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[bill0527]

Too soon is an epic understatement.

The events of this episode should have encompassed four episodes or so, at least if they were concerned about telling a good story and not just cutting to the chase.

I want to see the initial, realistic reaction to aliens hovering over our cities. You know, along the lines of the backstory of District 9. You'd have a major quarantine going on, slow and careful investigation, confirmation that the aliens aren't carrying anything that's going to wipe out the populace once it leaves the ship, etc. Instead their leader is pulling an impromptu press junket while strolling through a building's lobby within a couple hours :lol Show me that people are scared, then show me how they're seduced by the Vs and their technology and promises. Then, after all that's been effectively developed, that's when you pull the rug out. This was all way too easy and it just makes the converts look like idiots who hop on the bandwagon without a second thought. V apparently operates in a world where people clap when a giant face in the sky promises them nice things.

It reminds me of the way V for Vendetta (the film) failed to show the changing views of the British population in response to V and the government's respective actions. When they up and change it doesn't mean anything because the difference in positions isn't explored or significant.

Likewise, the resistance stuff happened even quicker. Some crazy dude gives a speech about a vast conspiracy, a couple photos are shown of mystery man meeting with a V and bam! The whole conspiracy has been explained, is believed by our protagonists and should be embraced by the audience. What? Oh, and what was "brave" about the priest bringing the photos?

Seriously, this felt like some sort of summary episode that distilled a whole chunk of episodes down to a manageable size. If I were to have made this show, the events of this episode would have been a major percentage of a whole season. It's like the first episode of Lost ending with the hatch being opened.

P.S. Everything with the son was embarrassingly terrible.

I kind of agree with you.

But I'll keep watching it. There's nothing else I watch on Tuesday nights and there are some fire-ass hot smoking women on that show.

 

[anaron]

Too soon is an epic understatement.

The events of this episode should have encompassed four episodes or so, at least if they were concerned about telling a good story and not just cutting to the chase.

I want to see the initial, realistic reaction to aliens hovering over our cities. You know, along the lines of the backstory of District 9. You'd have a major quarantine going on, slow and careful investigation, confirmation that the aliens aren't carrying anything that's going to wipe out the populace once it leaves the ship, etc. Instead their leader is pulling an impromptu press junket while strolling through a building's lobby within a couple hours :lol Show me that people are scared, then show me how they're seduced by the Vs and their technology and promises. Then, after all that's been effectively developed, that's when you pull the rug out. This was all way too easy and it just makes the converts look like idiots who hop on the bandwagon without a second thought. V apparently operates in a world where people clap when a giant face in the sky promises them nice things.

Seriously, what the hell was that? :lol

The episode did such a poor job showing how the world is being affected by the visitor's appearance and the benefits they promise to provide. The son scenes were especially tired and cliche. In fact, most of the characters themselves aren't particularily strong. Yes, I realise this is the pilot but none of them were very endearing.

While I wasn't exactly impressed, I'll give it a couple more episodes. (especially with Tuesday being an absolute wasteland)

Hopefully it improves.

 

[TheClimaxan]

I want to like this show but there were so many things I absolutely hated about this episode. The weird pacing, bad editing and really bad acting made it hard to get any sort of footing with the series. I know it's just the first eppy, and I'll still check out the second, but it will have to blow my fucking mind to get me to give a shit.

 

[whytemyke]

I'm getting a strong FlashForward vibe here. I was watching it thinking, "I shouldn't have to try this hard to like this show." And I was overlooking obvious pieces of bullshit strewn throughout the episode, too, but I know that by the third episode I'm gonna be pissed that they're there.

Seriously..

Spoiler

FBI partner is a V?

I mean, really?

So much stupid/corny stuff that sucks, and it makes me sad because I know that if someone who actually knew how to make a TV show and some sense of drama were helming this project, then it probably would be far better. As it is, the talent isn't good enough to make me overlook the obvious technical/scripting/acting shortfalls.

 

[Seth C]

I'm getting a strong FlashForward vibe here. I was watching it thinking, "I shouldn't have to try this hard to like this show." And I was overlooking obvious pieces of bullshit strewn throughout the episode, too, but I know that by the third episode I'm gonna be pissed that they're there.

Seriously..

Spoiler

FBI partner is a V?

I mean, really?

