There are tons of places on the internets to buy t-shirts. Online, you'll find t-shirts with a degree of specificity that cannot be matched in any store. But I think nowhere are the t-shirts as "inside" as those available from Television Without Pity. The likelihood that some random person on the street would "get" one of TWoP's "Now or Never" series of shirts is even smaller than the print runs of said shirts. Take their current crop:
Always Take Backup. Hey, I'm proud to say I'm a huge fan of Veronica Mars. But I'm also realistic about how many people fit into that category. I wouldn't have had to fret so much about whether there would be a season three otherwise.
Bad Wolf. If you're not quite ready to don a long, striped scarf, this would be your next best bet to have other Doctor Who fans approach you on the street. (At least they have conventions for fans of the sci-fi shows. There aren't any Veronica Mars cons where you could count on finding people to appreciate your t-shirt.)
Vaughn! This one is so inside, I wasn't even sure they were talking about Alias at first.
Who's Your Spy Daddy? I'm guessing from the font that this supposed to be Alias too? If it isn't, then I have absolutely no idea.
Showing posts with label Alias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alias. Show all posts
Monday, June 19, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Farewell to Sydney
Shocho mentioned last night's Alias series finale in my 24 talkback. I've got some things to say about it myself, actually -- it's just that the double-length 24 post was all I had in me last night.Alias went out decently. I was never expecting it to return to its early glory, and I hope no one else was either. But it did improve upon the mess that seasons three and four made of what was such a phenomenal show in seasons one and two. The back half of season five, in particular, was probably better than I expected the show to be once again before it ended.
Most of what happened in the finale really worked for me.
The opening sequence of all the team members gathering photos of Prophet 5 members from around the world was inspired. Getting to see everybody out in the field one last time was perfect for a final episode. And sending Sydney to Sydney, for the only time in five years. Necessary, if only to see the place name -- hers -- written large on the screen.
Bringing Marshall's wife back in for the first hour was unexpected, but welcome. I was a fan of the show Felicity back in its time, and so I was of course thrilled when this actress crossed over to Alias for a while. One of the many, many disappointments of seasons three and four was that she totally dropped off the radar. She may not have been readily obvious as a character deserving a "send-off" in the finale, but I'm glad the writers saw the opportunity.
And speaking of Marshall -- watching him stand up to Sloane was quite possibly my favorite moment of the entire finale.
I respected the efforts to try to give some closure to the entire Rambaldi storyline. The return to Mount Sebasio... the realization of his greatest work (apparently, eternal life)... I know some people weren't crazy about the Rambaldi stuff and thought it bogged the show down. But it was necessary to pay it off to conclude the saga, and I thought they did mostly pretty well there.
The flashbacks of the second hour were nice. Good way to bring back "the beginning" in the end. Nice to flesh out a few specific moments you knew had happened in the past. Particularly nice to find a way to bring Francie back for the finale (without resurrecting the Evil Francie yet again).
The deaths of most of the characters worked well. We were never really given time to invest in either Rachel or Tom, so it's hard to wish that Tom's death had carried a little more weight. But I figured going in we'd lose one or the other, and it was wise to frame the loss of one in terms of how the other felt.
Jack's death actually shocked me. Alias has -- under all the action, all the spy stuff, and all the Rambaldi plots -- always been a show about family. So I figured going in that Syd would have to end happily with her family for the show to have the "right" ending. I assumed that meant Vaughn and Isabel, and Jack. I suppose if I'd thought it through a little more, I'd have realized that her mother Irina was family too, and there was no way she'd be surviving the finale -- so that put Jack in jeopardy too. Having him take out Sloane was the right way for him to go. (Well, taking out Irina might have been better -- but you had to pair Irina and Sydney for one final showdown.)
And Sloane's fate. Perfect. I suppose you could argue it's not completely original, that it's cribbing Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" or some such, but it was absolutely the perfect ending for that character, to be forced to face horrifying consequences for his obsession. Death was not enough for Sloane; it was right that he endure a fate worse than death.
The flash forward at the end, showing Syd and Vaughn happily moved away from the spy life (but not entirely) and living with their children. Again, perfect. The only correct ending for the show, really. And having young Isabel showing signs of taking after her mother? The perfect grace note to end with.
