The Truth

‘V’ is a continuation of the 1983 TV series, that was midly successful. I watched the pilot episode on ABC last night with a pretty open mind, I thought the previous series was ok, nothing special.

However, it didn’t take long for me to lose interest in the pilot episode. Was it the apparent over-acting and weak cast? Was it the hype for a series that should never have been remade in the first place? I’m not sure, but V did very little to hold my interest this time around.

I found the character Elizabeth Mitchell plays to be a little too over the top in her role as over-protective FBI mom Erica Evans. I also found the characters generally uninteresting and blah.

Morris Chestnut plays the role of ‘angry black guy who can kick some ass when he has to’ , although we already know he’s a reptilian from day one.

Will the hype be enough to push the series into a successful time slot? I don’t know for sure, but I know one thing.. the pilot episode didn’t leave me craving fore more.

The Action

Corny fighting scenes and little else.

The Effects

I’ll give props when they are due. V had excellent special effects for a TV show, well done. The mother ship looked great.

What’s good about it?

A sexy alien race invading our planet gives us hope for the future.

What’s bad about it?

They want our resources and to exterminate us in the process. The Obama metaphor was also horrible.

“Embrace hope and change, humans! We are just like you! We will bring universal health care, also.”

No pacing. Shoved like 4 episodes into one and just told us everything instead of showing. It was more like crime drama.

You’ll Like ‘V’ It If

Fans of the original series ‘V’ may like it.

What I learned form ‘V’

We are all suckers for a pretty face. Scott Wolf isn’t dead.

The Verdict

I’ll give the series one more chance to gain my interest, until then it wasn’t a memorable pilot episode for ABC, or Tuesday nights.

Like a modern-day M*A*S*H, The Unusuals explores both the grounded drama and comic insanity of the world of New York City police detectives, where every cop has a secret. It also helps to have a twisted sense of humor, since every day could be your last.

Detective Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn) has just been transferred to the NYPD’s Homicide unit from Vice and is instantly thrown into a setting of bullets and bodies. As she begins her new assignment, Casey finds that the force is full of secrets, which serves her well, since she’s keeping a few of her own. But her first case is not an easy one, as she’s assigned to investigate the death of one of the department’s own, the former partner of Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner), who is now her new partner.

As the duo seeks out the cop killer, the secrets and eccentricities of the rest of the department begin to emerge. Prank-magnet and social climber Detective Eddie Alvarez (Kai Lennox) has no qualms about stealing cases, as long as he can turn them into front-page stories; partners Eric Delahoy (Adam Goldberg), who is trying to get himself killed in the line of duty, and Leo Banks (Harold Perrineau), an overly cautious officer who refuses to remove his bulletproof vest, are polar opposites; and the very religious Detective Henry Cole (Josh Close) is trying to keep his secret past from both his streetwise partner, Allison Beaumont (Monique Gabriela Curnen), and Sgt. Brown (Terry Kinney), who is struggling to rid the 2nd precinct of corruption.

The Unusuals stars Amber Tamblyn as Detective Casey Shraeger, Jeremy Renner as Detective Jason Walsh, Harold Perrineau as Detective Leo Banks, Monique Gabriela Curnen as Detective Allison Beaumont, Josh Close as Detective Henry Cole, Kai Lennox as Detective Eddie Alvarez, with Terry Kinney as Sgt. Harvey Brown and Adam Goldberg as Detective Eric Delahoy.

Created by Noah Hawley (Bones),The Unusuals is executive-produced by Hawley, Bob DeLaurentis (The O.C.) and Peter O’Fallon (The Riches), with Peter Tolan (Rescue Me) as an executive consultant on the series, produced by 26 Keys, Inc. in association with Sony Pictures Television for ABC.

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