So much stupid/corny stuff that sucks, and it makes me sad because I know that if someone who actually knew how to make a TV show and some sense of drama were helming this project, then it probably would be far better. As it is, the talent isn't good enough to make me overlook the obvious technical/scripting/acting shortfalls.

What you spoilered doesn't bother me at all because I assume we will come to find out that a good portion of the humans aren't quite. So they should be everywhere, including there.

 

[Costanza]

I wonder how many more V threads will pop up.

 

[masud]

Surprised at the reactions to the show. I thought it was really good.

 

[MrDenny]

I thought it was really good also, but it felt like it should of been a 2-hour premier.

 

[Replicant]

In comparison to the original, this one is far more unbelievable. The easy acceptance of the visitors is just ridiculous. We're talking about humans here. Humans are usually scared of anything that we don't understand. But here the humans just clap when a creepy saucer comes out of nowhere declaring "Peace"?

 

[Freyjadour]

I disagree with the demands for a longer premiere. Rushed or not, adding an extra hour to episodes doesn't always make things better. The only show that I think really benefitted from having an extra hour was Lost; more often, we get episodes like the Kings premiere that basically killed the show. Slightly rushed is better way too drawn out.

(and if you don't believe me, go back to the thread for the Kings premiere, and count how many people watched it compared to how many continued over the next few weeks)

I'm not so sure a longer premiere would have been the answer, but I definitely think what was shown could have been introduced over several weeks of episodes and given the background and characters more development. Right now, every single one of them could be killed and my only reaction would be "REPTILE POWER HOUR".

I'm really hoping it's just a product of "we need to hook people on this show NOW", and not a sign of things to come.

Also, the preview at the end of the episode made me glad ABC is showing nothing on LOST before the S6 premiere.

 

[Dan]

I'll say this, I want a suit like the one Anna's second in command's got. Oh yeah.

Also, the preview at the end of the episode made me glad ABC is showing nothing on LOST before the S6 premiere.

You know, it would be amazing if the Lost producers got ABC to not show teasers for the next episodes too.

 

[Freyjadour]

You know, it would be amazing if the Lost producers got ABC to not show teasers for the next episodes too.

Not betting on it though. Some of them in S5 popped up so quickly with such spoilertastic first few scenes I could hardly turn off the TV in time.

 

[Dan]

Oh I'm sure it won't happen, but it'd be awesome if it did. Maybe they can at least ease up on them.

 

[Marty Chinn]

In comparison to the original, this one is far more unbelievable. The easy acceptance of the visitors is just ridiculous. We're talking about humans here. Humans are usually scared of anything that we don't understand. But here the humans just clap when a creepy saucer comes out of nowhere declaring "Peace"?

Well in the original, it was sort of the same thing too. Most people were pretty welcoming to them as soon as they arrived with only a few that were skeptical. I don't find that aspect to be that different. That's how the visitors got so integrated into the politics and police so fast in the original series.

 

[jax (old)]

I didn't like the whole "we got corpses but we won't show it to start a resistance" angle.

not in 2009.


she's fbi and instead of calling the agency, she sits and parlays with the preacher. :lol :lol

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I'm interested in catching this. Missed it because of work, but I'm concerned since the original series drew interesting inspiration from some of the resistance fighters of WWII (the V graffiti resembling the sigil of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising), and just some of the WWII similarities.

Want to see how the new series turns out. :\

 

[WiiRevolution1]

have'nt really been online much lately but just wanted to say great premeire.

I've seen everything of the 80s version and glad they remade it. Also glad they got all of the basic stuff out of the way in the 1st episode.

Looking forward to the next 3 weeks.

Also it is on iTunes for FREE! http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=336655374&s=143441

 

[Marty Chinn]

I'm interested in catching this. Missed it because of work, but I'm concerned since the original series drew interesting inspiration from some of the resistance fighters of WWII (the V graffiti resembling the sigil of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising), and just some of the WWII similarities.

Want to see how the new series turns out. :\

I'm afraid people are going to complain when it draws from real life parallels. It was great in the original series, but I think people are going to see it as lame and not want to be making statements. Hopefully people will understand that the original series was full of social commentary.

 

[Solo]

I liked it. Wasnt over the moon about it, and it was far too much crammed into a single episode, but it at least showed some potential, unlike that other steaming turd ABC has already picked up for a full season. If they slow down the break neck pace a bit, and start fleshing things out, it could be a good series. Love how Juliet got off the island only to become a fed during an alien invasion. Woman has led a hard life!

