V-Wars: Down with the Sickness

December 5, 2019 7:30 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Following an urgent trip to the Arctic, a scientist and his friend are quarantined with an illness that soon escalates to something sinister. (Netflix Original)

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posted by oh yeah! (5 comments total)

This first episode didn't really wow me -- mostly it made me wish The Passage was still around. I may get back to it on the weekend, but I don't feel particularly drawn to any of the characters.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:39 PM on December 5, 2019

We watched 4 or 5 episodes and it continues to be a hot mess. Why do we keep watching it? Well for one I thought the lead actor was Rob Lowe for like four episodes and I like Rob Lowe. (it's not). The other reason is that every episode ends on a cliffhanger so you want to know what happens next. I'm also fascinated at the complete apathy of the American public to the emerging vampire hordes, possibly this is because the show takes place in an alternate universe where everyone is a moron. Hard to say.

I dont even know most of the characters names and the rate they kill them it seems pointless to try and learn them. It's that kind of show.
posted by fshgrl at 5:32 PM on December 9, 2019

I was like, hey, Nigel Bennett's in this! Him + vampires have meant a good time in the past.

But as far as I can tell he's not in any other episode. Maybe they address why the CDC? person in charge basically wipes his hands of the whole thing buuuut I'm not putting any money down on it. Oh well.

Concept could have been fun, but is not in practice.
posted by rewil at 1:39 PM on December 10, 2019

Watched the whole season thanks to a bad cold + bad weather. Quite a ride. The plot is bananas and what is the opposite of world-building? World-smallding? Thays what theu do. It all takes place in one tiny county as far as I can tell: wars, senate hearings, militias. All of it in a convenient driving radius. But it the plot moves along nicely once you get to the Senate hearings and also starts to make a weird kind of sense. Nefarious government doings are kinda all explained There is refreshingly little plot armor and the very last scene takes a startling turn setting up quite a different season two.

If S2 ever gets made becuase I might be the only person who watched this show.
posted by fshgrl at 4:52 PM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

Netflix seems to have figured out a formula for content which I find quite bad and yet still want to watch. This and Another Life feel very similar in that respect. I think what they have in common is a quite interesting premise/plot, but the execution in terms of dialogue and acting is absurd and melodramatic.
posted by Cogito at 5:22 PM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]