Three episodes in, and V is finally starting to show promise. Where the first two episodes force-fed the story without any real opportunity to savor it, or connect with the characters, "A Bright New Day" takes more of a tease approach, with a little less rush to tell the audience everything.

The episode recap: The FBI has to investigate a death threat at the Peace Center as the Visitors get visas, leading Erica to discover surveillance technology. The Cindy Sheehan-esque "voice of the anti-V movement," gets Anna's attention. Tyler and Lisa get closer, and Lisa picks Tyler for an undetermined purpose. Ryan seeks out other sleeper fifth columnists, as Dale recovers on the New York mothership, and Father Jack seeks other survivors from the warehouse.

There's still a lot taken for granted in V, but there are moments worth watching. Morena Baccarin, best known for her serenely gorgeous Inara on Firefly is serenely psychopathic as Anna. Even with the flaws of the series, she's still watchable. But Elizabeth Mitchell's Erica has the best scene in the episode, where she figures out just how some surveillance images occur. It's refreshing to see a character actively thinking and making a discovery.



There are three things to pay attention to in episode three that may play out in future episodes. The most obvious is just what is Tyler "the one" for? Fans of the sequel to two miniseries from 1983-1984 will have a good idea what's in store for Tyler, but let's hope they surprise us. Secondly, Cyrus wanting to be reconnected makes more sense, but it does suggest he meant more than just returning to his people. More intriguingly, Dale accused Joshua of being "a dreamer" as if that's more significant that using some construct to help him restore his memories.

According to TV by the Numbers, despite the strong premiere, the numbers for V are falling, with a 16% drop this week. It's unclear if V is going to get a chance to overcome it's weak pilot. But it's getting interesting enough not to cancel the DVR recordings.