Anyways, as a pilot, it tried to do far too much. A symptom of a LOT of new shows the past few years.

CALLED IT!

Anyone with half a brain who say him listed as a guest star called it, my man.

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

Morena Baccarin may be a gerbil-eating lizard from space but she sure is hot.

 

[Wes]

Morena Baccarin may be a gerbil-eating lizard from space but she sure is hot.

The resource they need from us are gerbils?

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Hey wasn't so bad, I enjoyed it even though I thought it would be horrible. Guess the trouble is, you know what the aliens are/their goals etc because of the original. Maybe that's why the episode just cut to the chase as there isn't the suprise here.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Seriously, what is so difficult about depicting shock and awe that these new TV shows this year dealing with earth shattering revelations can't handle? Be it seeing the future or alien arrival, these humans in thesee alternate realities will accept anything at face value!

 

[Keyser Soze]

I liked it, but I agree that they tried to do too much in a hour. Basically, the tried to shoehorn the original 3-hour miniseries into 40 minutes of TV time. It could not work like that. I really wish they did a 2 hour slot (about 1h30m's of actual show), and everything would have been much better.

Still will continue watching though. Show seems like it could be awesome.

 

[Costanza]

They came, they saw, they conquered primetime.

ABC's "V" premiere was Tuesday's highest-rated program in the adult demo, cracking usual leader CBS' drama-series choke-hold on the evening.

"V" was seen by 13.9 million viewers and had a 5.0 preliminary rating among adults 18-49.

That's the biggest scripted series premiere rating for a freshman show this fall.

"V" bested tough competition from "NCIS" (19.4 million, 4.2), which nonetheless ranked as the evening's most-watched show. The alien invasion drama gained 4% from its first half hour to its second.

The 8 p.m. "V" surge put ABC just a tenth of a point behind CBS for the nightly win. Compared to "Shark Tank" in the time period, "V" was up 213%.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/11/abcs-v-premiere-ratings.html

 

[gdt]

Awesome. Keep this up, season 1/2 secured.

Edit: Fuck, ABC must be ecstatic.

 

[beelzebozo]

the cast is great, and the effects are just insane. there's not a lot of good setup for the premise--things just fly by and happen--but damn if the show doesn't look great and have some interesting people (the dude from FIREFLY is always charming and affable though)

 

[ollin]

Great ratings for the pilot. The long hiatus will only hurt though. Bad move by ABC.

 

[ErasureAcer]

I was one of the 13.9 million viewers and thought it was alright(I'll watch next week).

I don't get why someone is fussing about the infiltration of the FBI when the show stated that the V's have been manipulating world events and wars for some time now...hence...they must be at the upper echelons of power.

 

[dskillzhtown]

I didn't like the whole "we got corpses but we won't show it to start a resistance" angle.

not in 2009.


she's fbi and instead of calling the agency, she sits and parlays with the preacher. :lol :lol

Well, she might be wondering who else in the agency is an alien. A scene of her picking up the phone to call and then putting it down then explaning it to the priest, would have been enough to get that across.

There are alot of scenes that were omitted that could have made the show seem less rushed. Seemed that they crammed so much crap into one episode and missed alot of opportunities for some great scenes.

 

[Solo]

Nice! Now just slow the pace down a bit and give things a chance to breathe, and we'll be laughing.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

In comparison to the original, this one is far more unbelievable. The easy acceptance of the visitors is just ridiculous. We're talking about humans here. Humans are usually scared of anything that we don't understand. But here the humans just clap when a creepy saucer comes out of nowhere declaring "Peace"?

That's what happened in the original. Let's not forget the scene where people are huddled around their television sets scared as to what they look like. The John comes out and everybody is smiling. "Oh they look like pudgy old white men! Let's celebrate. Wait, they are going to give us their technology...HIGH FIVE, everyone." Hell they even made action figures and playsets of the Visitors. It wasn't until later when they started to suspect something is up.

I think the resistance stuff was introduced way too early and it really would be nice to see it develop more naturally. I also was a little miffed they used the "V" as more of a statement for the Visitors instead of against. Overall I enjoyed it and thought it was a solid two hour pilot crammed into a decent one hour pilot.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Could they still change the STUPID hiatus thing, or is that set in stone now?

