126 replies to this topic

[AimingforYoko]

Chad reports from the Peace Ambassador Center as 100 diplomatic visas are being issued to the first wave of American Visitors, with Anna getting the first, but not everyone agrees with the decision. Meanwhile, Erica has started tracking a death threat while paired with a V officer, as she actually has to protect the V's, and Ryan starts reaching out to his old friends to build up opposition forces and help fight-off the V's

Is it me or is the V civil war the most compelling storyline? I'm gonna be interested to see who they cast as 'John May'.

[meknownothing]

Next week is the last new show of 2009!! Excuse me while I scream.

Edited by meknownothing, Nov 17, 2009 @ 9:07 PM.

[morrigan2575]

I'm very curious as to who this John May character is and the actor that will portray him. The Civil War and the whole Bliss/drug addict thing is very interesting.

Ironically, I actually found that this episode dragged a bit but the ending gave me chills. Anna is pure evil, I really like it and the fact that Anna is Lisa's mother is pretty interesting.

One thing that is bothering me is the fact that the 5th column members refer to the "V"s as the "V"s aren't they the same species? Unless the "Vs" isn't what the whole species is calling itself just Anna's little cult like group?

So far it's been a very interesting story.

[johntfs]

One thing that is bothering me is the fact that the 5th column members refer to the "V"s as the "V"s aren't they the same species? Unless the "Vs" isn't what the whole species is calling itself just Anna's little cult like group?

That's one possibility, though Anna's "little cult" probably includes the vast majority of non-human sentient on Earth. That said, it's also possible that the 5th columnists have simply gone native to the point of thinking of themselves as humans and the other "Vs" as the aliens.

[Bussy]

Poor Ryan. He's been betrayed twice in two weeks.

I have a feeling that Lisa is just as rebellious a teenager as Tyler is. She had a look on her face after Anna turned her back. It’s going to be interesting when Lisa reports that Tyler’s mom doesn’t like the Vs, given Erica’s new stature after the day’s events. Erica's in an interesting position now, between being a resistance leader, Tyler's mom, and the V's new favorite FBI agent.

I DID guess that Anna had planted the “shooter”. That was the only twist that didn’t bowl me over. And Erica’s boss is totally a V.

I officially ship Erica/Jack. I don't care that it's wrong. When he showed up at the house and she was half-naked in her houseclothes, and then he just invited himself to stay? I squeed.

I’m glad they made it clear that we are to understand Erica to live in Queens or something, rather than wanting us to think she lives in Mahattan.

So, do Vs turn into dust when they die? That was interesting. That and the new drug theme.

[Kalina Ann]

I DID guess that Anna had planted the “shooter”. That was the only twist that didn’t bowl me over.

Same here. I can't wait for next week's episode, even though it'll be the last one of this year. *frown*

Edited by Kalina Ann, Nov 17, 2009 @ 9:25 PM.

[LonePirate]

Tonight's episode exhibited a nice, balanced pace unlike the manic and cluttered premiere and last week's snoozefest.

Why didn't the government subject the Vs to some sort of biological testing or medical quarantine? Given the hysteria over swine flu, the government should be concerned by any biological contamination or exposure to any foreign viruses or biological entities that are not from Earth. I suppose that plot hole will forever remain open.

[Lady Snarkbite]

So, we have ourselves a 5th columnist on the ship, how's that for a twist?

Goodbye, Alpha Wash Dale. We hardly knew ya but your leaf will continue to soar. Also, the wife was human and not a V. That's interesting.

Erica and Jack are made of win. I love them and I don't care how wrong that is. Is it just me or did Marcus look like he wanted to snack on Erica after she hog tied the V formerly known as terrorist?

Anna you despicable bitch, how I love you. I can't believe she got away with that. Erica was too busy looking for clues to realize what was going on right under her pretty little nose.

Why hasn't Tyler been eaten yet?

[SourSugar613]

Anna trying to practice compassion was one of the creepiest moments I've seen on this show, and that's a loaded statement. There were a lot of spectacularly directed scenes in this episode... like Dan in the virtual FBI office, and Erica sneaking into the secret room. Even the music was fitting. The ending though, TOTALLY threw me. I knew there was only a minute left so I kept waiting for something really fucked up to happen, and V delivered. Unless, of course, all of the Vs refer to Anna as their mother. Although, I would actually like to see what family interaction is like for the Vs... like, do they care for their young, or do they eat them?

