# "V" Pilot Tonight — \[Open Spoilers after it airs\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169 "2009-11-03T16:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/141 "2009-11-05T15:24:27Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > In three pages, no one has posted about my favorite line in the show. Near the beginning, shortly after the Visitors arrive, they show a TV with a crazed man-on-the-street interview. This young guy yells into the camera “Dude, it’s totally like _Independence Day_ in real life!” > > Remember when the movie _Independence Day_ totally ripped off the original _V_ with its giant flying saucers hovering over cities? Now, we have the new _V_ ripping off _Independence Day_ which ripped off old _V_. > > Well, I thought it was funny. Ahh, I loved that too. I gave a hearty “HA!” when that kid said that. It was a nice ribbing against ID4. And the other kid said something to the effect of “Yeh, and ID4 was a rip off of all proceeding alien invasion stories with giant mother ships”. Wink, wink. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/142 "2009-11-05T15:36:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Dumb question and a very minor point. The initial speech from the alien leader mentioned that they were here to borrow/buy/steal a “commonly available mineral”. How come no one bothered to ask _which_ mineral, how much they want and why? Human soulanium ? Billions of units and they weigh practically nothing. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/143 "2009-11-05T16:06:01Z")
As a kick off I liked it. Hopefully they’ll get into the whole nasty side of a resistance/freedom fighters/terrorist movement. There will be humans that need killing and the general public won’t understand the humans fight. I’d like to see them going very dark on this but since it’s a network show maybe they’ll pull back and just brush over these things. Once there is no Elizaberth and “Pretenama” bollocks. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/144 "2009-11-05T16:48:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Dumb question and a very minor point. The initial speech from the alien leader mentioned that they were here to borrow/buy/steal a “commonly available mineral”. How come no one bothered to ask _which_ mineral, how much they want and why? I thought they asked for water - but maybe I misheard. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/145 "2009-11-05T17:05:42Z")
That would be consistent with the earlier version of the show, in which we saw a huge pipe delivering water to one of their ships. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/146 "2009-11-05T17:07:48Z")
I’m nearly certain she said water and a commonly available mineral. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/147 "2009-11-05T17:31:11Z")
Well, actually, you read the subtitle while she spoke it in French from the ship hovering over the Eiffel Tower. Whatever, the actual mineral will be a plot point, or else they’d have just friggin’ said something. My vote is for something that can only be found in human bones. I have a little trouble with the backstory of the sleeper cells - to get infiltrated into all walks of life, the V agents would have had to be on Earth for quite some time, but without any ever needing medical care. At some point, the questioners-turned-traitors had to convince trusted humans what was really happening, and explain that they couldn’t go to the authorities because all those guys were lizard-infested too. Yet these small circles of humans also were going to destroy the fleet with a truckload of C4. OK, I’ll buy all that for the sake of the story, but it better be good. If all the V’s want to do is eat us (or “obliterate” us, as Georgie put it), then they’re sure doing it the hard way. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/148 "2009-11-05T18:20:02Z")
Did anyone but me see the building labeled “Oceanic”? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/149 "2009-11-05T18:21:28Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > If all the V’s want to do is eat us (or “obliterate” us, as Georgie put it), then they’re sure doing it the hard way. It would be a very short series if they just nuked us from orbit… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/150 "2009-11-05T18:28:26Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > I’m nearly certain she said water and a commonly available mineral. That’s what they said in the original series, too, which was a plot weakness. Water isn’t exactly rare out there in space - why come take ours? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/151 "2009-11-05T18:36:57Z")
Not to mention the fact that if you have the energy to cross interstellar space and control gravity, synthesizing water or any other common substance would be child’s play. If I can figure that out in 5 seconds, people who actually have three brain cells to rub together certainly can. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/152 "2009-11-05T18:43:52Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > That’s what they said in the original series, too, which was a plot weakness. Water isn’t exactly rare out there in space - why come take ours? Cause OUR water comes from natural underground springs in the mountains of France. Its so much better than that nasty space water any urban alien has to gulp down. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/153 "2009-11-05T18:59:21Z")
