Plotholes in "Hearts and Minds" (and the series in general)

[Xanderman]

1. As others have mentioned, why were the humans on the shuttle "pre-killed"? Makes no sense. If experts analyze the remains they'd be able to tell that, as Erica was able to before the data was deleted by that extremely overly predictable sleeper V chick (who I remember mainly from John Doe). Why not just send the people alive and have them actually killed by the Column attack.

2. Why was Lisa so surprised/shocked by Anna at the end? I mean she more than anyone should know what her mother is capable of and/or who she really is. I mean Anna IS a cold-blooded lizard bent on world conquest for God's sake, what did Lisa expect? A hug? lol

3. What's with all this "human emotion" nonsense. Emotions can't possibly be unique only to human beings in the universe, yet referring to them as human emotions constantly makes it sound that way. Why not just call them "emotions"? And I don't get it, just because they look like humans, why should they be experiencing emotions like humans? Are their brains physically altered as well, not just their outward appearance? I must have missed that explanation.

4. Why is Hobbes still with the Resistance? Is he really still THAT "curious"? Thanks to bad writing, Erica repeatedly emphasized how "curious" Hobbes must be as to why the V's screwed with him back when she recruited him. This apparently and ridiculously got through to him and was somehow enough for him to decide to not only hop on to the dangerous resistance bandwagon, but to stay there for the long haul as one of its fiercest members.

[colibri]

1. The humans on the shuttle were not pre-killed just for the purpose of putting them on the shuttle. They had died as part of the "Live Aboard" program because of the experiments they were undergoing. When Anna realized what the 5th Column was planning she realized she could kill 2 birds with one stone. Make the 5th Column look like terrorists and get rid of the bodies without questions asked (as long as Malick got rid of the evidence) because the blame would be put on the attack on the shuttle.

2. It could simply be surprise at the actual blow. However, I do think that some of Anna's behavior is new to Lisa. Lisa did not know exactly what Anna was doing with the "Live Aboard" program, which is being rushed by the way so things are happening faster than originally planned, until she spoke to the woman with the "dreams" and snooped around in the room where some of the experimentations were happening. Lisa isn't around her mother the way Marcus is so I doubt she knows everything that is going on.

Also, I see Anna as becoming darker and darker as a character as the series has progressed. The character that I'm seeing now isn't just cold, efficient and manipulative because she is trying to save her people but is now showing pleasure in other's pain. I think that would be a human emotion (negative not positive). She's become a sadist and I don't think Lisa saw this apect of her mother coming.

3. I think that the aliens have emotions but not like humans. In an article by one of the showrunners he explained that the aliens were animalistic or animals. This had been mentioned in the series a few times toward the beginning. Anna mentions that humans form imprints in memory of emotional situations and that Vs don't do this. This is different than not showing emotions it just means they don't retain the memory. In the wild, many animals care for their young out of instinct and once the babies get to a certain age the mother leaves and if, later on, she meets one of the young again she doesn't act like she recognizes it, as a matter of fact it is possible that it can get eaten. These are not complex emotions like a humans.

On the show, it seems that over time with exposure to humans the Vs change. This has not been explained as to how exactly this happens but I imagine it does involve a change in the way the V brain works among other things. It's hinted that the skin they wear has something to do with this. It's obvious that the human skin on them is far more complex than in the original show. They can feel through it, there is blood flowing through it, it bruises and bleeds and it can show signs of illness and as we saw Anna do, the V's can control it's appearance by concentrating so there must be a very complicated connection to the skin by the Vs. My take in this is also that this is where the show is getting somewhat allegorical. I think it's part of the message of the show.

4. Well, besides being curious (you're right, that scene was poorly written) about why he was framed by powerful alien beings, which I imagine is a compelling reason in and of itself but I think the point where he really became interested in joining their cause was when Ryan showed him that they weren't human in appearance. I think that this would qualify for an incentive to stick around. Also, he is already accused of being part of the 5th Column by the authorities so what will it hurt him to be in the actual resistance where someone who knows what the authorities are doing, Erica, can keep him informed of what is going on? I don't know, it makes sense to me.

[Xanderman]

1. The humans on the shuttle were not pre-killed just for the purpose of putting them on the shuttle. They had died as part of the "Live Aboard" program because of the experiments they were undergoing. When Anna realized what the 5th Column was planning she realized she could kill 2 birds with one stone. Make the 5th Column look like terrorists and get rid of the bodies without questions asked (as long as Malick got rid of the evidence) because the blame would be put on the attack on the shuttle.

Ah now it makes sense, thanks. Did they make it clear that the bodies were of the people who died in the experiments though? I definitely missed that.

4. Well, besides being curious (you're right, that scene was poorly written) about why he was framed by powerful alien beings, which I imagine is a compelling reason in and of itself but I think the point where he really became interested in joining their cause was when Ryan showed him that they weren't human in appearance. I think that this would qualify for an incentive to stick around. Also, he is already accused of being part of the 5th Column by the authorities so what will it hurt him to be in the actual resistance where someone who knows what the authorities are doing, Erica, can keep him informed of what is going on? I don't know, it makes sense to me.

That makes sense to me as well however it would be nice if they have Hobbes say these things out loud so we know that's where he's coming from as well, and that it's not merely his "curiosity" that is motivating his actions and loyalty as Erica would have us believe. Afterall, they first described him as someone who only cared about money. But after a couple of "aren't you CURIOUS, Curious Hobbes? Huh? Curious like a cat?" persuading remarks by Erica, he presto-change-o transformed into a full-fledged hardcore resistance member ready to do anything for the cause.

Anyway, good explanations Colibri.

[Caesis]

1. As others have mentioned, why were the humans on the shuttle "pre-killed"? Makes no sense. If experts analyze the remains they'd be able to tell that, as Erica was able to before the data was deleted by that extremely overly predictable sleeper V chick (who I remember mainly from John Doe). Why not just send the people alive and have them actually killed by the Column attack.
The other guy said it. Died from the "Live aboard" program experiments.

2. Why was Lisa so surprised/shocked by Anna at the end? I mean she more than anyone should know what her mother is capable of and/or who she really is. I mean Anna IS a cold-blooded lizard bent on world conquest for God's sake, what did Lisa expect? A hug? lol
Lisa knew mama would be POed. She probably did not expect that she'd *****slap her and break her legs.
3. What's with all this "human emotion" nonsense. Emotions can't possibly be unique only to human beings in the universe, yet referring to them as human emotions constantly makes it sound that way. Why not just call them "emotions"? And I don't get it, just because they look like humans, why should they be experiencing emotions like humans? Are their brains physically altered as well, not just their outward appearance? I must have missed that explanation.
V's have emotion. Just not human emotion. To say it simple, they have less emotion. And I don't know exactly how they change their emotional capeabilities. Some scientific stuff that I don't know.

4. Why is Hobbes still with the Resistance? Is he really still THAT "curious"? Thanks to bad writing, Erica repeatedly emphasized how "curious" Hobbes must be as to why the V's screwed with him back when she recruited him. This apparently and ridiculously got through to him and was somehow enough for him to decide to not only hop on to the dangerous resistance bandwagon, but to stay there for the long haul as one of its fiercest members.
Hobbes is a terrorist. He likes to be in a war to blow stuff up. It probably gives him a warm fuzzy feeling to be killing evil lizards instead of humans for a change. I don't know what scene you were talking about, but I'll take you and the other guys's word for it. There's a few scenes that are eye rollers.