My wife and I have been getting into the latest sci-fi series ‘V’. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it traces the impact of an alien visit on the earth’s population. Arriving with a message of peace, the Visitors appear just like us but are really revealed to be lizard-like creatures , some of whom have been with us for years working as sleeper agents. Their motives for coming to Earth are also gradually seen to be apparently sinister, though in what way is yet to be unveiled.
The plotline of the story revolves around a rebel outfit amongst the Visitors, known as the Fifth Column, and their fight to expose the sinister motives of the Visitors’ leadership, especially its head, a lady called Anna.
The fascinating story to come out of ‘V’ is that the reason for the resistance of the Fifth Column, is that, in living with humanity on Earth, they have what can only be called a conversion experience of wanting to be like them in terms of human emotion and care and love. They see it as much more preferable to the Spock-like lack of emotion and detached efficiency of their own race. In seeking to crush the resistance, which includes a ragtag group of humans, Anna makes the profound comment that humans’ biggest weakness is love, which is why their torture techniques include showing scenes of family members being killed by the Vs.
It is yet to be revealed what the final outcome will be, but wouldn’t it be great if the end of the story involved the conversion of the Vs to the way of love? I reckon the best way for the Fifth Column to defeat them would be seeking their salvation in the same way that they themselves were turned around by seeing the power of love over hate (never mind humanity’s lust for power and self-centredness – that’s a different story!). After all, Abraham Lincoln once said that the best way to defeat your enemies is to turn them into friends. I look forward to the upcoming episodes…
