KT hopes you got your flu shot before the V’s turned up!

V:  1.04 “It’s Only the Beginning”

Did this seem like a long, meandering episode to you?  I got to the end and suddenly felt like they covered a lot of ground here.  Not a bad episode, but a busy one.

Most of the action came from our fledgling resistance cell in which Georgie quickly proves himself hot-headed and poor at following orders.  I’m not warming up to Georgie at all, but since it looks like that bullet wound won’t be fatal, let’s hope he becomes more likable.  Or meets another bullet.

I wonder if Father Jack’s military history was known to the actor while filming the previous episodes.  (Or even all of this episode.)  Although the two tours in Iraq make him more suited to be part of this group and perhaps more useful to his comrades, it bugs me that nothing about his bearing suggests that kind of experience and training.

I loved that Erica, sharp cookie that she is, called Ryan on being a Visitor, though I thought that their rapid-fire question and answer scene fell short.  The only new information for us was seeing that now Erica knows these things too, and I was a little surprised that she didn’t ask more than she did.  I think if I were her, I’d have had a lot more questions!  But those two are clearly the competent ones in the group, so I guess Erica knows what she’s doing.

The suggestions that the V’s vitamin vaccine might be laced with something bad just seemed too obvious, so I’m glad it turned out that they stuck the R6 into the flu vaccine instead.  Clever.  And remember that Anna talked up the vitamin shots big time, casually mentioning that, yup, sorry, you’ll still need your flu shots as usual.  Nicely done, writers.  But did you see those mummified-looking bodies in the warehouse?  What does R6 do and why do the Visitors want to do that to us?  Is that how they extract the mineral they say they need from Planet Earth?  Ewwww.

On the subject of ewwww, I have to say that I was terrified that they’d show Joshua skinning the other guy and yet kind of hopeful — I really want to see what a V looks like!  Yikes, though.  Talk about turning the tension up all the way.

I liked getting to see these medical centers we’ve been hearing about, and the explanation about how the scanner works in four dimensions was pretty nifty.  I’m skeptical about Chad’s looming brain condition, though.  Scaring him with the diagnosis and then supposedly healing him?  Sounds like a great way to make him feel more indebted to the Visitors and put Anna’s pet journalist ever further into the V’s corner.

Speaking of human pets, what is this business about Tyler being “the one”?  For what?!  Are the V’s interested in human/Visitor hybrids?  Tyler’s scenes with Anna were surprisingly delightful, mostly because Morena Baccarin has the charming-but-sinister smile to a T.  All the while you can see Tyler thinking “Damn, why is my mom always nosy or distracted when her mom is freakin’ awesome!”  Yeah, we’ll see how awesome you think she is when she’s um… doing whatever it is she’s planning to do.  Yeah!

[After the jump:
bliss, babies, and speculation!]

Whatever the plans for Tyler may be, the question about inter-species breeding seems to be answered by Valerie’s pregnancy.  But what will the baby look like?  And if the V’s medical centers are able to tell that the baby is half V, will that blow Ryan’s cover?

Coming back to Anna, I loved the juxtaposition of her harsh scene with the medics with the gentle brainwashing of her bliss scene.  If you can forgive the Firefly pun, I think Anna’s got her people addicted to serenity.  (And did Anna’s bliss scene remind anyone else — just a little bit — of Inara’s sponge bathing scene in the first episode? No?  Just me?)

I wonder how renegade V’s deal with the bliss.  Fight it mentally, I suppose, since we saw medic Joshua grimacing.  Interesting that they showed two undercover V’s on Earth getting the bliss but we didn’t see it affecting Ryan.  I wonder if he has — or needs — a way of blocking it.  And dude, they have a V undercover as a Buddhist monk!  What’s his mission?

And what do we think about the huge freaking armada at the end… is that an impending invasion?  When I just saw the first ship I thought it might be the rest of the Fifth Column on their way to help, but when they kept panning out — geez, that was a lot of ships!  My impression has been that the Fifth Column isn’t anywhere near that big (though who knows, I guess).

So what exactly is going on here and where does Anna fit into the big picture of the Visitors’ political history?  Is the bliss something new that she’s developed, or is she merely one in a long line of brainwashing leaders?  Is she really the leader of her whole race, or does she in turn report to higher authorities?  Perhaps she’s actually the leader of a fringe movement?

So, clearly there’s plenty to ponder until the show comes back in March!  Speculation, anyone?

  Wow never let me say that a show can’t pack a punch in four episodes, because man oh man did V ever pack a punch.  The only question is whether or not it was enough of a punch that it left an impression big enough to last until March.  I know the Olympics are coming up in Febuary, but I still don’t see why they could not have aired new episodes up until that point and then pulled it off for a month instead of 3 months.  I know that I will be tuning back in come March, but will other viewers do the same?  I sure hope so because (and forgive me Dominic) out of the 2 new science fiction shows abc has right now this one shows the most promise so far.  Dont get me wrong FlashForward fans I still like the show, but when it comes to pacing and forward (forgive the pun) momentum V is running circles around FF.  In four short episodes they have managed to establish the point of the series, a couple of WTF moments (RIP Dale), and they managed to set up storylines that could conceivably stretch for another couple of years. 

And even with all this not once during the fall run did I ever get the feeling as though the show was merely dragging along and trying to fill up space.  Oh sure there were some parts that I would rather have done without.  Namely killing off Dale, but that is strickly form a geek crush perspective, and even I have to admit that it was a masterful way to introduce the continued existence of the Fifth Column.  Long live the Fifth Column.  Ooh boy I can’t wait to see more of that particular storyline.  Hopefully the Blissing Anna put over her ship won’t cause too much a derailment.  I also could do without the angsty teen drama the show has going on, although again it did provide EM with what I can only describe as unnervingly funny reaction to seeing her teenage son with a half naked girl in his room.  I know I am probably going to get some boos for this one but I really donit like Joel Gretcsh’s character.  I’m sorry but he just seems so misplaced.  And frankly compared to the rest of the cast his character seems like a bit of a wimp.  Ass kicking V’s aside.  Ok go ahead boo away I know you want too.

Some Notable Moments:

The unhinging of Georgie – He is one to watch.  I have a feeling he isn’t done coming unglued.

You’re a Priest!

Anything with Scott Wolf – Keep your eye on Chad Decker there is definitly more going on underneath that ladder climbing exterior.

Skin Him – Nothing more need to be said on that one.

What do you mean you can’t cure the common cold?  What the hell good are you?

 Best engine room ever.

Damn it’s an invasion!

They killed Dale.

Score one for the resistence.

 What does a guy who is really an alien look like when he gets told his gf is going to have a baby?  Well the same way a human guy would look if he heard the same news.  Its nice to see that some things are universally scary as hell.

Após uma bela escorregada no episódio anterior (A Bright New Day), essa semana V veio com tudo aquilo que o primeiro episódio prometeu. Explosões, manipulações, desconfianças, escolhas e beijos sem graça. Eu estou tão decepcionado com a atuação de Logan Huffman, o Tyler que me pergunto se ele morrerá na série. Será que demora?

A correria dessa semana vai para Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) e sua desconfiança em Ryan (Morris Chestnut). Tudo na série tem que dar certo o mais rápido possível. É, eu sou exigente. Ryan atira em Combs (Craig Fraser) para salvar Erica e rola aquele silêncio de “Olha só, posso confiar nele”, e depois a Erica faz a mesma coisa com Ryan, salvando a pele dele de outro V maluco e acontece o mesmo silêncio. Isso nem é mais clichê, é cafona. Mas eu torço tanto para a série dar certo que nem ligo!

O relacionamento entre Erica e Tyler vai de mal a pior. O adolescente deslumbrado com o “amor” de Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) deu as costas para a mãe e partiu pra nave V para conhecer a mãe da loirinha, Anna (Morena Baccarin), que já manipulou a mente do garoto mostrando aquilo que ele gosta e falando aquilo que ele quer ouvir, que ele será uma pessoa importante caso fique ao lado dos V’s. É como Erica disse, os humanos são previsíveis e os aliens sabem disso.

