First get the props out of the way--Morena Baccarin was pitch perfect as Anna, the leader of the Visitors. The cast is outstanding--my cousin told me that a journalist called the cast The Love Boat of sci-fi and that about sums it up.
The pilot was an odd sort of thing--the pacing was relentless. As a set up for the series it strove to narrate the events of the mini-series that set off the original 80s series and though it sacrificed a bit of narrative pleasure in so doing, the dominoes are thoroughly set up to be knocked down. The writers seemed to acknowledge and capitalize on the fact that the audience would be familiar with the original sci-fi series. We knew they were lizards under their flawless, bronzed skin. No need to build suspense toward that inevitable reveal.
What the show lacked in narrative suspense was compensated for in its chilling parallels with current events and a not-so-subtle critique of the sitting administration. Anna weilds control over a fawning media--characterized by a disturbingly aging Scott Wolf--and though the interview in this episode reminded one as much of interviews with Scientologists as much as presidential candidates, Anna offers the world "Universal Healthcare" as an incentive for devotion and this can't escape hitting the audience as a commentary on President Obama and his cabinet. The show has already hit trouble in various aspects of production, conflicts with the original creator Kenneth Johnson, work stoppages and now, news has it, it will run for four episodes, be pulled from the line up and then returned in the Spring. This is typical for a sci-fi series, a genre that the networks never seem to quite trust and in lacking the faith in a potential nerd fan-boy/grrrl audience, it will almost certainly doom its success. However, rumor has it that the political overtones of the series will be toned down and that it's potential for controversy is a source of trouble for the creative team.
Though its interesting to note: its political tone is identical to the first--it is anti-authoritarian libertarian in it's philosophy. The difference between now and then was that it first emerged in the Regan era. In Hollywood, there is much more comfort in issuing a critique of authoritarian Republicans than authoritarian Democrats. Though, the fact that they are the same--sacrificing liberty to the cause of Capitalism vs the cause of Socialism--rings true with anti-authoritarian libertarianism which can be anti-authoritarian Left as well as anti-authoritarian Right. Whether such a clear non-partisan political philosophy will do well with an audience and with a network remains to be seen. I've already heard the confusion this has caused from fans of the show in the 80s.
The inheritance of science fiction is always anti-authoritarian as it came to full development in the wake of World War II and often entailed allegorical resistance to authoritarian regimes in Europe. Ken Johnson's vision was that of a classical Liberal. By classical liberal I mean that the classical Liberal of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a liberal by being anti-facist and anti-authoritarian. It emerged as a reaction to the facism in Europe and Ken Johnson was very clearly thinking of the Nazis when he penned the original series. This distinction began to fall apart during the Cold War, where socialism in Europe began to eclipse classical Liberalism as an answer to the facism of the previous generation.
There is a fascinating allegory of our current situation with global Muslim extremism at work, naturally--the Visitor terror cells parallel what we know of Muslim extremist cells, but in being an even bigger threat than Muslims, seem to shrink and eclipse them. The terrorists the female FBI agent of the show fight are just terrorists so far--they have no one political, religious, or national identity. What's also very interesting about this current format as compared to the first is the theology it espouses. Intentionally or no, the descriptions of the Aliens matches medieval demonology. Unlike the first series, in the new, the "Visitors" haven't just arrived. They've been here for a long, long time, working their way into various power positions globally and forming "terrorist" cells. The leader of the first resistance group to form describes the way in which they distract and create "unnecessary wars"--lest you mistake it's critique of the sitting administration with sympathy for the former, or it's critique of globalism (Anna claims that they are not divided into countries like "us"--they are one unified people), with pro-American nationalist militarism, it clearly sets it self up as anti-government, national, global, or otherwise, and pro-populist resistance. Regardless, it's description of how the Vs have been working amongst us matches medieval demonology and the narrative of Revelations.
In the opening scenes, the tremors created by the alien ships, knock a heavy crucifix from a perch in a Catholic Church and a priest--potentially the most interesting character in the series--must save a handicapped parishoner from being crushed. This falling crucifix intrigues. It certainly suggests that the "devotion" that the series indicts as the most dangerous weapon of the Visitors is being transferred from traditional religion to the V's. Yet, the arrival of the Vs inspires more religious fervor rather than less. Will the show end up accusing religious devotion equally to political or social devotion? The answer will lie in the fate of our Fr. Too Hot to Be Celibate (my favorite character so far) and his practice of his Faith as a member of the resistance. The religious leaders of his church are complicit with the Visitors, yet his faith leads him toward resistance. That will be an interesting narrative to watch unfold.
A clue, perhaps, is the resistance leader's comment that the Visitors have been twisting legitimate religious devotion to extremism. It seems that there is room in their dystopia to indict religious extremism while acknowledging the legitimacy of genuine worship and belief. And again, this is a text straight out of Medieval theology, which also acknoweldges that religious extremism is a form of vice and the work of dark forces.
I'm always curious to know sources and whether this sort of paralell is accidental or intentional. Either way, it is there and lends a certain gravity to the story-telling for a philosophy nerd like me. Will they remain consistent? In the case of the forebears of sci-fi and fantasy, like Tolkien and Undset, for instance, the correlation with theology is intentional or at least natural. What of the makers of V?
And is the network ready for a series that sides with neither party in American politics but with classical Liberal virtue? How about the audience? The metanarrative therein may prove to be interesting than the show itself. But time will tell.