To be fair, they say that humanity is the first intelligent life they’ve encountered and they are portraying themselves as excited to share their knowledge with us. So, while they could get water and (some common element) in any number of other solar systems out there filled with only algae and bacteria or silly dumb dinosaurs or boring fish, they’d rather get it from Earth where they can spread “peace and love” while also filling up their space pantries. /Considering joining the Visitor Ambassadors 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/154 "2009-11-05T19:01:29Z")
I found an error. Anna said they were coming to get “water” from Earth, yet in the interview, their planet has oceans. Of course, it’s salt water, not fresh, but if that’s all a planet has, surely the life there would have evolved to be able to drink salt water? (That’s assuming, of course, the V planet ocean are salt. If they’re fresh, why would they need ours?) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/155 "2009-11-05T19:28:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I have a little trouble with the backstory of the sleeper cells - to get infiltrated into all walks of life, the V agents would have had to be on Earth for quite some time, but without any ever needing medical care. At some point, the questioners-turned-traitors had to convince trusted humans what was really happening, and explain that they couldn’t go to the authorities because all those guys were lizard-infested too. Yet these small circles of humans also were going to destroy the fleet with a truckload of C4. OK, I’ll buy all that for the sake of the story, but it better be good. As for the medical care issue, presumably the sleeper cells had their own means of providing medical care for their agents. (The trick is not to get into an accident and be rushed to an ER for a emergency x-ray.) As for the C4, my guess is that they are going to fake a series of terrorist attacks against the aliens to make them look more sympathetic to the majority of humanity. And the idea that they need water doesn’t make any sense, but perhaps it’s just part of the cover story. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/156 "2009-11-05T20:09:49Z")
Or their oceans could be filled with liquid methane or something. Or Anna could have just been talking out her cloaca. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/157 "2009-11-05T20:18:59Z")
Come to think of it, in the original series, I think the water was the _real_ goal, which the visitors covered up as long as possible. I seem to remember a shot of Donovan gasping in unbelief, “It’s _water_”. I don’t know why I’m participating in this thread, since I didn’t watch the new premier. I’m waiting for feedback once it’s been going for a while to decide if it’s worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/158 "2009-11-05T20:29:08Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I found an error. Anna said they were coming to get “water” from Earth, yet in the interview, their planet has oceans. > > Of course, it’s salt water, not fresh, but if that’s all a planet has, surely the life there would have evolved to be able to drink salt water? (That’s assuming, of course, the V planet ocean are salt. If they’re fresh, why would they need ours?) Imagine you are an Earth astronaut who went to the V homeworld. After completing a long and arduous interstellar journey, you ask to replenish your supply of water, a “common and abundant” mineral found on their planet. This unfortunate choice of words apparently confuses them and you die of thirst while they debate whether you mean the mineral found only in their bones, or why you don’t drink your own Earth water which there is apparently oceans full of. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/159 "2009-11-05T21:31:05Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > Imagine you are an Earth astronaut who went to the V homeworld. After completing a long and arduous interstellar journey, you ask to replenish your supply of water, a “common and abundant” mineral found on their planet… So your saying the Visitor fleet needs to replenish it’s stocks after an interstellar journey, not that their homeworld needs it? That actually does make much more sense. So regarding Erica’s son; which way do y’all want that do go? He ends up learning the error of his ways and either joing the Resitance (or at making a noble sacrifice) or will he devolve into an full on collaborator like Daniel Bernstein did the original? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169/160 "2009-11-05T22:05:36Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Nah. I’ve always known he was a totalitarian space lizard. I voted for him anyway. > > As the lesser of two evils! 😃 Hell, Dick Cheney didn’t even bother to disguise the fact that he was an evil space lizard out to destroy the world. Give me one that will trade me some happy feelings for screwing me over anyday. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/v-pilot-tonight-open-spoilers-after-it-airs/516169.md?page=9)