We are of peace. Always.

[rogueslayer452]

I finished watching the first season of V and let me just say that I'm definitely impressed.

V, Season One Overview and Thoughts

I remember watching the premiere of V and being intrigued, although I didn't catch up with it because after only four episodes they went on a three month hiatus and I forgot about it. I'm finding that is kind of a mistake because after watching all the rest of the episodes one right after the another, I found that I was completely immersed in the story being told. It was like watching a mini-movie of sorts, a mini-movie that would be continued in the next chapter this November in its second season. From the characters to the story, I'm certainly liking what I'm seeing so far.

I like the relationships between the characters, whether banded together for a cause or circling around each other not wanting the other to know their true intentions, have been fascinating to watch. The storyline of the resistance group, the Fifth Column, of Visitors and humans coming together to take down the rest of the Vs has been quite a ride. Wondering who to trust, who to watch out for, who is a Sleeper and who is working for an entirely different agenda altogether. I like it, I like the structure the show is giving on that front. I like the relationships between families also. Erica and her son Tyler, who are having this difficult relationship even before the Visitors arrived, Ryan and his girlfriend Val, and Father Jack and his relationship with his own faith and knowing where to stand in this fight. I find them to be realistic and even though we kind of want to say, "just tell them already!" there's higher risks at stake and we see the internal struggle some of them have with it.

But I think I am more fascinated by the V society. Like with BSG and the Cylons, the Visitors are definitely the fascinating part. More importantly, I am totally mesmerized by Anna (played by Morena Baccarin) and her role as the leader of the Vs and her role she plays in the show.

She is strategic and methodical, and there's lots of dirty politics played on her end by manipulating humanity for her own purposes, she shows compassion one minute and is cold and calculating the next. She seems to know a great deal about how to handle situations when something goes either right or wrong, she knows how to play with emotions of humans, to get underneath their skin, to further manipulate them and twist things around. And she's hardly even human herself, and this is what makes it so fascinating to watch on the screen. Mostly it's because of Morena Baccarin, who I absolutely love and adore, and she does perfectly in this role. I even watch for those little ticks she says she subtly adds in to seem reptile-ish (the way she blinks sometimes, cocks her head, etc) She's utterly captivating to watch and is, in my opinion, the best performance of the entire show because of how well she portrays the character.

Especially that huge scream at the end in the finale. My God that was amazing. Anna's first experience with expressing and feeling human emotion after seeing that her eggs had been destroyed was so shockingly brilliant. I want to learn more about that next season, and if she's gonna display more of that or not, or is going to try and cover it up, or if she'll have an outburst and react like she did in such a way that might blow her cover. It's all very interesting, and I want to know what happens next.

I also have grown to love Lisa, Anna's daughter, as I continued watching the season. Her suddenly developing human emotions for her affections for Tyler have grown and she's suddenly wanting to turn against her mother and possibly join forces with the Fifth Column in the second season because of how she helped Erica in the finale. Plus, I kinda want Erica to become a surrogate mother-figure to Lisa, and judging from some things there is definitely gonna be a reversal of roles between Lisa and Tyler; Lisa is going to be more active with the human society and Tyler with the V society. I think it'll be interesting to see, especially of how protective and territorial both mothers are and how they are willing to use these children for their own purposes. However, I think Erica and Lisa will help each other out more than with Tyler who is still in the dark on many things.

Also, I want Father Jack and Erica to get together somehow next season. I'm glad nothing romantic came out of this season because they were just starting out with trusting and befriending each other, but there's definitely some subtext between them. Am I the only one?

Poor Ryan though, Anna really got to him good in that finale and I severely hope that whatever happens he can snap out of it. Her killing Val was definitely a breaking point because Ryan did say it was because of Val that he started resisting Anna's Bliss in the first place, developing such human emotions and hanging onto that love for a human being. Now he was started to get affected again. I don't know what will happen, whether he'll be turned and become a Sleeper/double-agent or what. :(

I'm interested in what Chad Decker is going to do with the knowledge he learned. I'm glad he finally learned the truth.

Overall: A nice first season. Can't wait for the second.


I honestly think it's better to watch it straight through without having to wait a week to see another episode, because I felt engaged to want to know more about what was happening. Of course when starting the second season I won't have that luxury in doing that. But I'll be with everyone else who has been watching it from the beginning, which will be kinda cool now that I'm all caught up.

