Of all the many shows I regularly watch, Alias has frequently been one I followed without anyone else joining me at the "watercooler" to talk about it. I know plenty of people who stay current with 24, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and others, but it's always been a smaller crowd that hung with Alias.
And lately, that crowd has been dwindling. In fact, I don't know anyone else who is still with it at this point. All the old Alias friends I've talked to have "fallen behind" at some point this year, having missed as many as a half dozen episodes or more. (If you're actually still up to date, I'd love to hear from you!)
It's not hard to see why. It just hasn't been very interesting this year. I thought Alias was struggling a bit in year three, but little did I know what year four would bring. The show I loved just doesn't much resemble the show today. In an effort to draw in ratings, they gave up much of what made the show great -- the complex ongoing storylines, the weekly cliffhanger endings, the unexpected twists and turns. Sad thing is, airing in the cushy time slot it has after Lost, odds are they could have not changed a thing and the ratings still would have taken a huge spike compared to previous years.
Lately it seems they've been trying to reclaim their former identity. They had a plot involving Vaughn searching for his father that lasted several weeks. They've now introduced a recurring adversary. They've even brought back the Rambaldi storyline. And yet for me, it still doesn't feel right. Maybe things went too bad for too long. I just know that the feeling I got seeing all the Rambaldi stuff this week was the same feeling I get when they randomly mention Organians or Orions or what-not on Enterprise -- like they're just name-dropping stuff they think will get a rise out of long time fans. But I'm just not feeling it.
I remember watching the very first episode of Alias years ago, and thinking to myself, "wow, that was really great -- but I have a hard time seeing how they're going to keep this concept intact if the series should go on for several years." Well, mild spoiler for those who haven't watched Alias yet, but that turned out to be somewhat prophetic when they totally re-engineered the show halfway through the second season. Now I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't even more prophetic than I realized.
It's funny, because I now find myself on the opposite side of an issue I've faced before. I only discovered the brilliant series The West Wing roughly this time last year. Fans already with the show praised my good taste, but warned me that after the first two amazing seasons, it would start to go downhill. Season 5 was the pits, they warned me. But I gobbled them all up, and while I would agree that seasons 1 and 2 outshine anything that followed, I still found the entire run to be high quality television. Now here I am, the guy claiming to be a long time fan of a TV show, but whining about how it's not like the good ol' days.
I'm going to stay with Alias a little while longer and see what happens. Is there anyone else out there with me?
3 comments:
Not I, sadly. The show has basically become Mission Impossible. Same thing over and over again. Seems to me like it was floundering last year, and this year has been no better. More "accessible"? Yes. That also means boring, I think.
"wow, that was really great -- but I have a hard time seeing how they're going to keep this concept intact if the series should go on for several years."
I had the same thought watching the pilot. You speak of a greater problem with American television -- knowing when to quit. Much of the problem has to do with economics and bitter, unimaginative writers.
I'm still watching! And I'm loving the show!
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