On Tuesday March 15th ABC wrapped on season 2 (and possibly the series) of their alien invasion drama ‘V’. In the episode “Mother’s Day”, the sophomore show held nothing back. To be honest, it would have been great to see some of the risks they took in the finale a little sooner in the series.

One of the biggest problems I have had with ‘V’ from the beginning was the true lack of danger for the main characters. It is a trap that many ensemble shows fall into and I’m looking right at you ‘Heroes’. This incarnation of ‘V’ always seemed to be too safe. There were many occasions when they could have gone to a darker or more dramatic place, but always pulled back at the last second. Honestly, how many times can Ryan Nichols (played by Morris Chestnut) be killed or thought to be killed? In a show about a pending “war of the worlds” only killing off guest stars (such as Alan Tudyk, Jane Badler and Rekha Sharma) never allows for  any real sense of jeopardy or suspense.

For two seasons I couldn’t quite give up on ‘V’. As much as I would have liked to tune out mid-way through the first season the last few episodes were quite good, topped off with a stellar season finale.

Before writing this I went back to take a look a the ‘V’ pilot from 2009. If “Mother’s Day” ends up being the series finale, I will be ok the series was not wrapped up in a nice little bow. However, the potential the pilot episode gave to ‘V’ fans and newbies alike was finally realized in what is the best episode of the series. Unfortunately, it may be the case of “too little, too late” as the 1.9 rating for the season finale may have been the series death rattle. If “Mother’s Day” is the final episode I can honestly say ‘V’ went out in an outstanding and entertaining fashion. I can also plead with ABC not to outright cancel the show, because the cliff hanger ending itself is worthy of a conclusion.

I felt from day one the updated ‘V’, like it’s predecessor, would have worked better as a mini-series rather than a full blown series. Whatever happened to the mini-series events that used to be on TV? This story is tailormade to be told in full over the span of about 13 episodes. Regardless, there will most likely be one less SciFi show on network television in the Fall, which will be a shame for fans and casual views alike.

On a final note to the cast and crew of ‘V’, you all have done a wonderful job at reviving the legacy and mythos of ‘V’, but how about we don’t wait until the finales to pull out all the stops? By the time you get around to telling the meat of the story it’s too late and all you have left are fanboys and girls watching at home. If you didn’t catch the finale, I highly recommend finding and watching it online.