V – Episode 2 (Season 1): “There is No Normal Anymore”
If episode 1 set the structure, then episode 2 begins to solidify the series. It takes place directly after the end of the first episode, and we really get to see how the characters are reacting to their new found discovery. Some try to ignore it, others are unsure what to do, still others decide to continue resisting, but by the end of the episode they end up thinking the same thing anyway, to start a resistance … which is odd because that was the same thing they decided at the end of the last episode, too.
What this episode does well is show how distrustful the characters are now that they know the truth of the matter, and it leads to some of them making irrational or unwise decisions. The acting and dialogue is still pretty wooden to me, honestly. I’m interested, surprisingly, in Chad Decker’s story and development most of all, due to his ignorance of the truth yet incapability of yielding to the Visitors. The other characters evolve in predictable directions (FBI Agent, Priest, Visitor turncoat are all pretty stock when it comes down to it), but his character seems to be developing in the most interesting direction, probably because he’s the one who has the most interaction with the Visitors.
I’m thoroughly uninterested and unimpressed with any scenes that involve Logan Huffman. It’s nothing to do with his acting, but his character’s story is boring, pedestrian, and worst of all, annoying. The whole teenage subplot in the context of a show about alien invasion is completely absurd, and though I’m aware that it’ll eventually lead to him becoming an unknowing sleeper spy for the Visitors (if the show synopsis is to be believed), his storyline for the foreseeable future seems to involve him doing stupid teenage things. I’m half expecting him to get high in the next episode.
Not a bad episode, and the ending shows promise of potential story twists, but the show has still not realized its potential yet. We can only hope it will get better.