Anna tem poderes, é isso? Como assim, “benção”? Aqueles humanos que receberam a benção, o monge, a mulher, são V’s disfarçados de humanos, né?Fiquei um pouco confuso e não quero me sentir sozinho nessa.

Que fazer com a sede de vingança do Georgie (David Richmond-Peck)? Ele vai acabar colocando em risco todo o grupo por causa disso. Quer dizer, já levou uma bala por isso. Ainda bem que o padre Jack (Joel Gretsch) já foi para a guerra no Iraque e soube fazer o curativo no colega. Padre Jack é meu personagem favorito. Onde mais um padre já foi para guerra no Iraque não uma, mas duas vezes e ainda guarda sua arma na igreja? Além do que sabe bater e derrubou o V careca com um belo gancho de direita! Já disse que o padre Jack é meu personagem favorito? Forças, Jack, esse ferimento de hoje não há de ser nada!

E quem diria o bebê híbrido será de Ryan e Valerie! Eu estava torcendo para ele vir de Lisa e Tyler porque são adolescentes e poderiam abordar o tema da gravidez na adolescência, o que seria ótimo para passar a mensagem de não fazer sexo sem camisinha e o risco de vir a dar a luz um bebê aberração. Ok, parei.

Enquanto isso, na nave de Anna, Joshua (Mark Hildreth, que já foi a voz de Terry Bogard nas animações de Fatal Fury!) teve que retirar a pele, ou seja, matar seu amigo David (Ryan Kennedy), que se entregou como assassino de Dale (Alan Tudyk) para benefício dos rebeldes. Anna já desconfia que Joshua é o informante da Quinta Coluna. Nos resta saber quem é esse John May e o que ele está fazendo, porque o tanto de nave que está só aguardando o sinal de Anna para invadir nosso planeta não é brincadeira, é melhor ele ter um bom plano guardado na manga. Não querendo ser chato, mas o que esse bando de alien veio fazer no nosso planetinha? Just asking…

Eu só espero que V engrene de vez. Até agora o que vimos foram só esforços de manter o público, porém nada de muito surpreendente aconteceu. Mas ainda tenho esperanças!

Waif-like Carnivorous Alien Dictator Ponders Infomercial Food Tools

The new remake of “V” on ABC ain’t that bad.  It captures a lot of the feel of the original, and while there’s no Marc Singer (Yay, Beastmaster) kind of hero, you do have fifth columnists, reporters, teenage boy spies, and so on.  Some of the plot elements are a little forced, what with the references to sleeper cells and all that.  But you know there’s leapin’ lizards underneath, and a bunch o’ face-ripping on the way.  Here, mousey, mousey.  Anna (Morena Baccarin), the alien leader, is still female in this version, but not in the big-haired 80s sort of way of the original, more like an emaciated runway waif with boy hair.   And then there’s…Scott Wolf.  From that 1990s melodrama Party of Five.  Sheesh.  Wolf plays sell-out tv reporter Chad Decker.  On his best days, his mannerisms and acting style suggest a sort of poor man’s Michael J. Fox–another sort of canine-named actor.  Fox played a character named Scott in his movie Teen Wolf so it makes some kind of sense….

But the season (if you can call four episodes a season–I think they call it a “pod” or something like that) finale ends with the main alien turncoat dude sending Anna a mysterious message, “John May Lives”.  Pshaw.  What about Billy Mays?  Our fallen, beloved infomercial hero?  I miss him hawking Orange Glow.  And Slider Factory.  Basically, a mold to make little tiny hamburgers with.  That’s what the aliens in “V” are planning to do to us sooner or later.  Let’s just hope they eat Chad Decker first.

photo courtesy of newtek.com

Anna announcing that the V’s will be offering vitamin injections. Ryan quickly figures out that this is part of a larger scheme. He says it is the reactivation of an old plan. Erica runs all of the names of the V’s that were involved with the old plan through the FBI and find one lead, Peter Combs.

When Georgie, Erica, Ryan and Jack go on their little spy mission, Georgie goes a little nutso and shoots Peter, but Peter shoots back. Peter swallows a suicide pill so that be fry’s into ashes. Turns out Jack is was in the military and stitches Georgie up so he’s just fine. A little bonkers in the head, but physically fine. “Pretty soon you’re going to need to decide what you are, a priest, or a solider.”

Erica finds out that Ryan is a visitor when Peter calls him a traitor. Ryan tells Erica about the 5th column. She gets over the fact that Ryan is a V rather quickly.

Erica, Ryan and Jack break into some building to investigate a lead gathered from Peter’s briefcase. Originally, they thought the V’s were going to put their drugs into the vitamin shot, but here they figure out that they are putting R6 into the human flu vaccine. See, no government agency is going to be concerned about the flu vaccine when there is a new vitamin shot and with these vaccines mingled in with others, there is no way to pick them apart. In this building they tested the shot, and that is why it is filled with dead bodies. The V’s find out that they’re in the building, a couple punches, gun shots and strangles later and the building blows up.

Our human nature is very calculated. They more predictable we are, the more vulnerable we are.

photo courtesy of abc.com

The world gets a little smaller. We find out that Valerie is Tyler’s psychiatrist. Tyler gets Valerie an appointment at the V’s healing centers. At her appointment there, she discovers that she is pregnant. Little does she know, she’s pregnant with half a V/half a lizard.

Chad does a report on the medical miracles that the healing center is doing. He gets a funky diagnostic full body scan to demonstrate the procedure. While he is getting this scan, he gets some startling news. He is going to die in 6 months unless he lets the V’s heal whatever is going to develop in his brain. They can determine medically what has happened and what will happen.

Erica’s former V partner was murdered by a member of the medical staff and Anna is on the hunt to find out who. As far as we know, there are 2 members of the medical staff that are a part of the 5th column. The one who didn’t murder her partner takes the blame because the other is the chief medical officer and he’s too valuable. His sentence? Skinned to death.

photo courtesy of abc.com

Jack is stabbed by someone who comes in the church pretending to look for help after hours, I believe it is a man/V from the warehouse that was blown up.

This new show has got me pretty hooked, but I have one major complaint. This was the last episode of 2009. What kind of crazy show has 4 episodes and then stops for the year?

Watch The Full Episode

I was a big fan of the original V-series back in the mid-eighties so when I heard that a remake was in production I was horrified, but also a little curious. So I just had to watch it.

And after watching the pilot episode of “V” 2009-style I was hooked. I’m not loving it as much as the original, but I still like it a lot. It sadly doesn’t have the same eerie kind of score and the special effects varies from excellent to really terrible, but the writers has added an interesting twist to the story and the series is packed with a lot of great actors from other TV-shows.

Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), and Joel Gretsch, (4400 and Taken) stars as FBI agent Erica Evans and catholic priest Father Jack Landry. The incredibly beautiful Morena Baccarin, who I already love after seeing her guest appear as Chloe on How I met your mother, co-stars as the V leader Anna.

But even if there are a lot of great actors, I do think that the characters they have to play aren’t as great as the ones from the original series. I especially miss someone like Ham Tyler, brilliantly played by Michael ironside, or Mike Donovan, played by Marc Singer.

Marc Singer as Mike Donovan

Only four episodes have been produced in the new series as some kind of test to see what ratings it would get. And since it started off with the biggest rating a new show has gotten in a long, long time I think we will get a full season starting March 15 2010, when the fifth episode is scheduled for broadcast.

And hopefully by then, the writers has added some new, cool characters. I can’t wait to see.

Protestors.  The sharp-eyed viewer would deduce that this is a TV show and not a reality-based news clip because of the protestors.  Anti-V congregants assembled outside the New York “Embassy” dress modestly; yell coherent, intelligible slogans; and hold signs bearing relevant, correctly-spelled messages printed on something other than pizza boxes with giant black sniffing markers.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a crazy roaming that crowd intent on assassinating a V, who have recently received visas to travel freely within the U.S.  Let’s be honest, though: no one was going to deny admission to any alien—even the extraterrestrial kind—who looks like Morena Baccarin (Brazilian, by the way).

