[Hawthorn]

Episode Description

After the radical faction of the Fifth Column murders three Peace Ambassadors, Erica goes on a mission to hunt down their leader, Eli Cohn, a former Mossad agent. Meanwhile, as Jack and other priests around the globe begin to speak out against the Visitors, Anna heads to the Vatican in an effort to convince the leaders of organized religion that the Visitors truly are "of peace".

"Unholy Alliance" was written by Rockne S. O'Bannon and directed by Dean White.

Full Press Release


Promos:

Promo clip 1 (00:30)
Promo clip 2 (00:30)


Sneak Peeks:

Clip 1: Anna and Chad (01:33)
Clip 2: Erica and Kendrick (00:43)
Clip 3: Anna, Chad and Marcus (01:12)
Clip 4: Tyler and Lisa (01:02)
Clip 5: Jack, Erica, Hobbes, Ryan & new character (00:51)


Promotional Photos:



You can check out all promo pics for this episode here and here.


Ratings:


Reviews:

____

[Hamburgo1001]

Ok, what I did like about this episode is that I thought they did a good job of tying up some of the lose ends from the last couple of episodes (Malik's death, Jack's YouTube video etc.) and I am also happy that we have finally met Eli and his gang even if it's already obvious that he won't be sticking around for too long now that Ryan has given up his name to Anna. But what's really been frustrating me this season is that it's seemingly getting increasingly clearer that the new direction of the show is pursuing 'black and white' storytelling where humanity = good/right and Visitors = evil/wrong. I really thought that was emphasized last night when it appeared as if the writers were suddenly giving the Fifth Column V faction an agenda of their own (wanting their species to embrace the soul) and I'm sorry to say it, but such a story is simply boring to me and I think it also makes things very predictable. Or at least ever since I have got a hang on that overall direction, I have been able to call several (negative) plot developments way in advance. It's also the reason why I suspect that nothing big will come out of the storyline with the new Chris character even if he appears to be a threat to Erica's cover now. I think he will turn out to be a harmless human guy in the end.

[Crystaline]

Wasn't that always the running theme? That although they're portraying to be something else, the V's are pretty much a danger to humanity. I mean, granted, there are dark sides to human nature as well given Tyler's behavior in this episode and the peace ambassadors Eli killed in the name of revenge, not to mention Malick's torture from last week - but ultimately it's about saving mankind.

[Hamburgo1001]

Originally Posted by Crystaline (View Post) Wasn't that always the running theme? That although they're portraying to be something else, the V's are pretty much a danger to humanity. I mean, granted, there are dark sides to human nature as well given Tyler's behavior in this episode and the peace ambassadors Eli killed in the name of revenge, not to mention Malick's torture from last week - but ultimately it's about saving mankind.

Yes, Anna's evil V's. But early on in the show's run we were definitely dealing with an overlapping interspecies war. Or have you forgotten about John May's group of V resistance fighters, who were sympathetic to humanity and supposed to join in on the war and support the humans in their plight against Anna? That concept was already introduced in the pilot episode but it seems to have been dropped/changed by the new showrunner and now it's definitely starting to appear as if they too always only had their own agenda going, which doesn't make any kind of sense because both Ryan and John May were shown to have developed a deep and loving relationship with a human woman (May even had a human stepson). Is it possible that Diana and her followers are just another faction of V's (the kind of faction that is pro embracing the soul but doesn't care for humanity in general) separate from May's resistance group? Yes, but I have my serious doubts at this point because there are no efforts made on part of the writing staff to add more Fifth Column V's to the resistance movement on the ground. And the worst thing for me about such a potential 'black and white' overall story direction is that it allows characters like Erica to slowly morph into all things V hating extremists and have it all get justified, which means there will never be any positive character growth or redemption for any of them.

This week's ratings:

V (61 minutes) - 5.286 million viewers - 3.4/5 HH - 1.7/4 A18-49 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...ustments/81260

[Hawthorn]

I haven't watched the episode yet, but those ratings are... bad. Really bad.
I wonder if the crazy weather that hit USA in the latest few weeks caused issues with power lines, but some shows gained viewers instead of losing them (like NCIS) so...
I guess next week will tell us what it is. But if the numbers stay around 1.9 and take more occasional dives into 1.8/1.7, and without critics backing up a show which has consistent production costs, I don't see a renewal on the horizon.

