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Alias new tonight

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android

Theoretical Magician
As a companion to Doth Togo's Lost tread, Alias is new tonight right after Lost. Here is some pics to inspire you.
249465.jpg

jennifer_garner_a.jpg

And for the ladies here
weisman01.jpg
 

SKluck

Banned
As if he believed it anyway :lol.

"Yeah I worked at a bank for cover for 4 years while I worked for SD6/CIA... so I'm going to leave the CIA and REALLY work for a bank!"
 

android

Theoretical Magician
Kind of a lame episode. It looks like Weiss is now part of the new group. thats good as I didn't want his character to disappear. Now all they need is Sark.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
I thought it was a great episode, not lame at all. Really felt like a return of form for Alias to me, after what was basically an introduction to the new story in the premiere.

Starting to build up the storylines again, which I like a lot. Not sitting on them either, they're getting on with it. They could have played out the Nadia not knowing who killed her mother thing (not that she does, but not even thinking she knows) for half a season and had Weiss being stupid and not knowing about APO for just as long, but no, they obviously have better storylines to tell and got on with it.

They're making the Dixon and Vaughn thing work really well so far this season, and I'm glad about that. It's been a real problem getting them both in there ever since the end of SD6 and Dixon and Sydney's partnership, with Dixon normally coming off worst (hence putting him in charge last year). Not sure how long they can keep it up, though hopefully forever, but with Nadia there now that's a real opportunity to have Dixon partner with her more.

Nadia's great, I really like her. I'm amazed that I've seen people complain about her being so hot (not necessarily here...though maybe, can't remember), like this is some cheap ploy to boost ratings. It makes sense that she is though. If we can get Sydney from Jack (ermm...not so hot) and Irena (really hot), Nadia coming from Sloane (again not so hot) and Irena shouldn't be a surprise. And Alias has a good mix of really good looking people, decent looking people, and not so decent looking people. Just like real life. Anyway, she's a good actress and I'm glad Sloane has a character he cares for like he did his wife, as that led to one of the best storylines in any show ever.

Basically what I've seen so far has given me great hope for the show, something I only felt once or twice during the whole of S3.
 

CloudNL

Member
What a lame and boring episode.
Alias tries to be a poormansseasononewannabe. What's up with all those selfcontained episodes? What's up with all those people from season one, working with eachother? Dixon killed Sloane's wife, Sloane killed Dixon's wife, Jack killed Sydney's mom. What does it matter, let's work together like it didn't happen! Let's push the reset button! It doesn't make any sense! Alias jumped the shark!

And those credits.... Alias turned into a J.G. show or something?
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
I couldn't disagree with you more. As I've said I thought it was a great episode, but we don't need to cover that again.

What's up with all those selfcontained episodes?

Are you trying to say storylines aren't carrying on from one episode to another? Because...no, that would just be so wrong that you can't mean that.

Do you mean no cliffhanger endings? But you can't mean that either, they stopped doing that half way through season 2.

I really don't know what you mean.

What's up with all those people from season one, working with eachother?

JJ Abrams, upon looking back with horror at S3, realised the show worked best with SD6 and they'd really lost a lot without that situation. He's rebuilt a similar situation the best he can.

Dixon killed Sloane's wife, Sloane killed Dixon's wife, Jack killed Sydney's mom.

Dixon told Sydney he would never have taken the job if he'd known Sloane headed it. He said the only reason he's staying is that Sloane needs to be watched. Sydney confirmed these are her feelings too. Sydney hated her father with a passion until it was revealed that he killed her mom to save her life. And she's still cold towards him even after that.

This was like a week ago. Short memory huh?

What does it matter, let's work together like it didn't happen!

Kind of covered some of this just, but they're not working together like it never happened. They're working together in spite of the fact that it happened. You're acting like it hasn't been made ridiculously clear in both episodes that there's a lot of tension in the group.

Let's push the reset button! It doesn't make any sense!

They did kind of push the reset button. It felt forced, I admit that, but it did make sense.

Honestly, I can deal with people not liking shows when I do like them, but at least take in basic information the show is giving you.
 

CloudNL

Member
I really don't know what you mean.

Beginning of the episode they start a mission. Before the end of the episode the badguy is caught (or killed).

JJ Abrams, upon looking back with horror at S3, realised the show worked best with SD6 and they'd really lost a lot without that situation. He's rebuilt a similar situation the best he can.

JJ Abrams should try something new. Not a season one wannabe without the suspense.

