V (2009)

Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired 11/3/09

Episode Summary

Dozens of UFO's hover in the sky. Anna, the leader of the Visitors, wants everyone to unite as one and puts her faith in humanity's key element, devotion. The V's are considered to be a threat. However, they overcome any obstacle thrown at them and become an instant attraction. FBI Counter Terrorist Agent Erica Evans finds a secret hidden beneath the skin of every V. For Chad Decker, the V's could make his career sky rocket as a news anchor when he gets to interview their leader, Anna. Meanwhile, Father Jack questions his faith as he seeks answers outside the Church.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Lourdes Benedicto

Valerie Stevens
Laura Vandervoort

Lisa
Morena Baccarin

Anna

Fan Episode Reviews (29)

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A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY VERSION!

9.0

"Superb"

By THEICEFIRE, Sep 24, 2011 Report Abuse

An image of Anna, the V's leader, is projected worldwide and asks the world to join together with the Vs. Meanwhile, Chad gets an exclusive interview with Anna, and Tyler sees the Vs as being his ticket to being a part of something big. I'm totally excited about V. It takes an old show with a great idea and remade it with a more edgy style, lavish sets and special effects and music to boot. I'm too young to remember the original because I was a baby in real life. For those of you who remember the original from the 1980's it has one very interested twist. Instead of Nazi Fascism to the background of the alien invasion it's religion. V is all about alien saviours who are to be worshipped rather than God. It's about spreading the gospel of aliens. A message of hope and the power of devotion! I wonder what all these religious themes say about our culture. Watch V and try to figure it out.moreless

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0 0
Mixed metaphors for a show that doesn't seem to know where it's coming from.

5.0

"Mediocre"

By noelveiga, May 07, 2011 Report Abuse

So here's V. Again. In the eighties it was a late cold war show, exploiting what was left of fear of creepy foreigners in uniforms and pretty much the last one to have aliens actually be little green men.

Now it gets updated and, let's be honest here, the big draw is what the aliens are supposed to stand for now. You see, foreigners won't cut it anymore as the cheap shot to collective psyche, so I came into the show looking forward to seeing how the typically conservative take on invading aliens would be reworked for the new century.

As it turns out, the answer is "in a rather bland way". There are a couple of hints at politics here and there, but the show ends up not taking sides by, ironically, giving you just enough to get pissed off regardless of whether you're a christian conservative or a socialist. So aliens will provide universal health care as a trojan horse, but they also control the Vatican, Big Business and, apparently, Al Qaeda. I call shenanigans at this indecission. Look, it's okay, you can take sides. Zombies are popular, and they've always been about anti-capitalist, anti-consumist propaganda. Aliens are popular and, like body snatchers, they've always been kind of conservative, individualist claims about how sacrificing for the greater good is "inhuman". The truth is nobody likes these things because they pack a political message, we all like them because they're pulpy, campy pop culture... but take the political undertones away, and you get a washed out, PG, PC version of the real thing.

That's the feeling V '09 is giving out. The green screens are almost bad enough to be funny and we get some glimpses of scaly skin instead of stupidly holding it back as if we didn't all know what the deal is, but the bland not-quite-corporate, not-quite-military visitors aren't nearly as amusing as their old vinyl-clad counterparts. A good example of how this bland approach tears apart the narrative is the fact that they throw in a line about how it is extremely suspicious that visitors look just like human beings. They never resolve this, so the line doesn't fix the major suspension of disbelief issue. Even worse, since they have now brought up the major inconsistency in the plot themselves, a second one arises: they look like us because they are aliens in disguise, but why the heck do they look like lizards out of costume, then? That, my friends, is a writer shooting himself in the foot. What should have been a simple "yeah, we don't talk about that" moment that you just accept as part of the fun becomes a plot hole by not handling it in a deep enough manner. This probably applies to the pilot as a whole. I guess we'll see if it fits the rest of the season soon enough.

