Daily Loaf

The new ABC Sci-fi drama V returned for it’s second installment and picked up directly where the first left off. Although it didn’t suffer from similar pacing issues as the pilot, the second episode didn’t exactly expand much into anything worth raving about either. What is very interesting, however, is the drama the prime-time event is causing in our own world, outside of the fictional television setting.

“You still don’t understand humanity.” Visitor Leader Anna (Morena Baccarin)

FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) ended the pilot episode of V at a back-alley underground meeting, having just uncovered a dense alien conspiracy. She also barely survived the assassination of attendees of said meeting by a Visitor attack squad — and  she discovered her longtime partner was in fact a Visitor himself. Needless to say, she’s going to be having some trust issues from here on out. Erica and Father Jack, who also survived the meeting, realize that a resistance needs to be mounted against the evil alien plot. Their trust issues with each other, with those around them, and with humanity in general are one of the few things that really work here.  As a viewer, it’s hard to relate to a spacecraft hovering over our major cities, but who can’t relate to having your world cave in around you?

Also in this episode:

== TV journalist Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) has second thoughts about not being more in depth with his first exclusive interview with Visitor Leader Anna.

== Ryan (Morris Chestnut) struggles with maintaining a healthy, normal relationship with his girlfriend while flirting with the idea of resuming his alien uprising ways. He makes contact with an old ally in Jersey (where all aliens go to live undercover!) to mend a wound exposing his alien skin. More conspiracy plots are planted.

== The Visitors don’t mind using fears (this week snakes) to torture prisoners.

== Erica’s partner Dale (Alan Tudyk) is still alive and in Visitor hands.

Where the initial episode felt rushed, this second outing felt stalled.  After the hasty Visitor introduction and human reaction, the final minutes of the pilot, with it’s conspiracy bombshell, got right to the heart of the experience that lay ahead. This week was a lot of circling around the potential of those experiences. In fact, the Erica/Father Jack plot ended up right where it began in the episode. There are some interesting leads hinted at, such as a line mentioned stating the alien invasion wasn’t planned to take place yet (if not now, then when?) and further discussion of a former resistance fight against the Visitors. Hopefully the series picks up a little and delivers on these teases, but for right now it’s hovering just below mediocre.

Meanwhile in our own little messed up world, certain people who think and talk way too often (read: Sean Hannity) are quoted as saying that V is an allegory for our own political environment. They even call it “Anti-Obama.” I personally am of the opinion that they are looking way too much for a connection to their cause. As one commentor noted, “Sometimes a reptilian water-stealing alien is just a reptilian water-stealing alien.” Well said.

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BAZINGA!

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