Dixon told Sydney he would never have taken the job if he'd known Sloane headed it. He said the only reason he's staying is that Sloane needs to be watched. Sydney confirmed these are her feelings too. Sydney hated her father with a passion until it was revealed that he killed her mom to save her life. And she's still cold towards him even after that.

It's not realistic. And it doesn't make any sense that Irina wanted to kill Sydney. And hey, what happened with the season 3 ending scene, I thought I saw a lot of other things on those papers!

Oh and just forget Rambaldi! Just name it in one scene and forget it.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
CloudNL said:
Beginning of the episode they start a mission. Before the end of the episode the badguy is caught (or killed).

You know how long this has been happening in Alias? Since the beginning. How can you not know this? Some bad guys last entire seasons, some for multiple episodes, some for single episodes.

JJ Abrams should try something new. Not a season one wannabe without the suspense.

This isn't season 1. Sydney isn't undercover at APO. She doesn't have friends outside of work like she did Will and Francie. She doesn't barely know her father. She's openly hostile to Sloane rather than secretly. Vaughn is working with them and not just as her handler. Their relationship is open and not unrequited. the only way this is the same is that it got the original SD6 members back together again.

As for the lack of suspense, this is the second story of the season. The second story of a season which is trying to move on from the mistakes of the previous one. You can't expect strongly continuing storylines when tehy think last season's storylines were such a mistake. New ones have to be built, it won't happen straight away. Just like things needed to be built up the first season.

It's not realistic.

Well that statement doesn't really help explain what you mean.

And it doesn't make any sense that Irina wanted to kill Sydney.

How do you know it doesn't make any sense! You don't know her motives! Who knows what she discovered in a Rambaldi prophecy for example? Or, and I'll spoiler this again like I did last week even though I have no idea if it'll happen and it's just a random guess,
maybe Irena never planned to have Sydney killed. Perhaps it was a set up by Sloane to have Irena taken out. He wants Irena taken out, perhaps that's because of her Rambaldi rivalry or maybe she's a personal threat to him, whatever. He sends someone to that assasin dude and convinces him that he is there on behalf of Irena Derevko. He then makes sure the information on the attempt on Sydney's life leaks to the CIAand specifically Jack, knowing he'd have no choice but to take his ex-wife out. Irena's killed, Sloane loses a rival, his hands are seemingly clean.
Just two examples of how it could make sense, and I barely had to think about them.

And hey, what happened with the season 3 ending scene, I thought I saw a lot of other things on those papers!

You undoubtedly did. It's extremely obvious that this is not the way S4 was originally going to go. However, if it's a choice of either going with crap like S3, or looking back at it, realising it's crap and changing what those papers would contain so we don't have to put up with said crap anymore (even if it leads to small inconsistencies), i know which one I'd prefer.

Oh and just forget Rambaldi! Just name it in one scene and forget it.

Once again, how the fuck do you know that! the second story of the season and you're throwing wild assumptions out there! So what if Rambaldi has only had one mention so far? Does that mean his part in Alias is over? Just because it's not as ridiculously overused as last season, doesn't mean that storyline has been dropped.

Hell, maybe it has and you're right, in which case I think it's a mistake, but unless we get halfway through this season without another mention of him, I'm going to assume he still has a role.

Going to bed now, I'll look up the thread tomorrow for any responses.
 

Memles

Member
I'm pretty well in between you two when it comes to this season of Alias, but my opinions do not fall in with one entire view.

For instance, this episode? Great. I thought it was entertaining, exciting, and the balancing of Jack being a sonofabitch with the Nadia situation and the rest out on the mission was well done and made for an entertaining hour of television.

At the same time, I have much less positive things to say about the way they pretty well threw away Season Two/Three entirely to revert back to Season One ideals. Now, I am not of the mind that it is impossible to do so well.

For instance, I have no issues with Sloane and Dixon working together. I think that Dixon no longer harbours that grudge. He spent his time going insane with grief, lashing out, and I think he's moved past it. He's not happy about it, but he wants to get back to serving his country. Sydney, by this point, shouldn't be working with her father considering all of the bullshit he's pulled on her, but she does because she wants to seperate her personal issues from work. While I would still be mighty pissed about my wife being killed, having sworn to protect my country might actually supercede that anger.

I do, on the other hand, have an issue with the pretty well destruction of all Season Three storylines, and hope to see the Covenant pop up again in the near future. Very simply, love it or hate it, Season 3 happened. And, in that finale, Lauren was shot, Sark was in custody, so the North American wing of the Covenant was dead. And, we learned that they killed all the other leaders a few episodes previous. But this still left the leader of the Covenant. There are theories that that particular person could in fact already be dead, in light of recent events, but the thing didn't die. It needs to return, and attempt to answer some questions.

