I’ve been excited about “V” since Comic Con.

It was even better than I expected.

Initial thoughts during the first 40 minutes:

The first 30 seconds felt like LOST.  There was an ominous feeling and a close up on Elizabeth Mitchell’s eye.  Yep, very reminiscent of LOST.  Though that feeling quickly faded, and Mitchell rocked as much as ever.

I was elated when Alan Tudyk appeared on screen.  I couldn’t believe he hadn’t been shown in any of the previews!!  The Whedonist inside be giggled in pure delight.

I wondered what Scott Wolf has been doing since “Party of Five.”  I also wondered why he hadn’t aged, until we got a real close up and I saw some wrinkles.  Good to know Wolf himself is not a real-life alien.  I have my doubts about some ageless Hollywood actors (Heather Locklear comes to mind).  Anyway, I stray… I think Wolf will make a good morally-unstable news-caster.

I was immediately suspicious of the peace-claiming aliens.  Think Jasmine from Angel: “I could’ve stopped it, Angel. All of it. War, disease, poverty. How many precious, beautiful lives would’ve been saved in a handful of years? Yes, I murdered thousands to save billions.”

In the last 20 minutes or so, the episode hit the roof.

SPOILER ALERT

I was floored when Tudyk turned out to be one of the aliens!!!  Egads!!!  Although, after his last surprise as Alpha (Dollhouse), I should have known he’s not always the good guy!! (RIP Wash, Firefly).

Great twist that Morris Chestnut (Ryan) was a good alien!  Rebels of evil groups rock.

I got a kick out of Mitchell and Gretsch forming The Resistance.  Think Terminator.  This will be awesome.  Also, the pairing of kick-ass-female-FBI agent with not-afraid-to-throw-punches-priest is delightful.

You can be certain I will be tuning in until the series’ end… hopefully a good few plot-twisty, creative character development, stunning storyline years from now.