Review: V, “Uneasy Lies The Head”

I wasn’t very nice to last week’s episode of V. I received a good deal of flack for this, or at least more so than usual. But I promise you that the hate I got for last week’s review has nothing to do with the fact that I kind of liked “Uneasy Lies The Head.” It was still a messy, sometimes stupid episode that continued to stall the war that probably should have happened two weeks ago, but there are some fun moments within this episode that make it at least bearable. This is more than I can say for last week’s “Birth Pangs.”

First and foremost, this episode works because of its solid handling of Erica’s descent. I thought she was a bit too normal in last week’s episode as she and Hobbes crisscrossed the globe meeting other Fifth Column people only a week after losing her ex-husband and son. But this week, the aftershocks of the terrible events in “Siege” are all over Erica’s face, mannerisms and decisions. Father Jack has always been the voice of reason and Hobbes has been on the opposite, more evil side of things, with Erica trapped in between the two of them. She’s obviously the series’ hero so she’s not going to want to just blindly blow things up on a weekly basis, but she’s certainly been willing to take risks in the past.

But now with little to lose, Erica has no problem taking massive risks that might lead to the deaths of innocent people. Again, this all a bit rushed and the series has never been really good at working through the emotions of its characters, but thankfully Elizabeth Mitchell can do most of the work the writing cannot or will not. Mitchell is perfect at playing characters with slightly shifty motivations — see seasons three and four of Lost — and her work in “Uneasy” might be her best of the series’ thus far. She’s noticeably colder and steelier, and that’s what the series needs at this point. There’s only so much time these characters could sit around talking about maybe, possibly, in the future doing something to stop Anna and the Visitors — it’s time they actually act.

Erica’s decision to go along with the virus in the Live-Aboard folks that could kill lots of people is a good move for the series, even if it’s a possibly horrible decision for the character. So often these “heroes” come up with makeshift plans, meander around without really doing anything and then ultimately get derailed by Anna in some way by the end of the episode. And when there are actions, rarely are there consequences. But now, Erica has made a huge move that could not only mess up Anna’s life, but her own. Those possible consequences make for good television.

And do you know what else makes for pretty good television? The triangle between Jack, Erica and Hobbes. The series has been hinting at a Jack and Erica relationship from the very beginning, but hammering us over the head with a possible hook-up between she and Hobbes all throughout the second season. I like this. Jack serves as a representation of who Erica wants to be: heroic, kind, considerate, etc., while Hobbes serves as a representation of who Erica is after the dealing with this so-called war for a while: damaged, cold, etc. And because of the horrible things that have happened to her family, she’s obviously going to feel closer to the bad boy Hobbes and their hook-up is messy, rough and a bit creepy — but in a good way.

Unfortunately, the rest of the episode didn’t really match up with the good stuff happening with Erica. The Visitors’ ship has become a place where any sense of intrigue and narrative momentum go to die. Apparently now the soul-sucking machine can also mess with human’s DNA, which I don’t recall being mentioned in-detail beforehand. I hate how the series likes to drop in “developments” as if they’ve been kicking around for a while, but with only two episodes to go, there is some sense that all the soul-searching and breeding stuff is going down to Tyler being the only one left. The problem is that we knew that would be the endgame from the very beginning of the season, so watching V try to drop all these red herrings on us along the way just seems insulting.

Thank goodness for Elizabeth Mitchell, that’s all I have to say.

Other thoughts:

• Secret escape pods stashed for years? That’s just pathetically dumb.
• The melting tongue effect was well-done, however hackneyed the story itself happened to be.
• Tyler’s “fight” with Lisa’s new boy-toy was so horribly staged and shot. Probably one of the worst moments in a series full of bad moments.