V the Final Battle Episode 2

I have to give the second episode of V the Final Battle props for starting to address my problems with episode 1. Yes, there are still problems but they did a much better job with the middle segment of this miniseries.

First up they introduce some characters who have actual backgrounds in covert ops including the ever awesome Michael Ironside:

part of military based group that have been organizing their own units and connect up with the Resistance we grown to know. Boy TV shows like bringing Michael Ironside on board in later seasons/series (think Seaquest, Andromeda, etc.) His character is also meant to typical antagonistic but capable semi-outsider that is almost a constant in these shows.

They bring with them special ammo to get through the Visitor's armor. Oh, that so brings up the problem in Episode 1 (and way too many shows in general.) When, in the first episode, they need the Resistance to fail in the first big attack their ammo doesn't work against the alien armor, but then later in the same episode the same ammo works just fine against the same armor when the plot requires them to succeed. Now, of course, it doesn't work again – necessitating new ammo.

The episode features some actual special and more touching character deaths. They avoid the annoying problem in the first episode of introducing a character just to kill them, by killing some characters that you have actually gotten a chance to know and was highlighted is just the right way – subtly so you don't necessarily see it coming but still having it be believable in the context of the story.

And they substitute having an old man in tights for a cute blonde.

Still the same silly conversion process by Diana but this time of the Resistance leader Julie who was captured at the end of the last episode.

There are some extensive scenes of Julie, in tights, in the chamber and Diana trying the process on her which are marred by two things -

Acting

Seriously the acting here, admittedly she is given little to work with, makes the scene more unintentionally comic than scary. Lots of screaming and heavy breathing in the context of 1980s rock show lighting and smoke is just plain silly looking.

It turns out “conversion” is just a magic tech device that forces the subject to relive their greatest fears with Diana offering to help them escape.

Frankly, it would have been better left vague. It was much more effective in the first series when a normally clothed subject is put in a room with weird scary devices, strapped in a chair, then the door closed with their screams following. Then you see them later all loyal to the Visitors.

By showing us all this, it ends up silly.

But then through some subterfuge by the Visitors who are sympathetic to the humans, Diana agrees to transfer Julie to earth which allows the Resistance to rescue her. Which really doesn't quite work but has the virtue of being thankfully brief. And leads to some well done heroic deaths.

Okay, I will admit that I do really like the cool alien ships:

Yes, it is a classic flying saucer but the details in the design are quite nice.

We find that the Visitors are going to remove all the water in Los Angeles with thirty days unless the Resistance destroys the water super sucking up facility. And here I was so hopeful that they would forget the silly stealing Earth's water plot. Sadly they remembered.

They compound that annoyance by having one of the big failings of too many of these shows – having the two leaders do the “undercover” recon:

Seriously the Visitors had captured, at different times, and know well the appearance of both of them. Wouldn't you circulate the photos of the two very well known leaders of the Resistance to all your security personnel? Talk about staggering incompetence by the evil alien overlords.

This stupidity on their part enables the humans to blow up the Visitor facility just in time to set up some plot elements for the third episode.

First, for resistance leader Mike, played by Marc “Beastmaster” Singer, to exchange himself to Diana for the release of his son.

And for the teenager girl to give birth to her alien babies!

One is human looking and the other is a scary lizard twin!

While every looks shocked at the fact she gave birth to a puppet, the credits role!

{Mind you I completely forgot about the lizard twin, so I was surprised.}

Still there is some silliness but over all it is significantly better than episode 1 and gives me some minor hope (but not a lot) for the conclusion.