V:
The Series
(1984 – 1985) officially kicks off with “Liberation Day,” an episode which
premiered on Friday, October 26, 1984.
This
segment by Paul Monash introduces a new character to the franchise, Nathan
Bates (Lane Smith) and also presents some changes in established lore.
Most significant among the changes is the fact that the alien Visitors no longer possess a
“reverb” or “echo” in their voices, a key distinguishing feature.
For
me, subtracting the reverb from the alien equation is a bit like Mr. Spock
losing his pointed ears. It’s not merely a cosmetic thing; the loss affects
negatively the whole “alien” vibe of the Visitors.
Worse,
no explanation is offered as to the sudden change. Instead, it is just assumed
that we will forget about the Visitors’ unique vocalizations.
For
those who are too young to remember, this is what TV used to be like all the
time, even the best of it. Continuity wasn’t always a strong point.
Fans
of the two mini-series were also disappointed to see that this premiere episode
dispatches with a favorite character, Frank Ashmore’s Martin, who is killed by
Diana.The actor would return to play Martin’s twin brother, Philip, in later
episodes of the series.
The
other changes we encounter in “Liberation Day” appear a bit more promising, at
least at this early juncture. The introduction of Bates and his organization,
Science Frontiers, helps to explain a logic gap in V: The Final Battle
(1984), explaining how the Resistance -- scattered
and on the run -- was able to mass produce the toxic Red Dust.
As
a character, Bates is quite important here. Not entirely unlike Ham Tyler,
Bates is a reminder that not all human beings are “white knights.” Bates loves
to make money, and he loves power. He
will ally himself with the side that can help him attain those ends. Morality
doesn’t seem to play into his decision-making process, merely self-advantage. A
morally-ambiguous character, Bates is a net-plus for the series, in my opinion,
and someone who would have been right at home in the first mini-series.
Finally,
some of the imagery in “Liberation Day” is actually quite powerful,
particularly the attempted assassination of Diana (Jane Badler), which seems to
be executed based on real world history.
Also
in terms of visuals, the episode’s valedictory pull-back from Earth to the far
side of the Moon is brilliantly orchestrated, a visual effects high-point.
As
the camera retracts into space, we see the remnants of the Visitor fleet…hiding
from sight, but ready to strike.
“I
cure the ills of the world and you get all the credit…”
In
“Liberation Day,” one year has passed since the Visitors were driven from Earth
by the toxic Red Dust. Mike Donovan (Marc Singer) captured Diana (Badler), and
now she prepares to stand trial for crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile,
Juliet (Faye Grant) has been working at Nathan Bates’ company, Science
Frontiers, to unlock the secrets of the captured Los Angeles mothership.
Unfortunately
for the humans, the research has not gone well. Juliet has not been able to break
Diana’s security lock over key systems. This fact leads Bates to hire mercenary
Ham Tyler (Michael Ironside).
Ham
fakes Diana’s assassination and then abducts Diana so she can work for Bates,
an arrangement she is none-too-happy about.
When
Martin learns what Bates is up to, he is unhappy as well, and he inadvertently
releases Diana while attempting to kill her. Martin later apologizes to Mike,
and warns him that Diana -- now free -- will attempt to signal the Visitor
fleet to return. Soon after that warning, Martin dies.
Elsewhere,
a worried Robert Maxwell (Michael Durrell) contacts Juliet because Elizabeth
(Jenny Wright) seems to be undergoing some kind of cellular metamorphosis.
Juliet tries to help, but Elizabeth -- the Star Child -- enters a strange
fleshy cocoon, and begins the process of transformation…
After
Martin’s death, Mike and Ham join forces to stop Diana, but she has already
reached the Northwest Tracking Station” and sent an emergency transmission to
her people.
A
skyfighter returns for Diana, and she learns that the Visitor fleet is hiding
behind the Earth’s moon, awaiting the orders to strike…
“When
there’s no more she can give you…she’s mine.”
Aside
from the removal of the Visitors’ trademark “echo” voices, “Liberation Day’s”
greatest issue is simply that it suffers from rather dramatic budgetary
limitations.
For
example, the same KDHB helicopter is used throughout the episode, both to taunt
Elizabeth, and in Mike’s aerial pursuit of Diana’s ambulance.
And
the first sections of the episode egregiously re-purpose aerial battle footage
from the original V (1983) mini-series.
Similarly,
the protests outside Diana’s courtroom appear sparsely populated in long shots.
In
real life, you’d expect thousands of people from all over the world to be
protesting at her arrival.
The
close-up and medium shots are much better in terms of blocking, and seem more
densely-populated,
As
it continues, the scene works well, especially with newscaster references to
The Nuremburg Trials. This notation of Nuremburg is important because the V
franchise very much works as an allegory for Nazi Germany and World War II, and
it’s nice to see the series to continue that leitmotif.
In
fact, the ensuing visuals of Diana’s “assassination” also do a brilliant job of
capturing the anarchy of such public violence. Every time I watch this particular
scene in “Liberation Day,” I can’t help but think of Lee Harvey Oswald’s
assassination by Jack Ruby. Oswald was
surrounded on all sides by police escorts, and yet he was still shot…in plain
sight.
The
staging here is quite similar to that moment from history, with Diana in police
hands as Ham (the assassin) opens fire, and she goes down.
One
of the qualities I love most about the V franchise is its constant
re-purposing of historical imagery and detail so as to vet its story of
fascism, war and occupation. In this case, the pandemonium that accompanies
Diana’s assassination attempt looks quite familiar, and therefore quite real. Hand-held camera-work does a good job of
creating a sense of immediacy and panic.
“Liberation
Day” also expresses well how dangerous a personality Diana truly is. She
escapes from captivity, commandeers a truck after seducing a fat redneck (!),
and communicates with her people before Mike and Ham can stop her.
Again,
Jane Badler’s performance proves delicious, in part because the actress seems
to really “get” the material, both the horrific aspects of Diana’s “appetite,”
and the comedic aspect of it as well. Badler reveals a “pleasure” in the
character’s (evil) nature that is always enjoyable to experience. Even when the
writing isn’t always up to snuff, Badler’s performance as Diana shines.
Michael
Ironside also makes a strong impression, again, as Ham, and one gets the feeling
that it was the actor himself who suggested the line to Bates, quoted above --
“When there’s no more she can give you,
she’s mine.”
This
particular bit of dialogue goes a long way towards making Ham seem less
concerned with money, and more honorable. In other words, he is playing his own angle
here, pretending to work for Bates, but assuring that, in the end, he takes
care of Diana, whom he describes as “a
disease.”
My
least favorite aspects of “Liberation Day” and indeed V: The Series tend to
involve Elizabeth, the Star Child.
For
one thing, she always seems to have the right power for whatever situation she
is in, and I’ve never liked her mystical nature.
For
another, neither the Visitors nor mankind possess psychic powers, so I don’t understand
why she does.
Here,
young Elizabeth sees her growth accelerated, and the episode ends up with her
in a cave, undergoing transformation. I remember being intensely disappointed
when Elizabeth didn’t emerge a lizard, but just a beautiful blond human, instead. When you look at that nasty cocoon membrane
seen here, you really expect something horrible…or at least interesting.
Although
a step down in terms of production and writing quality from both V
and V:
The Final Battle, “Liberation Day” gets the job done re-establishing
the franchise, and is one of the series’ better episodes… in large part due to
the exciting final moments, and the valedictory shot of the Visitors hiding
beyond the lunar surface.
Next
episode: “Dreadnought”
No comments:
Post a Comment