ABC's reboot of Kenneth Johnson's '80s miniseries V (which originally aired on NBC) debuted last night, and for the most part, it was pretty entertaining.

In less than an hour, writer/exec producer Scott Peters (The 4400) sets up the gambit—visitors from another planet who come to Earth in search of natural resources, promising peace and prosperity, and quickly polarize humanity into those who are taken in by the Visitors' claims of benevolence, and those who immediately distrust them.

Whether wisely or not, Peters chose to be very economical with time and got things off to a blistering start. Consequently, the entire setup happens within the first installment. Unlike the original '80s show, which took more time to reveal the Visitors' true nature, the new series took us from arrival, to suspicion, to resistance, to revelation about the aliens' reptilian nature, all in the first episode.

Frankly, while I enjoyed getting to the action sooner, it felt a bit rushed, and some scene transitions were jarring to the point of distraction. I couldn't help but wonder if they gave away too much, too soon, and might have been better with a two hour pilot. On the other hand, since the characteristics of the Visitors are known to almost any television viewer who hasn't lived under a rock for the past 20 years, the producers probably decided that since we all know the Visitors are lizards anyway, why not just get straight down to telling a story about the resistance.

Still, that doesn't explain some of the early character giveaways, such as learning Morris Chestnut's character Ryan is not only a V, but one of the good Vs. What is interesting, however, is the new wrinkle in which we learn that the Vs have been here for many years, infiltrating humanity in preparation for a "final solution."

By and large, the visuals are effective. The head of the Visitors, Anna — whose own head is displayed to populations around the world using the "jumbotron" on the underbelly of the Visitor ships (nice touch) — is deliciously played by Morena Baccarin. She can convey beauty and creepy almost simultaneously, with little cold, rapid, otherworldly blinks of her eyes that effectively telegraph her true reptilian nature. It wouldn't be hard to picture her as a man eater (you're welcome, double entendre fans). Baccarin was perfectly cast in this role, and already makes Jane Badler's performance in the original V look laughably affected by comparison.


Scott Wolf plays the slightly shady, mildly plastic TV reporter Chad Decker who, despite needing an ethics check, at least sees red flags when Anna informs him he isn't allowed to ask anything that would cast the Vs in a negative light. Gee, there's a clue. Their relationship and how he chooses to deal with his suspicions could be fascinating to watch. Will he go the Baltar route and reluctantly capitulate to the Vs request for personal gain, or will he turn against them quickly? We suspect the former—it's just the more interesting choice.

Meanwhile, a less successful element (at least thus far) is the relationship between Erica and her teenage son, Tyler (Logan Huffman). I understand why they penned it this way, since family division will be a central point of conflict as Tyler becomes more involved with the Vs, while his mother does everything in her power to resist them, but it felt cliché: the father who ran out, the angst-filled teenage boy who automatically rebels because of it.

All-in-all, however, an engrossing, if hurried, introduction to this franchise reboot, with plenty of room for relationships, intrigue, action and topical overtones. Now that we're into the meat and potatoes of it (I suspect food jokes will become de rigueur for this series soon enough), Peters will have plenty of opportunity to explore these characters and the circumstances of the story in what one hopes will be a more sophisticated and contemporary way. I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment.