V, 1.2 - "There Is No Normal Anymore"

[SPOILERS] This was the kind of indolent second episode I roll my eyes at. There wasn't much progression from where the pilot left off by the end, and nu-V still feels bereft of anything original -- it's just superficial updating of an old concept. Considering the pacing issues of the hectic premiere, it's also frustrating that episode 2 wasn't used to even out that opener's rushed feel.

"There Is No Normal Anymore" saw the V's cleaning up the warehouse where they'd slaughtered members of a human resistance cell, where only Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) escaped with their lives. Erica makes an anonymous 911 call when they notice V's removing dead bodies from the scene (unaware that the V's have intercepted the call, posing as cops), and later vows to expose the Visitors to the world.

Of course, this means Erica must keep quiet about everything and convince her FBI boss that she didn't kill her partner of seven-years in self defense because he's an alien, but has been secretly investigating her belief he's a traitor who's now defected to hazily-sketched "terrorists." The thinking behind Erica lying about events is that she can't trust anyone, because anyone could be a disguised V, which is certainly a plausible excuse for her keeping schtum. It's also a good reason that any resistance will have to fight using guerilla warfare and only recruit people who prove themselves trustworthy.

However, I can't see any reason why Erica wouldn't warn her own son about the V threat, by plainly telling Tyler (Logan Huffman) that they're space-reptiles intent on global domination. Surely he'd believe his own mother, no matter how crazy it all sounds? They live in a world where spaceships are hovering overheard, after all. Instead, Erica's equally as vague about why she'd just prefer he didn't mix with the Visitors, and must therefore come across as rather xenophobic.

Besides, Erica's blissfully unaware that hormonal Tyler's only thinking with his dick now that beautiful alien Lisa's (Laura Vandervoort) taken a shine to him. Speaking of which, I'd be more interested in this trite Tyler/Lisa "romance" if (a) Tyler's gooseberry friend took a hint and left them alone together, and (b) there was some ambiguity to Lisa's feelings -- a sense that she might genuinely be charmed by this human boy and conflicted about the fact she's part of a masterplan to enslave humanity. Hopefully that will come soon, and Lisa isn't going to be written as an adolescent's femme fatale; smirking over his shoulder whenever they hug, etc.

Elsewhere, the injured Ryan (Morris Chestnut) returned home to his girlfriend, who clearly doesn't know her dependable boyfriend's an alien lizard in disguise (although fortunately he's sympathetic to humans, so she's safe); and journalist Chad (Scott Wolf) regretted being manipulated by alien envoy Anna (Morena Baccarin) during his live television interview, so decides to play hardball by hosting a pessimistic panel discussion about the Visitors.

Overall, I just wasn't very impressed by this. The storyline had only taken a few baby-steps forward by the end, and there doesn't appear to be any unique slant on the alien invasion concept. It is what it is: '80s V with '00s effects. Considering the fact there are only two more episodes left in this four-part "mini-series", which have to be exciting enough to keep audiences loyal until V resumes next spring, they'll have to be extremely good to keep me watching. It's all a bit toothless and awkward right now, with no clear sense of why it'll be worthwhile tuning in for. The only sparks are coming from its two female leads: Michell, who just needs a script worthy of her talents; and Baccharin, whose gecko-like goodlooks and graceful confidence holds your attention whenever she's around -- which was too rarely here.


10 November 2009
ABC, 9/8c

written by: Scott Peters & Sam Egan directed by: Yves Simoneau starring: Elizabeth Mitchell (Erica Evans), Morris Chestnut (Ryan Nichols), Joel Gretsch (Father Jack Landry), Lourdes Benedicto (Valerie Holt), Logan Huffman (Tyler Evans), Laura Vandervoort (Lisa), Morena Baccarin (Anna), Scott Wolf (Chad Decker), Roark Critchlow (Paul Kendrick), Scott Hylands (Father Travis), Brittney Irvin (Haley), Tyler McClendon (Steven), David Richmond-Peck (Georgie Sutton), Rekha Sharma (Sarita Malik), Christopher Shyer (Marcus), Jacqueline Ann Steuart (Marion Geiger), Alan Tudyk (Dale Maddox) & Jesse Wheeler (Brandon)