My other 'hmmmm' moment of the show was when Dale called Erica was his wife. Hmmmm...

Ah, and I quite enjoyed the awkward 'Please put your clothes on and leave' scene. Dude, everyone in that room totally wanted to check Lisa out. I get the feeling most parents wouldn't be that calm about it... but Erica has enough to freak out about.

The 'John May Lives' graffiti along with talk about a 'fifth column' confused me at first (I didn't see TOV)... so it may call for a rewatch. All in all, I think tonight was my favourite episode yet.

I officially ship Erica/Jack. I don't care that it's wrong. When he showed up at the house and she was half-naked in her houseclothes, and then he just invited himself to stay? I squeed.

You are not alone. I'm riding that bandwagon straight to hell.

Edited by SourSugar613, Nov 17, 2009 @ 10:14 PM.

[morrigan2575]

That said, it's also possible that the 5th columnists have simply gone native to the point of thinking of themselves as humans and the other "Vs" as the aliens.

Interesting, never thought about it that way.

I DID guess that Anna had planted the “shooter”. That was the only twist that didn’t bowl me over. And Erica’s boss is totally a V.

I didn't see that one coming at all.

[benteen]

I really enjoyed it. A lot of twists and developments. Liked that open scene with Father Jack not knowing what to say to any of the confessions. Did not expect a 5th Columinist to be on the 5th ship and I would have expected Dale to hang around long. Liked that Lisa is Anna's daughter. Definitely agree her practing compassion was distrubing.

The weak link continues to be Erica's son Tyler, who is just too damn annoying.

[peridot16]

I'm surprised Father Jack was being so careless. He was driving around in his noticeable van and giving out business cards like no one was watching. I'm glad Jack and Erica got paranoid Georgie and hardcore 5th columnists on their side.

Erica has got to be more of a hands-on parent. After seeing an almost naked woman in your son's room, she just can't say "we'll talk about this later".

I totally didn't expect the ending. I can't believe there's only one new episode left.

Edited by peridot16, Nov 17, 2009 @ 10:00 PM.

[ReflexOne]

You know what? I don't think Tyler's going to be eaten by the Vs. I think his bangs will eat him LONG before Lisa or Anna gets to it.

I do really hope that Anna really is Lisa's mother. I have this half-fantasy about Anna and Erica finding out Lisa and Tyler are "dating" (instead of just getting undressed in Tyler's room) and both mothers having an Emergency Mother Meeting about "Okay, we must STOP THE TEENAGERS. What're your ideas?"

I found myself extremely satisfied with this episode. It felt like a lot happened.

I'm also intrigued by the 5th Columnist on the New York mothership. I've seen episodes of the original series, and I know there were 5th columnists on the motherships in that version, but this reveal seemed shocking to me. From the way the show has presented things, there hasn't been too much contact between the embedded Vs and the fleet before their arrival at Earth. The 5th Columnist guy was saying things that made me believe the motherships regular population probably doesn't know too much about human life. Where as before the show presented the 5th Columnists as a possible outgrowth of "going native" on Earth, this episode brought to light that a division from Anna's plan has been happening for various reasons for a while ... I like that. If it was something like "the love of humans changes evil lizard people to the side of good" I would have barfed. I think they're already doing that substory with Tyler and Lisa. Oh, and Ryan and Suspicious!Girlfriend.

Also ... poor, poor Georgie's backstory. :\

Edited by ReflexOne, Nov 17, 2009 @ 10:17 PM.

[LonePirate]

Another thing that bugs me about this episode is the complete lack of follow-up on the "human" detained for the attempted assassination at the V embassy. Sure, it was revealed that he was actually a V; but he's human according to the human press and government. As much as we are aware of the women recently detained in North Korea or the Americans currently under arrest in Iran; I think it's a big stretch of the imagination that this human prisoner would be forgotten and would supposedly face V justice. The sensationalism surrounding the trial and the mystery of it all would be enough to stoke the fears of the resistance and of the public in general. This will probably be swept under the rug like so many other things that are starting to bug me about this series.

[TonyPSU]

I DID guess that Anna had planted the “shooter”. That was the only twist that didn’t bowl me over. And Erica’s boss is totally a V.