Where I disagree strongly with you, Cloud, is in terms of standalone episodes. You and I have very different definitions of the term. I view a standaone episode of a show as one where, when the next episode rolls around, you would not have had to have seen the last one to jump right in. CSI, for instance, is a procedural cop show that I can miss an episode and it really won't matter. As long as there are serious plot issues regarding the people involved, they are not standalone episodes.

But, I see your point entirely, and agree. What is missing is some sort of plot point that relates all episodes to one another. That was Rambaldi's purpose, and that is what very simply is missing in this situation. MS, you're right, it could come backk into play. But, without that, each episode is a different situation. Season One saw each episode focus on a different mission, a different bad guy, but at the same time there was a common theme of Rambaldi linking these missions together. That common string is MISSING in this case, meaning that the threats are almost picked at random. I am hoping that some sort of longterm threat is established, at least at midseason, if only to give them more motivation outside of saving the world.

Irina wanting to kill Sydney makes perfect sense, considering Katya almost killed Sydney in the Season 3 finale, and since her entry into the show was due to Jack speaking with Irina. It was obvious that there was something more to Irina than meets the eye. Whether she hired a hit on her is a different story, but killing her would not surprise me. For all of her compassion for her daughter, she also had a lot of evil in her.

I find it a little annoying that they kind of switched around what the papers saw...but at the same time it seemed like it was a whole lot of files Re: Sydney. It is likely that Sydney "knew before she knew" as she said. I think they did that pretty well. If ABC's own synopsis for the finale had not said something contrary to what actually happened, it isn't glaringly wrong.

Really, I do not think they have done anything they can't possibly explain. The issue is that some of it was not explained. They have not explained Marshall being shot, and TOO much of Season Three has been ignored. While I was not a big fan, I still enjoyed it well enough to not want to see it erased from history. It happened, and Abrams needs to realize this. It's one thing to rebuild, it's another to attempt to neglect part of the foundation, however annoying parts of it were.

For now? All three hours thus far have been entertaining television with likeable characters, neat action, and has not been disappointing in terms of television. As it progresses, it can get better or worse. Let's not judge yet.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
Memles said:
At the same time, I have much less positive things to say about the way they pretty well threw away Season Two/Three entirely to revert back to Season One ideals. Now, I am not of the mind that it is impossible to do so well.

I don't think they wanted to throw S2 away at all, but that one's Lena Olin's fault. Outside of the Alliance's destruction by Sloane, she basically is the S2 difference to S1, so in that way this new storyline is as much S2 as it is S1 (seeing as she was never going to come back), it's just that we're at the start of all that right now.

I do, on the other hand, have an issue with the pretty well destruction of all Season Three storylines, and hope to see the Covenant pop up again in the near future. Very simply, love it or hate it, Season 3 happened. And, in that finale, Lauren was shot, Sark was in custody, so the North American wing of the Covenant was dead. And, we learned that they killed all the other leaders a few episodes previous. But this still left the leader of the Covenant. There are theories that that particular person could in fact already be dead, in light of recent events, but the thing didn't die. It needs to return, and attempt to answer some questions.

I think they should mention the Covenant at the very least. It does make sense that they're not involved with them though. Last season they were basically part of a unit which had a focus on Rambaldi and the Covenant. Now they're not part of this unit, and it's for others to deal with. They might cross paths with the Covenant occasionaly, but they're not a focus anymore.

Then there's the thing you've touched on, that the Covenant may well be crippled and perhaps doesn't even exist anymore. As all the cell leaders were killed, that's already some shakey foundations. Then having a replacement cell leader killed and another in CIA custody...well, that's hardly helped their situation. Especially when the captured leader is Sark, who as we know, isn't the most tight lipped guy when he's been caught. His information could be helping the CIA further destroy covenant operations. And finally, if Irena Derevko really was the Covenant's head, and personally I feel it pretty likely, her death could have been the final blow.

So when you combine both a crippled or dead Coveneant with APO not specifically going after them, it's not such a reach for them not to have been mentioned. Like I say, they should be though, they shouldn't just ignore the whole thing. Hopefully Sark will be reintroduced and we can get some information then.

Where I disagree strongly with you, Cloud, is in terms of standalone episodes. You and I have very different definitions of the term. I view a standaone episode of a show as one where, when the next episode rolls around, you would not have had to have seen the last one to jump right in. CSI, for instance, is a procedural cop show that I can miss an episode and it really won't matter. As long as there are serious plot issues regarding the people involved, they are not standalone episodes.

