Re-watching ALIAS

[Mason]

Elsewhere, Mrs THIRTYSOMETHING the therapist makes her first appearance psychoanalysing Vaughn.

LOL! I love Patricia Wettig's role on ALIAS! I'm probably the only one.

[Canon]

I just watched "The Confession" from Season 1, which is really great. Having finally bonded with Jack after he used Morse Code to blink them out of cliff-hanging danger, Sydney is given proof by Vaughn that Jack was responsible for the murder of several CIA agents including Vaughn's own father! After weeping in Will's lap, Sydney agrees to turn her father in. She and Vaughn show up for a meeting at the CIA, only for Jack to appear reveal that he wasn't the murderer ... Sydney's mother was!! Oy!

Oh yes! I was having trouble with the show until this episode but that revelation changes everything from there until the end of Season 3 its just one shocker after another - it never gives in!

Unlike S4 where they have given into the dreaded self contained episodes. All fine & good in the first Season of any show but when you reached the 4th or 5th Season (*cough* Angel *cough*) its the last thing you want. 6 episodes in and Syd suddenly remembers that Slaone is her sworn enemy and theres a really great scene between them where she tells him that she'll never forgive him for killing her boyfriend & best friend. As you would. Though none of this seems to bother her bland beyond words of a sister Nadia - God I hope she turns out to be evil! Although she is already dating Weiss so she couldnt be good!

Speaking of Angel, James are we ever going to get a thread on Season 5? There's been a lack of love for the forum lately and Im dying to hear what you think of one particular episode in S5!

[Romain]

LOL! I love Patricia Wettig's role on ALIAS! I'm probably the only one.

No, you're not! I love Dr. Judy Barnett, but I was upset when she and Sloane got together.

Canon, I couldn't agree more about Nadia. Talk about useless! Don't even get me started on her pairing with Weiss. And to think some people actually complained about Lauren and Sark...at least they were entertaining!

[Mason]

I can't believe so many people seem to hate Season 5. Even without Vaughn, it's still way better than boring Season 4. When I watched it for the first time on DVD, I wasn't expecting much, but I ended up loving it.

[James from London]

"The Box Part 2"

Vaughn disobeys orders to help Sydney rescue the gang at SD6. It's the first time we've seen him in the field and he's very cool. Tarantino gives good nutter, arbitrarily killing his sexy Chinese partner-in-crime, without ever realising she's an undercover FBI agent. Sloane is strapped to the Chair of Doom and so Jack is obliged to chop off his finger because he needs his fingerprint to avert Armegeddon (or something). Cool!

I love Patricia Wettig's role on ALIAS! I'm probably the only one.

Wasn't she popular? I had no idea. I liked her very much.

I was upset when she and Sloane got together.

I loved that.

Speaking of Angel, James are we ever going to get a thread on Season 5?

Sure. OK!

[Mason]

Wasn't she popular? I had no idea. I liked her very much.

I didn't think she was. Whenever I'd read anything about her, most people seemed to hate her.

[James from London]

"The Coup."

Sark's arrived--hooray! Sydney finds out Francie's Charlie is a no good, lyin', cheatin' dog (which seems a bit out of the blue, but there you go). There's a great sequence where Sydney then goes to Vegas on assignment (is there any US TV show that doesn't have a Vegas episode? ANGEL, FRIENDS, THE X-FILES, ROSEANNE, THE BIONIC WOMAN, Lilimae Clements--they've all made the trek) and runs into Charlie and Francie who are about to get married. So she has to break off from her top secret, life or death mission in order to stop the wedding, and then rush back to save Dixon's ass. She and Francie argue about Charlie. "I don't even know who you are anymore!" Francie yells at her, which is all kinds of ironic.

Fab ending where where Syd, suspended from a high wire outside a building in Moscow, watches as Sark kills the Head of K-Directorate on behalf of The Man (is The Man who I think she is?) ... and then everyone starts shooting at her!

Watched MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III directed by JJ Abrams this week, which is amazingly ALIAS-like. It starts off with Tom Cruise being tortured while strapped to a chair, and then rewinds to find out how he got there--which is exactly what happens at the very beginning of ALIAS. Plus you've got heroes leading double lives, dead fiancees, evil bosses, dopplegangers, and Simon Pegg essentially playing Marshall with an English accent. Still, ALIAS cribbed a lot from the original MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TV show so I guess it's fair enough. And it's really good.

[Ome]

I didn't think she was. Whenever I'd read anything about her, most people seemed to hate her.

I like the actress, I enjoyed her in Alias as equally as in Prison Break

[James from London]

"Page 47."

A masked man abducts Will, beats him up and warned to drop his investigation into SD6. Very exciting--especially when we learn that the man is Jack, whose motive is to save Will from being executed by Sloane.

While Syd, Jack, Will, Sloane and Rebecca Wentworth's ailing daughter are having dinner together, Sloane admits his Rambaldi obsession to Sydney who steals a crucial page from the Rambaldi document. A drawing of a girl reveals that Sydney herself must be part of Rambaldi prophecy .. unless it's a picture of Lena Olin ... or Syd's boring half-sister from Season 4 ... or maybe Jennifer Love Hewitt. (God, if the future of the human race is in Jennifer Love Hewitt's hands, then we're all in trouble.)

[Romain]

Rebecca Wentworth's ailing daughter

Please, James, do not reduce the wonderful Amy Irving to being "Rebecca Wentworth's daughter". Don't you dare forget she's also "Steven Spielberg's ex-wife"

(God, if the future of the human race is in Jennifer Love Hewitt's hands, then we're all in trouble.)