Maybe it’s because I just watched Firefly again and got a great dose of Baccarin, but she is really impressing me.  She nails it as a scheming non-human trying to pass as human but being just slightly off.  Her short scene practicing a condolence speech, complete with a crocodile tear (ha!), hits the bullseye.  Anna’s whole charade works, though, since a humanoid alien probably wouldn’t be expected to mimic perfectly human behaviors.

It’s no surprise that Ryan and Dale do (did) fit in perfectly with humans.  They’ve been here for 20 years, living in deep cover, with different missions.  Dale got in with the FBI, married a human, and despised it, waiting to rejoin the Vs.  Ryan helped form a resistance cell called the Fifth Column, proposed to a human, loves her, and has dedicated himself to stopping the V’s dastardly but unrevealed plan.  He has so far been the most interesting character, torn between protecting other Vs like him, and thwarting what the rest of the Vs have in store for the planet.  It’s too bad the writers have given him the cruddiest lines, and the most syrupy relationship in the show, with his fiancé, Val.  Oh, and something really interesting or bad is going to happen soon to Val, because every episode, she and Ryan have been super-smoochy lovey-dovey, to the point of being almost gag-worthy.  I stayed away from any pepperoni-based products before watching this episode in preparation.

The Tyler-Brandon dynamic was almost non-existent, which makes me wish I would have eaten a pepperoni omelet (better than it sounds).  Yeah, their dialogue and delivery still stink, and Tyler continued his suckfest by being a sullen, angsty teen.  You can tell he’s rebellious because he rides a motorcycle, wears leather, and sports a black helmet with a reflective visor.  This installment didn’t include a lot of mom-son interaction, so we can’t get a really good bead yet on why Tyler is so sort-of angry, besides being a pubescent male.

We do get to see quite a bit of Erica, who whomps on the aforementioned would-be assassin, who was apparently trying to blend into the crowd by looking exactly like Aaron Eckhart.  By doing her job as an FBI agent and protecting a V against a death threat, Erica gains access to a V surveillance room.  This allows her to spy on everyone within a few feet of a V jacket, which apparently has some sort of visual transmitter at breast-level, which is totally the reason I was staring at the hot V chicks, um, celestial orbs, and not because I’m a perv or anything.  We also begin to suspect Erica’s FBI boss, who turns the captured suspect over to the Vs instead of the human authorities.  This becomes even shadier when the “assassin” turns out to be a V plant whose actions were orchestrated to engender sympathy toward the Vs.

A couple small problems with this episode: what’s with Erica’s “don’t trust anyone,” then leaving Father Jack alone in her apartment, unsupervised, with unfettered access to her FBI computer?  Consistency, please.  And writers, your expositional dialog could be a lot more natural and less obvious.  I know it’s tough to get necessary information across, but let’s be a bit more creative.  It’s why you get paid.  The big problem I had, though, was with Dale (Alan Tudyk) not really being dead, but having amnesia.  Amazing!  How many times in all of modern entertainment has amnesia been used as a plot device?  Writers, let’s try a little harder.  The Dale amnesia subplot did clue us into the thrust of Episode 3: that the Fifth Column (or “V”?) doesn’t exist in just a couple scattered cells on Earth, but stretches deep into the V leadership.  Like Erica’s boss said when handing over their suspect to the V’s, it’s complicated.

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A local reader was invited to the American Music Awards’ Celebrity Gift Tent last Saturday (Nov. 21) to promote his new, fab product and wanted to give TheBPlot readers the first scoop. 

If you have not heard, the deal with swag tents basically is that companies offer free product and the celebs whore themselves out for free sneakers, sunglasses, jewelry, etc. by letting their photo be taken with the product.  In the end, if it is somewhat of a relevant celebrity, the companies get free publicity by sending the photos to magazines such as People, US Weekly and InStyle and saying “Look, so-and-so uses our product - will you write an article?”  A lot of the time it works out for everyone. 

Our local inventor / snitch went big-time with the small-time celebs and dishes about swag-hungry, holiday gift-getting celebs, in his own words: 

“Well, being part of the AMA swag tent sure was an experience.  There were about 43 vendors.  I learned afterwards that the top celebs don’t come to the event, but the B C and D-list people do – with their friends.  Plenty of kids under 15 years old do too. 

“One hundred ten ‘names’ attended and I’ve got photos of almost every one of them who took our stuff.  I met many ‘has been’ stars and ‘want to be’ stars, several stars from soap operas, Carnie Wilson, two rappers, a few from TV shows (‘LA Ink’, ‘V’ and a few others), kids from the Disney Channel with their swag hungry parents, the Olympic Water Polo Team, a loooong since retired Hall of Famer from the LA Dodgers. 

“A few film directors came for product, including a major science fiction series director who is about 90 years old and couldn’t hear or see to even know what he was looking at.  Finally, a very famous TV chef - who the fattest guy in the room ran over and hugged for what seemed like forever – was there and loved our product.  

“Max and Tony from ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and Sheila E [photo left] were great and hung out with us for a while.

“Only one celeb objected to photos and still took product – Morena Baccarin from the ABC televisions series ‘V’ [third from right in photo, right].  She’s obviously new to the scene and when this show is over she will be done and not realize how lucky she was. 

“Every other celeb was more than willing to take photos.  We made sure they had fun, and enjoyed the picture-taking – and it shows in the photos.   

“The truth and truly sad fact is that many of the celebs came to get free stuff to give to their friends and family for the holidays.  They’d discuss with their family members openly ‘Okay, I’ll give this to Auntie May, and give that to my best friend Charlotte, and this to ….’  

“The free stuff they were getting from other vendors included really expensive shoes, purses, candy, computer software, earrings, dolls, make-up, perfume and tons more.  

“I’ve been invited to the Oscars in March.  More on that after the holidays.  The word is that more celebs, bigger celebs will attend that gift event.  And I guess they won’t be stocking up on Christmas gifts!!!  Maybe.”

Richard@TheBPlot.com

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Valerie leaves the house on her own in this episode (and must seek comfort)

Note: As usual, minor episode spoilers, major series spoilers if you haven’t seen the previous episodes.

This blogger is more than satisfied with V’s fourth and final episode of 2009. We got more action, more technology, more Morena Baccarin, and finally more of our other chica Latina Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie Stevens! Even some humor! Bliss all around!

The Visitors practice what they preached when they first came by opening healing centers around the world. It is especially interesting to note how quickly they find perfect locations to open these centers, at least in New York City. They must have Sleeper Agents in the real estate business! They offer the best diagnostics ever, fast healing and a preventative “vitamin supplement” which of course is met with suspicion by the Resistance. The rest of the world seems OK with it as evidenced by the Centers’ months-long waiting lists. Unfortunately the Visitors have not developed the cure to the common cold (oh Anna, you’re so funny when you try human humor).

The Resistance investigates the “vitamin supplement” by following leads to a V-lab which kind of looks like the Fringe lab in terms of creepy things, sans the crazy old guy and the cow. During this whole episode the Resistance shows its strengths and weaknesses, and although everyone has their own agenda it seems that they work well together. The only one who seems to be a loose cannon is Georgie. In my head I keep referring to them as the Mini-Resistance because they are only four people, at times even less.

Our chica Lourdes’ character Valerie gets a personality! (sort of) and we discover more about her: the work she does, her work ethic, and her health issues. Turns out she will have an important role in the V/human saga after all. But I fear her character is being set up to die so her importance may be fleeting.

Chad Decker, a.k.a. The Only Reporter in New York does a story on the Healing Centers and he gets some startling news on his own health. Chad is another character that needs more development. For example, I want to know how he’s handling his fame.

Meanwhile, up on the mothership, Anna investigates the murder of valuable Sleeper Agent Wash Dale Maddox at the hand of the 5th column. The sentence for the traitor? To be skinned. Why exactly this is a punishment struck me as odd, since they all have artificial skin that in theory should be removable. Well apparently being skinned alive is a punishment worse than death. And there goes my theory of why the Vs never show their true form on the ships- I thought they didn’t want to risk any human guests seeing them.

