[Article] 5 ways to improve V next season
Your Name
5 Ways To Improve 'V' Next Season
----------------------------------------------------
A few suggestions to make the 'Visitors' more entertaining next year.
by Blair Marnell, May 19, 2010
The re-envisioned "V" recently wrapped up its first season on ABC
and has already been renewed for a second season. However, the
new "V" has also struggled to find a steady audience since it's debut
and it hasn't truly grabbed the imagination of TV viewers the way the
original "V" did back in 1983.
While we won't see a new episode of "V" until November at the
earliest, we do have a few suggestions for the producers to help
improve the show in its second season.
5. Know your History
The current "V" series has been interpreted by some as a
commentary on the Obama administration. While the current
producers have denied that this was their intent, the fact that
anyone believes that means they've moved too far away from
their original intent. Some people really want free health care
and limitless social services. But that's not fascism.
Real fascism - which is defined by the belief that a nation
requires a strong, singular identity along with the will to
commit violence and wage war to keep it that way - would
scare people.
If the current producers of "V" want to tell more than just a
standard invasion story, they might want to look at their
history books for inspiration.
4. Media Matters
If space aliens were to judge our media by what's been
shown in the current incarnation of "V," then they would
think that the dude from "Party of Five" was the most
important man on TV. Seriously, is Scott Wolf's Chad
Decker the only reporter on Earth? The new "V' has very
rarely depicted a true example of our media-obsessed
society. It's perfectly understandable that the Visitors
would have their own figurehead TV newsman. It happens.
But where are the Bill O'Reillys or Keith Olbermanns? Or
even the Glenn Becks and Rachel Maddows?
We live in the world of talking heads and 24/7 news
channels. That's not hard to fake!
"V" would be a lot more interesting if it depicted a more
realistic depiction of the media.
3. Scale
Thus far in the new "V," the resistance is... honestly kind
of pathetic. The show's narrative revolves around four main
characters as a small resistance cell in Los Angeles.
Their success thus far has been limited, to say the least.
However, it seems like they the only human resistance
group that hasn't already been wiped out by the Visitors.
Sure, there's the Fifth Column, but do we really want
aliens to fight all of our battles for us?
In the second season of "V," we should finally see more
humans actually putting up a meaningful resistance. The
entire world has been invaded, not just Los Angeles! And
not just America, either. For a true sense of scale, we
need to find out what's happening in other countries
around the world. And what's being done to stop the
Visitors before its too late.
2. A Strong Male Role-Model
This is not meant as indictment of Elizabeth Mitchell or
her character, FBI Agent Erica Evans. Mitchell is a
talented actress and Erica is an interesting character.
But is it too much to ask for a male character on the
show to have half the balls that's she's got?
That is a huge problem with this show. It has a lot of
strong female roles, but there's no balance with the
males. Do Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) or Ryan Nichols
(Morris Chestnut) have anywhere near the narrative pull
that Erica receives in the story?
No, of course not.
And apparently, the producers must have realized that
too, otherwise they wouldn't have introduced Charles
Mesure as Kyle Hobbes midway through the first
season. As a mercenary, Hobbes at least adds some
military credibility to the LA resistance team. But he's
definitely not a leading character at this point. And it
would take a lot of development to get him on the
same level as Erica in the story.
The original "V" got a lot of mileage out of their story
by having two leads - Marc Singer as Mike Donovan
and Faye Grant as Juliet Parrish - that both had
major roles to play within the story. If the current "V'
series can find a male protagonist as strong as Erica,
it would go a long way towards achieving that balance
again.
Which leads us to our final suggestion...
1. Beastmaster!
Getting back to a sense of history, it's amazing that
none of the stars from the original "V" have made
cameos in the current version yet. Where's Jane
Badler to portray the previous queen of the Visitors?
Or if they want to cast her against type, she could
be a human resistance leader.
Or Robert Englund... How could you not put Robert
Englund back on the show in any capacity?! The
man is a legend of genre and horror.
Personally, I'd really like to see both Marc Singer
and Faye Grant come back as Visitors.
Although, if Singer wanted to reprise his role as
Dar the Beastmaster with his amazing
super-intelligent space ferrets....
That would be awesome.
Tim
"Your Name" <your...@isp.com> wrote in message
news:ht7v4l$r26$2...@lust.ihug.co.nz...
> From CraveOnline.com ...
>
> 5 Ways To Improve 'V' Next Season
> ----------------------------------------------------
> A few suggestions to make the 'Visitors' more entertaining next year.
> by Blair Marnell, May 19, 2010
>
> 3. Scale
> Thus far in the new "V," the resistance is... honestly kind
> of pathetic. The show's narrative revolves around four main
> characters as a small resistance cell in Los Angeles.
> Their success thus far has been limited, to say the least.
> However, it seems like they the only human resistance
> group that hasn't already been wiped out by the Visitors.
> Sure, there's the Fifth Column, but do we really want
> aliens to fight all of our battles for us?
>
> In the second season of "V," we should finally see more
> humans actually putting up a meaningful resistance. The
> entire world has been invaded, not just Los Angeles! And
> not just America, either. For a true sense of scale, we
> need to find out what's happening in other countries
> around the world. And what's being done to stop the
> Visitors before its too late.
The easiest thing might just be to pay better attention. It is NYC, not LA.
A fake New York I know, but still.
Your Name
wrote:
Since when do reviewers / "journalists" ever pay attention? Their motto
is: "the facts just get in the way of a good story". ;-)