 

[dskillzhtown]

Too soon is an epic understatement.

The events of this episode should have encompassed four episodes or so, at least if they were concerned about telling a good story and not just cutting to the chase.

I want to see the initial, realistic reaction to aliens hovering over our cities. You know, along the lines of the backstory of District 9. You'd have a major quarantine going on, slow and careful investigation, confirmation that the aliens aren't carrying anything that's going to wipe out the populace once it leaves the ship, etc. Instead their leader is pulling an impromptu press junket while strolling through a building's lobby within a couple hours :lol Show me that people are scared, then show me how they're seduced by the Vs and their technology and promises. Then, after all that's been effectively developed, that's when you pull the rug out. This was all way too easy and it just makes the converts look like idiots who hop on the bandwagon without a second thought. V apparently operates in a world where people clap when a giant face in the sky promises them nice things.

It reminds me of the way V for Vendetta (the film) failed to show the changing views of the British population in response to V and the government's respective actions. When they up and change it doesn't mean anything because the difference in positions isn't explored or significant.

Likewise, the resistance stuff happened even quicker. Some crazy dude gives a speech about a vast conspiracy, a couple photos are shown of mystery man meeting with a V and bam! The whole conspiracy has been explained, is believed by our protagonists and should be embraced by the audience. What? Oh, and what was "brave" about the priest bringing the photos?

Seriously, this felt like some sort of summary episode that distilled a whole chunk of episodes down to a manageable size. If I were to have made this show, the events of this episode would have been a major percentage of a whole season. It's like the first episode of Lost ending with the hatch being opened.

P.S. Everything with the son was embarrassingly terrible.

I agree with everything said. It almost seemed as though this was actually 3-4 episodes edited into one.

 

[Purkake4]

That was pretty good. Looking forward to what they'll do with the material.

Morena Baccarin is the cutest evil alien overlord.

 

[Angry Grimace]

FlashForward deserves harshness because it's slow and going nowhere fast and has a .

V on the other hand, is being judged far too harshly, given that showing a "4 episode arc of a realistic human reaction to Aliens appearing on Earth" isn't the story V wants to tell. From even a brief synopsis of the plot, you can tell that's not a relevant part of the story. The plot of the show relies on the premise that the majority of people like the Visitors and are reliant on the promises they've made. It might have seemed more cohesive if the "arrival" was skipped entirely and people already trusted the Vs from the start, but that just becomes a Spaghetti Incident.

I'm going to give it time to develop into a story, although I liked the pilot as it was anyways.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

The pilot moved too fast, would've worked better as at least a two-hour premiere, but I have no problem fast forwarding through some very obvious twists that would have normally lasted half a season, if not more. We know those things were going to happen. Hopefully, that was the perspective of the writers, too.

Interested to see where they go from here.

 

[Dan]

FlashForward deserves harshness because it's slow and going nowhere fast and has a .

V on the other hand, is being judged far too harshly, given that showing a "4 episode arc of a realistic human reaction to Aliens appearing on Earth" isn't the story V wants to tell. From even a brief synopsis of the plot, you can tell that's not a relevant part of the story. The plot of the show relies on the premise that the majority of people like the Visitors and are reliant on the promises they've made. It might have seemed more cohesive if the "arrival" was skipped entirely and people already trusted the Vs from the start, but that just becomes a Spaghetti Incident.

I'm going to give it time to develop into a story, although I liked the pilot as it was anyways.

I would argue that giving the arrival of the Vs time to breathe would let us actually see how they seduce humanity, which would make their devotion resonate. Instead the people are just really, really easy to influence.

That's what happened in the original. Let's not forget the scene where people are huddled around their television sets scared as to what they look like. The John comes out and everybody is smiling. "Oh they look like pudgy old white men! Let's celebrate. Wait, they are going to give us their technology...HIGH FIVE, everyone." Hell they even made action figures and playsets of the Visitors. It wasn't until later when they started to suspect something is up.

Eh, just because the original screwed it up too doesn't make it alright here.

I don't get why someone is fussing about the infiltration of the FBI when the show stated that the V's have been manipulating world events and wars for some time now...hence...they must be at the upper echelons of power.

I'll be interested to see why the Vs think humans need help fucking their shit up. We've had no problem destabilizing the world on our own in the past.

