“V” Ep 3 “A Bright New Day” Review

Posted on: November 20, 2009
11 comments so far (is that a lot?)

anna-on-v

Due to technical difficulties I am unable to get the video review up, so I thought I would post the written on its own.

–Roth

“V” Episode 3 “A Bright New Day”

“The 5^th column say’s hello”

Here was an episode that began to fulfill the promise of this series. It has genuine surprises, twists that propelled the plot forward with exiting momentum and one of the best scenes from the series thus far: Anna rehearsing her sympathetic response to Mary Faulkner, the widow and would be figure head of the “V” protestors. If Anna was willing to forgo her maniacal plans for humanity she would have a very lucrative career in PR ahead of her. The woman is as calculated as she is chilling and any variety of political orginizations and corporations would be chomping at the bit to have her ice blooded genius at their disposal. Alas, I fear that like so many heads of state and pop icons before her, only world domination will do for Anna.

This week we had the introduction of some of the most engaging storylines and themes in the series. Beginning with the 5^th column. The faction of “Visitors” resistant to the established leadership, i.e. Anna and her minions. These are the rebel alien fighters who will necessarily join with the human resistance to try and stop the Visitors plan for the destruction of Earth; I believe they will also be learning to crochet. We saw the beginning of this united front at the end of the episode when Erica, Fr. Jack, Ryan and Georgie all meet. Although I was sad to see Alan Tuduk’s character really and truly go I loved the virtual memory retrieval room and the bad ass reveal that the 5^th column had infiltrated the New York mother ship. That sign off to Dale from the Dr. was so very sweet indeed. This scene also held one of my favorite lines of the episode, in his attempt to express his utter disgust for humanity Dale protests “My wife brushes her hair in the kitchen – who does that!?!”

Also introduced was the idea of “The Bliss” the element of mind control that Anna uses to bring all of her subjects into submission. Now we don’t know exactly what “the bliss” is yet, but I had to wonder if she slipped a bit of that bliss to Ms. Faulkner in their secret meeting pre press conference. Here is what I love about the idea of “The Bliss”. There is an obvious connection to the idiom “ignorance is bliss”. Anna, and her PR prowess, her understanding that both adoration and hatred are infectious, and her grasp on just how vulnerable the human mind is to the power of suggestion acts as a direct parallel to her possession of “The Bliss”. The bliss in our world is denial; it is the sleep that we are asked to awaken from in order to pass through the initial pain of truth to be rewarded with genuine freedom. It is the path that every child must take to maturity, and the path that our global culture is being asked to walk right now. Anna represents the seductive nature of denial. In the sense that it offers a pretty picture and a temporary salve to our pain ignorance is indeed bliss, but it covers the reality of what is and traps us in its honeyed embrace.

Along the lines of stepping out of fantasy and into reality the leader of the resistance (to date) Erica lets us know that they must fight “one step at a time” in order to win this war. I so often wish for one sweeping solution to all my woes and worries and yet I know that truly that the only way forward is to engage with the step that I am in. Okay, nuff on my philosophical and worldly musings.

More fun stuff! So as it turns out, Hot V Lisa is daughter to the even hotter Mamma bear of the whole V community – Anna herself. Now, of all the people I would not want the burden of pleasing as a daughter I must say, this woman is right under Stalin. Twenty nine guesses what mamma bear and baby bear have in store for young Tyler. Seriously, make a guess because I am not fully convinced of what they are up to. My assumption is that it will be some sort of cross species breeding experiment, but who knows? Perhaps this is going in another direction. Assassination attempt, infiltration into the minds of the youth, figure head for the “peace ambassadors”, pre-dinner snack…

Finally, the V’s are now free to walk amongst us, a fact that has Chad Decker filled with some vague sense of anxiety masked only by his blind ambition. More than that, every uniform worn by them or any of their “peace ambassadors” (gotta love the Orwellian double speak) is fitted with a surveillance camera that will surely soon have the world living in fear of being caught in any oppositional discourse against the “V”’s. Anna is “big mother” indeed.

This episode did exactly what I wished it would do. It focused on its strengths, Anna and the story of the visitors themselves, it introduced the fifth column and it’s mysterious leader John May, it gave the resistance grit, and provided twists that left me anxious to see where the show will go next week. I loved this episode and I’d love to hear what you think. Please post your comments below here on thinkhero or on youtube, make sure to subscribe to the thinkhero youtube account or you can follow us on twitter @thinkhero or @jrothc that’s me.

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677411 Responses2009-11-20+15%3A14%3A40Roth to ““V” Ep 3 “A Bright New Day” Review”

Geekyfanboy Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Great review Roth… sorry about the video.. hopefully you'll be able to post it up soon..

Here are my thoughts on Episode 3.

So many things happened… first I love that the V traitors call themselves the 5th columnist like the original. Even though it wasn't a shocker it was revealed that Lisa is planning something for Tyler. And finding out that Lisa is actually Anna's daughter, didn't have a clue about that. I knew the gunman was going to be a V. I had no idea that the V doc was an 5th columnist.. that was a good OMG moment. I loved the scene with the four founding members of the Resistance meeting up in the church. I liked the people at the beginning giving confessions.. felt very real. I like that they revealed that over 600+ people died when the V's came. I also noticed that all the Captains of the 29 ships were male.. kind of like Anna being the Queen bee. So many things… it was such a fun episode and it just flew by. Can't wait for the fourth and finale episode this year..
Nar Williams Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 11:44 PM
There are some good long term plot developments, as you point out, but I'm so damn distracted by some of the other choices the writers make. My biggest gripe: Fr. Jack. Soooo stupid.

