why wait?subtlety and suspense perhaps.why put all your eggs in one basket?what made o.s. so engaging was the gradually unfolding storylines.to have victoria's arrival at collinwood and a character who appeared over a year later in a flashback be introduced in a 1 hour pilot seems confusing.
This will be a prime-time series, and not a regular daytime soap like the first DS. The time to establish characterization and back stories are limited (and expensive.)
There is also a perception (very likely, quite accurate) that the modern audience (that is, most people under 30) is not noted for having a long attention span vis-a-vis getting hooked on any fictional series anymore. Once you HAVE them, that is another matter, then the program can drag on for a few seasons expanding and expounding on any plotline, but they have to get the viewers' juices overflowing FIRST.
Hence, a lengthy intro of Vicki's story, and gradually getting to know the C'wood family BEFORE springing the "main attraction" apparently MUST be done this way, and in less time, even, than the 1991 introductory. (Which, it can also be argued, many of the potential viewers of the newest DS probably watched, and remember fairly well, even if they didn't see the older series, nor ever owned the tapes / DVD of the 1991 version.)
Still, if the script is well-written, my hope is that it won't SEEM so abrupt.
l.