All around the internets, people talk about remakes like they’re the worst thing since un-sliced bread. “Where is the originality?” they question from the tops of their digital soapboxes. It is a good point, but I actually don’t have a problem with the trend. Specifically when a project can bring a different take to a well-known story (see Star Trek, Nikita). A complete retread is bad, but worse, is borrowing enough of the idea that it looks barely familiar, but then removing all connections to what made the original property good. Thus is the case with V, and why I won’t miss it after its inevitable cancellation this year.
For the sake of argument, I try to remember only the two miniseries … Basically because I don’t actually remember the series (and by all accounts, that is a good thing). But I do remember how great the story was. It was the story of an occupier and a resistance, of collaborators and defectors. You can point to many different countries in Europe during both World War I and World War II for inspiration … Heck, you can even point to the Cylon occupation of New Caprica (Because it was way in our past, right? … In fact, V lends credence to Ron Moore’s finale: A strikingly similar looking member of the occupying force switching sides to start/lead the resistance … All that has happened before will happen again, eh?).
But this very archetypal story, one of everyman (and everywoman) rising up against a superior force to protect what is theirs; that is what the original V was about, and that is what made it great. A journalist, a scientist, a gardener … these were the heroes that collectively stood up to a vastly superior force, and said, “Not on my watch, buster (or some other corny cliché).” They made allies with dissenting Vs and fought a guerrilla war, and were totally out of their depth doing it. It was the story of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things.
So, being the remake-lover that I am, I was all kinds of gung-ho for a V remake. And now that we’re a season and a half into the series, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that V is probably the most disappointing new show in the last several years.
The new series doesn’t begin to live up to the original. Jack Landry is the closest thing the resistance has to an everyman. The resistance has, frankly, done very little to actually resist the Vs, who are still, in most of the world’s eyes, humanity’s savior. The new series has taken a great cast, and made them bland (yes, internets, these characters are bland with a capital B).
When I was discussing this post with fellow Clacker (and the much smarter) Carla, she countered that where as the original V was about occupation and resistance, the current version is about terrorism. And yes, there have been stories exploring the questions surrounding the use of terrorism as a resistance tactic to be sure, but it has never been the overriding theme to the whole story.
In fact, I’m not sure there is an overriding theme to the story. The thread that is most commonly woven through the series is parents’ relationships with their children (specifically the rebellion of children against their parents), but even that really isn’t what I’m looking for. Missing a theme, too, is another strike against this show.
In the same way that the 1984 series never lived up to the original two miniseries, the 2009 version of V simply doesn’t live up to the promise of the original story. You give a solid cast a bunch of below average writing, and overcoming that writing to deliver solid episodes becomes the exception to the rule. It is disappointing, too, as fans of science fiction have seen what little of their favorite genre that actually makes it to series stick around much longer after that. At least, for folks looking for the same story that I was in V, we can at least look forward to TNT’s Falling Skies. “History is full of inferior forces making so much trouble that the invading army leaves” says Noah Wylie’s character … Yep, that is right up my alley.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Feb 24, 2011 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
Never saw the original, but I’ve really enjoyed the remake. It’s mindless popcorn entertainment. It doesn’t have the depth of a show like BSG, but some shows are just about the adventure (like Stargate Atlantis for example). Sometimes it’s nice just to enjoy a fun story instead of getting hit over the head with social messages and overbearing metaphors. Still, I have noticed a few themes in V, in addition to the terrorism theme and the parent/child theme: 1) the power of the media to influence people’s views; 2) the power of the church/religion to influence people; 3) the human tendency to be manipulated by leaders who give us “free” stuff; 4) the power of emotions/love; 5) the soul and what it is; 6) war and peace (the Vs use pacifism as a weapon and try to make the resistance look like haters, terrorists, and warmongers). So I guess the show does have some themes, but those themes are not explored in any depth.
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s the problem, though, Ruby. If I had to sum up my whole point in one word, it would be “depth,” or more specifically the lack there of.
You can tell by the way that the show is produced that they don’t consider themselves mindless popcorn entertainment, and that they think they’re being socially relevant and cutting edge.
And if that truly is the case, then you can’t really do anything but laugh.
Actually, the remake IS about occupation and resistance: The Vs are trying to manipulate and insert themselves into human DNA in an effort to fast-track their evolution ( the occupation), and Eliz. Mitchell ( love her)’s character and her allies are determined to resist this takeover.
I like V…. true, it’s not deep drama, but it beats half of what’s left on network television these days. But for the douche-y teenaged son ( sorry, Tyler), the cast is excellent, and Anna is totally creepy and as close to a lizard-human hybrid as you can imagine.
Wow Ivey. You nailed it. This is exactly why I can’t make myself watch the show. Back when the original V was on I was living in a Germany that was still seperated and the Cold War was still going on. A show about an occupying force back then was more real to me so I watched the show and was even horrified by cheap special FX like the eating of that Guinea Pig or a flap of skin coming off. That was real horror. But the new V? What is it about?
What you wrote is spot on, at least for me. The show has a really high production value they really do make an effort to make it look good, the actors to a good job but I just fail to grasp what the show is actually about.
You are absolutely right that this is not the V we knew and loved. There is no actual resistance. The Vs are still too good in the eyes of the public. The characters are bland and I find it hard to root for them. Elizabeth Mitchell’s character to me is the hardest to actually “love” because… man why would I care about her again?
The old V also showed a lot of cruelty that was kinda like the stuff Nazis did to homosexuals, retarded people, dissidents and most of all, Jews in the concentration camps. That was also something that was very close to home for me. The new V fails at this miserably. The V rebels came in way too early. The show basically gave us a preset of story, a rebellion within the Vs that we didn’t have a grasp on. We even got Vs living with humans, impregnating them (like in the original) which was way more creepy back then (sorry I didn’t watch more than six or seven episodes of the new V I don’t know what happened later on with her). The blandness of the characters and their stories, the way it is told, just didn’t get the HORROR across that I did feel back when I was watching the old V. To be honest I was more horrified about finding out that the old Diana actress had a long guest stint on the Australian TV show “Neighbours” in recent years (you know the vessel that launched Kyle Minogue and Jason Donovan which was aired on the same channel V aired back then in Germany) ^^;
So again: great opinion piece Ivey, good analysis. Loved it :-)