V: Vs vs. ?

This week on V was all about mommy issues and building alliances. Juliet (okay, really Erica, but who is watching this show and not thinking “Juliet,” and assuming she got transported to an alien infested New York when she blew up the H bomb on Lost?) is faking an alliance with the Vs to protect them against a death threat that came in soon after the US granted them travel visas. Meanwhile, Father Jack is making alliances by breaking into people’s houses and handing out his business card (really?), and Ryan is trying to find other rogue Vs to build a resistance and references the potential master behind such an effort, John May. I’m still not clear on how Georgie and Ryan know one another and how Georgie made nice with a group of undercover Vs if they allegedly murdered his whole family, but Ryan and Georgie seem to be on team Resistance along with Juliet and Father Jack, who could not look more confused throughout this episode. So, while Juliet is saving the Vs from, turns out, a hoax, she discovers an elaborate surveillance system that is transmitted from the Vs jackets, snap! And that means that one of those cameras is in Tyler’s room, where he and Lisa are getting frisky and she cleverly tosses off her uniform before mama FBI waltzes in and finds out that her son is canoodling with a V.

Meanwhile, Dale is in recovery from the open skull Juliet game him and is having trouble remembering his alias. He goes through some trippy regression therapy. Then, clarity! He remembers it was Juliet who attacked him and wants to go back down on land to kill her. Man nurse says no, that from what Dale has told him about her, she could be an asset. An asset? Then he injects Dale with something that either sedated or killed him. I’m hoping for sedation because I really love Alan Tudyk.

The episode ends with team Resistance (all four of ‘em) meeting up in Confused Jack’s church and…that’s about it. Up on the mothership, Anna praises Lisa for her good work with Tyler, and Lisa thanks her mother. Twist! Lisa is looking a little pissed, and I think it has more to do with disliking Anna than liking Tyler.

Oops! Forgot all about Chad Decker. Who you ask? Exactly. Anna takes a tip from Scott Wolf’s reports of public opinion on the Vs, and sensing a need for a PR boost, she practices compassion in a mirror before talking to the widow of the pilot that the mothership killed as they parked above the MetLife building. Our bad! By hook or by crook, Anna gets the widow on the Vs side and she makes a public statement forgiving the Vs for what happened to her husband before a little handholding on camera with Anna.

With one more episode to go this year, I’m excited to see where these characters will leave us hanging. I hate to compare V to other popular sci-fi shows, but since Lost is on hiatus I needed my fix. With the juggernaut of sci-fi MIA, V is a welcome distraction and is far more engaging than FlashForward. I just hope that I will be able to see Erica as someone other than Juliet by the end of next week’s episode.

For another take on this episode, check out V is for Intrigue by Paul Secrest.

Season 1, Episode 3: A Bright New Day (originally aired November 17, 2009)

For more on V, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Michael Courtney