If you threw a party, and some friendly people that you hadn't actually invited wanted to come, they would come to the door in a group and knock, asking if they could come in. Maybe they'd even send one of their number to your door. The rest could wait respectfully in the car till you say 'yes.' They certainly wouldn't walk up to your house, climb in all the doors and windows and wait there until you were forced to give in and let them stay.

Yet this is the scenario that faces the world in the second episode of "V." Fifty ships have appeared in the skies, invited themselves to a prime position over 50 major world cities, and then they expect everyone will just point the way to the guacamole.

What's really astounding is that's exactly what happens.

While the FBI does form some sort of Visitor Threat Assessment Task Force, this seems to be the single official act of "what the heck?!" on the planet. All the other governments, and finally the Americans as well, invite the aliens to come hang out, based on the few interchanges we've had with Anna, the alien leader. They promise many exchanges of useful information and health tips, but we really haven't heard what they want.
 
Despite that, we're all for letting them come in.

I don't recall one shot of a military person or politician raising an issue of propriety. Do we remember the conference table in The Hunt for Red October, where everyone in uniform is about blasting Ramius before he can even get close? Or the military presence in Independence Day? These things showed up and we were ready to blast them. We haven't seen the president. Not even Nancy Pelosi. And people from California know all about illegal aliens.

Maybe the sole angle on this from the average person's point of view is to reinforce that there is no "normal" any more.(Hence the title.) For those in the big cities, they have daily evidence of the aliens' presence; other towns, not so much, except for the constant stream of talking heads on the networks.

More importantly for these characters, the life they've known is over. Erica Evans can't look anyone in the eye without wondering if they're really a green reptile. Father Jack Landry, sharing many of the concerns above, has to question not only his life but the Church he represents. Ryan Nichols has been able, as many illegals are, to blend in, pretend he could have a 'human' life. Not any more.

The show is getting started, very slowly, laying groundwork that will hopefully go somewhere soon, and get back to the reality of what would happen nationwide if such an event occurred. The rebellious son of the single mother who has the hots for one of the blonde alien chicks is absolutely cliched--wouldn't he be more interesting if he was the one telling his friends to beware of the potential danger instead of just drooling and signing up for whatever he can?

The long-suffering wife of Alan Tudyk's Visitor/FBI agent was the same. If she'd tossed Erica some evidence instead of just whining about his long hours, that would have been intriguing. The whole witchhunt of Erica in her partner's disappearance --is this supposed to make us believe that the rest of the department is already compromised, or simply that someone, somewhere is taking action about something?

Granted, the original "V" opened with a mini-series, six hours in one week, to lay this groundwork, and ABC has chosen to do it over four weeks at an hour each. The fact that they have only allowed this four hours before a very long hiatus, and then to use such haphazard storytelling tends to put their financial investment (hey, those special effects snakes aren't cheap!) at serious risk. There's so little good science fiction on television any more, we have to hope "V" pulls together over the next two weeks to leave us all demanding more when the series returns in March.