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Alan Tudyk and Elizabeth Mitchell, V
The pilot for ABC's new V was vexing. I say that, because it was impossible to tell if the series is going to be any good or not. Pilots can often be decieving, and this one puzzled me. I am not a fan of the original version, so I can't compare, only write about impressions from the one hour that ABC aired Tuesday.
On one hand, there was the great cast, led by Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) and including two Firefly / Serenity veterans (Morena Baccarin and the always fantastic Alan Tudyk), as well as other television stars such as Joel Gretsch (The 4400) and Scott Wolf (Party of Five, The Nine). It also had wonderful special effects, hints of a mysterious backstory, and potential intrigue.
On the other, it had cheesiness out the wazoo. TWO priests assigned to a church that has "stood empty for years", save for a handful of bums? With the nationwide shortage of clergy, I can't see one such priest staying there, or even the church staying open, let alone two, and it looks well kept up and clean. Then Elizabeth Mitchell just happened to find her son in the busy city swarming with people? And speaking of her character, why didn't she notice that Alan Tudyk was ready to give up three seconds after smashing into the shed, despite being a trained FBI agent? It makes sense to the viewer, because of his twist later, but as far as she knows, he is her loyal partner. Would the feds really give up that easily? Even I knew that there had to be some secret trap door down to a basement. Duh! I also count casting Smallville's wooden Supergirl, Laura Vandervoot, as a misstep.
Glaring cliches like those could hold this series back, and earn it a cancellation by February sweeps. It is a positive sign that ABC is airing it through November. This was one of the shows I was looking most forward to this year. By episode two, the loopholes may be fixed, and they'd better be, or else the Viewers may not care to watch the Visitors.
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