V

The next new episode of V is titled "It's Only the Beginning."

We just hope that title rings true. The ABC drama is one of the most exciting shows on television, yet it's fate is undecided.

Following Tuesday's installment, V goes on hiatus until March. That is, assuming the network picks up the show's remaining first season episodes.

Therefore, we urge readers to give this series a chance next week. Read our review of last week's episode to see why love it so much and check out the promo below for "It's Only the Beginning."

Click on the pics below for a closer look at scenes from the show's fourth - and hopefully not final! - episode...

Wake up, America! The next, great, suspense-filled mystery drama is not FlashForward. It's V.

For the third week in a row, the series delivered an exciting hour of television, complete with intrigue, double crosses, surprising reveals and a never-aging Scott Wolf.

Follow the proceeding link to get caught up on the episode "A Bright New Day" and read our review below to find out why we like this show so much...

Actual chill moments: Few dramas can pull off true shocks anymore. There are too many spoilers, too much poor writing. But we audibly gasped last night when the Visitor treating Dale turned out to be part of The Fifth Column. We didn't see that coming.

Great acting: Elizabeth Mitchell, Scott Wolf, newcomer Morena Baccarin as Anna. Just three episodes in, all these stars already inhabit their roles completely. We've almost forgotten that Mitchell was ever on Lost.

Relevant, debate-filled storylines: V deals with issues of faith in a confusing world; terrorism; political leaders and the hope they offer. Beyond mere intrigue over what will happen next, viewers can debate the meaning behind various characters and plots and relate them to real world issues.

Following this week's new episode, we're left with the following questions:

• What does it mean for a Visitor to be connected, as Cyrus and Ryan discussed? How does one become disconnected?
• Who is John May? Was he the aforementioned Visitor turncoat?
• What exactly happened to Georgie's family?
• What do Lisa and Anna have planned for Tyler?
• How incredibly hot was Lisa in her lingerie?
• Is Dale really gone for good?

Chime in now with your thoughts on this questions and on the show in general. Are you as fascinated by it as we are?

Morris Chestnut stars on V as the character of Ryan Nichols.

As fans of the ABC drama know, he's holding a major secret from his fiancee: Ryan is a Visitor... but a nice one!

In an interview with TV Guide, the actor speaks out on the show and on Ryan's attempts to unite an anti-Visitors faction on this week's new episode...

On the Fifth Column: For those who don't know, it's like an army of traitor aliens on Earth to fight against the actual Vs. The Fifth Column got together before and things happened so bad before, people don't want to get back into the fight. Ryan is trying to get people together for the Fifth Column and hopefully they will be back together.

On Ryan and Georgie: The hard part about that is the fact that Georgie has very bad feelings toward the Vs. Although I'm a traitor, I'm still a V, so it brings up some conflict in our relationship.

On his relationship with Valerie: One of the things with the Ryan-Valerie relationship — because a lot of people are asking why he doesn't just tell her — the more information she has, the more danger she is in. The Visitors won't know how much information she knows. If they feel that she knows any information about them, then she's in more danger than if she doesn't know.

As always, return to TV Fanatic tomorrow for a full recap and review of the latest V episode!

As Chad Decker says in the clip below, V opens doors across the country to those "not just from beyond our borders, but beyond our imaginations" next week.

On the episode "A Bright New Day," Anna and company are issued American Visas, a fact that doesn't sit well with many citizens.

When one of them makes a death threat against the Visitors, Erica is placed in the awkward position of protecting her enemies. Watch a clip from the hour now:

As usual, we'll recap and review the episode in full after it ends. Check out a few photos from it below:

Roark Critchlow is a familiar face to soap opera fans.

He played one half of the popular Days of Our Lives couple, Mike and Carrie, in the 90s. Now, the actor has resurfaced in primetime: he has a recurring role on ABC's V, portraying Paul Kendrick, Erica's boss at the FBI.

Following this week's episode of the show, viewers are asking: might Paul be a Visitor? He touched on this topic, and others, in an interview with TV Guide Magazine...

On his character: "He’s relatively tough and likes to play by the rules. After [Erica] discovers that her partner is a V, she wonders ‘who else’? And there’s reasons for me to be distrustful of her. I could definitely turn out to be a V, but that’s not resolved in the two episodes I’ve shot so far."

On former co-star Jensen Ackles: "Jensen is one of the better people I’ve known. And I watch him on Supernatural. He’s so funny. We used to hook up for a beer every now and then. But I will hunt him down when production on V starts up again in January."

On a return to Days of Our Lives: "If I’m not working on V or something else, I’d do a week. Heck ya. That would be fine."

On the second episode of V, both Chad and Tyler tried to get in well with a pair of female Visitors.

Also, Ryan faced his past once more and Erica dealt with a pressing present. Read through our recap of "There Is No Normal Anymore" and let us know your thoughts on the episode.