Besides managing the media, we also see Anna managing her fellow Visitors’ opinions what with the whole 5th column rumors going around. We see exactly how she uses the Bliss we had heard about previously. Anna’s position is much higher than expedition leader. (As a side note, the Bliss reminded me of the Russian sci-fi novel Prisoners of Power -or the cooler movie adaptation The Inhabited Island- where citizens are controlled by a similar method only via radio waves.)

Teenager Tyler becomes less annoying, mostly because you know he’s gonna get it for being such a whiny brat. Even his mom ignores him, ha! Also I am more lenient towards him today because in his scenes we got to see some more above-the head-shots (which I really like) and the ship’s propulsion system (pure computer-generated magic). Speaking of special effects, I still cannot forgive the terrible green screen. Please fix that by March, dear ABC! Yes, March… we have to wait until March to get the next installment of the series. Will the Visitors march in March?? Sorry, couldn’t resist!

It’s going to be a long wait because of several cliffhangers, especially the final one. As Anna says at the end, this is only the beginning.

“It’s Only the Beginning”

November 24th, 2009

“Is this the real life / is this just fantasy … open your eyes / look up to the skies and see”

In addressing the fall finale of ABC’s science fiction series V, I quote Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody for two reasons. The first is an excuse to link to the gleeful and wondrous Muppets version of the song released to YouTube today (if you need a better justification, let’s go with corporate synergy). The second is that the opening lines of this classic song feel like they capture the basic condition of most of V’s characters when these spaceships descended upon them. The very nature of science fiction that is roughly set in our own world is the question of whether the supernatural elements are “for real” in the sense that they should be trusted, which is perhaps what V has been missing since it debuted a mere three weeks ago. For a show about a race of aliens descending on humanity, the show has jettisoned the period of reflection in favour of drawing a line in the sand between skeptics who form a resistance against them and believers who freely choose to walk among them.

The logic behind the relative speed at which this has been accomplished is found within “It’s Only the Beginning,” which lives up to its cheeky title by confirming that, yes, this four-episode premiere event of sorts hasn’t actually managed to accomplish much of anything. In the show’s haste to define the characters quickly in order to bring in enough plot to tide people over until March (when the show is most likely to return), they forgot to show these characters struggling to come to terms with the Vs and the promises they offer to the world, and as such this finale has nothing to fall back on. The plot twists we see are intriguing (as the premise has not been the show’s biggest problem) if we care about the characters, but by separating the interesting individuals from the interesting stories (outside of Morena Baccarin’s Anna) the show has never tapped into the binary between these two cultures and the potential that lies within this premise.

Accordingly, it’s a good thing for the show’s creative future that it is only the beginning, although whether the series’ ratings future will be able to survive a rocky start is yet to be determined.

The purpose of the “X Hours Earlier” Chyron is to create suspense, wondering both how the episode gets to the moment in question and wondering how the moment is resolved. It’s meant to make an episode feel more exciting by providing an immediate sense of suspense, or showing a character acting in a way that makes you really curious just what we’re about to see. So, when V is trying to take what would normally be just a simple episode and turn it into a fall finale that will need to sustain the show for months, it makes sense for them to use a device like this (likely instituted in post-production) in order to manufacture some additional interest.

However, this particular example is over in only eighteen minutes, and it ends up more a sort of narrative shortcut than anything else. The episode partly resolved around a lack of trust between the members of the resistance, in particular Erica and Ryan, so the brief glimpse of Ryan apparently shooting down Erica previews this theme. However, this early in the show’s run, we don’t care enough about these characters to find this overly concerning, and we certainly weren’t overly concerned about whether Georgie was going to die. This device is potentially effective, sure, but it requires that we care enough about the characters and that we see enough plot to make it worthwhile. And this example failed on both of these fronts, as there wasn’t enough surprising about Ryan and Erica’s situation (they barely know each other) to make it really stand out, and the rush to get to that moment made it even more worthless.

That’s how I felt about a lot of what V offered in these first four episodes, sequences that would be far more compelling if we cared about the people taking part. I think the idea of an impressionable teenager being sucked in by the aura of the Vs would be compelling had they cast an actor with range and given them realistic scenes to play with the characters around them, as opposed to simply falling in lust with a P.Y.V. I think the idea that there are traitors within the V, forced to turn against each other to maintain their secrecy, would have been far more effective if we hadn’t just met those characters last week and this week respectively. And the idea of a LIZARD BABY would be intriguing if it wasn’t the only interesting thing to come from a character who I refer to as “Ryan’s wife” because even remembering his name is a relative challenge.

In an interview I read earlier this week, new producer Scott Rosenbaum indicated that he intends to maintain the general trajectory of the series when it returns in the new year, but that how it is executed will be significantly darker. And I think this is the right trajectory, as the problem with the show is more in how these stories are being executed than in the basic premise. The idea of the Vs using our paranoia over vaccines to their advantage is an intriguing idea, but it was so poorly executed that it had almost no impact. The storyline made no sense: as I understood it initially, the idea was that the Vs were infiltrating the flu vaccine supply in an effort to stir paranoia that would drive people to get their own vitamin shot instead (which laid some sort of groundwork for future research or something). However, instead, the show argued that the vitamin shot was a placebo, a smokescreen to keep health officials distracted while the R6-tainted vaccine went out into the public and created chaos. The former is a bit overly complex, but it at least feels like a necessary means towards an end. The latter is a small scale attack when we know a large scale attack (see: the collection of Flying Vs in the conclusion) is possible, which makes it convoluted to the point of frustration.

There are scenes here that are quite effective, but almost all of them surround Morena Baccarin’s Anna and the V’s technology that the show isn’t interested in really investigating that carefully. While we’re watching Scott Wolf get checked out, it’s obvious that he’s going to have some sort of medical condition, but when they eventually announced that they have added the fourth dimension to the medical process (time) it made me imagine more enjoyable applications of that technology within this world. It’s not a good sign for a show when I’m wishing that we could have a Minority Report-style medical procedural, but I kind of wish we had more time there and less with the FBI-style investigations. The elements of the show that have the most potential interest are to this point out of the reach of every human character but Tyler, and considering he is the least interesting character that does the show very little good.

Any show that deals with a duality as clear as human/V is going to need to investigate the differences between them, and the problem right now is that the middle ground (the point of conflict or convergence) is a long-term goal for Erica and a convoluted grand scheme being kept a secret for Anna. And while it might eventually be really engaging, the show is currently not situated to actually show us that conflict, spending too little time amongst the V society (where Baccarin is the show’s strongest link) and not working enough to connect the humans together in a compelling fashion. Learning that Tyler is Ryan’s wife’s patient is the sort of thing that the show tried to play as a reveal, but was just a contrived way to pretending as if the show really had its ducks in a row, a point which I would most likely contend.

This is not a terrible show, nor is it one without redeeming qualities. “It’s Only the Beginning” features some legitimately compelling scenes, like the great sound design in the skinning sequence, but it never feels like it stops on them long enough to really make a difference. In all fairness to the show, the four episode opening meant that it would likely have never had enough time to really get me involved with the show and its characters, but those four hours were not particularly well-executed even within that context. If this was a four-hour long presentation pilot, designed to convince a network that there is potential here with some production changes, then I’d call it a success. As it is, though, it’s a show that never quite understood its appeal, and has no clear sense of identity to fall back on.

As such, when we leave on a cliffhanger of a series regular bleeding out, the suspense isn’t in whether he’ll live or die but rather whether the show will sink or swim.

Cultural Observations

• There was a lot of talk about how the show is becoming more overtly political, with health care being used as a weapon much as critics of Obama’s health care stance argue it will be should the bill before Congress goes through, but I thought that the V strategy is so convoluted that even their dabblings into human society seem hokey and supernatural to me.
• The sequence of Anna offering “Bliss” to the Vs around the world (and some humans as well, it seems) was sort of just “there,” which makes me think that it, like LIZARD BABY (must always be written in all caps), was a callback to the original series.
• Personally, at this point, I would have made Tyler’s role in the larger V plan apparent so that a) we can figure out what it is that they see in him that we as an audience don’t and b) so that the character can have something interesting associated with him, as opposed to just some vague strategy.
• The idea that the V ships fly in Flying Vs immediately made me think of another more interesting story about V/Human integration: The Mighty Vs. Make it happen, people.

