Review: V Season One

Watched all 12 episodes of "V: Season One" with my wife and kids over the weekend. I was a huge fan of the 1983 series (that also scared the wits out of me) and being an avid reader of forteana/conspiracy books by folks like David Icke, Zechariah Sitchin, Erich Von Daniken and R.A. Boulay certainly factors into my interest for this reptilian/alien invasion series.

The new series feels a lot more polished than the 1980s one - although the scary bits are toned down a lot. Morena Baccarin is an excellent choice to play the Visitors' Queen Anna. She can act all cold and manipulative throughout - and her evil self shows through with just a twitch of her lips in a quick smile when she turns her back to the camera. Then when she finally loses control and succumbs to human emotions in the last episode, you wonder what's going to happen to her in the next season (watch the interview above with Morena at SDCC where she gives some hints about the much-awaited second season).

Elizabeth Mitchell is also excellent as FBI Agent Erica Evans who struggles in her battle against the Visitors while juggling her responsibilities as a single mom to an incorrigible son who is in love with the Visitors. There's also a hint of something more than friendship with Joel Gretsch's Father Jack Landry. I especially liked the scene where Kyle Hobbes (Charles Mesure) walked in on the two trading punches and commented that "It feels all Thorn Birds in here!" Any Colleen McCullough reference on national TV is a welcome one! Speaking of Kyle Hobbes, he's actually my favourite character in the series. He comes off somewhat like the Punisher did when he joined up with Captain America's rebel underground resistance in "Civil War". In short, he's the loose cannon with his own agenda but you need him because of his ruthlessness and strategic brilliance. Then you end up keeping an eye on him nevertheless because the ruthlessness and strategic brilliance can work both ways.

Scott Wolf's TV broadcaster Chad Decker is very much the Everyman perspective in the series. His experience and exploration of what the V's arrival means for Earth is representative of the viewers' inquiries as well. The last scene with him throwing in his support with the rebels after Father Jack's sermon probably had more to do with his discovery of the scary experiments on Live Aboard humans in the V Ship than the content of the sermon. There's also a hint of "something more" between Chad and Queen Anna - especially when he began having sexual nightmares about Anna and waking up with a cold sweat! You know that spells trouble because they just did the same thing over in "True Blood" with Sam and his homoerotic nightmares of vampire Bill!

I started watching the series because of my interest in alien/reptilian conspiracies. Then I continued watching because of the engaging storylines. Now, I'm addicted to the series because of one major reason: Morena Baccarin. She's the best thing on TV at the present moment. Even more than Erica Durance in "Smallville" or Julie Benz in "No Ordinary Family" or Mariana Klaveno in "True Blood"! I'll continue watching as long as she continues playing the central role of Queen Anna. :)