V:: so it wasn’t just me?

i watched the premiere of ABC’s V last night and found it to be rather entertaining. it has all the elements of a sci-fi show that i enjoy…some mystery, some action, large ranging scope, and some pretty good special effects. the cast as of right now seem to be good choices, and the actress picked to play Anna is so far a perfect choice; slightly creepy, but definitely captivating. i thought the pacing was good, and we were left with some intriguing plot lines. i’ll be on board as long as it stays at this level of quality.

as i was watching it though, i couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sort of message trying to be sent to the audience. the miami herald’s Glenn Garvin had this to say about the potential ‘message’ being sent…

V, an ambitious remake of a 1980s NBC show, in many respects stays close to the original’s story line. What has changed — radically — is the political subtext.
But ABC’s series takes aim not at a German dictator from the misty past but a sitting — and popular — U.S. president. From the fawning reaction of the news media (sample press-conference question to V leader Anna: “Is there such a thing as an ugly visitor?”) to the recruiting of human supporters into an alien front group that could easily be mistaken for “community organizing,” the parallels to Obama are unmistakable.

The anti-V underground, in its frustrated insistence that the aliens have a covert agenda, resemble nothing so much as the anti-Obama tea party protesters [my edit] . And even the president’s repeated attempts to suborn Republicans into making his program bipartisan get a scorching reference.

“Compromising one’s principles for the greater good is not a shameful act,” a V leader reassures an erstwhile opponent who’s just been bought off. “It’s a noble one.”

do i think that V will become a critique and political commentary? i hope not. do i think the writer(s) of this show intend this? i would be hard pressed to see how they couldn’t. i was just glad to know that i wasn’t the only one who saw this underlying theme in the episode.

the good news is, you can watch this show regardless of political affiliation and enjoy it. though i’m sure some will turn it off because of the intended or unintended metaphors.