Oh, so the second episode of V happened two weeks ago. I watched it. I was like, “Cool.” And then I forgot to review it. I’m posting it, now!

V’s pilot made me realize I can’t always get what I want from a daring primetime sci-fi series (Which is: mysteries to be solved at an appropriate pace! Emphasis on characters! Subtlety!), but this episode wasn’t bad! While the pilot, with its breathless focus on unwieldy, symbolic grandness, made its characters act as if they had been thrown together at the last minute, the second episode was more methodical, placing emphasis on characters’ choices in response to Visitor-induced stress. I appreciated this episode’s approach, and I hope it continues.

The episode opens with Anna choosing a suitable outfit for her negotiations with Japan. Her meticulous attention to detail draws her toward a kimono, which she notes symbolizes tradition and submission. It’s a great scene, showcasing her awareness of the enormous production that is the image-obsessed world stage. Also, I love Morena Baccarin. She is effortless in this role: beautiful, suave, enigmatic. As Anna, she’s relaxed and breezy, which gives her this mysterious charm.

The opening scene was savvy, but given Fail Reporter’s continuing plot, I’m not sure the writers know how mass communication works. I guess Fail Reporter felt guilty for his bias in that first interview with Anna, so he decides to take a “balanced” view of the Visitors the next time his program airs. Like every other damn cable news channel in America, he brings two talking heads to air their opposing views about granting the Visitors’ entry to the United States. As he let the anti-visitor pundit speak first, the camera lingers on Anna’s shocked face. At that point I was like, okay, that’s what cable news people think is good reporting, and Anna might feel betrayed.

BUT THEN. Fail Reporter saunters up to Anna and her henchman, claiming his program alone helped shift the majority opinion. He boasts about being the reason most Americans now support the Visitors, flashing some charts or something. He pretends he has the upper hand in his coverage, then walks away, smirking, while Anna gapes behind him. What, does he think Anna doesn’t watch other news channels, which all invariably pulled the same trick? Or does he sincerely believe his blip of a news show (which apparently shows in the middle of the day) has that much influence on the majority of Americans? Either this is the writers or Fail Reporter airing their stupid. Maybe Anna was gaping at his supreme idiocy, I donno.

I also don’t know where to place ethics in all of this. Was Fail Reporter’s journalistic play actually noble? I say no, but the writers might have meant yes. Or maybe they want to show how Fail Reporter has a weird sense of right and wrong. OR the writers have no idea what they’re doing, which I will assume until I’m given proof to the contrary. No wonder the pilot’s references to Internet and news culture were so half-baked.

I’m going to skip over Boyfriend and FBI Lady’s annoying son; I barely remember their plots. Well, stuff happened!

I still love FBI Lady, because she is good at smashing things and kicking ass. I had initially associated her with Lois Lane due to her initiative and professional relationship with her partner of seven years (played by Alan Tudyk!), but then the writers managed to make me like her as a unique character within, like, the first ten minutes of this episode. See, after witnessing savage Visitors slaughtering an entire secret meeting of Resistance newbies, she smashes a floating alien surveillance cameraweapon before fleeing with another survivor. Once she gets home, she almost accidentally smashes her son in the face with a baseball bat. It’s the first sign that FBI Lady (actually “Erica”) is newly paranoid, certain the Visitors will hunt her down.

I really don’t blame her; she’s clearly in a state of shock from having to kill her adorable evil Clark Kent (actually named “Dale”) because he was a Visitor in disguise. When Erica goes into her FBI office the next day, she goes crazy insane lengths to pretend nothing is wrong even as her fear interrupts her attempts at nonchalance. Her life goes even further to shit once her boss realizes Dale is missing. Erica reacts by lying out of her ass: to her boss, to those investigating her partner’s disappearance, even to the agents supposedly investigating the Visitor’s trustworthiness. She’s so noticeably distressed, it’s cake for everyone at the office to cut through her weak web of trauma-induced fiction.

Her intense paranoia is an actual interesting character development! I’m glad the writers chose to have her react to less-than-stellar conditions in an erratic way. I bet it’s hard for anyone to think straight under that kind of stress.

Skeptical Priest, the survivor who bonded with Erica after the newbie massacre, is upset with Erica’s newfound lack of trust. She flips when he goes to the FBI to turn over some strong evidence connecting the Visitors and a terrorist sleeper cell; she assumes it will be intercepted and rendered impotent by hidden alien agents. He disagrees, claiming the evidence is worthless unless shown to the right people. This scene had the drollest dialogue exchange (“You’re an FBI agent?” “You’re a freaking priest?”) and some of the most interesting dynamics of the episode.

I love Skeptical Priest’s approach to this: instead of tightening his lips and limiting his resources (as Erica does), he does whatever he can to expose the truth to others. He is awesome and deserves to be called by his real name, Jack, now.

You know, I just noticed how this series has showcased ethical dilemmas concerning the spread or containment of information once or twice, and that kind of intrigue is an essential element of this genre. Except the writers project confusion in scenes reffing mass media culture and memes, and their ability to craft believable conflicts tends to fall apart while showcasing Fail Reporter’s weird navigation of journalistic ethics and public opinion. I think they should stick to small incidents of information brokerage involving only two or three characters (like Erica and Jack’s disagreement), as opposed to Fail Reporter’s “HEY I MANAGED TO SHIFT THE MAJORITY OPINION SOMEHOW, LOOK AT THESE POLLS IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.”

Oh yes, I’m still watching this show. Watch me bitch about it, forever.

At a gift suite party honoring the American Music Awards, Twisted Silver experienced a whirlwind of music industry, big screen, TV and sport celebs who fell stark raving drooling mad for Twisted Silver!  No lie, crazy cool temptations throughout the suite and where do you think the crowd was?  At the Twisted Silver booth of course! 

Designer, Debra Mitchell says about her experience:

 “The excitement was amazing, and I met so many vibrant people, from the celebs to their stylists and publicists.  I mean, I’ve always known Twisted Silver is addictive, and it was great to see Hollywood’s glittering folk literally crossing the room to ask about the designs… well, I was just speechless.  So fun to style such wonderful people!”  

On the eve of her European tour, pop star Taylor Dayne was cheering for all the chains designs, especially Hardware necklace and Beatnik bracelets connected together for a belt.  She told Deb these WILL be on stage with her and commissioned a few custom pieces to boot!

Deb styles Taylor Dayne for her upcoming tour

Disney’s Suite Life On Deck darling, Debby Ryan and her mom fell hopelessly in love with Twisted Silver too, especially the Peace&Love convertible and the Old World necklace.  She’s had her shoe designer set, and her clothing designer confirmed but never her jewelry designer … until now!

Debby Ryan is Suite Life on Decked out in Twisted!

High School Musical sweetie, KayCee Stroh fell in love with the Wilma bracelet, Knot ring and the Glacier necklace.

High School Musical sweetie rockin Twisted

Morena Baccarin, staring as the strikingly beautiful boss alien, Anna, on ABC’s new hit drama V was enraptured with the Tre necklace and the Belt bracelet.   And rockin drummer Sheila E lit up the room in the Hip Hoop Bling earrings.

Sheila E glowing glam in Hip Hoop earrings

Carnie Wilson, singer and daughter of pop icon and Beach Boy Brian Wilson, rocked the Gypsy and Attitude necklaces and hung out to chat with Deb.  Watch for her new documentary series, Carne Wilson Unstapled that chronicles Carnie Wilson’s efforts to shed “baby weight.”  She might be Twisted.

Carnie Wilson gets an Attitude... necklace

Mindy Sterling, best known for the zany Austin Powers character Frau Farbissina, Dr. Evil’s sidekick, couldn’t get enough of the Gypsy and Tre necklaces.  She was so sweet to send a thank you email (see below) 

From: Mindy Sterling
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:08:18 -0800
To: <info@twisted-silver.com>
Subject: THANK YOU

I received several wonderful pieces from you yesterday, Saturday at the gift fair (whatever you want to call it).  I have gotten so many compliments from just yesterday and last night.  I love this stuff.  Thank you for being so kind to me and my publicist. You really do great work!
Mindy Sterling

Deb and Mindy Stirling really hit it off!

