Science Fiction is a gamble for the networks. With pricey flops like Surface, Threshold, and Invasion in the recent past it is kind of surprising to see the three-letter-mafia going all out with yet another batch of far-out programming – but, hey, yay for us.
No doubt this latest batch will result in more impassioned “save our show” campaigns, and fierce fan scene advocacy, and the world will be better for all of it. Such things are part of what makes the scene so cool. Of all of the offerings, three have grabbed a considerable amount of press: ‘V’, the reworking of the popular alien invasion series from the 80’s, Day One from Lost and Heroes alum Jesse Alexander, and Flash Foreword.
We’ve been lucky enough to look at the scripts for all three, and for the inauguration of our “Fantastic Forecast” series, a look at what is coming up on television that would appeal to geeky folks like you and I, we’re going to be looking into the guts of each one and giving them our totally unqualified survival ranking. We won’t go into characters here as much as the basic devices of each series, since the characters would best be judged by the performances of the actors. First up is ‘V’, ABC’s mid-season alien invasion series.
‘V’
Long before Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day aliens parked their mother ships over major cities the world over there was ‘V’. As a matter of fact, when ID4 put together those iconic shots, a lot of sci-fi aficionados were decrying the fact that ‘V’ was first, but it didn’t really matter. The fact is, the alien invasion trope is as old as the science fiction genre, and for good reason: it works. It seems with very minor tweaking, fans will always give any iteration of this tried and true device a chance.
The basic premise of ‘V’ is the same as its predecessor, and any number of invader stories before it. We start on a regular day when, unexpectedly, gargantuan alien ships appear over the capitals of the world. They broadcast a message in multiple languages assuring us that they are here in peace. Of course there is an insidious purpose lurking beneath all the good will, and it soon becomes obvious that we are screwed. Not a great reach from the alien invasion template.
One of the most charming features of the ‘V’ pilot is how self-aware the production seems to be of this very fact. On the tenth page of the script, as the world begins to react to the presence of the alien craft, this exchange of dialogue takes place:
COLLEGE KID #1 (ON TV)
Dude, this IS Independence Day.
COLLEGE KID #2 (ON TV)
Independence Day was just a rip-off
of any number of alien invasion
predecessors...
The pilot script for ‘V’ is written by Scott Peters, who is also the show runner. Peters has been involved in the genre for some time, with writing credits spanning the reboot of Outer Limits on up to the The 4400. He has also worked as a producer and director on shows like Jericho, Harper’s Island, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The setup is simple. Peters starts with words on a screen:
Where were you when JFK was assassinated?
Where were you on 9/11?
Where were you this morning?
He knows how monumental this event is, and from there he aptly presents it through the lens of regular people doing regular things. A mother trying to find her rebellious teenage son, a priest, a man purchasing an engagement ring, and so on. It’s a palette of Americana, all of them will become more interesting later.
The aliens arrive and there is a mixture of elation and chaos that plays out very believably. As the aliens begin to intermingle, there is all of the paranoia you would expect, and an incredulousness towards the aliens that seems to reflect 
our own culture. For instance, the Visitors open healing clinics, televising their miracle cures like snake oil salesmen, or evangelists. When a wheelchair bound boy is cured, a blind woman scoffs – pointing out how people are mindlessly giving their lives over to the Visitors. When asked why she doesn’t want to see, the woman replies “I see plenty.” Solid writing that wraps up a fiction-to-life simile with a character’s organic metaphor.
The script is intelligent on many levels. For starters, it injects metaphors throughout. Every aspect of the Visitors presence is tied to a common theme in some sub-text, the result: we relate with the story and characters. Next, the characters are real people – Peters has shunned the interesting-people-with-dark-pasts motif that seems to have dominated modern sci-fi. The characters are refreshingly normal, and not mysterious. Their motivations seem clear. The total lack of dark and brooding characters uttering double entendres right before the cut makes it easy to get lost in the alien tom-foolery at the center of the story. Peters focuses the sense of mystery where it should be, on the Visitors themselves.
Prediction: ‘V’ will be a surprise hit. I’ll take on Flash Forward in the next installment, which is the one that ABC is focusing all of their marketing lasers on, but to give you a brief comparison ‘V’ seems to be a return to good old ‘fun’ science fiction with some good socio/political parallels, where Flash Forward is more reminiscent of the tease and deny approach that has only really caught on once in recent memory (LOST) despite numerous attempts to replicate it as a successful method of story telling. Personally, I think ABC is betting on the wrong pony. With ‘V’ you get what you expect, and it is thoroughly enjoyable. ‘V’ Speaks to the cynicism of our age, the fears of terrorism, and the exhausting rigors of war by turning it all into aliens we can cathartically despise. Good stuff.
Keeping my fingers crossed for V to be good and to succeed.
Greetings from ISRAEL!!!!
Keeping my fingers crossed for V to be good and to succeed.
Greetings from ISRAEL!!!!
I agree, we need more fun tv and less of this overmarketed crap that doesn't deliver. Human freedom fighters fending off an alien invasion – that works!
I agree, we need more fun tv and less of this overmarketed crap that doesn’t deliver. Human freedom fighters fending off an alien invasion – that works!
Atleast, there's a new show to look forward to now that Lost is nearing its final season.
Atleast, there’s a new show to look forward to now that Lost is nearing its final season.
When's it start?
When’s it start?