V: Season 1 - Thoughts

This one actually completely slipped through my radar, and I only got to know of it when I saw the DVD box set for sale in a duty free store in the Muscat airport. I made a note of it and did my research once I was back home. The limited buzz surrounding the show coupled with it being cancelled after 2 seasons leads me to believe that it wasn't exactly stellar. V - Season 1 opens with the arrival of The Visitors, a technologically advanced alien race, with a message of peace to all of humanity, though the possibility of a sinister ulterior motive being ever present.

Season 1 of the show had 12 episodes, each lasting around approximately 45 minutes. With very little idea of what expect, I got into it hoping it would be an engaging sci-fi experience, only to be somewhat let down. Considering the magnitude of what was happening and being presented, the overly polished, seemingly soft matte finish of the show made it a little lifeless. Agreed that the lack of true violence probably made it better suited for a larger audience group, but frankly V – Season 1 lacked the edge to be gripping. Aside from the obvious similarity with The 4400, that being a common cast member, there were a lot of parallels between the two shows. Some of the individual episode plots were weak, and seemed insufficient in the bigger scheme of the show and the alien presence on earth. If you’re big on sci-fi and just cannot have enough of it, V – Season 1 will work well, but otherwise with the multitude of television entertainment available, it’s unlikely that you’d want to invest as much time in it.

Elizabeth Mitchell of Lost fame plays FBI agent Erica Evans, the female lead and possibly the central character in the show. While I believe the dreamy character she played in Lost better suited her, she did a good job as the single mom balancing her career and raising her teenage son, in the midst of an alien invasion. Joel Gretsch of The 4400 fame plays Father Jack Landry, a man of strong value, forced to deal with extreme circumstances in testing times. Morena Baccarin plays Anna, the high commander of The Visitors. She does a pretty fabulous job of coming across as two faced, and it would be hard not to hate her character after a mere 1 episode.

Though the content I was sampling was an Mpeg 4 AVC rip, thanks to HD 720p specifications it was pretty decent. There was some video loss, with color vibrancy being average, and faded greys and beiges being more dominant; but that said the high resolution and the rip characteristics made it worthwhile. Picture was sharp, and definition was quite impressive in some scenes. Like most television shows formatted for 16:9 home widescreen TVs, the fit was perfect with no letterboxing. Sound was presented by means of a 5.1 Dolby Digital AC3 Surround track. Dialog delivery through the center channel was clear, and overall sound effects were decent. There was probably some surround stage usage, but nothing standout.

My Recommendation: Dicey (A relatively relaxed alien invasion)