[Hamburgo1001]

I have heard there were some problems with the ABC signal in some areas but only in the second half hour and the numbers were already fairly low in the first half hour (a 1.8 in A18-49). There has been quite some negative feedback to the Malik torture scenes, especially because the show didn't bother to question the morality of such an act. That combined with the negative feedback to the soul plotline from the last couple of weeks could have driven some of the viewers away, but we'll have to wait and see how things will develop next week.

[Hawthorn]

Originally Posted by Hamburgo1001 (View Post) I have heard there were some problems with the ABC signal in some areas but only in the second half hour and the numbers were already fairly low in the first half hour (a 1.8 in A18-49).

True. But there is still hope to recover from 1.8, while 1.6 is beyond saving point. And if the show lost a 0.2 during the episode without technical difficulties having a part in it (so the bad lead-in can't be blamed, people left after having tuned in), that would be the worst case scenario.

There has been quite some negative feedback to the Malik torture scenes, especially because the show didn't bother to question the morality of such an act.

I have to agree with that. The scene didn't bother me because it was too disturbing per se, but because I got the feeling they wrote it more to add some extra edge to the show, than anything else.

That combined with the negative feedback to the soul plotline from the last couple of weeks could have driven some of the viewers away, but we'll have to wait and see how things will develop next week.

Did this episode give more background/seriousness to that storyline? I'm going to watch it with calm tomorrow morning, and have no idea what to expect.

[Hamburgo1001]

Originally Posted by Hawthorn (View Post) Did this episode give more background/seriousness to that storyline? I'm going to watch it with calm tomorrow morning, and have no idea what to expect.

Did you see last week's episode with the soul extraction machine? Well, Anna is still hell-bent on eradicating the soul as if it's a real physical thing in our (and I guess now also the Visitor) bodies. There was a V sleeper posing as a priest in this week's episode and according to him, the soul is the source of our emotions and separates us from animals. If you combine this new concept with last season's concept that the Vs become infected with human emotion if they wear the human skin suit for too long, the show is basically telling us now that the human skin suit gives the aliens souls. It's really better not to think too much about this storyline IMO.

As for background story, Diana basically became infected with human emotion 15 years ago so she sent a V sleeper (the priest) to earth to study the effects of the soul/human emotion on the Visitor species. Diana and her V followers want for the Visitors to embrace the soul because they view it as a gift and Anna and her followers are against doing it. So, like I already mentioned before if Diana and her people aren't just another faction of V's separate from John May's resistance movement then it definitely appears as if the new showrunner is changing the concept of a Fifth Column of Vs from a group that is sympathetic to humanity to a group that only wants to embrace the soul and doesn't care about humanity any more than Anna does, which could eventually lead to an all-out Visitor war with humans in the crossfire.

[GrhmLz]

What's even more disturbing about this meshed up 'soul' direction - and I don't mean the idea of the show acknowledging that humans have a soul, is that it eradicates 'humanity' from the Fifth Column V's in a more fundamental way besides them now just having their own agenda/stake in humanity (to gain a soul). I mean, the plot essentially turns them into mindless drones who can't determine right from wrong themselves. See, if the show had at least gone out of it's way to acknowledge that both Visitors and humans carry a soul alike, one that allows them to navigate a moral compass - at least our Vistors like May, Joshua, Lisa, or Ryan make complete sense to us. They got in touch, somewhere deep inside of them and connected with humanity/emotions on their own because of their own soul and through experiences with humankind. But what the writers are now essentially telling us is that it's all 'fake.' Visitors like John May, who loved a human wife and step-son, only have their human skin to thank for that and would essentially return to being just as cruel and heartless as Anna and her minions if the skin were to ever be removed. After all, they don't carry their own 'soul' so what else can navigate them in a positive direction towards humankind?! I think that kind of a revelation is a real 'downer' and makes having any Fifth Column V's rather freaking pointless now. I'm sorry but it makes for a much more compelling and complex journey if V's and humans are both drawn to what's 'right' because they are able to reach within themselves and find the real truth. I don't want to hear that May and Co. are all just 'soul-less' walking 'suits' who will only care about human beings when they appear to look like ones on the outside! How superficially lame.

