Overall: 8.7
Curse you, ABC! Maledictions upon your bizarre scheduling decisions! Do I really have to wait until SPRING to find out what the hell Anna has just done?!
Okay, I am now officially addicted to this show. Like most V fans, I'll grant that it's not groundbreaking television - not in the slightest. The writers are not attentive to detail, and only a few individuals in its cast of cookie-cutter Hollywood hotties truly stand out. But day-um! This show is like fast food and candy for the mind: I know it's probably bad for me, but it tastes oh so good. And it doesn't hurt that its political and religious overtones annoy people whose worldview I despise.
This is an awesome, awesome season finale. It doesn't quite make a feature grade, but it is ridiculously entertaining -- and for this show, that's pretty much all we should expect.
Plot Synopsis:
The official recap of awesome and crack can be found here.
Writing: 8.5
I do have to dock a few points for some moments of cheese. For example, Erica's declaring "This is for your children, Anna!" (or what ever it was she said) before lobbing that grenade is textbook goofy Hollywood. And while I love the intent of Father Jack's homily (more on that below), it too is pretty shallow.
I'll tell you what, though: as I said above, this script really makes me want to see more of this show. I am now completely invested in finding out what will happen to Lisa (Wow, the space princess is an interesting character!), the revived Joshua, and Marcus. I am invested in finding out what will happen to Hobbes (Will he betray our cause?) and to Ryan (Will we be able to extricate him from Anna's grasp? Will Ryan figure out that Anna put his girlfriend to sleep like a dog?). I look forward to watching Father Jack's embrace of white martyrdom, I'm eager to see what Chad will do next (Will he admit that he's been an idiot?), and I definitely want to see this great Battle of the Mothers through to its final finish. And most of all? I want to know what the hell Anna's doing to Earth's atmosphere. Seriously.
Acting: 7.5
Strangely, I was disappointed with Mark Hildreth this time around. Generally speaking, his character is fascinating as all hell, but here, Hildreth plays him rather flat. I also think Morena Baccarin's screams of rage in the final act are quite over the top. Otherwise, I have no complaints.
Message: 10.0
Yes, you read that right. As I said, I wasn't super impressed with the text of Father Jack's homily, but I'm completely in love with how that speech frames the central conflict of the show as a war for our souls as well as our lives. Will we embrace dependency upon an overlord who promises to fill our bellies, solve all our temporal problems, and shield us from suffering (including the suffering of the human heart)? Or will we come to understand that we are not meant to live carefree, satisfied lives in this world - and that our freedom matters more than our comfort and security? Now is the time for an American television show to fight precisely this battle and to do so explicitly, for in the real world, we are right now engaged in a titanic struggle against materialism and the entitlement mentality - and if the right side does not win, it may mean the death of the American soul.
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