ABC’s hit sci-fi series “V’ is proving reliably entertaining with its story of aliens offering humanity the trojan horse of technology in exchange for a chance to hang around.
“V” resonates well in today’s fear-infused culture, where TV and radio hosts like Glenn Beck peddle threats, real and imagined, to the anxious masses. It tells the story of a relatively non-violent alien invasion and the herculean efforts a brave few must undertake to resist the tyranny and oppression slowly but steadily unleashed upon the pacified humans.
If the story sounds familiar, it’s because it is, but not because “V” is a remake of the popular 80s series of the same name. The story is familiar because it pretty much describes America’s current hate-affair with big government and parasitic profit-engorged corporations.
The Vs offer to heal the environment and share their superior technology, such as clean “blue” energy and medicine that cures every ailment. What they fail to disclose is that humans availing themselves of V technology are also lab rats. The Vs are secretly modifying human DNA, turning humans into a food source and breeding a new hybrid species. If that’s not bad enough, the aliens also have a spy network deeply embedded in Earth’s societies.
The Vs use crowd psychology to sway humans to let their guard down. They also have audio/video surveillance and other high-tech spying devices that would top any intelligence official’s wish-list. They use embedded, sleeper agents and super-soldiers to gather intel from within nearly every earthly organization, even the upper-levels of the Vatican. It’s this last point that becomes somewhat problematic in “Unholy Alliance.”
In “Unholy Alliance,” the Vs visit the Roman Catholic Church to convince it to align with the Vs. The aim is to sway human sentiment in the Vs’ favor. But the Catholic Church has a bloody history, with crusader/Medici popes, pogroms, inquisitions and colonization of the “New” world. With this rich background, it stands to reason that the Church would not capitulate easy when V leader Anna makes the Church an “offer it can’t refuse.” Unfortunately, the writers let this moment of conflict slip away too quickly, for who can realistically withstand the threat of a genuine false idol if the Church can’t?
Official Episode Synopsis:
The throats of three Peace Ambassadors have been slit. Their bodies were hung upside down with masks left covering their faces. Erica is panicked. The victims were discovered outside of the center where Tyler works. Thankfully, he’s not among the slain. Kendrick says the Fifth Column has claimed credit for the killings.
“Military past…outspoken against the V’s… Take away the collar, Father, you fit the Fifth Column profile pretty good.”
With Malik still missing, Erica is assigned a new partner—Chris Bolling These two were very close back in the academy, but there’s no time for reminiscing. Bolling wants to hit the ground running by checking out a certain outspoken priest. Speaking of Father Jack, he sets himself up as bait to meet Eli Cohn, who actually makes contact with him. Tyler is also looking for Jack to avenge his fallen Peace Ambassador pals, so he and a few others trash the church.
Ryan gives Jack a magnesium compound that’ll serve as a tracking beacon as he’s taken to meet Cohn. FLASH, BANG! Erica, Ryan and Hobbes storm Cohn’s secret cabin in upstate New York. During an intense standoff, Cohn says the V’s did something to his wife many years ago when she was pregnant. They also did something to his son, who died a few months after being born.