"V" - SciFi isn't dead yet! (So stop saying it's in trouble)

The year looked like it was going to be good for SciFi on ABC. I was psyched for "Flashforward," thinking it couldn't possibly go wrong (but wow, did it ever.) Then I was psyched for "V" and found it okay. It wasn't anything special and I just didn't care enough to come back after its three year long break, or however long it was off the air. Felt like three years. The concept felt so been-there-done-that. Alien invasion, no one knows they're sinister but the conspiracy groups who are pegged as terrorists, etc. etc. It didn't grab me right away. I was more distracted by Morena Baccarin's haircut as Anna than I was the plotlines. And Elizabeth Mitchell's irritating son, the embodiment of teenager stereotypes, was getting way too much screen time. Joel Gretsch was much more effective as Tom Baldwin at NTAC dealing with the 4400 than he is here as self-righteous Father Jack tangled up in the resistance. Don't even get me started on how much Scott Wolf annoyed me as Chad Decker. As all the articles about the political allegory of it all stirred about in the media, I found myself realizing that I rather do something else at 10:00 on a Tuesday. Like watch "Southland." Which was completely worth it. But when "Southland" ended its run on TNT, (it will be back, albeit in a painfully long time) I decided to revisit "V" after the whirlwind of "Lost." Although it's a wonder I forgave "V" for that dreadful countdown clock during Sun's "Lost" episode when it not only distracted from the show, but cut off important info Sun had written down. I guess I'm blaming that on moronic ABC execs, not the show itself.

To my utter surprise, the show has become quite engaging. The Fifth Column has condensed to a few people on our screens, including some new British guy that I'm liking. Erica and Jack are a little more tolerable, and I'm hoping Ryan hasn't disappeared for good as I liked his storyline with his human wife. Speaking of "The 4400," the plot of him and his wife running from the Vs in an effort to save their baby felt a lot like Richard and Lily running from Jordan Collier to save their baby Isabelle. But I digress. I find the most fascinating resistance leaders to be the ones who are Vs, like Joshua aboard the ship with Anna. He's in the most dangerous position of all and he's sacrificed a lot already. Lisa has also gone from being a bland robot sent to seduce Tyler to being a facsinating character struggling with newfound emotions. She's trying to protect Tyler, who she obviously has real feelings for, while keeping her emotions under wraps enough to not invoke the wrath of her mother. It's nice to have someone in that relationship be mature and adult, since Tyler is immature and, not really entirely his fault, doesn't understand the gravity of their situation.

I've read some articles that say Tyler and Chad are going to change soon into less useless characters. I really hope so. I think it will be a great moment when Chad realizes what he's done by being Anna's pet. And I think Tyler has potential to do something significant if he grows up and they strip those annoying stereotypes away that say he has to be whiny and petty. I liked the touch of appointing Erica as head of the committee investigating the Fifth Column. It's reminiscent of the FBI appointing real life infamous traitor Robert Hanssen to be in charge of finding the mole in the bureau, which was him. Great stuff.

I'm going to keep watching, and I'm actually hoping it gets renewed now. I think it's starting to get on a good track and it has potential to be a solid show as long as they stick to developing the characters. The plotlines aren't always riveting, so making three-dimensional characters you care about will elevate this show above being simply a bad remake. My last complaint is that I'd just like to get an inkling of a clue of why the Vs are invading Earth and why this way. If they wanted resources, surely they could wipe everyone off the planet in a number of different ways and just take what they want. Or maybe they want the humans for something and need to be able to control them first? I'm not asking for a "Torchwood: Children of Earth" scenario of aliens needing humans for something downright horrifying, but something more than the standard "they need resources, but are evil and want us to kill ourselves" situation. I like the route they're going with emotions too. We all know that creatures without emotions are evil, (Daleks, Cybermen, early Cylons, Terminators, replicants, those asshole angels on "Supernatural") so it's compelling to see more Vs realize they have the capacity for empathy when trying to trick humans. All in all, I like the direction the show has taken and hope it finds its rhythm. Because I love SciFi, and I'm sad to see it fail when the vision isn't cohesive or it doesn't find enough viewers to justify its renewal.

(And I'm just sick of hearing "there isn't a demand for SciFi shows," or "the SciFi genre is dying because fans aren't supporting these shows." We aren't supporting the shows because they suck. The genre is not dying, SciFi has never really been entirely mainstream, so it shouldn't shock people when these types of shows don't do blockbuster ratings. Don't blame us because we won't support poor writing, acting, etc. just out of some obligation to the SciFi gods.)