[Hamburgo1001]

Originally Posted by GrhmLz (View Post) What's even more disturbing about this meshed up 'soul' direction - and I don't mean the idea of the show acknowledging that humans have a soul, is that it eradicates 'humanity' from the Fifth Column V's in a more fundamental way besides them now just having their own agenda/stake in humanity (to gain a soul). I mean, the plot essentially turns them into mindless drones who can't determine right from wrong themselves. See, if the show had at least gone out of it's way to acknowledge that both Visitors and humans carry a soul alike, one that allows them to navigate a moral compass - at least our Vistors like May, Joshua, Lisa, or Ryan make complete sense to us. They got in touch, somewhere deep inside of them and connected with humanity/emotions on their own because of their own soul and through experiences with humankind. But what the writers are now essentially telling us is that it's all 'fake.' Visitors like John May, who loved a human wife and step-son, only have their human skin to thank for that and would essentially return to being just as cruel and heartless as Anna and her minions if the skin were to ever be removed. After all, they don't carry their own 'soul' so what else can navigate them in a positive direction towards humankind?! I think that kind of a revelation is a real 'downer' and makes having any Fifth Column V's rather freaking pointless now. I'm sorry but it makes for a much more compelling and complex journey if V's and humans are both drawn to what's 'right' because they are able to reach within themselves and find the real truth. I don't want to hear that May and Co. are all just 'soul-less' walking 'suits' who will only care about human beings when they appear to look like ones on the outside! How superficially lame.

Wow Heather, I never really thought about it like that but you are right. The new 'soul' direction (or at least in the way they are executing it) is making the sympathy that Visitors like Lisa, Ryan or May seem to be carrying for humanity appear to be rather shallow and superficial in nature. If the skin idea would have simply been used as a metaphor for the effect that human connections or interactions have on the Visitor species, it wouldn't have been so bad, but they seem to be going for a rather literal 'if you wear the skin suit for too long you become infected with human emotion (now I guess a soul)' approach and that's just lame and rather stupid too IMO.

What also really really bugs me about the whole 'soul' storyline that's currently unfolding is that the new writers are IMO clearly intending to depriest the priest character and do away with the whole Catholic church subplot. In light of those intentions, it would have made much more sense for the writers to go for a more scientific approach here and tell us that something about the interactions with humanity triggered something in the brain of Visitors like Lisa, Ryan or John May and that's how they began to feel emotion and developed affection and compassion for humanity. Not to mention that the scientific approach would have generally been a more logical direction for a science-fiction show like V anyway.

[Hawthorn]

I actually still believe that the whole "human skin infects you" will be proved wrong in the end, just a narrow-minded simplification/confusion applied by Anna and others.
Otherwise, why put there that "do I have a soul"/"every creature can feel God" exchange between Ryan and Jack two episodes ago?
Or to better say... I don't believe, I just hope it will proved wrong. If the visitors can't feel goodness and move beyond their most primary instincts on their own, without the human DNA "messing" with their system, then the show wants us to see them as nothing more than animals?
We spent all that time seeing Ryan risk his life for Valerie and help humans, Lisa fall in love with Tyler and bond with Erica, the parallels between human and alien situations... for nothing?
Sure it would be a more unexpected direction to take but it also turns many of the storylines explored so far a meaningless mislead, and the show into just another "alien invasion" action story where you cheer for the defeat of the attackers from the outside world in the end.
I don't care to watch a show like that also because even if they have added more explosions and violence this year, they have never managed to have me really excited or on the edge of my seat, and I'm still here for the hope the characters will be given more depth and complexity, not the opposite.

Also, can I make a shallow comment: when Anna raised Malik's "head" and it came into focus... I laughed.
The special effects to recreate Saint Peter's square weren't good, but if you want to save some money and still go with that storyline, you're stuck, you have to show the place.
But they didn't have to show Malik's head, they decided to do so instead and I have to roll my eyes at how fake that rubber mask looked.

