I'd be hard pressed to think that there's anyone unfamiliar with the concept of "V". You've either heard of it loosely, or no doubt checked out all/part of the original mini-series (and series) as they were aired over the start of the weekend.
But just for the sake of argument, here's the loose rundown: the world is thrown into turmoil as a group of seemingly friendly aliens visit the planet under a flag of peace. Of course, the true nature of the aliens, and their actual agenda for being here, would seem to be much more sinister.
First, let's talk about what's different and good. The effects are obviously better than the original series. Twenty-five years would give you a little time to update things. So yes, all of the ships views (inside and out) are very well put together.
The Visitors themselves are also a plus thus far. The show forgoes the "pull away skin" effect from its predecessor and replaces it with a layer of human clone flesh. So revealing an alien is no longer as simple as getting a good grab of face and pulling. You need something that can cut past a layer of pseudo-tissue to get to the reptile on the inside.
And this show gives us a more novel (and some would say more relevant) twist on the alien invasion. Instead of just appearing out of the sky and having won over most of the planet in short order (which does still happen, by the way; more on that later...), the Visitors have also infiltrated society prior to their official arrival with sleeper agents. Which means that anyone on the planet could possibly be an alien agent with an agenda to cause chaos and cover their true agenda. It makes for a slightly more paranoid resistance movement.
Now for what's different and not necessarily better. It's only a minor detail, but I don't particularly like the Visitors being referred to as "Vs". If nothing else, the letter V and the tagging and such that went along with it became a sign of the Resistance in the original series, and it just feels weird for it to be used by the aliens in this particular incarnation.
Also, I find it a little unbelievable that the people of earth would be so easily accepting of an alien incursion in this day and age. It was a stretch back then to believe that it would go over so well, but at least they had the metaphor of German occupation to help mask it. Now, in an age where people still question the veracity of the duly elected President ... well, I'm not getting into all of that here, but my point is where is the Glenn Beck of this world to break into tears and love his planet... sniff... so very much?
Maybe that's supposed to be the role that Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) plays in the whole equation, but he seems very much like a second string fluff reporter. Still, his moral dilemma over reporting it straight versus "playing nice" and becoming famous does come over well.
And going back to what works, Anna (Morena Baccarin) works well as the Visitor's leader. Having spent the latter half of the weekend balking at how alternately vicious and bullheadedly ignorant Diana could be way back when, it's nice to see a new take on the alien leadership. Who's to know where this calm, reserved demeanor that the Visitors currently portray will take them? It's uncertain, but Anna definitely shows a lot early on (and I don't just mean those Amazon legs of hers... hello! Ahem...). The way she deftly manipulates Decker and his interview, initially feigning a naive misunderstanding of Earth journalism, then showing that she has a full grasp of just what it's all about, makes it clear that the cool alien exterior still has some teeth.
All in all, I have my reservations about the show. The first half follows the script (somewhat literally) that its predecessor did. What little twists and nuances that were there only serve to agitate an already unsteady foundation. It's not until the latter half of the pilot, with the introduction of the sleeper elements and a few other decent twists, that the show really starts to show itself off. Hopefully it picks up from there, and continues its momentum into the next few episodes. The show certainly has the potential and the early buzz to be a stand out series.
Rating: 7/10 (A solid start that hopefully builds better on its foundation.)
Remember how I've said that the only person on the ship I like at all is Eli? Well, guess what happens this episode?
Okay, so I still like Eli. But goodness knows they are trying their hardest to make him just as annoying as the rest of the crew.
The problem du jour for the Destiny and her this week? A shortage in the water supply for the ship. Making this even odder is the fact that the ship's recycling systems make the water supply a closed system. I found it amusing that more than half the crew didn't seem to understand that "closed system" means that there's no way the water supply should be dropping off like it was. Still, they had nothing better to do than search for possible hoarding among the crew.
Or most of them had nothing better to do. After the Destiny stops in range of an ice planet with a hostile environment (presumably sensing that the crew needs more water), Young and Scott go on an expedition to attempt to procure some usable ice. Of course, the ice breaks, Scott gets trapped, and hilarity ensues.
But if that wasn't bad enough, the Destiny crew figure out the source of the water thieving: an alien life form (seen in episode 3) that's beyond thirsty. The crew, of course, eventually finds a way to overcome all of the adversity, although it's unclear whether or not the crew's water supply is back to normal when it's all said and done.
But of course, the crew continues to be an irritant. What does it say about the crew that there are only two people I really care about? Eli is irritating as he complains about how the others are all engaged in lies and double talk, but he's still the most sensible person on board the ship (and the only one that seems capable of thinking outside the box, as his floating pallet idea showed). And while everything seems designed to make you hate Greer, his consistency in the a-hole department has to be respected. Who else besides Greer could seem genuinely impressed when T.J. admitted that she didn't trust him?
The rest of the crew tends to flop as usual. I'd assume that we were supposed to be impressed with Young's stubbornness over not abandoning Scott. But Scott manages to remind us how dense he is when he blindly accuses Rush of only caring about the water and not the people (which is the second time in as many weeks that he's made an accusation against Rush not backed up by any evidence.
Chloe is useless as always, only showing up to play cheerleader to Scott's quarterback and to complain on cue. And while Rush still has the best sense of perspective of anyone on the Destiny, he still tends to lose his temper and come off as condescending at the worst possible times. Although he did seem to be willing to mentor T.J. through her temporary command.
Oddly enough, the show still works for me, though. Although I am still waiting for a bit of a ramp up. Next week's preview seems to show that the game may be changing. And at least I'm pretty sure that I know who I'll hate most of all then: Telford's back in the saddle. God help them all.
Rating: 6/10 (This rating will start to drop if I don't see some progress made soon).
Okay, color me stupid here.
I don't think that a month has gone by when I haven't actually thought to myself in idle passing, "What are you going to do for the one year anniversary of House Rules?" I was probably thinking about it after the first few weeks, the first few months... heck. Two months ago I was trying to figure out if I was going to make a compilation book of some sort.
So it comes as a shock to me as I pondered what I was going to post this month and how to squeeze it in between bouts of mad writing sessions, that I would stumble across fellow blogger Ivan celebrating his six year anniversary (and congrats to you again on making it this far... your site rocks). And as it reminded me of what I should do when I achieve my meager but still impressive goal of one year in, it also reminded me of yet another thing...
That happened two weeks ago.
October 19, 2008. The first post at Casa de House (albeit a repost of a previous post from another page. Still, it was the start of this whole thing, and even if it wasn't, the first post after that would still have been in October. So I missed my 1 year anniversary this year. I'm sorry, baby. Do you forgive me?
Anywho, I'd be a lot more formal about this (and maybe I will later), but the truth is I just don't have the time to spare on it right now. But thanks to the many people, here and there, near and far, gone and yet to come, that have made the creation of my little corner of cyberspace worth the effort by checking it out from time to time.