Why IS he a priest, anyway? Just so the writers can say they're addressing the issue of religion and aliens even though they're not? In this episode the fact that he is now helping Erica with investigations is just too much for me. "Hey, you're a priest, so go ahead and look through my top secret files that I keep on the kitchen table and let me know if you find anything." Whaa?? And after the first two episodes hammering him with "Don't trust anyone" he's handing out his business card to strangers? Breaking into other people's houses? Dumb dumb dumb.

I'm not sure the few characters I find moderately interesting (Anna, Chad Decker, and Georgie) are enough to keep me watching when it comes back in 2010. I hope ep4 knocks my socks off, 'cause I really want to like this show…
Clarity_Jones Says:
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 AM
I was looking forward to seeing your review and have settled for a good read. I agree with Nar. The priest's stupidity is more unbelievable than aliens invading the earth through kindness. Other than him though in general I agree good episode. Still do they have to make the teen romance so cheesy. i know it's no comparison to the cheddar of twilight, but it doesn't seem recognizable to any teen behavior I have witnessed alien or non. Oh where's our broody John Conner jr to give you real teen angst.
rothcornet Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:34 AM
Hi!

Thanks for posting! I agree the the gunman was obvious – but I was somehow okay with that. And I also agree on the Dr. I was exited that they got me by surprise and I loved what he said to Dale. I think it was a fun episode too and I am exited to see the next one and hope they keep it up. I think this is a fun show – and if they keep up with what they were doing with this episode I think it will really continue to be a great time to watch!

Thank again for commenting – good to hear from you hope to hear more next week!

Thanks!

Roth
rothcornet Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 AM
Hey Nar!

That's funny, yeah Fr Jack just diving into investigations is pretty silly, and he's not one of the best characters (not the worst wither – I think that's the teenagers). But oddly that instant investigator thing bothered me more with Peter on Fringe because those were officially sanctioned investigations. On "V" I figure, this is a very small (so far 2-4 ppl) underground resistance to – we don't even know what yet. So I figure, she'll take what she can get at that point.

I think it's a fun show. I don't think it's the most thought provoking or unique in terms of character development and construction – but fun and that's what it brought to the table this week for me more than the initial few. I really do like Anna and Chad Decker – especially Anna – and was glad they focused more there.

But I definitely get your point of view.

Thanks Nar!

Roth
rothcornet Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:38 AM
Hi Clarity Jones!

Thanks for posting! Yeah I can understand where you and Nar are coming from. And the teenager storyline is my least favorite one – I was glad that there was less focus there this week! And yes, I really wish T:SCC was still on the air. To me that was one of the greatest sci-fi series of the past several years and for the life of me I can not figure out why more people do not find that to be true as well.

Anyway, thanks again for posting – looking forward to what you think next week!

Thanks!

Roth
@MartinLaBelle Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 AM
Hey Roth,
You mentioned "the Bliss" in your review. That got me and I just finished the episode. I'm struggling with the writing of this show, but what keeps me coming back is the philosophical commentary of Religion and Political power. They seem to be making both a Utopian statement and a subtle indictment of American apathy (and what it could lead to).
Good observation on Anna's joy of dressing herself up. She is the most interesting character by far. The series is repeating common (an some overplayed) story themes, and I hope they have the sense to stay in the realm of commentary.

-Marty
rothcornet Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:44 AM
Hey Marty!

Thanks for commenting! I agree I found "the bliss" to be a really interesting addition. I agree with you also that it's dealing with fairly well treed waters in terms of story themes, particularly in regards to sci-fi and there are some aspects of the plot and characterizations that feel "phoned in", the Tyler storyline is the most acute example of this. Thought I can certainly understand people frustration with Fr. Jack, the priest. Audiences are pretty sophisticated and don't like being handed shorthand characters.

I agree on the commentary as well – that is the part that is interesting for me and I wish they would step it up a notch. And I love what Morena Baccarin is doing with Anna. I think it's a fun show and if it can continue to stick to and emphasis it's strengths it will get better and better and be a really good time to watch.

Thanks again for commenting! Great to hear your thoughts!

Roth
Clarity_Jones Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Some good thoughts here. Though the premise of the show is a classic and always fun and thought provoking to explore, V unfortunately has family show all over it (god I wish it was on HBO). I loved the original and of course was a youngster when it was on so I appreciate reaching out to that demographic. Having said that, I just don't think we'll see any real grit and depth found in the likes of BSG or TSCC. I hope I'm wrong! I'll stay tuned because I love Sci Fi, but my expectations are within PG limits.
thevfiles.info » Blog Archive » REVIEW: ThinkHero.com Review Of V: The New Series 1.03 ” A Bright New Day..” Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:53 PM
[...] DIRECT LINK: http://www.thinkhero.com/2009/11/20/v-ep-3-a-bright-new-day-review/ [...]
rothcornet Says:
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Hey Clarity,

I think your right about the PG. I agree and don't think it will be a BSG or a TSCC (unfortunately, still irritated by that cancellation). But I think it can be fun and offer some insights and some social commentary – which is one of my favorite things about sci fi. I can totally see where your coming from and yes I agree it's not reaching the heights of the truly great sci fi series.

Thanks for commenting!

Roth