But now, on the down side...
I'm not sure what to make of Sloane being haunted by the ghost of his daughter. On the one hand, I suppose they had to have that actress and character in the final episodes, even though they killed her off a few weeks ago. But I sort of felt too many shades of Baltar and Six in the whole set-up. I know, Battlestar Galactica was not the first to feature a morally murky character being haunted by someone he is hallucinating. But they've done it so prominently and effectively on Galactica that Alias' attempt to tread the same ground came up short.
All the past characters they managed to include -- even Francie!! -- but no Will Tippin or Eric Weiss? Sniff.
The Rambaldi pay-off, while generally good (as I mentioned above), seemed to be missing a critical piece or two. How did this man make all his predictions? We'll never know. And if he discovered eternal life, why/how did he die and end up in a sarcophagus in Mongolia? Or did he? Was that supposed to be him in the prison last week? I guess I just always assumed that the ultimate answer to all this Rambaldi stuff was that eventually we'd meet time-traveling/immortal Rambaldi (or his reincarnation) in the flesh. I'm not saying they had to give me exactly what I wanted, but still... they didn't give quite enough, I think.
Irina Derevko was totally bungled, in my opinion. What made her brilliant throughout season two was how nuanced she was. Evil, but subtle. For that matter, you didn't even know for certain she was evil, until she betrayed them all. Even in her appearance a few weeks ago, she totally used Jack and Syd again, but stopped long enough for tender moments in delivering her new granddaughter. But in the finale, Irina was just flat-out, irrational, mustache-twirling evil, with a truly apocalyptic endgame plan that, in my mind, had nothing to do with anything we'd ever seen her character do. And her death, though necessary of course, was just anti-climatic to me.
Still, overall, there was far more about this finale that was well done rather than flawed. It was absolutely the right finale for the complete ride that Alias has been. I'm satisfied. I'm not left wanting for more. And despite the rocky years, I'm glad I stuck around for the whole thing.
Time to hang up the wigs. No more musically-synchronized strutting. Syd has assumed her last Alias.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Alias Compromised
On Wednesday, ABC made official what had been pretty well suspected for some time: this season will be the last one for Alias.
I'm sorry to say this move was probably long overdue.
I've still been watching the show every week, which I suppose goes to show you that I didn't find the show terrible. (Though I had talked about maybe giving it up a few times last year.) Still, it was a pale shadow of what it was in years one and two. And the longer it went on in such a sub-par state, the more it seemed to weaken those first two years. As the whole grew larger, that part of it that was so outstanding was becoming a smaller and smaller part of it. Every new episode was making Alias less a "great" TV show.
They're getting enough notice to be able to work toward a big series conclusion, one that hopefully gets back to the original "Rambaldi" roots and ties up the story in a satisfying way.
It'll be interesting to see, once the next fall season rolls around, what impact this has on Lost (if any). Lost co-creator (and Alias creator) J.J. Abrams has been splitting his focus between the two shows and the upcoming Mission: Impossible 3 he's directing. Actually, he's been giving the movie most of his attention, and leaving most of the day-to-day show running responsibilities on Lost to the other major co-creator, Damon Lindelof. But it seems to be the norm in Hollywood that when a show folds up shop, much of its writing staff is absorbed into other shows under the same production umbrella. (Several Buffy writers moved to Angel, for example.) There had already been a little cross pollination between Alias and Lost, with writers of one turning in a script for the other.
Are there going to be Alias writers on Lost next season? If so, is that going to be a good or a bad thing? I for one would say it hasn't been individual scripts one can blame for Alias' decline -- it's more the sum of those scripts, as the season arcs simply haven't been as compelling as the glory days. Would some of those Alias writers do better on a show more clearly being "steered" in a good direction?
The TV season is not even half over yet, so I guess it will be some time before we find out. For now, just mark it all down as further mysteries surrounding Lost -- these behind the scenes, for a change.
I'm sorry to say this move was probably long overdue.
I've still been watching the show every week, which I suppose goes to show you that I didn't find the show terrible. (Though I had talked about maybe giving it up a few times last year.) Still, it was a pale shadow of what it was in years one and two. And the longer it went on in such a sub-par state, the more it seemed to weaken those first two years. As the whole grew larger, that part of it that was so outstanding was becoming a smaller and smaller part of it. Every new episode was making Alias less a "great" TV show.
