Blog

The Visitors have arrived and they didn’t waste much time getting down to business. If the first two episodes of V are anything to go by this is one series that is going straight for the jugular. Just the way we like it.

The opening of episode one, with its subtitles evoking landmark moments such as the assassination of JFK, was filmed and pieced together with a touch of panache that turned the arrival of the Visitors into a totally believable ‘what if’ scenario. What if Morris Chestnut actually happened to be walking along my street when an F16 dropped out of the sky (for the record, Morris Chestnut doesn’t live on my street); what if Elizabeth Mitchell and Alan Tudyk were buddy-cops working for the FBI (I’d pay Alan Tudyk by the hour to pretend to be my buddy)? 

Most importantly of all what if a fleet of giant spaceships cruised into the Earth’s atmosphere and put the handbrake on above our most important cities before Morena Bacarrin’s face beamed down at the world for the most important global broadcast since the 1966 World Cup final? To answer that last question, I’d be a lot more comfortable with Morena Bacarrin doing the demigod thing than Alan Tudyk. An omnipresent Alan Tudyk head the size of Southampton would be a scary prospect.

The key to the success of V episode 1 was the fact that it didn’t play out like Independence Day The Series; it was much more human, more contemporary, and ultimately more believable. Interweaving the arrival of the Visitors with themes of religion, terrorism, global warming, international politics and general panic gave the episode an air of plausibility. Plus, it also scored points over popcorn fair such as Independence Day by acknowledging the scenario as global rather than confined to Beverly Hills and Manhattan. Sure, the story focuses on the people of New York, but by at least referencing other countries, and taking the time to show that Anna has learnt Portuguese and Spanish as well as English, V sets itself up as a thought provoking show.

                                           Oh thank god... It's not Alan Tudyk

By the time Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) finds herself in a grimy warehouse, stood next to a priest (Joel Gretsch) and a man with a scalpel who wants to inspect her skull bone it’s already clear that the goody-two-shoes Visitors might not be the saviours they’re cracking themselves up to be. Georgie Sutton sets himself up nicely as the paranoid resistance leader spouting all manner of conspiratorial gossip. Just when Georgie finishes his rambling speech about the Vs plans for global domination in rushes the treacherous Agent Maddox (Alan Tudyk) to prove the case in point (you know what, Tudyk, I’ll find myself another character actor to pretend to be my buddy).

The revealing of Maddox’s green scaly skin and lizard eye was a classic sci-fi reveal, but the twist that actually caught me off-guard was the uncloaking of Ryan (aka Chestnut) as a good-guy Visitor (Visitors Versus Visitors, that’s a lot of V’s).

Episode 2 was a bit more down to earth (pun intended, although I’m not sure if it really works). Now that the dust has settled on the arrival of the Visitors it’s time for Anna and co to build some solid diplomatic bridges. On the character front the show is gearing up to be all about double acts. With Maddox dead (or is he?), Father Jack makes a move on the buddy-cop position left vacant. His partnership with Erica is set to form the backbone of the resistance (because you just know that Georgie is going to sacrifice himself for the greater good at some point). Anna and Jeremy Paxman wannabe Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) are locked into the whole Frost/Nixon thing.

Meanwhile Erica’s son Tyler (I’m looking forward to the day when the good-looking, rebellious teenage son character has a solid name like Barry or Trevor) is tapping up the Visitor’s very own blonde bombshell Lisa (Smallville’s Laura Vandervoort). I wonder if he’d be so keen to be one of the Vs Peace Ambassadors if he could see Lisa first thing in the morning, prancing round like a giant gecko on two legs, adjusting her blonde wig.

                                            Does the name Chestnut amuse you?

Ryan (aka Chestnut) gets his arm fixed up by another ‘traitor’ who goes by the name of Angelo. But like Georgie, Angelo is surely doomed. This leaves Chestnut (sorry Ryan) footloose and fancy free. Well, apart from his fiancé of course. But she probably won’t want anything to do with him when she finds he’s a seven foot gecko walking round on his hind legs... wearing a blonde wig.

The cliff-hanger of episode 2 left us salivating at the possibility of more Tudyk action. To find out how that works out tune into episode 3 next Tuesday at 10pm, then log on to Syfy.co.uk to read the review.

Missed V Episode 1? Fear not, watch it now with Syfy.co.uk’s free online catch-up service.