I totally called that one too. It was way too obvious that Anna is willing to go to any lengths to make the Vs look sympathtic in the guys of the world. Also there was no other reason why they would give Erica the type of access that they did. I do wonder if she was specifically selected to lead the investigation for some reason,

The Tyler/Lisa/Erica interraction is probably the only accurate parent/child interraction that they've had so far. I think any mother would treat that situation in the same way. They certainly don't want the girl to feel any more awkward than she already would feel.

[Reel by Real]

I too had an issue with the lack of followup. Given that Erica's an FBI agent, she should have known better -- and given her knowledge about the Vs' questionable deeds (not just suspicions by now), she should have been more reluctant to simply release the guy to face the V firing squad, as far as she knows.

Anna still holds all the cards, which is good; one thing that I quibble with are irresponsibly stupid villains who would put the Evil Overlord List to shame. Have we found out her henchman's name, the one who shook Erica's hand today? He's had a lot of lines in the last few episodes, but I don't believe he's ever been given a name; I like him, since he's suitably chilling and yet doesn't feel too hammy (an appropriate level of ham is fine, of course.)

Tyler and Brandon need to be hors d'oeuvres sooner rather than later. I did like Lisa's quick thinking to undress when Erica almost caught her, though; shows she's certainly a more resourceful character than her boytoy.

[Ripley68]

I liked this episode a lot. Loved Erica's reaction to Lisa being in the room. I think that is very realistic and I hope I can be that calm in the same situation. Yeah, after seeing her almost naked, no way is Tyler forgetting her. Like seeing the resistance getting built up, love the doc being a 5th column member. I just wish Georgie had said that whats his name was a lizard - duh, kind of important info. I didn't see the V mole gunman, so liked that surprise. Anna practicing meeting the wife was very good. I like seeing this behind the scenes stuff. I also liked the room of a thousand cameras.

[LaraAriadne]

Now that was fun. I loved it all around, and I like that the show turns little details into plot points further down the line. For example, the dead pilot in the first episode.

I do have one question though: Where are the female V's? I mean, besides Anna and Lisa. I think all the 29 captains were male, every member of the V security force was male, every member of the fifth column/V resistance has been male as well. Is that by design?

I also subscribe to the Lisa's up to no good/Tyler's lizard food line of thought. I mean, the lizard spawn doesn't fall far from the lizard nest, right? Then again, maybe it's wishful thinking. But if Tyler ends up getting experimented on/turned into a tasty midnight lizard treat, I will be very, very happy.

[Reel by Real]

Where are the female V's? I mean, besides Anna and Lisa. I think all the 29 captains were male, every member of the V security force was male, every member of the fifth column/V resistance has been male as well. Is that by design?

I'll place my chips in the 'Visitors are asexual in that they don't have a binary gender; female leader/girlfriend trap are both seen as less threatening than male leader/boyfriend trap' column. The security forces being male lends them a greater appearance of power; both Ryan and Dale are in trusted, competent positions of authority that (not at all fairly and rather stereotypically) humanity tends to associate with men: Think 'FBI agent' or 'Wall street broker' and I'll bet you picture a guy. Angelo is a car mechanic, which isn't traditionally a female job either.

Just my opinion, though.

[ACW]

I'll place my chips in the 'Visitors are asexual in that they don't have a binary gender; female leader/girlfriend trap are both seen as less threatening than male leader/boyfriend trap' column.

But Lisa does call Anna "mother" when in private, implying at least some sort of gender-analogous situation.
My suspicion is that Anna and Lisa are the "queen mother" and "queen-in-training" (though I'm not sure whether that implies that all of the others are sterile females, male drones, or something else). That's the kind of standard evil-collectivist-alien trope I'd expect from a somewhat-cheesy show, anyway.
Wasn't one of the other V-for-Visas we saw for an (unusually average-looking) woman?

[TheGreaterFool]

Another thing that bugs me about this episode is the complete lack of follow-up on the "human" detained for the attempted assassination at the V embassy.

I eagerly await an answer from the fanwank thread -- the "it's complicated" line completely threw me out of the show. If I break into the Chinese embassy tonight and get caught, am I going to China? Would the Chinese even be allowed to detain and interrogate me without a U.S. official present?

Luckily, I was quickly pulled back into the show. Loving the 5th Column and the John May angle. Loved the fact that the show finally addressed the protesters and made a point of saying people did die during the arrival. Loved that Wash V hated humanity. Loving that you really can't trust anyone, a suspense tactic I think Battlestar Galactica got rid of too quickly. And then Anna might be some sort of alien queen... priceless.