They're getting enough notice to be able to work toward a big series conclusion, one that hopefully gets back to the original "Rambaldi" roots and ties up the story in a satisfying way.
It'll be interesting to see, once the next fall season rolls around, what impact this has on Lost (if any). Lost co-creator (and Alias creator) J.J. Abrams has been splitting his focus between the two shows and the upcoming Mission: Impossible 3 he's directing. Actually, he's been giving the movie most of his attention, and leaving most of the day-to-day show running responsibilities on Lost to the other major co-creator, Damon Lindelof. But it seems to be the norm in Hollywood that when a show folds up shop, much of its writing staff is absorbed into other shows under the same production umbrella. (Several Buffy writers moved to Angel, for example.) There had already been a little cross pollination between Alias and Lost, with writers of one turning in a script for the other.
Are there going to be Alias writers on Lost next season? If so, is that going to be a good or a bad thing? I for one would say it hasn't been individual scripts one can blame for Alias' decline -- it's more the sum of those scripts, as the season arcs simply haven't been as compelling as the glory days. Would some of those Alias writers do better on a show more clearly being "steered" in a good direction?
The TV season is not even half over yet, so I guess it will be some time before we find out. For now, just mark it all down as further mysteries surrounding Lost -- these behind the scenes, for a change.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Alias: Year Five
Since I've watched every episode of Alias from the day it first aired, four years (and for me, about two or three houses) ago, I suppose I would be remiss not to say anything about tonight's fifth season premiere.
If you follow the show and haven't seen it yet, go away now. Or, as they more commonly say...
SPOILER ALERT
Truth is, it may not be that much of a spoiler anyway to those who check TVGuide.com or any other TV news web sites. Tonight's big revelation was fairly well trumpeted far and wide, and was sadly ruined for me several weeks ago. Entertainment journalists who write spoilery headlines should be shot.
So... Michael Vaughn is dead. Of course, as Irena Derevko has proven to us quite recently, dead on Alias doesn't necessarily count for much. Still, this seemed pretty definitive, as far as deaths go. (And the fact that the entertainment news circles made so much of it pretty well confirms it.)
I'm really not sure what to make of this development. I was quite enjoying the episode until the fatal encounter, more so than I've enjoyed an episode of Alias in quite some time. But despite all the time I've spent watching the character, the death itself didn't really move me. Maybe it's because it was spoiled for me. I doubt it, though... I can't think of a few other TV shows I've jumped onto late, knowing already of the death of a major character, and I was still moved once I got to view the actual episode in question.
I think it had to do with how cheap and easy his death seemed. We've seen Vaughn get out of far worse scrapes than this. The guy that offed him wasn't even a long-standing villain, it was a new threat appearing for the first time in this episode. And it seems inconceivable that a guy who, from what we were told, had been declared dead two years ago could somehow infiltrate A.P.O. so effortlessly and track down Vaughn. What background check did they wait to run until it was too late that they could have and should have run right from the outset?
In short, our heroes all had to behave phenomenally, colossally stupid in order to bring about the events leading to Vaughn's death. And so really, frankly, I think it might have been better if he'd just died in the car crash. He would have had a more compelling "last mission" in the fourth season finale, and the mystery about his true identity would have been more... well, mysterious to kick off season five.
I suppose we'll see where it all goes this year. I don't expect as much from Alias anymore as I once did. I expect only that this will be the last season.
Still, it was only last month with Six Feet Under that I got to see a show that had withered in years three and four bounce back to have a stellar final batch of episodes. Perhaps Alias can somehow manage to do the same.
If you follow the show and haven't seen it yet, go away now. Or, as they more commonly say...
SPOILER ALERT
Truth is, it may not be that much of a spoiler anyway to those who check TVGuide.com or any other TV news web sites. Tonight's big revelation was fairly well trumpeted far and wide, and was sadly ruined for me several weeks ago. Entertainment journalists who write spoilery headlines should be shot.
So... Michael Vaughn is dead. Of course, as Irena Derevko has proven to us quite recently, dead on Alias doesn't necessarily count for much. Still, this seemed pretty definitive, as far as deaths go. (And the fact that the entertainment news circles made so much of it pretty well confirms it.)
