NEW!: V (2009) 1:11 - Fruition

Overall: 6.7

This episode works fine as a set-up piece, but it's not especially outstanding as a stand-alone.



Plot Synopsis:

The official recap can be found here.

Writing: 6.0

Well, well. We finally have a means to defeat these lizards! I was wondering when the writers were going to get around to that, as up to this point, it seemed highly unlikely that our ragtag band of human rebels would actually be able to defeat Anna given the advantageous position Anna has carved out for herself through her frighteningly adept manipulation of the media - which, again, is very much on display in this episode.

(Side Note: Actually, I've discovered to my astonishment that Anna's grasp of public relations has even affected some of the audience reaction to the show. Believe it or not, I have seen people online claim that all the V's are doing is "helping people," which is just -- Okay, I'll grant that for many viewers, suspicion of the V's can be traced to familiarity with the original series. But this new canon contains evidence aplenty that Anna is up to no good; we don't need to point to the 1980's version to prove that these aliens are malevolent! Does it not bother you, for example, that the V's are lying about the "vitamin shots" they're administering to humans in their healing centers? Don't you find it a little concerning that the humans now living aboard the motherships are being subjected to apparently painful procedures without their consent? And why does Anna feel she needs to raise an army of soldiers? Why bring a full scale armada into our solar system -- and hide it? Surely it can't be solely because she feels threatened by the Fifth Column. She does, but the Fifth Column's victories have been paltry compared to Anna's; taking this rebellion down certainly shouldn't require an entire army of killers and a fleet of space ships! I could go on and on refuting this nonsense. Honestly - do you really need Anna to say outright that she wants to conquer humankind and harvest our water to get that she's evil?

*headSLAMdesk*

I think lefty fandom has reached brand new heights of stupidity.)

Other positives: Lisa's struggles continue to be very interesting. It's also nice to see the writers remember that Hobbes is a mercenary first and foremost; it makes perfect sense that he would hedge his bets in every way possible and look out for his own self-interest. And finally, the hostile subtext between Erica and Anna is actually quite enjoyable. It'll be fun to see what happens next week when Erica sups with Anna on the mothership.

I do think this episode is pretty jumbled, though, which reduces its impact. I also think that Ryan's wavering comes a little out of the blue. Last week, Ryan seemed very certain of the Fifth Column's mission; this week, he's questioning John May's wisdom. The contrast is quite jarring.

Acting: 7.0

As I said above, I actually like the scenes between Erica and Anna in this episode - particularly that "If anyone tried to hurt my son..." exchange. And Laura Vandervoort does a pretty good job conveying her character's evolving strength. I can't say there is anything here that really wows me, but overall, the performances are not bad at all - even surprising in places.

Message: 7.0

The contempt for journalists that is woven through this series surpasses even the dislike directed towards journalists on Babylon 5 -- and that's saying something, because J. Michael Straczynski really hates journalists (see our upcoming B5 reviews for proof). Chad Decker represents just about everything ordinary conservative Americans hate about mainstream television news anchors. Despite his pretensions of hard-hitting objectivity, he is basically Anna's personal lapdog. Despite his internal doubts about Anna, he has not once failed to deliver to the public exactly what Anna wants. Despite the lip service he pays to journalistic ethics, his overweening ambition leads him to throw said ethics out the window. He knows he's being manipulated - and how! - but he's too focused on getting the exclusive to really think that over. Chad Decker is, in short, an icon of media bias - and the timing of his arrival on the pop culture stage is amusingly apropos given what has happened to journalism in recent years.