Couldn't agree more! Jennifer Love Hewitt is pure evil and I can't wait for the day her career comes to a full stop. Either that or she finally gets into an acting class (and leaves her idiotic smile at the door). Suddenly, Nadia seems much less annoying...

[Canon]

Finally coming towards the end of S4 (Where is the lovely Lena Olin? I cant take much more) and I really hope Nadia doesnt make it to the premiere of S5, she deserves to die for being the most boring character in one the most tedious Seasons of televison Ive ever seen.

God I hope Im getting some Season long arcs back for S5!

[Mason]

Season 5 is MUCH better than boring Season 4! What the hell were they thinking with the self-contained episodes in Season 4, anyway? For a show like Alias, it didn't work well at all.

[Canon]

Season 5 is MUCH better than boring Season 4! What the hell were they thinking with the self-contained episodes in Season 4, anyway? For a show like Alias, it didn't work well at all.

Glad to hear that though the last 5 episodes of S4 were fantastic, some of the best Ive seen in the Series so far. Having Lena Olin back was great, she really is a fine actress. The scene where she realises Nadia is her daughter was so good. She, Garner & Garber work so well together even though their lives are literally unbelievable you could still believe in them as a would be family

Loved the Season finale especially, really well done I didnt even wish Nadia dead when she got attacked by those zombies. And that cliffhanger

Can't wait for S5, cant wait for zombie Nadia not that you'd notice any difference. Wish I had ordered the DVDs sooner.

BTW did anyone else notice during S4 that they refer to events that happened in the first Season as having occured 4 years ago yet Syd disappeared for 2 years at the end of S2 meaning 6 years would have passed between S1 & S4!

[James from London]

"The Prophecy."

Casting James Bond as a more-evil-than-Sloane member of the Alliance, who suckers Sloane into assassinating a close friend, is inspired. Also good to see evil Professor Walsh from Season 4 of BUFFY heading up a sinister X-Files division of the CIA which overrides the objections of Matt's dad from MELROSE PLACE to subject Sydney to all manner of nasty tests.

There's an ultra cool sequence where Syd and Vaughn break into the Vatican (don't ask me why) to the sound of "Hate To Say I Told You So" by The Hives.

At the end of a gruelling episode, Syd goes clubbing with Will and Francie ... only to get abducted by Professor Walsh all over again.

the last 5 episodes of S4 were fantastic

Yeah, they kind of make up for the season as whole, don't they? Kind of.

[Spike]

I just started watching Alias. Everyone who reads my posts know what a big Buffy and Angel fan I am. Alias is so different from those shows. I love it.
That quote from Jack to Sydney's boyfriend is brilliant. I want to re-watch S1 when I finish watching S1. Rats! I am going to have to buy all five seasons!

[Ome]

Finally coming towards the end of S4 (Where is the lovely Lena Olin? I cant take much more) and I really hope Nadia doesnt make it to the premiere of S5, she deserves to die for being the most boring character in one the most tedious Seasons of televison Ive ever seen.

Couldn't agree more

Rats! I am going to have to buy all five seasons!

They're cheaper now than they were and you wont regret it, some great characters you've yet to see too

[Spike]

Dial up sucks. Let me rephrase that. Dial up sucks. I want a time machine so I can go back a year ago when I so recklessly told my phone company to stuff it. I don't need DSL or Broadband! Right. I go online maybe two times a week. I can do laundry, feed the cats, walk three miles, get arrested for walking and still when I return the page is still down loading.
Alias has won a place on the shelf with my Joss Whedon DVDs. That is more than high praise that means Joss is not the only one...I can't type this...who can do a compelling show. I typed it!
I promise I will not sell my cats to purchase S2. Maybe one of them. Kidding.
Alias is a great surprise. Never watched the show, bought S1 and I am hooked. I can go on, but there is one thing the show lacks. It doesn't have the Joss Touch. But I am a fan

[Spike]

S2 is something else. Who do you trust? Jack or Sydney's mother? I will go with Jack. Not like on a date, but I think he is less of an x-factor than Laura. I am really starting to wonder about Will Tippen. Was he turned? Was he already turned? He held up to torture quite well. When he stabbed the Chinese dentist in the throat, I thought, Good job. But where the hell did that come from?
I am beginning to think that Sydney and Will are twins. Brother and sister.

[Ome]

Good to hear you're hooked Spike, I was the same, never watched any of it till this year. Of course with that in mind I could watched all seasons straight after each other

It's a great show with many (I mean many) twists and turns..........


Who do you trust ?

Who is working for who

Confused ?

You wont be if you keep watching

[James from London]

Syd goes clubbing with Will and Francie ... only to get abducted by Professor Walsh all over again.

OK, she isn't abducted she's arrested, although sometimes there's not a lot to choose between the two.

Q&A



Fantastic opening: Syd in a wig pursued by police in a high speed car chase(watched at home on TV by a riveted Will and Francie, unaware that it's her) which comes to an end when she takes a long drive off a short pier. Then there are flash backs to her interrogation by Terry O'Quinn. (Hey, it's Locke from LOST!) This leads to more flash backs as Sydney recalls all the events that have brought her to this point. Basically, it's a re-cap episode, which on a show this complicated is most welcome. The heretofore unmentioned fact that Sloane has a long history with Syd's parents is sneakily added to the back story. Jack and Vaughn join forces to spring Sydney, and the episode climaxes with a doozy of an epiphany: "Mom's alive! I know it!"

Alias is a great surprise. Never watched the show, bought S1 and I am hooked.

Brilliant!