I agree completely. Obviously we have the old long running threads like Sydney's hatred of Sloane, but already we have some storylines carrying on. Nadia's hunt for her mother's killer and Jack's attempts to make sure she never finds out. Sydney's part in all that too. Nadia and Weiss's potential romance. Weiss not knowing about the situaion only to be brought into the fold. All new things which carried on from one episode to the next, only one of which is probably finished with now.

But, I see your point entirely, and agree. What is missing is some sort of plot point that relates all episodes to one another. That was Rambaldi's purpose, and that is what very simply is missing in this situation. MS, you're right, it could come backk into play. But, without that, each episode is a different situation. Season One saw each episode focus on a different mission, a different bad guy, but at the same time there was a common theme of Rambaldi linking these missions together. That common string is MISSING in this case, meaning that the threats are almost picked at random. I am hoping that some sort of longterm threat is established, at least at midseason, if only to give them more motivation outside of saving the world.

I have absolutely no doubt something like that will come up, even if it turns out they have dropped the Rambaldi story for some strange reason. Overarching storylines have always been there in Alias, there's no reason to think it's going to stop now. For all I know, the main storyline for this season can't start yet, until something else happens. Maybe Nadia has to find out Jack was responsible for her mother's death before Sloane's storyline kicks in, for example.

Incidentally, Rambaldi wasn't even mentioned until episode 4 of S1. And then wasn't mentioned again until episode 7. It can take time to get storylines going.

Irina wanting to kill Sydney makes perfect sense, considering Katya almost killed Sydney in the Season 3 finale, and since her entry into the show was due to Jack speaking with Irina.

Damn, that's the most obvious reasoning of all, can't bleive I didn't bring it up.

They have not explained Marshall being shot

Got to say, I don't really see what needs explaining here. He got shot (we don't know how bad it was, maybe he got lucky), he was pretty immediately operated on, time passed, her recovered.

and TOO much of Season Three has been ignored. While I was not a big fan, I still enjoyed it well enough to not want to see it erased from history. It happened, and Abrams needs to realize this. It's one thing to rebuild, it's another to attempt to neglect part of the foundation, however annoying parts of it were.

The only thing I really, truly want them to ignore is the Mission Impossible mask thing. Which it looks like they have done, thank god. Luckily, a lot of the things which seem to be being ignored from S3 can be solved with a few comments here and there. If fans are, for example, unhappy that the Covenant has just stopped being mentioned (assuming that carries on), the writers will notice it (believe me, they know what the fans are complaining about) and don't have to change huge chunks of story to get these things in. The only problem with that is that a hell of a lot of the season will have been filmed already, so it would be a while before things like that could happen.

For now? All three hours thus far have been entertaining television with likeable characters, neat action, and has not been disappointing in terms of television. As it progresses, it can get better or worse. Let's not judge yet.

Indeed.
 

Escape Goat

Member
Can someone explain to me why they aren't at the CIA anymore with Dixon as their leader? I missed the last 5 episodes of last season and the season premiere. :(
 

Memles

Member
Teh Hamburglar said:
Can someone explain to me why they aren't at the CIA anymore with Dixon as their leader? I missed the last 5 episodes of last season and the season premiere. :(

That was incredibly dumb...rent the DVD of the end of last season, and download the season premiere. Explaining it would be too confusing, you've got to watch it. At LEAST the premiere.

Got to say, I don't really see what needs explaining here. He got shot (we don't know how bad it was, maybe he got lucky), he was pretty immediately operated on, time passed, her recovered.

But they didn't even mention it! I spent the entire Season FINALE waiting for them to mention it, and NOTHING. At least they could have mentioned it in his little conversation with Weiss.

Marshall

Doesn't this suck? I mean, it's better than getting shot, but I don't even know anybody!


See? That's all I wanted! I didn't want to see the wound, or anything of that nature. I just wanted it to be mentioned.

Incidentally, Rambaldi wasn't even mentioned until episode 4 of S1. And then wasn't mentioned again until episode 7. It can take time to get storylines going.

I would usually agree with this, but the first thing that Sydney found on her mission was...a Rambaldi artifact. While the quest for Rambaldi was not revealed in earnest for some time, it was still there.

However, this season has no underlying theme...dangerous isotope and supercomputer are simply classic terrorist tools, not myhtological inventions of some genius. I don't see the potential for this to all be linked.
 
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