Daily Loaf

The visitors have returned to Earth, and this time they’re bringing more intrigue and drama to prime-time TV. V is a science fiction reboot that debuted this week on ABC after a load of publicity and excitement. The original was a major event over on NBC during the ‘80s, and the mouse house’s flagship network is hoping for similar results with this update. The premiere episode landed Tuesday night, but did it live up to the hype?

In short, yes and no. V is the story of modern America, much like you and I are accustomed to, with the one major exception being the aliens we dream of discovering actually show up. The new series (being broken up into a four week run now and then picking up in March) introduces us to a litany of characters of all shapes and flavors, and then allows everyone’s world to get flipped upside down after enormous alien motherships appear over just about every major city in the world. Apparently Topeka wasn’t on their radar.

The ensemble includes an FBI agent and her precocious son, a man on the brink of proposal, a television news anchor looking for ratings and a young conflicted priest — among others. Very quickly these strangers will be tied together by one central concern: Aliens are here and they are making friendly. Each character has their own reaction to the news.

The premiere of ABC’s V was an hour-long spectacle, cramming what could have been an entire half-season of action into 60 minutes.  I found the story and the cast quite enjoyable, and appreciated the work put into honoring the original while still tweaking new bits of plot. In fact, there are some elements planted here conspiracy wise that should really play out well down the line. But like I said, V should have been given two hours to flesh out the story. I kind of felt like aliens had landed and they gave us all ADD. But count me in for the long run. I’ll check back after each episode to see if they slow things down a bit or keep the excitement pumping.

V airs on ABC Tuesday nights at 8 PM for the next three weeks before taking a break until March.

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