Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
08.00 V
11.00 Battlestar Galactica
V. Episode 1. "Pilot" The Visitors arrive.
I came to V as a huge fan of the original.
And if you compare this opening episode (pilot) with the opening episode of the original, there is no comparison. This doesn't hold up. There's nothing in this, of the sort of weight and dramatic storytelling potential that the original had.
They've kept - pretty much - all of the elements intact. Some names have changed, some details have changed but it's the same basic show and it's very much aimed at the Lost audience. ABC is very much looking for the next Lost. And based on what I seen here, this is not the next Lost!!
While I enjoyed seeing (the wonderful) Elizabeth Mitchell, I didn't really warm to her bland character, Erica. This was the case, really, with all of the characters. Except Ryan, who turned out to be an alien in disguise. I liked Ryan, and I liked Morris Chestnut. I want to see what happens to him in the next episode. Him and nobody else.
The rest of the hour was stuff you've seen before. And I don't just mean in the original V. I'm talking about shows like Earth: Final Conflict, Alien Nation, or War Of The Worlds. If you've been a fan of those shows, then you'll find that New V doesn't really bring very much to the table.
Having said that, I will say that it's not horrendous bad television (like Bionic Woman, or Knight Rider). It's a bit bland and featureless, like FlashForward, but I will go back and see what they do next.
Battlestar Galactica. "The Plan" A look at what Cavil was doing.
Interesting idea. To go back and show us events in the first two seasons of the show, from the perspective of the Dean Stockwell and some of the Final Five. Dean Stockwell, of course, wasn't part of the cast during the first two seasons but - according to the story - he was always there. Behind the scenes. So this movie sets out to show us that stuff.
And we also get to see what Sam (Michael Trucco) was doing. And a couple of other characters who become important in the latter stages of the Galactica saga.
Best of all, we get a lot of new material on the whole Boomer storyline from Season One, where Grace Park's character was a sleeper agent Cylon and didn't know what was happening to her. Now, here, we get to see Cavil (Stockwell) acting as her handler and switching her 'on' and 'off' as need be. Cool stuff.
It's a clever way of bringing us back to the franchise without giving us what we really want to see: a movie showing us how the survivors are coping after the events of the series finale.
And they did a great job. The two versions of Cavil are added seamlessly to the events of the earlier episodes and nothing that is added here seems phony or false. In fact, it could be said that it makes the first two seasons of BSG... better. [gasp]
However, even with all of this, you can't quite escape the fact that the series was largely made up as it went along, however much the show would like you to believe that it was carefully laid out before hand. So, in some respects, this movie is an attempt to tie together the various aspects of the early part of the series and make it all work better.
The Cylon's 'plan' for example.
The two Cavil's open and close the episode with a debate over the plan. One of them has a change of heart and... I just didn't buy it. And I think I'm supposed to. In order to really appreciate the idea of the plan, and why it never came to fruition.
But, as a die-hard fan, I found that this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie at all. Dean Stockwell's performance was just superb. He's the star of the movie, he's in almost in every scene.
Quality stuff, good drama. Allows us to see Cavil and the others from a new perspective.
Highlight? Battlestar Galactica (Interesting idea)
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