Now that even more Hollywood celebs have had their first taste of Twisted, be on the lookout for more Twisted celeb spottings to come.  Stay tuned!

V has only a few episodes under it’s belt so far this season, but I am really enjoying it. I have to admit that I am still way behind on Flash Forward, but V I have been keeping up with (not that it’s been terribly hard to do so). V centers around a group of “Visitors,” or aliens, who visit planet earth in huge ships, claiming that they come in peace and wish to share technology with people on earth. Anna (Morena Baccarin) is the V leader who is strikingly beautiful and calming in her own way. The Vs bring into questions issues of devotion, worship and whether they are just arriving or if they’ve been there all along.

The way ABC has chosen to break up the season is to air 4 episodes in a row, and not air a new one until 2010. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I can say that the mid-season finale — if you can call it that — was very successful. The episode centers around the resistance movement (at this point it consists of Georgie played by David Richmond-Peck, Father Jack played by Joel Gretsch, Erica Evans, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, and a V himself Ryan Nichols, played by Morris Chestnut), and their plans to take down the Vs. Meanwhile, Erica’s son is getting much more involved with the Vs, and it becomes very clear that the Vs are using him for some ulterior motive. The Vs also give Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) an exclusive story about the healing centers (which Anna plugs on TV throughout the episode). The Vs claim their medical technology is incredibly advanced and far beyond anyone’s imagination.

But back to the resistance group, which I think is interesting and unique. Each person contributes something different. They make one small step towards progress at the end of the episode, but I don’t want to spoil anything. We also learn more about Anna’s relationship with the Vs, and about the 5th Column (the V resistance group).

This episode left me with a ton of questions, but I don’t feel like that is a bad thing. I think the season is moving at a pretty good pace, even though I want instant gratification. I want to know more about “getting connected,” which was brought up by a V in the last episode. I want to know more about the leader of the 5th column, and whether there are more traitors. I realize I just have to be patient to wait for the answers, but there is one thing that is for sure…V is keeping me very interested and very entertained. And at the same time, it is very grounded (for a show about aliens and all). The characters are well developed and well acted, and I only wish I knew more about some of Anna’s right hand men and women. I can’t wait to see how the season progresses, and I really look forward to when it pairs up with LOST in 2010.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 pm on ABC to see “It’s Only The Beginning.” I can’t wait to hear your thoughts as well!

After just four episodes, ABC’s V is done for 2009. Don’t worry, it will be back in 2010. But with the three episodes that have already aired, and one more on Tuesday, will that be enough for viewers to come back in the spring?

It all depends on tomorrow’s cliffhanger.

Elizabeth Mitchell and Logan Huffman looking up at the Visitors' ships.

Lets be honest, the first three episodes were mediocre at best. As I said in an earlier blog, Are Vs The New Cylons?, the one thing going for the series are the unique characters. For me, it’s not the normal characters that I’m finding intriguing — it’s the secondary ones.

One of these is played by David Richmond-Peck. His character, Georgie, was first perceived as a nut. In the pilot, he was seen preaching that the Visitors are not what they appear to be — literally. Turns out, V spies can be caught by slicing the skin where their true, lizard-like scales lay hidden. In the latest episode, we find that Georgie’s parents have most likely been killed by the Vs. Nothing is more compelling than a character with a mysterious past — and a grudge.

Then there’s my other favourite character, Chad. Actor, Scott Wolf, who always seems to join an ABC cast when they’re searching for the next LOST, steals his scenes when he acts off of alien Anna (Morena Baccarin). Wolf is a reporter that Baccarin has chosen to be her voice to the people. He’s definitely pushing his limits by going against what she originally asked, by not being put “in a negative light.”

Of course, there’s Morris Chestnut. His character is definitely complex — an alien rebelling against his own kind. Unfortunately, even with his acting, the storyline is falling flat. However, the final moment of last weeks episode, we saw Chestnut, Richmond-Peck, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Joel Gretsch join forces to begin what is most likely the team that will secretly fight the Vs. What could be better than a team comprised of an FBI agent, a conspiracy nut, an alien renegade, and a priest?

If V isn’t coming out again until March, then this cliffhanger needs to be unreal. But how can they expect to get away with that when true fans know what will happen?

We’ll see the Visitors true intentions. We’ll see they’re here for evil reasons. We’ll see they are here to feast on us.

Or will there be more?

Kenneth Johnson and Scott Peters, please, blow our socks off tomorrow at 8 pm.

Here’s a trailer for the last episode of 2009.

V – The Series è una serie tv di Scott Peters (quello di 4400 e di Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles per intenderci) trasmessa a partire dal 03.11.2009 dall’americana ABC. Prodotta in USA, la serie viene e per ora è composta da una stagioni che vedrà trasmesse solo 4 puntate nel 2009 .

TRAMA: La serie è un remake del telefilm cult degli anni ‘80 Visitors, che andò in onda dal 1985 al 1986 negli States e fece successo anche qui in Italia. Il mondo si sveglia con astronavi aliene che stazionano sulle principali città. I visitatori assicurano di essere venuti in pace ed offrono il loro aiuto, ma l’agente Erica Evans, nel corso di una indagine per rintracciare una cellula terroristica, si imbatte in una sinistra verità...

Abbiamo atteso di vedere le prime tre puntate prima scrivere di questa serie solo perché non volevamo seguire l’onda dei fan che con entusiasmo l’hanno attesa per mesi insieme a noi. E possiamo affermare che forti del ricordo della serie degli anni ‘80 non siamo rimasti di certo delusi e sebbene l’emorragia di ascolti in America speriamo che il network lasci che gli autori portino a termine questa prima stagione.

Cast:

• Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica Evans — un agente dell’FBI contro il terrorismo, che scopre per caso la vera natura dei Visitors e i loro secondi fini;
• Morris Chestnut as Ryan Nichols — un Visitor posing as human and trying to undermine the insidious plans of the Visitors;
• Joel Gretsch as Father Jack Landry — un prete il cui disagio verso gli alieni è presto convalidato dalla sua alleanza con Erica oltre e dalla loro scoperta del segreto dei Visitors…
• Logan Huffman as Tyler Evans — figlio adolescente di Erica, che diventa un membro del programma di avvicinamento dei Visitors;
• Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie Stevens — Fidanzata di Ryan, che non è a conoscenza della sua natura aliena;
• Laura Vandervoort as Lisa — una Visitors molto carina che interessa a Tyler. Lei è la figlia del comandante Anna.
• Morena Baccarin as Anna — Alto Comandante della Visitatori e madre di Lisa.
• Scott Wolf as Chad Decker — un anchormen incastrato tra la sua etica giornalistica e la sua ambizione.

Grazie a EZTV (per gli episodi) e a ITASA (per i sottotitoli) è possibile seguire gli episodi settimanali anche in Italia, praticamente in contemporanea con la messa in onda negli States.

Eu tenho medo das pessoas que tem uma boa retórica. Acho imprescindível que a pessoa que ocupa cargos públicos, que representa determinado povo, tenha um ótima oratória e retórica. A pessoa que sabe como e onde empregar cada emoção em cada uma das palavras é uma grande artista. Anna domina essa arte e por conseqüência  . Ela consegue carregar a massa e moldá-la ao seu bel prazer. É como uma bela dançarina do ventre que seduz e hipnotiza.

O que Anna fez antes de encontrar May Falker, procurando o tom correto para mostrar empatia pela perda da viúva e até chorando no processo, é de arrepiar. Me fez lembrar do Collor e seus inflamados discursos. Ele conseguiu o que queria e Anna também está conseguindo. Fica a dica pra galera que quer seguir a carreira política.