Also, there is no way a lizard fits *inside* Morena Baccarin, unless it's some kind of baby gecko, but good job with the "not blinking for a while, then doing it slowly" reptile eyes. It's subtle, but noticeable, which is probably what the acting should be in a thing like this.moreless

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V's Pilot Episode

10

"Perfect"

By TrueTvWatcher, Mar 06, 2011 Report Abuse

V's Pilot episode was perfect and I really enjoyed this modern take on the classic series. I think they did an awesome job. The arrival of the V's was a great scene that seemed genuine. I enjoyed the great mix of characters and the actors playing them. I think Anna is a really interesting character and I like how she played Chad Decker. This episode definitely had enough action, intrigue, character development, and cool special effects to keep me coming back for more. This episode definitely defines this series from it's namesake yet holds to some classic elements. I look forward to watching more episodes!!!!!!!moreless

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Series Premiere

7.0

"Good"

By TvFreak7, Jan 09, 2011 Report Abuse

Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost stars as the lead for this new sci-fi show from ABC. That was one thing that got me excited for this show! I watched the pilot episode live, but never finished the series. Well, I'm now going back to rewatch the entire first season of V so I can watch the second season on tv. In the pilot episode, NYC is surprised to see a huge UFO over their city where the leader of "The Visitors" makes an announcement saying they are here for water and minerals they need in would give Earth technological advances and they are here for peace. FBI Agent Erica doesn't believe that and thinks they are here for C4. She later finds out that The Visitors have been here for a long time and have been in disguised and are terroists and are a part of Sleeper Cell. Erica's son, Tyler joins The Visitor Ambassador Program.

Overall Decent, Not Awesome, but Good. 7/10moreless

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Pleasant surprise.. one of the late premiers ends up being one of the best

9.0

"Superb"

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Jan 07, 2011 Report Abuse

With all of the new shows coming onto the scene and old shows kicking off with follow-up seasons, V sort of snuck past me at first, meaning I had to rely on Hulu to watch it. And man, am I disappointed that I missed it. The show was intriguing, presenting a plot, moving fast-paced to a conclusion that not only poses a number of different questions, but did so in a way that wasn't boring. As much as I enjoy Flashforward, V did a better job in its pilot establishing characters and making me interested. Now we just need to see what happens afterwards.

I really enjoyed each and every character in the show so far. Some definitely had more attention paid to them than others (especially Morris Chestnut's character.. at first, I couldn't understand what the big deal was about him, but I'm glad they focused on him. It has a good payoff) but they all seem to have an equally large purpose. It's nice to see Elizabeth Mitchell in a new show besides Lost. With Lost in its final season, we get to see more of her on an ABC show.

There were some parts of the show that seemed to move maybe a little too fast, but for the most part, it was exciting, interesting and definitely worth sticking around for. Let's hope the ratings don't pull a free-fall plummet and the show can have a chance to flesh out its plot and characters.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Goof: After being attacked, Ryan shows Georgie a wound on his left arm. However, when Ryan goes back home he moves his right arm with difficulty as if the wound were there. Edit
- Goof: In the closed captioning for N.O.R.A.D and N.Y.P.D. The "N" was left lower case. Edit
- As with the original series, the Visitor's alien text is just a substitution cipher for the alphabet, but written top to bottom then left to right, often breaking words into multiple columns. Many letters have a counterpart rotated 180 degrees, while the glyph for the letter H is already 180-degree symmetric. Edit
Notes
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- During an interview in 2009, Scott Peters said that stars from the original version of the show would be offered guest roles. Edit
- Famke Janssen turned down the role of lead V Anna. Edit
- This episode was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. Edit
Quotes
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- Opening Text: Where were you when JFK was assassinated? Where were you on 9/11? Where were you this morning? Edit
- Georgie: (about the V's) They gain trust with the promise of friendship! And of course, all they're really doing is positioning themselves as the saviors of mankind! Edit
- Chad Decker: If you could speak to the protesters, what would you say? Anna: That embracing change is never easy. But the reward for doing so can be far greater than you can ever imagine. Edit
Allusions
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- After the arrival when the ship starts to make noise, an "Oceanic Plaza" sign is briefly visible in the partitioned off part where Tyler and his mother are reunited. This is an allusion to the science fiction series LOST, which ended it's five season run in May 2010. The series, created by J.J. Abrams, focused on the survival and strange occurrences to passengers aboard an "Oceanic" Air flight. Edit
- The resistance meeting takes place at 4400 Pier Avenue. This is a reference to the show The 4400 in which Joel Gretsch starred. Edit
- Erica: (To Dale) Solve the case yet, Sherlock? This is an allusion to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character Sherlock Holmes, a private investigator with brilliant skills to solve the most difficult cases. Edit