Be afraid, be very afraid. At the end of episode 11 it seems that all of High Commander Anna’s (Morena Baccarin) plans are on the verge of “Fruition”.
Anna, displaying an extreme lack of maternal instinct, has successfully made Lisa (Laura Vandervoot) into the poster child for the evil of the Fifth Column “terrorists”, persuaded her into lying about who “attacked” her, and witnessed Lisa’s reconciliation with Tyler (Logan Huffman). Her “Soldiers” are about to be born, the FBI has taken into custody a mysterious scientist named Parker who has done research on a compound that might affect reptiles (i.e. Visitors), and she has tricked Chad into making a broadcast plea that produces a groundswell of support for the aliens. Marcus (Christopher Shyer) appears to be negotiating with Hobbes (Charles Mesure) to obtain Parker’s research and, to top it all off, the damned Visitors’ fleet is set to arrive soon. Can things get any worse for humanity???
But all may not be as it seems to the ever-so-wicked lizard queen. Now knowing that Lisa is Anna’s daughter, Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) is determined to turn her to their cause and beyond the fact that her reconciliation with Tyler seems genuine, Lisa has openly professed her feelings to him. Furthermore, Lisa sounds very concerned about the purpose of her mother’s “Soldiers” when she questions Joshua (Mark Hildreth) about them. (And why does Joshua always seem like either his mind is somewhere else or he’s stoned???) Is the heir apparent to the Visitors’ throne about to become the means of the Fifth Column’s salvation? Is Hobbes really willing to betray the Fifth Column for thirty pieces of silver and a clean record or is he trying to set up Marcus? And what about the temporarily-forgotten hybrid? If Anna’s Trackers ever arrived on Earth, they have not done their job, since little does Anna know that Val (Lourdes Benedicto) has gone into labor. Maybe there is still hope for this third rock after all!
In any case, the stage has been set for a wild season finale in which some of these loose threads will finally be tied off. Obviously the world isn’t going to end, just yet and the Visitors aren’t going to be destroyed, just yet, since ABC has just re-upped “V” for a second season. (Yay, I still have a job!) Still the sneak peek of the finale promises its fair share of fireworks, hopefully enough to tide us over (and keep our interest) until the new season arrives.
One thing that I have found interesting is the concept that humanity has been “visited” by aliens who, for all their advanced technology, blue energy, etc. are just as f*#ked up psychologically as we are. The Visitors are as much slaves to their basic animal instincts for survival and domination as mankind. Perhaps that is why the original writers of “V” chose to make the extraterrestrials reptilian underneath human camouflage, giving us something to blame their malevolence on. Yet how many of us by our actions are similarly “inhuman” on the inside, but hide that evil behind the pleasant, sometimes beautiful, faces that look back at them in the bathroom mirror? For how many of us is our outward humanity only a mask for the animal within? Something to think about, but I digress…
The action is in Episode 11 has taken something of a back seat to real plot development and building the tension towards next week’s climax. The only true violence, the rather savage “assault” on Lisa, has already taken place before the first scene opens. Not that this in any way lessened my interest. In fact I found the various revelations, conversations, and interactions among the characters well-scripted and the mind games played by Anna and Erica are far more intriguing than gratuitous fight scenes, car chases, and gun battles. It is pretty cool to see two strong female characters as the stars in a genre-type program, going at it head to head. Now if they would just put Anna in one of those Princess Leia’s sled outfits, I could forget how dastardly she is….. (laughing long and loud…)
Looking forward to what promises to be an excellent and well-anticipated Season Finale. See you next week! Fifth is First!!!