E o padre Jack me surpreende a cada episódio. Não bastasse saber lutar e falar palavrão, o homem tem o dom de se meter “em altas confusões”. Quem mandou ele ir sozinho atrás de Georgie? Contar sobre o armazém para uma desconhecida com cara de alien e ainda entregar o cartão(?) com endereço e tudo mais pra ela? Eu amo esse personagem, mas temos que admitir que os roteiristas estão numa correria danada e estão se esquecendo um pouco da lógica. Mas como ter lógica se você é um padre que acreditava em Deus e ser a única raça inteligente no Universo quando vê tudo isso de cabeça pra baixo? Não, isso não é uma justificativa.

O Ryan é outro que tem um talento natural para se ferrar. Não bastasse no episódio 1×02 ele ter sido zuado pelo Angelo, Cyrus o trai. Ainda bem que o franzino não conseguiu o que queria. Pergunta, Ryan matou Cyrus? Cadê o Ryan e o cadáver? E esse tal John May e a Quinta Tropa? Veremos algum tipo de  ”A Vila”, com V’s rebeldes sob o comando de John May?

E ficamos também sabendo que o Dale sempre foi um V. Eu pensei que ele havia tomado a vida de algum “Dale humano”. Além do que, quando vemos as memórias dele, Dale diz que ele trabalhava no FBI com outros V’s. Agora temos certeza de que Paul e aquela agente que foi falar com o padre Jack também são aliens. O que me surpreendeu mesmo foi ver um membro da Quinta Tropa infiltrado no grupo de Anna! E ainda em um cargo tão importante!

Pisada de bola feia a Erica conseguir identificar de longe a senha para a sala com aqueles vídeos malucos. Agora, o que era aquela sala? Se é tão importante, cadê a segurança? Só uma cadeira? Santa correria roteirística, Batman! Mas eu bem gostei da Erica lutadora, derrubando aquele V se passando por humano extremista. Não gostei do flashback mostrando o alien disfarçado de humano. Era só dar um close no rosto dele e já estava bom. Esperava um tratamento mais “Lost” com o público. Mas vai que eu estou mal acostumado, né?

Lisa ser filha da Anna me deixou com uma dúvida. Seriam todos os V’s filhos dela? Répteis colocam ovos, certo? Ela é uma espécie de rainha que coloca centenas de ovos por ano? Dúvida.

E sim, Laura Vandervoort, a traidora Lisa só de calcinha e sutiã para alegria da nerdaiada =D

Like alot of people, for the last few weeks, I’ve been watching that “V” mini-series on ABC. From the start I’ve been asking myself, “who is that fine ass leader of the V’s?”
So, I finally get around to finding out who the actress was, and realize Morena Baccarin has been a sci-fi hottie in more than a few shows, including the movie “Serenity”. Well, like I always say, better late than never.

Morena Baccarin was born in Rio De Janero, Brazil in 1979, but was raised in New York City. She was exposed to the world of acting at a very young age through her mother, Vera Setta, a well-known Brazilian actress who worked on both stage and television.

In 1989, Morena and her family moved to Greenwich Village, New York. A few years later she attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, the High School made famous in the movie Fame and the subsequent television series of the same name. Upon graduation, she was accepted into the prestigious Julliard School for the Performing Arts, and while there she was one of the subjects of the PBS series American Masters which focused on the school and the students.

Morena landed her first film role in 2001 in the independent film Perfume, which turned a critical eye on the fashion business and the lives of those who work in it. The same year she played the lead role of Rebecca in the film Way Off Broadway, which garnered rave reviews and earned Morena the “Best Actress” award at the Wine Country Film Festival.

After a minor role in the film Roger Dodger in 2002, Morena appeared in the Central Park production of The Seagull with Natalie Portman. She also was the understudy for Portman’s role.

Later the same year, she got her first television role as Inara Serra on the critically acclaimed series Firefly. The series was cancelled after only eleven episodes were aired, but Universal Studios was so impressed with the show and the cast that they greenlighted a silver screen continuation of the story. The movie, called Serenity, opened in September of 2005 to almost universal raves from critics. She currently stars as “Anna” in ABC’s “V” mini-series.

-Source

Listen to the episode HERE.

Joss Whedon’s Firefly was probably the best sci-fi television show ever. To be cancelled after half a season. By Fox (those bastards). It might have proved to be the best sci-fi show ever, period, if it’d been picked up by another network but it wasn’t. All we got was 14 episodes and a movie (Serenity). Fans of the show were heartbroken.

I wasn’t one of the heartbroken. I was part of the problem. I never watched Firefly when it was on the air because it was a huge nerd hurdle for me. Not because it was sci-fi but because I had no idea it was sci-fi. I heard the words “Joss Whedon” and “Firefly” and assumed it was another Buffy spin-off like Angel, but maybe about Willow or some other wiccan lesbians. Though I loved Buffy, I didn’t care for Angel, so I never checked out Firefly. And not many other people did either.

Then, after it was cancelled, I heard it was really good. One of the best TV shows ever. My ears pricked up. Then I heard it was “space cowboys” and my ears pricked back down. Cowboys are a huge hurdle for me. I like the odd western (usually starting a young Clint Eastwood) but generally I don’t care for the genre. It’s why it took me so long to watch the excellent Deadwood. Perhaps it’s because I don’t like modern-day cowboy culture and thereby associate ”westerns” with redneck douchebags. And I don’t care for the music. Such as the Firefly theme:

Then it was explained to me that the show isn’t so much about space cowboys as space outlaws and once again my ears were pricked. So a couple of years ago, several years after it was cancelled, I finally sat down to tackle Firefly.

I wasn’t disappointed. True, I wasn’t hooked from the first episode, but by the third I couldn’t stop watching if I tried. The show’s strength is that it’s blessed with probably the best ensemble cast ever assembled. Where other classic ensembles (TNG, Buffy) took a good three or four seasons to hit their stride, the cast of Firefly hit the ground running. The chemistry couldn’t have been improved in a laboratory. Check out the gag reel at the bottom of this post. It’s hard to believe these people were practically strangers.

Though there is certainly an outlaw/western feel to the show, it’s all the aspects of westerns I enjoy. They’re more dust-bowl pirates than cowboys. In a way it’s like Pirates of the Caribbean set on the Millenium Falcon instead of the Black Pearl. If it’d been sold to me that way, I’d have been watching from day one.

Instead the show was pitched as “nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things.” Um. Okay. That’s cool and all, but it’s sounds like Waiting for Godot staged on Discovery One. This show isn’t that at all. Perhaps the exact opposite. It’s an adventure-comedy of the highest grade. And well worth the hurdle.

I’ve caught the last three episodes of V on ABC and I must say, it’s a really entertaining and enthralling show. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it’s a remake from the 1980’s show of the same name in which an alien race suddenly arrives at Earth and introduces themselves simultaneously to all the nations of the world. Later we find out that they’re actually reptilians which have disguised themselves as humans and infiltrated our systems of government and centres of power. I won’t say much more than that though, have a look yourself over at Mininova for episodes 1, 2 and 3 of the first season. The pilot episode is a little slow, but the second and third are outstanding.

One of the biggest dangers the humans of ABC’s V might face this season is the cliché.  Alien invasion stories, after all, are nothing new.  Neither is the priest whose own doubts give him trouble handling the problems of his flock.  But three episodes in (and even if three weeks doesn’t quite constitute a hit), V hasn’t gone stale, a necessity in a season when networks are axing new shows that don’t deliver almost faster than they premiere.

Here’s hoping to a long shelf life.

The opening minutes of last Tuesday’s episode, “A Bright New Day,” were possibly the sweetest I’ve seen in the show yet—and no, they don’t involve Erica’s idiot son and his simpering space princess (he annoys me so thoroughly, you might have gathered, that I’m not even bothering to learn his name).

The show opens with Jack (Father Landry, to the faithful) sweating and fidgeting in his confessional as various parishioners file in or out, in torment or rapture, variously.

“Are the Vs demons, or angels?” one woman asks.

“Who am I to question the Pope?” says another man.

In the past few episodes, shifts in who you can trust and who count as authority figures have been major themes—here they are again, notably, in questions posed to a very human man with neither.  And he looks so uncomfortable trapped in that stiff collar and tiny room that we’re left wondering who he can talk to about these questions.

