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muck_a_luckSo, just finished the first season of Alias. Couldn't be happier with it. Highly recommend it. Especially recommend in on DVD, as you do not have to wait "til next week" to find out what's going to happen next.
Now on to my comments.
First let me say, kudos to whomever thought of having the echos of the pilot movie in the seson finale. Very well done! It actually snuck up on me. I was so caught up in the story line that I only realize what they had done at the very end, when I thought, "Cool!" But also, I appreciate having the "dentist" already be dead. I was getting all tense, thinking, here we go again, and this time it's personal! Then, sigh of relief, Will had already offed him...
Seriously, this is one of the best spy shows I have seen on TV. Better than plenty of stupid spy novels I've read and movies I've watched. Althought there were a few cheesy moments over the course of the season, the level of dramatic tension has been high and well-maintained. Possible romantic tensions heavily underplayed, which I appreciate. I used to grit my teeth through episodes of The X Files, waiting for the "relationship" to develop. [Which it may have done. I quit watching X-Files when The Small Boy was born, around season 5 or 6, I think.] But, though Vaughn is clearly pining, and Will is clearly interested, there's not really even any flirting. No chance of our action heroine becoming just some soap queen. [However, for the record, did not appreciate the fact that she was punished for having sex by having her lover turn out to be evil and die. I know it was supposed to bring her closer to her father, but it was a cheap shot for a group of good script-writers.]
It is so amazing to have a show where the woman is *never* the damsel in distress. Or when she is, she just kicks butt and takes names. No rescuer needed. Well, maybe an extraction team, but hey, who doesn't need an extraction now and then?! I know I do! And for the record, being airlifted out of Siberia on a string counts as rescuing yourself, as far as I'm concerned.
Also nice to have a show where you actually feel that characters are in peril. OK, so I never have to worry about Sidney or Jack. They've got seasons of show ahead of them. But I nearly choked on my milk and Cadbury Creme Egg when they "shot" Will. Because seriously, this show wouldn't hesitate. And I think it was a very bad move for Jack to shoot the mole rather than turning him over to the powers that be...
Biggest problem is that, as good as the writing is on this show, they sometimes telegraph plot lines. I could see the Snowman "plot twist" coming 15 miles away. And the fact that it was Sidney's mother, not father, who was the agent for the KGB. These were some of the cheesier episodes.
However, they managed to *not* give away several good twists. I was on the edge of my seat all season about Will's investigation and how he was going to survive it. The fact that Sidney managed to be identified as the double in SD-6 and still got out of it. I have no idea what they are going to do about Dixon. I did not predict that Sidney's mother would still be alive, and though I did later predict that she would have some strong position in the Man's operation, it didn't occur to me that she would actually *be* the man. For that matter, didn't foresee Sloan actually killing his wife. [Assuming he did. We didn't actually see her hit the floor. Could have been sleeping pills or something he put in her drink...]
Acting is first class. Not many shows could pull off the scene where Sloan tells his wife that SD-6 is not a CIA group. They are talking, but there is no audible dialogue. There is music, so all we can do is watch his face, her reactions. He is obviously telling her something very matter-of-factly, but with his face, his expressions, his eyes, he is pleading for her to understand and forgive him. And she is simultaneously horrified and disbelieving. She is watching her beloved husband slip away and be replaced by a monster. Her world is crumbling, and it's all on her face. I can't remember the last time I saw acting this good on television.
So, to conclude... Great show. Recommend it to all. Would rate it a hard PG-13, mild R for violence, though, as some of the torture scenes are a little disturbing and the dead bodies often look pretty dead...
Now on to my comments.
First let me say, kudos to whomever thought of having the echos of the pilot movie in the seson finale. Very well done! It actually snuck up on me. I was so caught up in the story line that I only realize what they had done at the very end, when I thought, "Cool!" But also, I appreciate having the "dentist" already be dead. I was getting all tense, thinking, here we go again, and this time it's personal! Then, sigh of relief, Will had already offed him...
Seriously, this is one of the best spy shows I have seen on TV. Better than plenty of stupid spy novels I've read and movies I've watched. Althought there were a few cheesy moments over the course of the season, the level of dramatic tension has been high and well-maintained. Possible romantic tensions heavily underplayed, which I appreciate. I used to grit my teeth through episodes of The X Files, waiting for the "relationship" to develop. [Which it may have done. I quit watching X-Files when The Small Boy was born, around season 5 or 6, I think.] But, though Vaughn is clearly pining, and Will is clearly interested, there's not really even any flirting. No chance of our action heroine becoming just some soap queen. [However, for the record, did not appreciate the fact that she was punished for having sex by having her lover turn out to be evil and die. I know it was supposed to bring her closer to her father, but it was a cheap shot for a group of good script-writers.]
It is so amazing to have a show where the woman is *never* the damsel in distress. Or when she is, she just kicks butt and takes names. No rescuer needed. Well, maybe an extraction team, but hey, who doesn't need an extraction now and then?! I know I do! And for the record, being airlifted out of Siberia on a string counts as rescuing yourself, as far as I'm concerned.
Also nice to have a show where you actually feel that characters are in peril. OK, so I never have to worry about Sidney or Jack. They've got seasons of show ahead of them. But I nearly choked on my milk and Cadbury Creme Egg when they "shot" Will. Because seriously, this show wouldn't hesitate. And I think it was a very bad move for Jack to shoot the mole rather than turning him over to the powers that be...
Biggest problem is that, as good as the writing is on this show, they sometimes telegraph plot lines. I could see the Snowman "plot twist" coming 15 miles away. And the fact that it was Sidney's mother, not father, who was the agent for the KGB. These were some of the cheesier episodes.
However, they managed to *not* give away several good twists. I was on the edge of my seat all season about Will's investigation and how he was going to survive it. The fact that Sidney managed to be identified as the double in SD-6 and still got out of it. I have no idea what they are going to do about Dixon. I did not predict that Sidney's mother would still be alive, and though I did later predict that she would have some strong position in the Man's operation, it didn't occur to me that she would actually *be* the man. For that matter, didn't foresee Sloan actually killing his wife. [Assuming he did. We didn't actually see her hit the floor. Could have been sleeping pills or something he put in her drink...]
Acting is first class. Not many shows could pull off the scene where Sloan tells his wife that SD-6 is not a CIA group. They are talking, but there is no audible dialogue. There is music, so all we can do is watch his face, her reactions. He is obviously telling her something very matter-of-factly, but with his face, his expressions, his eyes, he is pleading for her to understand and forgive him. And she is simultaneously horrified and disbelieving. She is watching her beloved husband slip away and be replaced by a monster. Her world is crumbling, and it's all on her face. I can't remember the last time I saw acting this good on television.
So, to conclude... Great show. Recommend it to all. Would rate it a hard PG-13, mild R for violence, though, as some of the torture scenes are a little disturbing and the dead bodies often look pretty dead...
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Date: 2004-03-31 02:08 am (UTC)And Angel last night! OMG! Hadn't watched or read any soilers or anything, so total surprise! Cordelia back from her coma, the old gang back together, excellent fight scenes with Lindsay, and then ... *sob* ... I cried :( So sad!
Feeling a little less hyper today, but give it time!
And just realised who I'm logged in as - Russ says hi, too!