I have no idea what they want to do with Jack to be honest, his becoming such a big target for the Vs this week felt a bit contrived, and if they want to go there with him and Erica, why have him forced to leave the church, instead of making him gradually take that decision on his own? It's like... the things they give to his character (trying to be the conscience of the group, but then not really exploring morality in certain circumstances, the whole 2 people killed in Iraq, etc...) don't mesh too well together.

It still sucks to see Hobbes, Joshua and Marcus have nothing to do besides minor tasks at the orders of either Erica or Anna. Marcus was never given a lot of depth so perhaps I just had foolish hopes for him because I like the actor's portrayal of him, but there aren't excuses for Kyle and Joshua.
I guess Hobbes' storyline might've gone down the drain when they cut those 3 episodes.

I felt a little interest for Chad's storyline - but I said the same at some point last year and then he let me down big time, so maybe it's too early to speak, lol.

Also, this is shocking to say, but I can't even bring myself to be pissedat/bothered by Tyler because I was here trying to list all the valid reasons why everyone is so hell bent on keeping him in the dark about everything, and I think they aren't all that strong anymore.

Diana's sleeper agent at the Vatican: good job in disguising your real nature, buddy... NOT! That being the only person in the room who didn't greet Anna was such a smart move to stay out of her radar.

I don't know what to think of Chris - if he's only there to create some temporary obstacles/lenghts to go through for Erica, couldn't Kendrik cover that role in some way, seeing as he's already part of the cast? Do we really need this new character? Couldn't we have gotten a woman, at least? I hope there is more to him than what episode 4 suggested.

[Hamburgo1001]

Originally Posted by Hawthorn (View Post) I actually still believe that the whole "human skin infects you" will be proved wrong in the end, just a narrow-minded simplification/confusion applied by Anna and others. Otherwise, why put there that "do I have a soul"/"every creature can feel God" exchange between Ryan and Jack two episodes ago? Or to better say... I don't believe, I just hope it will proved wrong. If the visitors can't feel goodness and move beyond their most primary instincts on their own, without the human DNA "messing" with their system, then the show wants us to see them as nothing more than animals? We spent all that time seeing Ryan risk his life for Valerie and help humans, Lisa fall in love with Tyler and bond with Erica, the parallels between human and alien situations... for nothing? Sure it would be a more unexpected direction to take but it also turns many of the storylines explored so far a meaningless mislead, and the show into just another "alien invasion" action story where you cheer for the defeat of the attackers from the outside world in the end. I don't care to watch a show like that also because even if they have added more explosions and violence this year, they have never managed to have me really excited or on the edge of my seat, and I'm still here for the hope the characters will be given more depth and complexity, not the opposite.

I really really hope you'll turn out to be right Fran and I am also in full agreement with you that the show would basically be rendering many of it's storylines (Ryan/Val, Lisa's growing relationships with Tyler and Erica) pointless if they were now going to tell us that all V's are just evil animals who can't feel any positive emotions if they don't put a human skin suit on. But I think Heather and I are really worried that this could indeed be the direction the show is heading into for the following reasons: Usually, when you want to write a more positive story where things don't turn out to be all 'black and white' and the ultimate end goal is to achieve peace and understanding between the 2 opposing species, there should be a strengthening of the interspecies arc over the course of the show so that the story can be brought to a positive resolution in the end. Instead, the new showrunner has clearly been chipping away at the strong interspecies foundation that was originally set up by the first pair of showrunners and the show is heading for more and more of a human/V divide now. And then there's the big issue with the way Ryan & Val's hybrid daughter is being treated in the story. The writers are not treating or recognizing it as such. They are recognizing it as a Visitor with a soul/emotion. If the soul/emotion is all that's 'human' about a hybrid child then obviously, Visitors naturally don't have it and they can only gain it by either wearing a skin suit or being born out of a human/Visitor union. That probably also explains why Anna was so anti-hybrid last season. She was scared that it could be born with a soul and that's a big no-no for her.

And who knows what else the writers might still do? As crazy as it may sound they could always retcon everything we have seen from characters like Ryan, John May or Lisa and end up telling us that it was all fake and they were only out to further their own agenda (for the Visitor species to gain a soul) all along.