I'm also thinking about starting The Vampire Diaries next because I heard great things about it.

Comments

[alexwhitman25.livejournal.com]

YES! Watch the Vampire Diaries! I'll give you full warning that the first 4-5 episodes are pretty rough and you have to get through them. The show really gets it's footing after that and it's full steam ahead. It has a great cast (who happen to be very pretty and somewhat half-clothed at times), fun, interesting characters, insane plotting that keeps you on your toes and this season they are really building on the mythology. I'm one of the most enjoyable shows that I'm currently watching.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Hee, I knew you would approve since you watch the show and would definitely give some insight about what I'm going to be getting into. I've wanted to catch this show for a while, just never had the time with everything else I needed to catch up on (and you know, life in general). But I have the first episode downloaded waiting for me.

I've heard the first several episodes were slow-going and rather blah, but definitely heard amazing things after that, and many praises from people who were in the same boat I was until they started getting into it. It makes me wonder what I've been missing this entire time. :D

[squaringkarma.livejournal.com]

Yes, watch The Vampire Diaries!

I should watch V, I got the season back when I was visiting sir_fireboard one last time in June.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Definitely watch V, it's really great with the writing and pacing, particularly in the last several episodes.

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

I dropped V once I started watching the original mini-series with my dad. IT WAS A HUNDRED TIMES BETTER! And I wasn't looking forward to V since the second episode anyway so I was like, forget this lol. I would highly recommend the original series lol.

The Vampire Diaries starts out slow, and then suddenly you're face is glued to the screen wanting more. So watch out, the first few episodes are on the dull side. Wait it out and see if you like it once it starts picking up.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I tried watching a bit of the original, but it's outdated, cheesy and just not my style to be honest (it's the same when people complained about the new BSG in saying watch to original, but I just couldn't). I think the newer version is much better because of it being re-imagined and different, taking a completely new course of the story and it's definitely worth getting into. If you stopped after the second episode, I highly advise trying to watch the rest because it truly does find its own footing especially towards the end. I'm very impressed with its direction and can't wait to see where they take it.

I've been told the same thing about TVD, so I'll keep that in mind.

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

I stopped watching after the mid-season finale. By the time it came back from hiatus I had already started watching the original with my dad and was like OMG THIS IS A ZILLION TIMES BETTER. I don't mind the chees-ness and bad special effects, and that's as someone that tends to avoid really old movies lol. Watching the original, I can see which main characters were inspired by the old V. The alien/human pregnancy and good aliens were combined(which was probably the only thing I was looking forward to seeing unfold in the new version XD tell me what happens with that lol).

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

The thing you gotta keep in mind though is with this remake/re-imagining is that they aren't trying to completely copy the original. They are heading in their own direction of mythology but still paying homage to it in many ways (it has been revealed that Anna will be eating a rodent next season, and Jane Badler, from the old series, will be guest-starring in a multi-episode arc). It's just being updated and made more relatable with character situations and certain political aspects, which I personally love along with the some of the Vs experiencing human emotion in a believable way.

So don't dismiss it if you haven't seen the season all the way through. The last several episodes definitely are worth watching because it gives excellent headway into what we're to be expecting from this show. I'm not saying don't enjoy the old series as well, but understand the differences between the two and why remaking it isn't for the bad as you think it might be.

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm not new to remakes lol. I just wasn't really into the V remake you know? It didn't capture me at all. I was interested in very few of the storylines they had going(which I actually would like to know what happened with those eventually), but the rest I was like whatever lol.

Some people are stuck on the originals only. You should have seen the look on my dads face about the a-team remake. Apparently it can never be like the old one without Mr. T lol.

OMFG JANE BADLER! Maybe I'll tune in for her episodes XD

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Heh well, not everyone is going to be sold on remakes, or even re-imaginings. Which is understandable if you're close to the original before. But since I knew nothing of the original I was willing to watch this without any reservations. And I'm loving it, it's really starting to become its own show.

I don't think all remakes are bad though, the majority of them yeah, I think "why would you even consider remaking that?!" but sometimes it works out. It's all matter of your perception of it. *shrugs*

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

I hadn't watched the original when I started the new V. I only started when I got my dad the original for Christmas(which was released as three seperate boxsets instead of two for some reason). It was actually pretty hard to track down at the time lol.

