Review: ‘V’ in the World of ‘O’

by John P. Hanlon

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Much has been written about the premiere of the new ABC drama “V” and its relationship to  the election last year of President Barack Obama. As an article from the Chicago Tribune noted:

Nominally a rousing sci-fi space opera about alien invaders bent on the conquest (and digestion) of all humanity, it’s also a barbed commentary on Obamamania that will infuriate the president’s supporters and delight his detractors.

While it’s true there are reasons why comparisons between the candidate of hope and the aliens who want change are plentiful, the show “V” is about much more than a critique of the Obama administration.

“V” begins as a show about aliens who suddenly appear in spaceships around the world and the reaction they receive.  At first, as can be expected, there is a lot of fear and anguish about the visitors (which is what “V” stands for) as the ships show up hovering above different cities. However, when the alien leader appears on a ship’s video screen and talks about the benefits they will bring to the people of this world, audiences applaud (an unrealistic action, but an important one nonetheless in the development of the program). As the show goes on, though, some people learn that the aliens have more in mind than providing “heal centers” and universal health care for people around the world (which they are in favor of).

As I noted above, there are reasons people are so eager to compare the Obama administration to the alien visitors. The Washington Post recently compared an HBO documentary about the election of Obama to the series premiere of “V.” It noted that…

In ‘V’ (a remake of the early-1980s series), the otherworldly ‘visitors’ want to bring us universal health care. They possess a knack for speechwriting and managing the message. In ‘By the People,’ well . . . same thing!

Another comparison between “V” and Obama’s campaign that many people have focused on, is that young people flock to the visitors in “V”  because they find something intriguing and possibly inspiring about them. Unlike many of the adults in the program, adolescents and young people are enticed by the visitors without understanding the consequences of aligning themselves with the alien race without questioning their motives or their intentions.

I do like the political aspect of the show and how it seems timely for many of those who have questioned or disagreed with the Obama administration. Deeper still, though, I think the idea of blind loyalty is a great aspect to the show. With little information known about the aliens upon their arrival, many people embrace this new group without knowing who they really are. The aliens may say the things that people support and they may have all of the right intentions (which they don’t), but people accept them without questioning their true motives. That blind allegiance, which could be compared to any number of people who accept things without asking questions, is a powerful and important aspect of the program.

In addition to that idea, the pilot of the new program introduces a variety of interesting ideas that will likely be explored as the show continues for the next several weeks and in the spring of 2010. One character, played by the boyish Scott Wolf (who has a knack for choosing quality television projects), is torn between being an “actual” reporter and exploring the truth about the visitors or getting attention as the “chosen” reporter who gets the high-profile interviews with the “V” leader (the Barbara Walters for extraterrestrial life forms). Wolf’s character chooses the latter option, at least in the pilot episode, which is the only episode that has aired thus far. 

On the show, as the softball interview airs, the show cuts to a meeting where rebels are talking about the hidden plans of the visitors. In other shows, this scene might have seemed too obvious but the scene works here because it creates a clear delineation between the image of the Vs that their leader is trying to present and the conspiracy theories about them that the visitors are trying to quell.     

Erica, one of the attendees at that meeting, played by Elizabeth Mitchell from “Lost,” is beginning to understand the true motive of the Vs while her son has been drawn, like a cult member, to them. For the sake of her son, she will likely need to convince him that the visitors are not who he hopes and believes they are.

On the show, there is also the story of a recently-engaged visitor, a traitor to his kind, who has to decide if he wants to join a rebellion against them, and if he wants to reveal the truth about himself to those he loves. Additionally, there is also a storyline about how priests and congregants react to these new alien visitors. With all of these interesting stories, “V” is a show that has a lot of potential to build on.

At the end of the program, Erica turns to a potential ally and notes that the visitors are “arming themselves with the most powerful weapon out there.” When asked what it is, she replies with one simple word: “Devotion.” Soon enough, her son is seen in an alien spaceship pledging his support to the alien race as the leader of the “V” looks on. The show has set up a basic premise with its first episode and if it is able to build on it effectively, it could end up being one of the most interesting and addictive programs of the 2009-2010 television season.


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Posted Nov 7th 2009 at 5:47 pm in Reviews, Television | 67 Comments