Also, can I make a shallow comment: when Anna raised Malik's "head" and it came into focus... I laughed. The special effects to recreate Saint Peter's square weren't good, but if you want to save some money and still go with that storyline, you're stuck, you have to show the place. But they didn't have to show Malik's head, they decided to do so instead and I have to roll my eyes at how fake that rubber mask looked.

I have to agree. I too thought the rubber mask that was meant to depict Malik's head was very fake looking.

I have no idea what they want to do with Jack to be honest, his becoming such a big target for the Vs this week felt a bit contrived, and if they want to go there with him and Erica, why have him forced to leave the church, instead of making him gradually take that decision on his own? It's like... the things they give to his character (trying to be the conscience of the group, but then not really exploring morality in certain circumstances, the whole 2 people killed in Iraq, etc...) don't mesh too well together.

It's funny that you say that because I mentioned the same thing on the V board once. The writers have basically given Jack 2 different character archetypes but they have failed to write them in a way that makes sense and the revelation that he actually killed 2 people in Iraq and wasn't just there to hold the hands of dying soldiers has made it all even worse for me. What also really really bugged me about this revelation is that they will essentially have him go from killing 2 people in a war to leading a good and peaceful life as a priest and then have him go back to killing people/aliens and in light of the IMO intended romantic hookup with Erica in future seasons, it's like they're actually expecting me to view this obvious case of character regression as a good and positive thing/development. I'm just baffled at some of the writing on this show. I truly am.

It still sucks to see Hobbes, Joshua and Marcus have nothing to do besides minor tasks at the orders of either Erica or Anna. Marcus was never given a lot of depth so perhaps I just had foolish hopes for him because I like the actor's portrayal of him, but there aren't excuses for Kyle and Joshua. I guess Hobbes' storyline might've gone down the drain when they cut those 3 episodes.

Well, Marcus was supposed to be developing his own agenda this season, but I think when the producers decided to cut all the Hobbes/Marcus scenes from the episodes, it stunted his character development and now he's back to being nothing more than Anna's loyal right-hand-man. And I don't think the episode cut is to blame for Hobbes' dropped storyline because it only impacted the season finale. All the other episodes remained unchanged. If there isn't some kind of twist in the season finale then it's been dropped for good and all we're left with is a big, fat continuity error.

I don't know what to think of Chris - if he's only there to create some temporary obstacles/lenghts to go through for Erica, couldn't Kendrik cover that role in some way, seeing as he's already part of the cast? Do we really need this new character? Couldn't we have gotten a woman, at least? I hope there is more to him than what episode 4 suggested.

At this point, I kinda feel that Chris' character is mainly being used as misdirection. I think it's possible for the writers to make him appear like the bad guy and play around with the idea that he could sell Erica out to her FBI boss only for them to throw a twist into the story and have Ryan rat Erica out to Anna in the season finale or some time in season 3. I would love nothing more than to turn out to be wrong though, because I absolutely hate the idea that Ryan could be selling Erica out to Anna. Talk about writing a 'black and white' story if that really happens.

[Hawthorn]

Originally Posted by Hamburgo1001 (View Post) I really really hope you'll turn out to be right Fran and I am also in full agreement with you that the show would basically be rendering many of it's storylines (Ryan/Val, Lisa's growing relationships with Tyler and Erica) pointless if they were now going to tell us that all V's are just evil animals who can't feel any positive emotions if they don't put a human skin suit on. But I think Heather and I are really worried that this could indeed be the direction the show is heading into for the following reasons: Usually, when you want to write a more positive story where things don't turn out to be all 'black and white' and the ultimate end goal is to achieve peace and understanding between the 2 opposing species, there should be a strengthening of the interspecies arc over the course of the show so that the story can be brought to a positive resolution in the end. Instead, the new showrunner has clearly been chipping away at the strong interspecies foundation that was originally set up by the first pair of showrunners and the show is heading for more and more of a human/V divide now. And then there's the big issue with the way Ryan & Val's hybrid daughter is being treated in the story. The writers are not treating or recognizing it as such. They are recognizing it as a Visitor with a soul/emotion. If the soul/emotion is all that's 'human' about a hybrid child then obviously, Visitors naturally don't have it and they can only gain it by either wearing a skin suit or being born out of a human/Visitor union. That probably also explains why Anna was so anti-hybrid last season. She was scared that it could be born with a soul and that's a big no-no for her.