I'm really not sure what to make of this development. I was quite enjoying the episode until the fatal encounter, more so than I've enjoyed an episode of Alias in quite some time. But despite all the time I've spent watching the character, the death itself didn't really move me. Maybe it's because it was spoiled for me. I doubt it, though... I can't think of a few other TV shows I've jumped onto late, knowing already of the death of a major character, and I was still moved once I got to view the actual episode in question.
I think it had to do with how cheap and easy his death seemed. We've seen Vaughn get out of far worse scrapes than this. The guy that offed him wasn't even a long-standing villain, it was a new threat appearing for the first time in this episode. And it seems inconceivable that a guy who, from what we were told, had been declared dead two years ago could somehow infiltrate A.P.O. so effortlessly and track down Vaughn. What background check did they wait to run until it was too late that they could have and should have run right from the outset?
In short, our heroes all had to behave phenomenally, colossally stupid in order to bring about the events leading to Vaughn's death. And so really, frankly, I think it might have been better if he'd just died in the car crash. He would have had a more compelling "last mission" in the fourth season finale, and the mystery about his true identity would have been more... well, mysterious to kick off season five.
I suppose we'll see where it all goes this year. I don't expect as much from Alias anymore as I once did. I expect only that this will be the last season.
Still, it was only last month with Six Feet Under that I got to see a show that had withered in years three and four bounce back to have a stellar final batch of episodes. Perhaps Alias can somehow manage to do the same.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Finales Finale
There you have it, the last of the finales for this season. Sure, there are a few shows coming up this summer -- The 4400, The Dead Zone, Six Feet Under, Battlestar Galactica -- but for now, things are pretty much on a break.
I have so many disjointed thoughts about tonight's Lost and Alias, I've decided the "fragments" presentation that's been so popular lately would be most appropriate.
The "Previously on Lost" clips package seemed unnecessarily thorough. It basically started with "once upon a time, there was a plane crash," and ran for like 3 or 4 minutes. If you haven't watched the show by now, maybe this isn't the episode you should be starting with. DVDs are coming in just a few months.
Best exchange of the night --
Hurley: "How did this happen?"
Rousseau: "Are you on the same island as I am?"
Exploding Arzt! (And I was pleased to later see Hurley make the "you've got some Arzt on you" reference I myself was making already.) Of course, he should have known better than to be "the new guy" going off with the gang of five established characters. He had everything but the Red Shirt.
Locke asks Jack if he's ever played Operation. He's pretty much moved onto the real thing.
Walt's GameBoy makes Donkey Kong and Atari 2600 Pac-Man noises.
You'd think they'd be more careful about carrying around those backpacks and the torches after what happened to Arzt. (Again, leave it to Hurley to later say what I was thinking.)
Dominic Monaghan is gonna have to spend the rest of the series getting a makeup scar applied to his forehead now.
The sheer number of 4s, 8s, 15s, 16s, 23s, and 42s in Hurley's flashback sequence was staggering. The dashboard readout on his rental was pretty cool, but the soccer uniforms took top prize.
If I was the gate agent, I would not be very happy about Huge Sweaty Guy giving me a hug after I let him on the plane.
The sound of the radar blips during the raft scenes sounded an awful lot like the noise we get when the local affiliate crushes up the screen to run weather advisories across the bottom. We've been getting those a lot this May. Very distracting.
No, Walt! Don't let them take you! Quick, think of polar bears or something!
Come on, you didn't seriously think they were going to show us what was inside the hatch yet, did you?
And as for Alias...
Look, it's that guy that was in the season premiere for like 10 minutes. What an odd, obscure character to bring back for another short 5 minutes, ending in untimely death. Of course, he's part of the J.J. Abrams Repertory Company -- he used to be on Felicity.
Ooo, look, Zombie Apocalypse #647! (Well, it's new to Alias, but still... seen it.)
I don't understand the point of Jack picking up the cell phone and the whole "Leonid is dead" beat. I thought for sure it would pay off later in the episode, but nope. Was it supposed to make Jack look sympathetic somehow? Has he really been such a jerk lately that he needed softening up? I thought his behavior in past seasons was far darker.