“I want to be able to look them in the eye and tell them God loves them, everything’s going to be fine.  How can I tell them that?  I don’t even know what to tell myself anymore,” he insists.

And here’s where ABC defuses the cliché: Jack’s sentiment might not be original, but most priests don’t ask their advice from FBI agents investigating sleeper cells… of aliens.

So much for prayer.

Erica and Jack’s conversation is particularly touching because, in a world where everyone has two faces (and for some of them, I mean that literally), this bizarre pair trusts each other completely.  Shoot—Erica leaves him alone in her house paging through the FBI database.  National security breach?  Too late for that.

And you have to admit that Erica’s game plan is a lot more practical than saying two Hail Marys and a Glory Be.

“Whatever their plan is,” she says of the Vs, “They need us for something.  And until we find out what that is, we need to fight them the same way they’re fighting us.”

In other words: pretend to play nice.

If there’s anyone I can see going head to head with Anna and winning, it’s Elizabeth Mitchell as Agent Evans.  Even as she assists V security in identifying a death threat against one of their officials, Erica demonstrates the skills she’ll need to build a resistance: brilliant observation, something close to photographic memory, and absolute control over how she allows others to perceive her.  Sound like any particularly conniving alien woman we know?

In the long run, it doesn’t matter that the whole shooter/assassination/death threat thing was a set-up: we already knew the Vs were sneaky, and the would-be rebels knew it as well.  In “A Bright New Day,” it’s the Vs who are out of the loop for once, and the great thing is, they don’t even know it—

By saving Anna’s slimy advisor Marcus, Erica gains his trust, as he assumes she saved him out of the same devotion most humans display.  Painful and seemingly-counterintuitive though this rescue must have been, Erica keeps her head and shakes his hand.

Infiltration doesn’t have to be one-sided.

With the return of David Richmond-Peck as George “it’s Georgie” Sutton (organizer of the ill-fated warehouse meeting in episode one), this becomes even more clear.  While well-meaning Jack (once again) demonstrates his blatant lack of street smarts, Richmond-Peck portrays a sapient homo sapiens who knows how to survive and outlast anyone (and when it comes to his family, tragically, he has).  The team is beginning to shape up.

Though “A Bright New Day” hints that there’s another V in the FBI (I’m guessing Erica’s boss Paul—he’s the one who let the Vs take custody of the “shooter,” after all, and seemingly without a fight), we also meet a traitor in a very high place, the New York Mothership (and I was cheering by the end of that scene, by the way).  Add into the mix the mysterious John May-or-may-not be a myth, and the rebels might just stand a chance.  Or, as the veterans call them: The Fifth Column.

More hope lies in the new knowledge that not all of the Vs are committed to the program of human destruction: Ryan Nichols’s old Fifth Column buddy Cyrus tries to turn him in, but only because of something he speaks of incoherently a “the Bliss.”

“The Bliss?” Ryan scoffs.  “The Bliss is how she controlled us, Cyrus.  Just like junkies, man.  And that’s what you are, you’re nothing but a junkie.  Just like the rest of them.”

Killing with kindness?  Anna’s killing with ecstasy.

But Erica’s “fighting them the same way they’re fighting us” now, remember, and that could make all the difference this time, in what’s shaping up to be the second rebellion.  We don’t know much about the first, but having Georgie Sutton around gives us some useful clues—

After 1.03, his emotionalism in the pilot’s warehouse scene is even more understandable (not that aliens overhead is something not to get upset about): the Vs murdered his wife and kids.  And like we treat most adults ranting about aliens in our own society, Georgie’s community stigmatized him.

“He went a little crazy,” one of his neighbors says, of the murders.  “He said aliens did it.”

Turns out he wasn’t crazy after all, but as Anna teaches us every Tuesday, perception is everything.  He didn’t look credible, however good his information was.

And as good in his role as the impassioned, almost-fanatical, and kind of ruthless survivor (he holds a gun to the head of a priest) as Mitchell is at playing cool-and-composed, Richmond-Peck’s Georgie is as much the counterpart to Erica as is Jack Landry, and just as important to the growing resistance.

Erica and Jack—an FBI agent and a Man of God—are the poster children of model citizenship, but Georgie Sutton and Ryan Nichols know the rules of the game.  And this time, they’re going to play nice.

For now.

credit : REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Contemporary Icon Kobe Bryant at the 14th annual GQ magazine “Men of the Year” party yesterday in Los Angeles.

more pictures

]]> http://billieo.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/morena-baccarin-tvs-newest/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:39:25 +0000 BillieO http://billieo.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/morena-baccarin-tvs-newest/

Morena Baccarin has really hit the big time in the new television re-make of the 1983 science fiction series called “V”which recently premiered on ABC.   

The premise of the show for those of you who may not have seen the show is about a race of aliens who suddenly visit earth in 29 gigantic spaceships claiming to come in peace…their tagline is.…”We are of peace. Always.”  (Yeah, right!)

Morena Baccarin, a 30 year-old Brazilian born New Yorker, who has starred in a variety of programs such as Firefly and Serenity as “Inara” and a Stargate SG-1 alum, as “Adria” is now playing “Anna,” the supreme commander of the alien race currently hovering over all the major cities of the planet earth.  

Sporting a brand new haircut, remnicient of Audrey Hepburn and Halle Berry and probably being blessed by every hair salon across the country, “V” has done wonders for ABC ratings with 14.3 million viewers among adults 18-49 on the night of the premiere, on November 3, 2009, easily the best numbers for any new show this season.

 “V” will air in two parts, with four episodes before the holidays, and the remainder in 2010 right after the Olympics are over.  During this hiatus, you can catch Morena Baccarin in the upcoming big screen drama “Stolen Lives,” alongside Josh Lucas and “Mad Men’s” John Hamm.

 Watch “V” on Tuesday nights at 8 pm on ABC

For more information about the show visit:  

IMDB.com

 TV Guide Interview

Sources:

Various

Reviewed by Alicia Glass

Studio: ABC’s V

Age: 14+

Review Rating: 8

 A remake of a wildly popular 80’s Sci-Fi show, V features a race of aliens come to earth known as the Visitor’s, or V’s, who slowly infiltrate everything on Earth to reveal a diabolical plot against the humans.

 The good news is, if you’re a fan of the original series, the remade series will blow your mind. The alien ships have had a CGI makeover, as we all knew they would. Morena Baccarin of Firefly and Stargate SG-1 fame gives a wonderfully icy performance as Anna, leader of the V’s, and I would guess equivalent to the classic Diana. The thrust-upon leader of the Resistance is still a blond female, but oh yeah baby, this time she’s an FBI agent who kicks serious ass. Elizabeth Mitchell of Lost fame portrays her. There is still exciting tightrope tension between a leading world reporter and the V commanders, but of course Scott Wolf is remarkably different from the gruff and capable reporter turned resistance fighter of the original series, played by Marc Singer. We still have the iconic black guy in the resistance, but this time, he’s a V who’s apparently a soldier of some kind who turned coat and decided to aid the humans after all. There is, so far, a lot more about the V’s themselves, the wars they apparently fought eachother with and the defecting of various military style outfits. Which leads me to an interesting question: if a visiting alien race is showing empathy and compassion towards the atrocities they themselves committed on us humans, is it called showing humanity, or alien-ity?

 There is bad news, unfortunately. For those of us who are fans of the original show, well. This new show of course doesn’t have Robert Englund as a V human sympathizer. And yes, the Mike Donovan equivalent of this show, the reporter that ignites a firestorm against the V’s, is so far a complete wuss as far as physical fighting goes. Those of us who’ve seen both the classic and this new show are likely to enjoy this new one for it’s sheer improvement value if nothing else. However, for anyone raised in the United States with a healthy interest in the Sci-Fi genre, this new V has as yet to distinguish itself from other giants like Battlestar Galactica. If it’s all been done before, then this new V will have to work much more hard and be much more vigilant if it doesn’t want to simply fade out, head hung in shame, as with most remakes these days. It hasn’t happened, yet! Let us pray (or prey) that it doesn’t.

Whether V stands for Victory or Visitor, watch the show and make your choice!

Check out a Trailer