Long before “Sheriff Country” star Morena Baccarin was protecting the people of Edgewater County, she played a calculating alien dictator. In fact, she was the lynchpin of an underrated sci-fi show that was a remake of a hit ’80s series.
ABC’s “V” remake examines how humanity responds when 29 alien ships appear around the world, and a mysterious race known only as the Visitors promise to make Earth a better place with their advanced technology. Baccarin plays the alien queen, Anna, and while her calm demeanor and promises of peace win over much of humanity, it quickly becomes clear that the aliens have nefarious plans for the human race. It updates the ’80s sci-fi series of the same name with a modern setting and upgraded CGI and practical effects.
“V” injected a streak of sociopolitical commentary into its story, which appealed to Baccarin when she signed on to play Anna. “When I first read the pilot was that you could relate us to modern-day — what was going on in the world. It was a really great parallel for anything,” she told the A.V. Club. “I was excited about the possibility of the political statements that we could make with the show. Obviously, on a network show, we’re not going to get too much into politics, but I liked the idea.”
V Season 3 would’ve revealed the Visitors’ secret history on Earth
“V” returned for a second season in 2011, with the Visitors’ plans for conquering Earth escalating further before culminating in a cliffhanger where most of the world fell under their “bliss” spell. However, ABC canceled the series after ratings fell during its second season.
There were originally plans for Season 3, and Morena Baccarin told the AV Club the show would’ve explored how the Visitors had been on Earth for centuries. She said the plan was to reveal that the aliens had used “plagues and a lot of world wars” in their attempts to wipe humanity off the face of the Earth. But the show was never given the chance to explore those ideas.
She added: “I thought that was the direction that we were headed, and then we ended up having two or three different showrunners, and ABC didn’t really know which direction they wanted to take the show. It became kind of a mess.”