Hmmm. Zombie Nadia looks like she's possessed by the Kosst Amojan.
If it takes as long for Irina Derevko to reappear next time as it did this time, we might not see her again before the show is cancelled. That makes me sad.
Is it wrong of me to be rooting for Nadia not to come back next season? She's not as obnoxious as pre-evil Lauren Reed, but still, I think the show would improve without her.
Ugh. Santa Barbara gets the "destination title card" treatment. Kyle will never let me hear the end of this.
Holy crap! Big surprise car crash! Reminds me a bit of the first episode of Six Feet Under, but still -- totally shocking. Of course, that's what Vaughn gets for driving like he's on a TV show, looking at the passenger instead of the road.
I sure hope Vaughn's "big secret" is better than what Sydney ended up finding in the box following last year's cliffhanger. That was a big, fat letdown.
See you in September, you Bad Robot, you.
I have so many disjointed thoughts about tonight's Lost and Alias, I've decided the "fragments" presentation that's been so popular lately would be most appropriate.
The "Previously on Lost" clips package seemed unnecessarily thorough. It basically started with "once upon a time, there was a plane crash," and ran for like 3 or 4 minutes. If you haven't watched the show by now, maybe this isn't the episode you should be starting with. DVDs are coming in just a few months.
Best exchange of the night --
Hurley: "How did this happen?"
Rousseau: "Are you on the same island as I am?"
Exploding Arzt! (And I was pleased to later see Hurley make the "you've got some Arzt on you" reference I myself was making already.) Of course, he should have known better than to be "the new guy" going off with the gang of five established characters. He had everything but the Red Shirt.
Locke asks Jack if he's ever played Operation. He's pretty much moved onto the real thing.
Walt's GameBoy makes Donkey Kong and Atari 2600 Pac-Man noises.
You'd think they'd be more careful about carrying around those backpacks and the torches after what happened to Arzt. (Again, leave it to Hurley to later say what I was thinking.)
Dominic Monaghan is gonna have to spend the rest of the series getting a makeup scar applied to his forehead now.
The sheer number of 4s, 8s, 15s, 16s, 23s, and 42s in Hurley's flashback sequence was staggering. The dashboard readout on his rental was pretty cool, but the soccer uniforms took top prize.
If I was the gate agent, I would not be very happy about Huge Sweaty Guy giving me a hug after I let him on the plane.
The sound of the radar blips during the raft scenes sounded an awful lot like the noise we get when the local affiliate crushes up the screen to run weather advisories across the bottom. We've been getting those a lot this May. Very distracting.
No, Walt! Don't let them take you! Quick, think of polar bears or something!
Come on, you didn't seriously think they were going to show us what was inside the hatch yet, did you?
And as for Alias...
Look, it's that guy that was in the season premiere for like 10 minutes. What an odd, obscure character to bring back for another short 5 minutes, ending in untimely death. Of course, he's part of the J.J. Abrams Repertory Company -- he used to be on Felicity.
Ooo, look, Zombie Apocalypse #647! (Well, it's new to Alias, but still... seen it.)
I don't understand the point of Jack picking up the cell phone and the whole "Leonid is dead" beat. I thought for sure it would pay off later in the episode, but nope. Was it supposed to make Jack look sympathetic somehow? Has he really been such a jerk lately that he needed softening up? I thought his behavior in past seasons was far darker.
Hmmm. Zombie Nadia looks like she's possessed by the Kosst Amojan.
If it takes as long for Irina Derevko to reappear next time as it did this time, we might not see her again before the show is cancelled. That makes me sad.
Is it wrong of me to be rooting for Nadia not to come back next season? She's not as obnoxious as pre-evil Lauren Reed, but still, I think the show would improve without her.
Ugh. Santa Barbara gets the "destination title card" treatment. Kyle will never let me hear the end of this.
Holy crap! Big surprise car crash! Reminds me a bit of the first episode of Six Feet Under, but still -- totally shocking. Of course, that's what Vaughn gets for driving like he's on a TV show, looking at the passenger instead of the road.
I sure hope Vaughn's "big secret" is better than what Sydney ended up finding in the box following last year's cliffhanger. That was a big, fat letdown.
