March 23, 2011 | Awake & Dreaming

It was a few days ago when I realized that the second season of V (the re-imagined series) had not only started, which means that I could download the shows via torrent, but the damn season finale was airing the same day (15th March)! How on earth was that possible? Well it seems that the second season premiered on Jan 4th and the season was only 10 episodes long and hence it ends in March.

Only 10 episodes! Fucking shit the producers of this series had already pissed me off by having the first 4 episodes shown and then having a long few months gap before showing the remaining 8 episodes of the 12 that were produced. How are viewers new to the concept of the series going to get into the show with that kind of broadcast schedule? And to make matters worse we only get 10 episodes this season! I mean, WTF!

Anyway, I’ve downloaded and watched all 10 episodes during the last few days and I’ve really enjoyed it, even though it seems that the ratings aren’t doing so great for the show. Nevertheless, I think they have really started picking up the pace and things did get a whole lot exciting. Wonders of wonders for 9 of the episodes they brought up the original V villainess Jane Badler, who plays Diana (not the original character but a new one with the same name), Anna’s mother who has been dethroned and imprisoned by the visitor queen. Marc Singer also appears but it’s a small role at the very end of the season finale whereas Badler basically steals the show with her lines. You get the feeling that her character could indeed be a mellowed out Diana from the original 80s series, defeated by her own offspring and just waiting to get loose and take back her position as rightful queen.

Diana does get killed off towards the very end of the season finale, by Anna and to the shock of the visitors who live on the New York mothership. If there is a 3rd or more seasons, I would have wanted Jane to be a big part of it. Well it remains to be seen if we do get a new season. But I was so happy to watch Jane once again in the franchise that gave her a name in television.

A big screen legend died today as we lost English-American actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor. A former child star, she grew to be known for her acting talent and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages. Considered one of the best actresses of our times, she died at the age of 79 after spending two months in a Los Angeles hospital for treatment of congestive heart failure. In a career spanning seven decades, Taylor was nominated for five Oscars and won the best actress honor twice.

Taylor starred in a string of hit movies in the 1950s and 60s, including Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Cleopatra, while becoming an international sex symbol and object of tabloid fascination for her string of love affairs with leading men. In addition to being a fashion icon, perfume mogul and movie legend, later in life Taylor also became one of the leading advocates for victims of AIDS, raising millions for research and treatment of the disease in the wake of the 1985 death of her good friend the actor Rock Hudson, who died from the illness.

In November 2004, Taylor announced that she had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a progressive condition in which the heart is too weak to pump sufficient blood throughout the body, particularly to the lower extremities: the ankles and feet. She broke her back five times, had both her hips replaced, survived a benign brain tumor operation and skin cancer, and faced life-threatening bouts with pneumonia twice. Towards the end of her life she was reclusive and sometimes failed to make scheduled appearances due to illness or other personal reasons. She used a wheelchair and when asked about it stated that she had osteoporosis and was born with scoliosis.

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE (27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011)