V
Reviews

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?

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?

Combine Independence Day with Battlestar Galactica and you have one of the better series premieres in recent memory.

Catch up on the V pilot episode right now and then check out our review below to see why this is already on our must-watch list...

Characters We Care About: This is ABC's second attempt to replicate the cult-like following of Lost. Unlike the first, FlashForward, V has immediately established layered characters, portrayed by talented actors. Elizabeth Mitchell has been received a bulk of the attention in the weeks leading up to this episode, but Scott Wolf nailed the role of a reporter torn between personal beliefs and professional ambition.

Mysteries We're Invested In: Again, FlashForward has struggled to establish mysteries that actually hold our attention. Does Olivia cheat on Mark? We hope not, we guess, but it's difficult to feel overly invested in that possibility when 20 million people just died in a global blackout. V, conversely, wraps its individual mysteries inside the broader storyline. As Battlestar Galactica - and even the Twilight Saga - have proven, audiences love to play the guessing game of which human beings are actually other life forms living among us; and then, which of those can be trusted.

Lines We Can Understand: Kudos to the show for quickly establishing that the Visitors are up to no good. It would have been silly to drag out the possibility that these aliens have our best interests in mind. After one hour of the series, we have the good guys (Erica, Father Landry, Ryan) versus the bad guys (Anna and company), with characters such as Chad caught in between.

Were you as big a fan of this series premiere as we were? There are only three remaining episodes of V this fall, until ABC shelves the show until March. Enjoy it while you can!

Below, we've listed a few memorable V quotes from the pilot:

Jack: The world's in bad shape. Who wouldn't welcome a savior right now? | permalink

Jack: No one is saying don't trust the Visitors. But don't they need to earn our trust? | permalink

Anna: We are honored by your friendship. We will nurture, cherish it and never abandon it. | permalink

Chad: Is there such a thing as an ugly Visitor? | permalink