See you in September, you Bad Robot, you.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The Penultimate J.J. Entertainment Block
Because Lost and Alias are being surgically separated next season, this week is the second-to-last time I'll be able to refer to the back-to-back Abrams-aganza.
Lost was the better of the two, I thought -- as per usual. It was fun to get little snippets of multiple characters in flashback. It was also neat to get so many different threads pulled together in one episode. The return of Delenn -- er, Danielle. Sawyer finally revealing he'd met Jack's father. The launch of the raft. The return of the vaguely Jurassic Park-esque monster. I have a feeling there's quite a lot of cliffhangeriness in store for us at the conclusion of next week's season finale.
Then there was Alias, with the return of Lena Olin as Irina Derevko. As has been the case with so many other "such-and-such actor returns to so-and-so show" headlines this season, I'd had this spoiled for me many months ago. Still, it was fun to have her back either way.
My favorite moment in either show, though, had to be Vaughn going to ask Jack's permission to marry Sydney. It was a nice echo of the pilot, when Syd's first fiance tried to do the same thing -- and got roughly similar results.
Beyond that, though, I don't think there's much I can say about this week's Abrams block. Both the Lost and Alias episodes seemed pretty thoroughly connected into next week's forthcoming installments. We'll see if both shows can go out for the summer on a high note.
Lost was the better of the two, I thought -- as per usual. It was fun to get little snippets of multiple characters in flashback. It was also neat to get so many different threads pulled together in one episode. The return of Delenn -- er, Danielle. Sawyer finally revealing he'd met Jack's father. The launch of the raft. The return of the vaguely Jurassic Park-esque monster. I have a feeling there's quite a lot of cliffhangeriness in store for us at the conclusion of next week's season finale.
Then there was Alias, with the return of Lena Olin as Irina Derevko. As has been the case with so many other "such-and-such actor returns to so-and-so show" headlines this season, I'd had this spoiled for me many months ago. Still, it was fun to have her back either way.
My favorite moment in either show, though, had to be Vaughn going to ask Jack's permission to marry Sydney. It was a nice echo of the pilot, when Syd's first fiance tried to do the same thing -- and got roughly similar results.
Beyond that, though, I don't think there's much I can say about this week's Abrams block. Both the Lost and Alias episodes seemed pretty thoroughly connected into next week's forthcoming installments. We'll see if both shows can go out for the summer on a high note.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
FOX Gets a Few Things Right
FOX is a long, long way from atoning for the cancellation of Firefly, Wonderfalls, and others, but they did manage -- contrary to what years of bad decision making would lead us to suspect -- to make two good decisions in the last day or two.
One, they picked up Arrested Development, the funniest comedy on television, for its third season.
Two, they avoided letting 24 slip to another network, renewing it for two more seasons.
ABC, on the other hand, has some splainin' to do. They announced their fall schedule today, and have chosen to feed Alias to the wolves next season. Alias will air on Thursdays at 8:00/7:00 C&M. For those that maybe don't have electricity in their homes on Thursdays, that's the time slot dominated by Survivor, filled respectably (ratings-wise) by Joey, and (pending FOX's schedule announcement later this week) also fought over by The OC. Plus, the WB has "proudly" announced they're moving Smallville into the same time slot. I'm sorry, but when a person who owns two TiVos (that would be me) is complaining about a TV pileup, there are some serious issues.
Add in Jennifer Garner's rumored pregnancy, sure to cause some creative difficulties for the show if true, and you can virtually guarantee next season will be the last for Alias. Though, to be honest, if it slips again and loses any of the quality they've managed to reclaim in the last few weeks, it's surely for the best.
Oh... and almost forgot... ABC is bumping Lost an hour later on Wednesday nights next season. Where it would be airing opposite The West Wing, except that NBC has elected to move that to Sunday. (Thankfully, they're putting it in the hour before Desperate Housewives would have ground it into mulch.)
Yes, there will be a short quiz later. Hope you took notes.
One, they picked up Arrested Development, the funniest comedy on television, for its third season.
Two, they avoided letting 24 slip to another network, renewing it for two more seasons.