[ScribblerGuy]

Anna's a mom? Aww. How creepy.

ReflexOne:

I found myself extremely satisfied with this episode. It felt like a lot happened.

Agreed, this is a much better episode compared to last week's. But, a few things continue to bug. Such as:

I'm surprised Father Jack was being so careless. He was driving around in his noticeable van and giving out business cards like no one was watching.

(quote from peridot16's post) Plus, he called Erica on the phone and left a message about finding Georgie. The Resistance people need to study up on counter-surveilance and the other fundamentals of tradecraft.

Having the doctor who was helping Dale remember turn out to be a 5th Columnist was a nice touch. It'll be interesting to see how long they keep her Resistance affiliation a secret from the V's. And, "The Fifth Column says hello" could be a fun little catchphrase.

Loved the PR manipulation plot in the episode. That makes up for some of the plotholes.

LonePirate:

Another thing that bugs me about this episode is the complete lack of follow-up on the "human" detained for the attempted assassination at the V embassy. Sure, it was revealed that he was actually a V; but he's human according to the human press and government. As much as we are aware of the women recently detained in North Korea or the Americans currently under arrest in Iran; I think it's a big stretch of the imagination that this human prisoner would be forgotten and would supposedly face V justice.

Fankwanking ahead: Since the "human" doesn't really exist, he has no friends or family to push his cause. Maybe a group like the ACLU or a Glenn Beck type would involve themselves without asking, but I'm sure Anna could manipulate the media coverage to have it forgotten. Plus, if there was any trial and punishment, Anna would pardon the "human" and he would be quietly released and disappear.
Reel by Real:

I too had an issue with the lack of followup. Given that Erica's an FBI agent, she should have known better -- and given her knowledge about the Vs' questionable deeds (not just suspicions by now), she should have been more reluctant to simply release the guy to face the V firing squad, as far as she knows.

I think they could have worked in a couple lines of her protesting without her exposing her true beliefs. Or, if she had confessed (not that way) to Father Jack and she told him that she didn't speak up so she could appear to be more of a "team player." I did wish that instead of Erica's boss saying "it's complicated" that they would flat out said that those centers are treated as embassies (foreign soil) for legal purposes.

[DEM]

Another thing that bugs me about this episode is the complete lack of follow-up on the "human" detained for the attempted assassination at the V embassy.

Yeah, you know, the funniest line of the night was Erica's "It's like 9/11 never happened!" (Funny in a mocking sense, not funny in a clever sense.) Were the writers attempting irony there? Hanging a lantern on how very not at all grounded the plotting is? What? I swear, as much as I enjoy EM's Erica and Morris Chestnut's Ryan, the writing -- at a macro level -- makes me twitch.

I was confused by the angle on Tyler and Lisa entering the house. How was it that we could see their faces?

And speaking of that house, is that thing smaller on the inside than on the outside? From the outside, it's a big ole, full-size family abode; but go inside and the kitchen is in the living room! (heh)

Reporter Guy -- I understand his purpose (I guess), but I'm already tired of his constant narration. And it seems like a writerly crutch, as in "We can't afford to and aren't clever enough to show you this stuff, so we'll just have Talky Guy tell it to you instead."

I also noticed the weird lack of female V's. I may give it a pass if the writers explain down the road that this is some species-related thing, but I definitely won't give a pass if the explanation is thinly veiled "evil commie"/long live the patriarchy crap.

OK, after all that, I should say that I enjoyed the ep well enough -- esp. the reveal of the traitor medico -- just feel like it could be so much better.

What do we think they did to Grieving Widow? Express brainwashing?

Edited by DEM, Nov 17, 2009 @ 11:32 PM.

[Roll the dice]

Where are the female V's? I mean, besides Anna and Lisa. I think all the 29 captains were male, every member of the V security force was male, every member of the fifth column/V resistance has been male as well. Is that by design?

I was thinking that perhaps it was by design. Like bees, there can only be one queen and that is Anna. There are probably other women V's but imagine that she has them all locked away and there sole purpose is to have babies and make minions and none with pretty human skin. Minus her daughter who she keeping front and center to learn from her for the one day in the future that she will take over...or something. Also, maybe it doesn't really matter if guy V's (like Ryan or Dale) have sex with humans.