You and Heather are right in considering every direction possible, for sure. I still don't know how to take this whole "Diana & co. were looking to get their hands on the soul as well" side of the storyline, either.
It's just that making the soul a "thing" to look for/protect themselves from sounds so... off, and really cheapens everything we've seen last season.
BTW, I didn't reply to your post above, but tryst me it's better if I don't go down the "soul killing machine" road.
I get flashbacks in silly tones of some Buffy the Vampire Slayer's plots, lol.

And who knows what else the writers might still do? As crazy as it may sound they could always retcon everything we have seen from characters like Ryan, John May or Lisa and end up telling us that it was all fake and they were only out to further their own agenda (for the Visitor species to gain a soul) all along.

Oy. I could see a way to do that with John May and even Ryan, but how can they do that with Lisa? Seems impossible to me at this point.

It's funny that you say that because I mentioned the same thing on the V board once. The writers have basically given Jack 2 different character archetypes but they have failed to write them in a way that makes sense and the revelation that he actually killed 2 people in Iraq and wasn't just there to hold the hands of dying soldiers has made it all even worse for me. What also really really bugged me about this revelation is that they will essentially have him go from killing 2 people in a war to leading a good and peaceful life as a priest and then have him go back to killing people/aliens and in light of the IMO intended romantic hookup with Erica in future seasons, it's like they're actually expecting me to view this obvious case of character regression as a good and positive thing/development. I'm just baffled at some of the writing on this show. I truly am.

You pretty much summed up the same problem I have. The fact that this show has so few episodes every season makes all of that stand out even more. They want us to know very clearly that he used to be a civil and do all the things he's about to go back to - fighting, having a romance... - but are not caring of how presenting it the way they're doing affects his time as a priest and what it meant for the character we've been dealing with so far, all the things attached to that.

Well, Marcus was supposed to be developing his own agenda this season, but I think when the producers decided to cut all the Hobbes/Marcus scenes from the episodes, it stunted his character development and now he's back to being nothing more than Anna's loyal right-hand-man. And I don't think the episode cut is to blame for Hobbes' dropped storyline because it only impacted the season finale. All the other episodes remained unchanged. If there isn't some kind of twist in the season finale then it's been dropped for good and all we're left with is a big, fat continuity error.

Perhaps they decided to cut one specific storyline instead of "shortening" a bit all the others? I don't know, after a while I stopped checking spoilers so I don't have a lot of background to speculate now.

What surprises me is what they've done so far with Joshua - I guess all characters have both fans and critics, but the only two who seem to be seen consistently getting the same kind of feedback are Joshua and Tyler (positive for the former, negative for the latter). Everybody loves Joshua, and they aren't taking advantage of that at all. (I thought TPTB cared about fan response).

At this point, I kinda feel that Chris' character is mainly being used as misdirection. I think it's possible for the writers to make him appear like the bad guy and play around with the idea that he could sell Erica out to her FBI boss only for them to throw a twist into the story and have Ryan rat Erica out to Anna in the season finale or some time in season 3. I would love nothing more than to turn out to be wrong though, because I absolutely hate the idea that Ryan could be selling Erica out to Anna. Talk about writing a 'black and white' story if that really happens.

I guess if Anna posed a death threat on his daughter, they could go there with Ryan - but it wouldn't be that much of a twist after seeing him in contact with/blackmailed by her all season long.

[Hamburgo1001]

Originally Posted by Hawthorn (View Post) BTW, I didn't reply to your post above, but tryst me it's better if I don't go down the "soul killing machine" road. I get flashbacks in silly tones of some Buffy the Vampire Slayer's plots, lol.

The idea of a soul extraction machine is so 1950's. All that's missing now is a snarky little robot.