ABC, on the other hand, has some splainin' to do. They announced their fall schedule today, and have chosen to feed Alias to the wolves next season. Alias will air on Thursdays at 8:00/7:00 C&M. For those that maybe don't have electricity in their homes on Thursdays, that's the time slot dominated by Survivor, filled respectably (ratings-wise) by Joey, and (pending FOX's schedule announcement later this week) also fought over by The OC. Plus, the WB has "proudly" announced they're moving Smallville into the same time slot. I'm sorry, but when a person who owns two TiVos (that would be me) is complaining about a TV pileup, there are some serious issues.
Add in Jennifer Garner's rumored pregnancy, sure to cause some creative difficulties for the show if true, and you can virtually guarantee next season will be the last for Alias. Though, to be honest, if it slips again and loses any of the quality they've managed to reclaim in the last few weeks, it's surely for the best.
Oh... and almost forgot... ABC is bumping Lost an hour later on Wednesday nights next season. Where it would be airing opposite The West Wing, except that NBC has elected to move that to Sunday. (Thankfully, they're putting it in the hour before Desperate Housewives would have ground it into mulch.)
Yes, there will be a short quiz later. Hope you took notes.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Bad Robot = Good TV
On Lost this week, Walt's apparent psychic powers expanded a bit as he pulled a page from the Johnny Smith playbook and gleaned Locke's plans for opening "The Hatch" by touch. And given Walt's reaction, it would seem that the only thing waiting beyond "The Hatch" is untimely death. Maybe there's a whole family of polar bears hibernating inside.
Meanwhile, Arvin Clone returned to Alias after a few weeks away. (Although this time it was Elena Derevko's turn to vanish for a week. Alias just can't juggle multiple plot lines like it used to.) On the one hand, I was a little disappointed to see "reliving the past to gain useful information in the present" be the way to solve the crisis two weeks running. On the other hand, I did find it all an intriguing payoff to the Arvin Clone arc. It's a shame it had to end so soon, really. I think during the Golden Age of Alias a few years ago, this sort of thing could have carried on for quite some time.
And I don't know if any of you noticed, but Jennifer Garner actually directed that episode of Alias, and did a respectable enough job. As if she doesn't have enough to do on the show already.
Meanwhile, Arvin Clone returned to Alias after a few weeks away. (Although this time it was Elena Derevko's turn to vanish for a week. Alias just can't juggle multiple plot lines like it used to.) On the one hand, I was a little disappointed to see "reliving the past to gain useful information in the present" be the way to solve the crisis two weeks running. On the other hand, I did find it all an intriguing payoff to the Arvin Clone arc. It's a shame it had to end so soon, really. I think during the Golden Age of Alias a few years ago, this sort of thing could have carried on for quite some time.
And I don't know if any of you noticed, but Jennifer Garner actually directed that episode of Alias, and did a respectable enough job. As if she doesn't have enough to do on the show already.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
The J.J. Entertainment Block
A pretty solid two hours of entertainment tonight from J.J. Abrams and Co. Some moments that jumped out at me:
On Lost, it was a very nice flourish at the end of the Sayid's backstory that he delayed his return to LA for a day to claim his friend's body, and consequently ended up on the doomed Oceanic flight.
Sawyer's scenes, though a bit of a re-tread of the classic "crying baby" cliche, were still pretty damn funny.
I think the writers made a serious mistake letting Charlie refer to the baby as Turnip-Head. Cause I don't know about you, but I think I'm probably always going to call him Turnip-Head forever, no matter what Claire ends up naming him. (What do you think the odds are she goes with "Boone?")
On Alias, I found the "dressing up as Evil Mom" to be a fairly compelling plot. I still want to know what happened to Arvin Clone, though.
Michael Vartan has a very asymmetrical face. Every now and then, directors reverse camera angles in editing, or deliberately choose to shoot into mirrors as they did tonight while Sydney was preparing to portray her mother. With some actors, you can't tell the difference. But our agent Vaughn looked just wrong. (Jennifer Garner, however -- perfect as always.)
I'm always amused to see what sort of "cover up" the props department on a TV show will use to conceal the Apple logo on the cover of a laptop computer. On this week's Alias, it was a big red dot. Dots of various colors seem to be the popular choice -- I see them on most shows. But my favorite cover up ever was in an episode of Angel where a Post-It Note was stuck on the top of Cordelia's laptop. Nothing written on it. Just stuck there.