Perhaps: Vmale + Vfemale = V, Vmale + human = Human, and Vfemale + Human = SUPERPOWERFUL V/HUMAN HYBREED TO RULE ALL!!!

Edited by Roll the dice, Nov 17, 2009 @ 11:33 PM.

[Reel by Real]

Maybe a group like the ACLU or a Glenn Beck type would involve themselves without asking, but I'm sure Anna could manipulate the media coverage to have it forgotten.

... which would give Chad a reason to (please) go back to doing something useful next episode! I'm partial, though.

ACW, point taken in your response: I did catch the 'Mother' line but wasn't considering it when I posted my theory. Oh well. Someone more scientific than I am can answer this, or I'll turn to Wikipedia, the bastion of knowledge that it is: Do any real-life reptiles have wacky gender situations/parthenogenesis/whatever that would add weight to the theory? Not that I believe the show will go there; I'm just curious if it can even be a supportable theory in the context of the show. Something like that would definitely be more creative and germane than the queen/worker/drones setup that bees get, after all.

[Booklord]

I was confused by the angle on Tyler and Lisa entering the house. How was it that we could see their faces?

He was putting on the V peace ambassador uniform in front of a mirror.

[ReflexOne]

DEM:

I was confused by the angle on Tyler and Lisa entering the house. How was it that we could see their faces?

I think the angle was supposed to be such that Tyler had his camera-coat hanging on the wall and they came in to the room to admire it, now that he got it back and was a Peace Ambassador again. Which would explain why we could see them coming into the room.

And ... really ... now that I think of it. Silly Erica ... you're obviously on camera. I know it's a little difficult to believe that ALL those feeds would be recorded, but wouldn't a system smart enough to pick out specific feeds also be programmed to start recording the suspicious behavior?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention ... having seen some episodes of the original series ... when Erica walked into the old-style monitoring room that was for show ... am I wrong thinking that equipment was supposed to resemble the stuff that was all "high tech" back there in the 80s? It made me laugh, at least.

[firestarter]

Wow, great episode. Best so far, I think. Some really nice, tense, well-made scenes--Father What-A-Waste listening speechlessly to confessions, Ryan going up against his former ally, Anna practicing empathy. I hope they're all this good when they come back.

Given that Erica's an FBI agent, she should have known better -- and given her knowledge about the Vs' questionable deeds (not just suspicions by now), she should have been more reluctant to simply release the guy to face the V firing squad, as far as she knows.

When it happened, I'm not sure she could have done anything different, but I would have suspected some follow-up later with her boss, with Erica demanding more of an explanation. She needs to stay in character as her workmates know her as she's trying to be an undercover mother.

I also subscribe to the Lisa's up to no good/Tyler's lizard food line of thought.

I believe Lisa's going to use Tyler for as long as he's useful for info on his mom and the rest of the humans. There are plenty of horny teenage boys she can eat for now.

My suspicion is that Anna and Lisa are the "queen mother" and "queen-in-training" (though I'm not sure whether that implies that all of the others are sterile females, male drones, or something else).

This gets my vote.

Reporter Guy -- I understand his purpose (I guess), but I'm already tired of his constant narration.

Not to mention, Scott Wolf is a good actor, but he's not a believable reporter. Reporters sound a certain way, and his delivery is too shouty and sounds very amateurish to me. Practice that, Scotty, like it's an accent!

... when Erica walked into the old-style monitoring room that was for show ... am I wrong thinking that equipment was supposed to resemble the stuff that was all "high tech" back there in the 80s?

The V ship design and uniforms have that effect on me too, like I'm watching 80s sci fi sets again. It's kind of cool, actually.

[CubicleDrone]

Maybe they are a species that utilizes other species to procreate. It's similar to when an insect lays its eggs in a carcass and when the eggs hatch, the new offspring eat the host. Maybe, that's what they're grooming Tyler, and the human race, for. Tyler will be the guinea pig to ensure that it will work. If that's the case, they need to use Tyler's fat friend too. I still think he would "fry" up real well with his added girth.

Too bad about the widow. She was either replaced or converted. Since this is a remake, I'll assume she was converted. If she was right-handed, she's probably left-handed now. Anna is definitely working it. I like this series. It's unfortunate that it is going to go on hiatus for such a long time.