Oy. I could see a way to do that with John May and even Ryan, but how can they do that with Lisa? Seems impossible to me at this point.

Yeah, with Ryan and May they could be telling us that they secretly always intended for their human women to become pregnant with hybrids to perpetuate the species. It would be a huge rewrite, but whose to say they won't go there? You're right that it would be incredibly hard to apply a retcon like that to Lisa, but I'm sure where there's a will there's a way.

You pretty much summed up the same problem I have. The fact that this show has so few episodes every season makes all of that stand out even more. They want us to know very clearly that he used to be a civil and do all the things he's about to go back to - fighting, having a romance... - but are not caring of how presenting it the way they're doing affects his time as a priest and what it meant for the character we've been dealing with so far, all the things attached to that.

The thing for me is if Scott Rosenbaum doesn't like the idea of having a priest character on the show and wants to depriest him - that's fine. Go for it if having carbon copy resistance members turns you on! But I just don't get his approach. I never understood why he felt it was necessary to give the Jack character a military past. I think it would have been much much better if Jack had been a man who's had a peaceful existence for all his life, but slowly starts to develop more of a darker soldier personality because of the new war-like situation he's suddenly being exposed to. And don't even get me started on the romantic past. That 'nugget' is the reason why I won't be able to take the character seriously anymore once he and Erica hook up. I just can't respect someone who turns his belief system on and off like a light switch, which is exactly what the Jack character will be doing.

What surprises me is what they've done so far with Joshua - I guess all characters have both fans and critics, but the only two who seem to be seen consistently getting the same kind of feedback are Joshua and Tyler (positive for the former, negative for the latter). Everybody loves Joshua, and they aren't taking advantage of that at all. (I thought TPTB cared about fan response).

Oh, me too. Joshua was probably the most popular character in season 1 and this year, it's like he's barely a part of the show anymore. I actually counted his season 1 scenes recently and posted a year-to-year comparison on the V board and the result was nothing short of shocking:

Season 1 Episode 3: 6 scenes Episode 4: 6 scenes Episode 5: 4 scenes Episode 6: 6 scenes Episode 7: 2 scenes Episode 8: 5 scenes Episode 9: 2 scenes Episode 10: 1 scene Episode 11: 6 scenes Episode 12: 7 scenes Season 2 Episode 1: 1 scene Episode 2: 2 scenes Episode 3: 2 scenes Episode 4: 0 scenes

I know that Joshua is currently out of commission because he has amnesia, but I don't think that works as a viable excuse for the lack of screentime. I kinda have the feeling that his character fell victim to the introduction of the Diana character. The writers had to make room to fit her scenes in and seeing that they weren't going to cut Anna or Lisa's screentime, it had to be Joshua's. Now, why they don't even show him in the background of Anna/Marcus scenes anymore is something I can't wrap my head around. Sure, they could eventually tell us that Anna doesn't really trust him after he betrayed her, but why keep him alive then?

I guess if Anna posed a death threat on his daughter, they could go there with Ryan - but it wouldn't be that much of a twist after seeing him in contact with/blackmailed by her all season long.

I agree Fran, but I think this is what they consider a twist on this show. I actually think the whole Anna/Ryan storyline is incredibly flat and predictable. For example, Heather and I were predicting that Ryan would give up Eli's name to Anna as soon as the name popped up in the story. I think the next thing Ryan will probably do is to make sure that Eli disappears/dies somehow. I then fully expect Erica to take Eli's place as the new leader of the radical Fifth Column and surely, if the Fifth Column activity stays up or even increases, Anna will probably want to know who the new man or woman in charge is and that would open the door for Ryan to out Erica to her. Like I said, I hope I'll turn out to be wrong because I really do not like this possible direction. At least if we had a couple more Fifth Column V's as part of Erica's team on the ground it actually could have made a Ryan betrayal interesting because not only would we have seen how the whole group dynamic is affected by such a betrayal, we also would have seen how the 2 different factions (humans and Visitors) within it deal with it. But the fact that Ryan is the only one we do have makes it a boring and awful story to tell IMO and I'm honestly not interested in watching an all-human resistance on the ground for all of season 3. I already find the current concept of a resistance boring as it is.