On Lost, it was a very nice flourish at the end of the Sayid's backstory that he delayed his return to LA for a day to claim his friend's body, and consequently ended up on the doomed Oceanic flight.
Sawyer's scenes, though a bit of a re-tread of the classic "crying baby" cliche, were still pretty damn funny.
I think the writers made a serious mistake letting Charlie refer to the baby as Turnip-Head. Cause I don't know about you, but I think I'm probably always going to call him Turnip-Head forever, no matter what Claire ends up naming him. (What do you think the odds are she goes with "Boone?")
On Alias, I found the "dressing up as Evil Mom" to be a fairly compelling plot. I still want to know what happened to Arvin Clone, though.
Michael Vartan has a very asymmetrical face. Every now and then, directors reverse camera angles in editing, or deliberately choose to shoot into mirrors as they did tonight while Sydney was preparing to portray her mother. With some actors, you can't tell the difference. But our agent Vaughn looked just wrong. (Jennifer Garner, however -- perfect as always.)
I'm always amused to see what sort of "cover up" the props department on a TV show will use to conceal the Apple logo on the cover of a laptop computer. On this week's Alias, it was a big red dot. Dots of various colors seem to be the popular choice -- I see them on most shows. But my favorite cover up ever was in an episode of Angel where a Post-It Note was stuck on the top of Cordelia's laptop. Nothing written on it. Just stuck there.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Where Did Arvin Clone Go?
Just when Alias had grabbed maybe a hint of traction with the "Arvin Clone" plot, they completely abandon it to instead go this week with a largely stand-alone story about another random terrorist organization we've never heard of. Grumble. Maybe something will come of the "third Derevko sister" they've now introduced. Or maybe she'll vanish completely like Arvin Clone did.
The cross-pollenation between 24 and Alias continues this week. After getting killed off on 24 about a third of the way into the season, Nestor Serrano showed up for a one shot on Alias tonight.
I am sort of interested in the "dying Jack" plot, but not because I believe they'll actually kill him off. (There could be a miracle Rambaldi cure in store for him, for example.) It sort of made me think of President Roslin on Battlestar Galactica, with her terminal cancer. And that's where the interest comes in. How long can you sustain having a main character on a TV show with a terminal disease? At some point, don't you have to make good on killing the person? If you sweep in with a miracle cure, is that a cop-out?
BSG helps themselves a bit with this problem by their relatively tight passage of time. Season 1, for example, unfolded over a period of just over a month. We've been told Roslin can expect about 6 months to live. So at that pace, she could live for several more seasons before we'd be pushing credibility. Jack on Alias, on the other hand, is already "molting." It makes me question if Alias is even going to get much dramatic mileage out of his sacrifice before they go wrapping it up.
I was sort of disappointed in both Alias and 24 last week. Then 24 rolled out what I thought was an incredible episode this week. I guess I was hoping that Alias would have a similar resurgence. I'm feeling like I have to wait another week now, though.
The cross-pollenation between 24 and Alias continues this week. After getting killed off on 24 about a third of the way into the season, Nestor Serrano showed up for a one shot on Alias tonight.
I am sort of interested in the "dying Jack" plot, but not because I believe they'll actually kill him off. (There could be a miracle Rambaldi cure in store for him, for example.) It sort of made me think of President Roslin on Battlestar Galactica, with her terminal cancer. And that's where the interest comes in. How long can you sustain having a main character on a TV show with a terminal disease? At some point, don't you have to make good on killing the person? If you sweep in with a miracle cure, is that a cop-out?
BSG helps themselves a bit with this problem by their relatively tight passage of time. Season 1, for example, unfolded over a period of just over a month. We've been told Roslin can expect about 6 months to live. So at that pace, she could live for several more seasons before we'd be pushing credibility. Jack on Alias, on the other hand, is already "molting." It makes me question if Alias is even going to get much dramatic mileage out of his sacrifice before they go wrapping it up.
I was sort of disappointed in both Alias and 24 last week. Then 24 rolled out what I thought was an incredible episode this week. I guess I was hoping that Alias would have a similar resurgence. I'm feeling like I have to wait another week now, though.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
M.I.A.: Alias?
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?
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?
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