It was a solid follow-up to a great series premiere, with the exception of Erica and Jack's storyline. It didn't really go anywhere. By the end of the episode, they were back to where they started: don't trust anyone. Build a resistance movement.

But at least the hour concluded with a major reason why this movement is needed: Dale is alive, which means more Alan Tudyk, which means more awesomeness!

We're also intrigued by the pairing of Erica and Jack itself. How often do you see a FBI agent and a priest team up?

Ryan and Chad, meanwhile, offer intriguing moral dilemmas: does true love entail abandoning your fiancee in order to protect her? How far should you go to advance a career you've worked hard at?

On its surface, V is an action-packed drama that deals with alien takeover of the planet. But the show's best hope at succeeding - and separating itself from countless movies that have already navigated this territory - is too anchor itself in these kinds of ethical, everyday decisions. We can't relate to spaceships hovering over our city, but we can relate to obstacles and secrets in a relationship.

Through two episodes, this V mission has been very much accomplished. We can't wait for next week.

HERE'S WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE VISITORS THIS WEEK:

• Their plans have been well-known by their entire species. When Ryan spoke to Marcus, he said the invasion wasn't supposed to happen... yet. These raises two questions: when was it supposed to happen? And what does he know about it?
• They love torture. They can also manifest the worst fears of human beings, as they do to a would-be resistance members when snakes appear on his torso during an interrogation.
• They don't always agree. Anna snapped at Marcus: ''You still don't understand humanity" as they discussed her wardrobe. Might these two have different plans for us humans?

Elizabeth Mitchell has received the bulk of the publicity for V, and for good reason. We love that former Lost star.

But buzz has been building around Morena Baccarin since last week's series premiere. The Brazilian plays Anna, the leader of the Visitors, and she spoke to TV Guide this week about what's to come on the show.

A few excerpts:

On the Visitors: By Episode 4 you get a very good idea that we're not what we're all cracked up to be. There's more to it than we're saying. We are here for more than just a short while, and we're here for additional reasons than just water and minerals.

On Anna: Anna is very loyal to her people; that's a good quality. I think there are Vs that have been living among humanity, so they take on some human qualities. There are parts of Anna that, depending on who you ask, can be seen as good.

On the relationship between Anna and Chad: He's very ambitious, and he really wants to succeed at what he does. By the end of the four episodes, he's going to find himself in a real decision spot of not knowing which way to go, and maybe their relationship will progress into something else. The power shifts back and forth a bit.

On V spoilers: We get to see more about how the Vs live. There are more hints at how they do certain things and there's some really great plot twists. [There are] characters' worlds that collide that you wouldn't expect.

V airs a new episode tonight. Sadly, there are just two more to go after that; as the series takes a long hiatus and returns to ABC in March.

The title of the second episode of V sums it up well: There is No Normal Anymore.

On Tuesday night's installment, Dale's wife wonders where her husband it; Chad looks closer into the Visitors; and Erica and Jack are followed.

Check out a couple clips from the episode now, and click on the photos below for an early look at scenes from the hour...

Following an outstanding series premiere, V will hopefully maintain its momentum with a new episode Tuesday night.

Titled "There is No Normal Anymore," the hour will focus on: Ryan's secret life; Jack and Erica's burgeoning plan; and Chad's investigative endeavors.

Below, we've posted a clip from the hour, as Ryan is lying in bed with Valerie, happy, without a care in the world... until he enters the bathroom and is reminded of his rather enormous secret:

Also, follow this article's jump to view another clip from the episode. In it, Jack and Erica discover important pieces of information about one another.

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Welcome to the first edition of our V Round Table!

After various episode, the TV Fanatic staff will gather and analyze characters and developments from the most recent installment of the ABC hit.

This week, of course, we tackle the series premiere. Read below to learn our thoughts on it and feel free to chime in with comments. We love reader feedback! Let's get to it...

Who is your favorite character?
M.L. House: Chad Decker. No, this isn't due to my crush on Scott Wolf from his days on Party of Five. I'm always a sucker for any morally ambiguous character when written well. So far, it's easy for viewers to understand the dilemma facing Chad, making him an interesting individual.

Dr. Shepherd: Ryan, d'uh! The guy is a Visitor living as a human being. His storyline stood out the most to me.

The Barnacle: Father Landry. Can't recall the last time a priest led a resistance movement against alien life forms. This is one bad ass donner of the cloth!

Should the show have killed off Dale?
M.L. House: Not yet. I understand the temptation to make a splash on the pilot, but the episode was written well enough anyway. This reveal/death would have made more of an impact if we saw more interaction between him and Erica first.

Dr. Shepherd: No way. I love Alan Tudyk in everything he's ever been in. It looks like his character will resurface, but it clearly won't be with the same chemistry he and Elizabeth Mitchell displayed early in this episode.

The Barnacle: Absolutely. The show has already set the stakes: anyone can be killed, anyone can be a Visitor. I'm hooked.

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