 

[Chamber]

I wonder if Anna's rapid eye blinking was done on purpose. All I could think when they zoomed in on her face was, "Damn, this woman blinks a lot."

Yeah, I got nothing else to say.

 

[Solo]

I hope they dont try to LOST-up the cast too much, either. Obviously Mitchell is in there, but Im hoping they arent as pandering as Flashforward. I dont need to see Michael or Desmond showing up.

 

[gdt]

I hope they dont try to LOST-up the cast too much, either. Obviously Mitchell is in there, but Im hoping they arent as pandering as Flashforward. I dont need to see Michael or Desmond showing up.

Dude, Henry Ian Cusick needs a job too.

 

[ShinAmano]

Holy shit I am so pissed...so I was all stoked for this...watched the first 50 or so minutes right up to

Spoiler

when the female cia hit the male cia in the head to reveal the reptile underneath

and they cut to the concession speech of the gubernatorial race in Virginia...are there any repeat showings or a place online I can watch the last 5 minutes?

 

[Solo]

Dude, Henry Ian Cusick needs a job too.

Ass grabbing is full time work, brotha

 

[Angry Grimace]

I would argue that giving the arrival of the Vs time to breathe would let us actually see how they seduce humanity, which would make their devotion resonate. Instead the people are just really, really easy to influence.

I just don't think that's relevant to the overall story that V wants to tell you; which is fighting against the aliens.

 

[leroy hacker]

I didn't mind that it moved so quickly. In fact, I appreciated the change of pace from the much slower moving Lost and Flash Forward.

Many possible scenes were skipped but I don't think there would have been anything interesting or non-obvious about them. Clearly they are targeting an audience familiar with the original, for whom the standard elements of an alien first contact story are old-hat. I can easily fill in the blanks for what they didn't show, and look forward to see instead the story of both the past infiltration and what happens next.

Also, it should have been clear they weren't going to wait very long for the lizard reveal when they showed that scene in a trailer months ago.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I'm afraid people are going to complain when it draws from real life parallels. It was great in the original series, but I think people are going to see it as lame and not want to be making statements. Hopefully people will understand that the original series was full of social commentary.

Yeah. I don't know, if anything if they try to model it after modern conflicts - then it's going to be a highly ambiguous super questionable affair.

Still, we have the effects and technology to do V bigger and "better", so I'm hoping they don't drop the ball on this.

 

[Javaman]

So don't watch the previews?

I skipped the preview but it was spoiled in this thread by someone complaining about the preview being a spoiler.

 

[Sqorgar]

Many possible scenes were skipped but I don't think there would have been anything interesting or non-obvious about them.

The original series was about propaganda and control. Even early scenes, like the long build up before the reveal of the aliens, was an extension of that control. If you knew nothing going into the program, you'd be right there with the people. The giant saucers would seem threatening until you see the middle age white guy in bad sun glasses walk out and say, hey buddy, we're going to cure cancer for some of your salt water. You start to buy into what they are selling and start thinking it is a show about first contact. It's interesting. Sure, something is a little off here and there but you're still... holy shit, did she just eat a gerbil!?!

Modern television has all but forgotten the art of the slow reveal. They are so terrified that their entire audience will turn the channel before the first commercial break that they have effectively replaced slow build up and foreshadowing with a constant barrage of action scenes and empty teases.

 

[Mr Cola]

its popcorn fodder and thats fine

The only thing i cannot forgive is the tired and needless "teen angst romance" angle

America STOP IT

 

[Javaman]

In comparison to the original, this one is far more unbelievable. The easy acceptance of the visitors is just ridiculous. We're talking about humans here. Humans are usually scared of anything that we don't understand. But here the humans just clap when a creepy saucer comes out of nowhere declaring "Peace"?

While I agree that there's a whole bunch of BS going on in the first episode, I can kind of understand the reaction of the crowd. Moments earlier when the ship started morphing they probably thought they were about to get annihilated. Glossing over the rioting and stuff is pretty lame. I would have liked the "sleeper" cell to actually be the resistance gearing up for battle.

I didn't like the whole "we got corpses but we won't show it to start a resistance" angle.

not in 2009.

she's fbi and instead of calling the agency, she sits and parlays with the preacher. :lol :lol

That's a good point. Why haven't the resistance leaked any info to the press? How is she going to explain her missing/dead partner? I'm sure they'll conveniently leave that part out instead of bringing her in her department to investigate.