny "I'm a hard working world class FBI agent, middle aged, divorced but still very attractive mother " trying to raise the "I'm a teen heartthrob boy/man who, though tough on the exterior, also has a soft and emotional side" among other stereotypical and genre fitting roles and subplots. But I suppose if the kid were a heroin addict, we would get the same feel for the series, right?

My predictions for the series are this, using the standard recipe for made for TV series;

1.The mother and the son form a closer bond as a result of the horrendous experience under the V's.

2.The lesson learned by boy/man is that hope and change don't come about as a result of a particular group spreading the false love, but rather the diligence of a the individual and the community and? of course? the bonds of family and friends. Burp! (Excuse me, I just threw up a little in my mouth).

3.The mother and the priest realize the feelings they have for one another, and by the end of the series, have a short 2 minute after-the-fact clip right before the show ends showing how great life is together with the strong/emotional boy/man son.

4.The token black guy/V (which is honestly what he is because ABC (and every other network for that matter) usually does that? 80% white cast, 10% black, 10% mixture of other minorities) is either a martyr or happily together with the only other minority character in the series. And of course, the woman he is involved with will live regardless because the opportunity for ABC to spread the "I'm cool with minorities and anti-miscegenation" vibe. I seriously think that major networks look at supporting black cast as red-shirts.

5.The list can go on?and on?and on.

But in my own wishful thinking, here are some elements of the plot I hope happen (many of them funny);

1.Boy/man and his girlfriend lizard/girl have unprotected sex resulted in an interplanetary sexually transmitted disease/epidemic which spreads to the entire population. This disease turns everybody into incredibly itchy half human/reptilian people and as a result, there are no differences between them.

2.Will Smith and the president (preferably Jay-Z playing the role of Obama and upping the minority quota) enter in episode 6. Michelle Obama has just recently died as a result of an explosion in Los Angeles and Obama is on the war path. Things look grim for the people of planet earth? but there is a plan. That guy from Jurassic park has just used his early-nineties era computer programming capabilities equivalent what we could expect from tech support in India today to suggest that a virus can be uploaded into the mother ship, thereby infecting the entire fleet of V ships. Will Smith and Jay-Z fly a captured ship to the New York V Ship in hopes of uploading the virus. In an incredible plot twist, its actually boy/man who is the carrier, not a computer virus because nineties tech was ridiculously incapable of doing anything to an advanced computer network such as the V's. In fact, boy/man sleeps around (refer to plot element suggestion 1) and bam? its "freedom day." And no? its nothing like the plot in "Independence day," so don't try to put the two together because you will fail miserably.

Thanks for the interesting and amusing response. =)

I have to agree with your comment about the complete lack of racial diversity on the show. It's quite appalling, actually.

The original series featured three black main characters (2 were resistance, 1 was a V), a Latino, and a couple of Asians. In the new series, I've seen the one black guy and a couple of Indians (eg. from India) and that's pretty much it - even in crowd scenes.

I've noticed that there virtually no representation of Asians, Latinos, or Middle Eastern people (eg. Arabs, Persians, Turks, etc) on any network TV show in the US. If you watch TV, you'd think they don't exist at all. I find it ironic and sad that in a huge muticultural city like NYC (where the show is primarily set) there only whites and a token black couple. And all of the V's are white, too. Apparently nothing has changed since the 1950's as far as TV goes.

It's interesting that you mentioned BSG. The original series was campy as hell (like the original V) but they did a pretty good job with the new characters. I was delighted when I found that one of the BSG characters, the 2nd in command older guy, was a alcoholic - because it made him more believable as character.

In the new version of V, the only character I've seen who seems to have any depth at all is Anna, and that's mostly plot-driven. The FBI Mom, her son, the V Girl, the Priest, the Black V & his wife, the Reporter, the Sinster V Suit Guy: all of them are basically cartoon characters. They don't have any depth. The resistance leader (the one whose family was killed) is mentally unstable and that's something at least. Now, I'm taking into account that there have only been four episodes. By way of contrast, when Star Trek:TNG first came out, the characters were rather flat the whole first year. - Hopefully as V goes on, their will be more depth.

One thing I have to say that I find totally absurd is exactly how lax the resistance people are about electronic security. They have open conversations on their cellphones all the time which is leaving a huge electronic trail that could easily connect all of them. Also, the FBI mom is always looking things up in the database - that she is logging into under her own name. Nobody is going to notice that she's doing searches on all these people? Yeah, sure. Also, when they broke into the warehouse to investigate in in Episode 4, they didn't think to wear masks?

Finally, the show is just a bit irritating in that they mention plot-related things, but don't explain them at all; presumably saving it for future episodes. I can understand that - sort of - but I wonder why bother to bring up a plot device and then abandon it till later? For example, in Episode 4, the Black V lets them know that the V's are making "R60" and they go to the warehouse to get rid of it - but nobody ever explains what "R60" is or what the significance of it is. So why mention it at all?

All this aside, I still enjoy the new series because it has a lot of potential. I was really glad that they made it clear the V's were reptiles right at the beginning instead of dragging it out over 6-7 episodes. The characters, though currently flat, also have some potential. The writers reversed some of the original plot devices also which is nice. For example, in the original, Anna has a V-boy seduced a human girl; in the new series, it's the V-girl who's after a human boy. There's a lot of little reverals like that. Also the skin of the V's is apparently grafted directly onto them and is alive, unlike in the original where is was more like a paper suit they wore.

I also like that Anna uses the "Bliss" broadcast to control the other V's. I think it's a hilarious and unintended parallel to TV itself. =)

My plot predictions as of right now:

1) The elderly priest at the Church is a V sleeper agent, who won't reveal himself till late in show in some collossal screw for the Priest.

2) The V-girl is going to fall in love with the Man/Boy (to use your term) and at some point is going to reject her V programming and join the Resistance - which will eventually lead to a showdown between V-girl and Anna.

3) Before prediction #2 can happen, though, the Son is going to inadvertantly (or maybe deliberately) betray FBI Mom to the V's in a fit of impetuous teenage angst.

4) The wife of the black V will get captured at some point as leverage against the black V to turn himself in.


Things I would like to see happen in the series:

1) Anna ends up knowing some kind of crazy Matrix-style martial arts and there is a scene where she kicks the crap out of a bunch of people.

2) The Priest and the FBI Mom do not fall in love because that's just too predictable. However, the wife of the Black V gets killed and the FBI Mom falls in love with him - but that will probably never happen.

3) The often-alluded-to Original Fifth Column brings a fleet of ships from the V's homeworld and has a huge battle with the other V's.

Something that would be hilarious:

Commercials from the V's homeworld advertising human-as-food in fast food style spots (viz. "Come on DOWN to Xyrek's Hot Cajun-style Egyptian Burgers! Fresh Egyptians straight from Planet Earth, coated with a sugary barbecue sauce and our secret spices! Buy two and get your choice of free fries or a 40-oz. Dr. Pepper! Xyrek's is the HOME, HOME, HOME of the $10 Egyptian!" etc.

-ITL-