WRITERS: John Wirth & Natalie Chaidez[SPOILERS] This penultimate episode was well-named, as things finally started happening and there were moments of real interest. V's been a very frustrating series for me, but "Fruition" definitely leaned on its strengths and gave us a taste of what this show is capable of. Don't get me wrong, there were still moments of flatness, but when compared to the episodes that preceded it, "Fruition" was far more engaging...
DIRECTOR: Bryan Spicer
GUEST CAST: Charles Mesure, Mark Hildreth, Roark Critchlow, Rekha Sharma & Christopher Shyer
In some ways a better attempt at last week's story, Anna (Morena Baccarin) was again trying to encourage a sense of loss and dependency on the V's by threatening to leave the planet, following a sickening attack on her daughter Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) by the Fifth Column. In fact, Lisa's unsightly injuries (broken legs, bruises, the letter "V" cut into her cheek) were the handiwork of Anna, as part of an insidious plan for Lisa to blame the attack on two humans the V's want dealt with: missing scientist Dr. Lawrence Parker and resistance fighter Hobbes (Charles Mesure).It was a simple story, but one that allowed for some better interactions between the characters and a few long overdue reveals. Primarily, Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) shared the screen with Anna -- the two opposing mothers of the series who are manipulating each other's children -- and realizes that her son Tyler (Logan Huffman) has been dating a V. She also met Joshua (Mark Hildreth) after he treated Lisa's wounds before a TV appearance to condemn her attackers, who told her that he believes Lisa's feelings for Tyler have become genuine. These were all very welcome developments that should have happened sooner, because the characters have caught up with what we, the audience, have known for ages. I tend to dislike shows that intentionally give its audience more knowledge than the characters, because you just become irritated that they're constantly behind the curve. Now it feels like we're all on the same page.
The fact Dr. Parker's a target because he's part of a think-tank that created a virus deadly to marine life and reptiles (which thus includes the lizard-like V's) was also a good move, because there's finally a sense that the resistance could have a way to threaten the mighty alien force hovering overhead. Also interesting to see Hobbes' motives become more textured, after he stole Parker's hard-drive of research and used it as a bargaining chip with Marcus (Christopher Shyer) to end the V's search for him. Is Hobbes really selfish enough to give up an important weapon against the V's, just to make his life easier?
Overall, "Fruition" was closer to what I want V to resemble, if still a bit low-key and not dark enough for my tastes. Imagine what HBO would have done with this concept. There are still plenty of problems to fix -- not least how laughable the Fifth Column continue to be, as Erica's team can't be taken seriously. After 10 episodes, they've destroyed one warehouse full of drugs, broadcast a message in a V transmission, and it's all just resulted in their movement being publicly condemned.
I'm also still irritated by Chad (Scott Wolf), who sometimes appears to understand the V's intentions are malevolent but ignores it to benefit his TV career, but then can seem blissfully ignorant of what they're up to. And when he does confront Anna about her deceptions (as he does this week, when he realized the threat to leave Earth was just a ruse), there's little sense that he's going to act on that knowledge. His character's just too malformed; he either needs to be a nasty collaborator, or a mole. Make a choice, writers. I'm getting bored with the ambivalence.Next week is the season finale, perhaps the series finale. I won't shed any tears if V is cancelled, but there are occasional signs this could become a decent show. Maybe another few months for the writers to regroup and develop a fresh strategy for season 2 will help. Or is there too much at fault with the DNA of the show and bland actors like Joel Gretsch, Huffman, Mesure, and Wolf?
Asides
- Does anyone else find it irritating when Ryan refers to his own race as "the V's"? Don't they have a real term for themselves? If they don't want to use it on the show, just say it's unpronounceable with a human tongue, or something, so the word "Visitors" has stuck.
- I'm not really sure why Anna's soldiers will be so effective in destroying the Fifth Column. Will they have special abilities, or does she just mean the extra manpower will be useful? It can't be the latter, surely, because she already has a huge armada of ships about to arrive from their homeworld. What's the rush? The Fifth Column have been active for a decade and don't appear to have achieved much.
- Speaking of those approaching V ships, I wasn't sold on the suggestion the V's already on Earth will have to manipulate human radar to prevent their exposure. Why not just say the V's have a cloaking device? It's a lot easier. I mean, if V ships can be so easily detected by human technology, how did the 29 motherships creep up on us announced?
- Loved the duality of Ryan receiving a text message that his pregnant girlfriend's waters have broken, which coincides with one of Anna's eggs cracking.