Not all remakes are bad. It's just bad when suddenly everything coming out is a remake and it's like er...can we not remake something? lol. idk, I'd be ready for a Harry Potter remake in ten years XD

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I think ten years would be too soon for HP remakes though. Wait like, twenty or thirty. Fifty even. A decade doesn't seem long enough, especially since these films have recently been coming out gradually over the years. There will definitely be an uproar if that happens, without a doubt, heh.

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

True. We'll probably be really old by the time HP is remade if even that. We'll be the old ladies all dressed up for an HP movie being like YES HP NEVER DIES! lol.

[silverusagi]

I enjoyed V! I liked Joshua.

The Vampire Diaries is very good. Though, as others have said, the first several episodes are a bit cliched and painful to get through.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I liked Joshua too! I wonder what's gonna happen to him, considering what happened in the finale.

By which episode of TVD would you say turned everything around and got better? I want to know what I'm going to be looking forward to so I can endure the rest.

[silverusagi]

I'd say episode 6. Once she figures out they're vampires, and there's more going on than high school drama.

[mfirefly10.livejournal.com]

V definitely improved as the first season went on. I'm completely head-over-heels for both Anna & Erica and I love the fact that they're both the leads and they're women and they've actually had scenes together!!! The borrowing of BSG cast memebers didn't hurt, either:)

The Vampire Diaries...I'd say that I am 85% in love with it right now. That could change depending upon how certain storylines play out but for now, I really enjoy the show. There are many, many awesome female characters and they all play a pretty significant role in the series. And Stefan Salvatore is basically the vampire version of Sam Anders so I obviously love him to bits :D

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It really has! I'm thoroughly impressed by it. It just needed to find its own rhythm once it started progressing and when it did I was in for the ride. That's what I love about the show too, two leading ladies as the protagonist and antagonist and I cannot wait to see more scenes with them together next season. Isn't Morena excellent in that role as Anna? My God. *___*

Seeing so many people loving TVD now makes me all the more excited to watch now. I definitely feel like I missed out on something, lol.

[allodole.livejournal.com]

Ouch, now I'm very torn between should I download V or just wait until it starts airing here- because I saw an ad for it few nights ago.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is a toughie. I would say wait until it airs because you want to support the show airing there. But at the same time, downloading it and watching all the episodes one after the other will definitely get you engaged more quickly into the story instead of waiting for the next episode each week.

I would suggest wait and see if you like the pilot, and if you're still unsure then download the next few episodes and watch them. idk, does that sound like a nice course of action? I just download anything anyway, lol.

[allodole.livejournal.com]

I usually download everything too, but that's mainly because nothing interesting airs here ever. And when they do, it's usually ages after it's been aired in the US- like the fact that Supernatural's third season is gonna start airing tomorrow here. Sigh.

It does, I could do that. :D

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I kinda feel bad for people in other countries because many of the shows here don't end up getting shown overseas until much later, so you have to resort to downloading or watching online. :(

I feel even more bad when a show gets prematurely canceled and had it been released overseas it could have added higher on the ratings chart or something due to international exposure, idk. I don't know much about the laws or statistics of how all this works, it's just something I keep thinking about when a show of mine gets canceled before its time.

[allodole.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And DVD-boxes aren't cheap, especially when it comes to new shows/seasons and when you have to order them from the internet.

Indeed. :/ when some shows don't even get a chance oveseas, it's rather frustrating. What's not popular in the US might be popular in Europe and vice versa.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm in the USA and I didn't get the SPN S4 DVDs until earlier this year because of how expensive they were for the longest time, even on Amazon. :/

I remember from observing what some people have been saying that what you think is mildly popular here, it's 10x more popular overseas like in Asia and the UK and other places. That recent Misha interview the interviewer was talking about how certain shows like Heroes and perhaps even LOST had a huge following in like Japan in whatnot. So this proves that even if a new show doesn't get high ratings in the first few episodes (and really with all the new shows that premiere every year it's understandable), imagine how it would be with combining international ratings and viewers. I mean seriously, when you look at the shows that have just been canceled this premiere season alone it's just ridiculous.

[allodole.livejournal.com]

D: Oh dear. I've been thinking of buying S4 and S5, but I'm gonna have to wait until they're cheaper.

