“V” Pilot Premieres To Great Reviews

When I was a little kid, the original V series terrified me.  That was back in 1983 and I was in Kindergarten but it scared me enough that I still think about it from time to time.  I was a little hesitant to give this show a shot because of my post-traumatic stress but there’s a lack of good sci-fi shows on TV right now so I felt I owed it to myself to check it out – and I’m glad I did.

image: ABC

Most of the reviews I’ve seen have been favorable with even E! Online saying that the pilot ”on a scale of 1 to 10, we give it an 11. V is the best pilot we’ve seen in, well, forever” and USA Today‘s Robert Bianco said that the show is well-made and “quickly establishes its own identity.”

I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say that it’s the best pilot I’ve ever seen but I was positively stunned by the quality of the special effects, the casting was excellent and I agree that the identity of the show was established immediately.  I didn’t sense any of that awkward in-your-face character definition that you see with pilots.  I wasn’t even planning on watching it but then I saw the first few minutes and I couldn’t turn away.

The storyline unfolds after giant spaceships are spotted hovering over 29 major cities around the world.  The alien “Visitors” leader, Anna, is both beautiful and charismatic as she assures the humans that they come in peace.  They are generous and basically do everything right but some people start to wonder about their true intentions, including FBI counter-terrorism agent, Erica Evans.  A resistance takes shape and she joins the ranks of the humans, and one Visitor sleeper agent, who aim to save humanity.