Exactly! It's just silly to me that shows get cancelled after a few episodes before they even get distributed oveseas. Like you said, I'm not entirely sure how the whole system works, but from a ordinary person's point of view it just seems stupid. I like how they do things in Asia- shows there usually have 1-2 seasons and a set number of episodes so shows don't get cancelled all of a sudden, no matter how bad the ratings get. Although it does get sad when especially in Japan the shows have 8-13 episodes all in all and you'd love for more but nooo. :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Love the show, but I don't love it that much to waste that much money on it. Saving that for my groceries for the week, kthx.

There are some Asian dramas that I've watched that range from three episodes to over thirty depending on how long it takes to tell the story needing to be told. And in the UK I know their system is different from the US because they have limited episodes in a season as opposed to our 22-episode rule (some new shows here get 13 without the added back 9 or however that works, but still 22 all in the same anyway). I keep thinking shows would go over much smoother here if we had more limited episodes in seasons, especially those with heavy plots because I don't like waiting through filler episodes to get to the point each week.

But really yeah, I hate the entire system these days and how shows get canceled at a whim without allowing it time to grow. It's like, the premieres need to be top-notch perfect to grab people's attentions. And judging from this premiere season it's not going over too well for many shows, new or returning....

[allodole.livejournal.com]

I don't love any show so much I'd spend so much money over it. I love my money. (And my food, especially what's with the moving out next month and such.)

Depends on the country, I've been more into japanese ones and they're usually quite short, so I've gotten quite used to shows that have 8-13/25 episodes instead of 13-22. I agree, there definitely should be a limited number of episodes in each season, so no fillers- since they're usually quite bad too.

Exactly. There are many shows which have a rocky start but then grow better and better with time, it's rarer to find a show with an ~absolutely mindblowing premiere~ than one with a premiere that's just "okay."

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

'I'm also thinking about starting The Vampire Diaries next because I heard great things about it.'
I don't watch that show, but I've heard great things about it too. It got off to a rocky start but kept getting better and better and had a fantastic season final, or so I've heard.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen people kind of scoff at it at first suddenly are in love with it now. So I'm thinking it definitely got better to where nearly a handful of people on my flist are enjoying it thoroughly. :)

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

'So I'm thinking it definitely got better to where nearly a handful of people on my flist are enjoying it thoroughly. :)'
I think it was a combination of that and a lot of people thinking it is a Twilight rip-off without actually having seen the show/read the book. Fan Fact: the book VD is based on came out 1991.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I remember reading the first book a looonnngg time ago so I was interested (and rather worried a bit, adaptation-wise) with them making a series from it. Although I kind of was skeptical due to all this attention focused on vampires because of the Twatlight stuff. Some people even think True Blood is a ripoff of the sparkling vampires which I'm like, yeah no.

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

'Some people even think True Blood is a ripoff of the sparkling vampires which I'm like, yeah no.'
I seen that too and all I ever think is, 'have you ever actually watched True Blood or did I miss the part in the book where Jacob had an erotic dream about Edward?'

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Okay, now wouldn't that series be SO MUCH BETTER had that actually happened? Seriously, forget about the whiny main character, let the slash take over, for reals. I'm just saying.

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

'Seriously, forget about the whiny main character, let the slash take over, for reals.'
Tell me about it. Jacob could even had bonded with Edward after Edward tried to eat him when Jacob was in wolf form.

Jacob: True love? When we first met you tried to eat me!

Edward: Every relationship has it's ups and downs.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAA! XD

Also, I found this from Tumblr and felt it was appropriate:

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

That mecro is just priceless. Speaking of Lafayette, have you seen the Sesame Street Parody True Mud, where a Lafayette muppet shows up. I love how in the comments for that video grown ups are fighting over whether it's stupid or not because kids won't get the True Blood reference; I'm pretty sure kids didn't get the Law and Order parody reference either.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

lol! Now that was funny. I don't get why people are making a big deal out of it. While Sesame Street has been getting more into popular culture these days, it's nothing to over-analyze with. It's mostly for the adults who probably watch the show with their kids to understand the references, kids probably wouldn't know anyway.

It reminds me of when I used to watch things when I was a kid and didn't get the references until wayyyy later in life.

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

'It's mostly for the adults who probably watch the show with their kids to understand the references, kids probably wouldn't know anyway.'
So true.

'It reminds me of when I used to watch things when I was a kid and didn't get the references until wayyyy later in life.'
Tell me about it.