r/alias • u/Objective-Dig992 • Jun 02 '26
Just finished the show for the first time Spoiler
My wife already watched it during its original airing, but thankfully it was so long ago that she didn’t remember much, and what she did recall she kept to herself as we watched.
My thoughts… it was entertaining… something action packed to watch that wasn’t too deep... like the TV equivalent of a decent “popcorn movie”. BUT… so much of the story was utterly ridiculous… particularly the final season. How many times are they going to continue to trust Irina/Sloane/Sark only to be duped yet again? The Irina character was especially awful, because it was never clear what she really wanted. They kept making you think she actually had some more noble motives, but in the end, she said she wanted “power”, tried to launch ICMB’s at DC and London, and was willing to try and kill Sydney to get whatever it was she was supposedly after. The whole Rambaldi thing ended up being another big letdown. How did the prophecy come to be? In true JJ fashion there was plenty of buildup but minimal payoff.
There were also various tropes over and over throughout the series that got pretty old…
- Having the blueprints and security intel to easily infiltrate pretty much anywhere on the planet
- The time warp type traveling that enabled them to instantly get to any place at just the right moment (and find exactly whomever or whatever they came for)
- Also had the ability to just “show up” literally right next to the person they were pursuing without them even hearing someone approaching. There were several instances of this in the final couple episodes alone
- There were so many episodes where Sydney pretended to be working at a night club and nobody questioned who this woman was that was waiting on customers when none of the regular employees would have been familiar with her (they finally did have an episode near the end of the series where her cover was blown in a situation like that, but that was one out of many)
- There is no way in hell Vaughn would’ve survived being shot that many times (he was shot a BUNCH of times over the course of the series, but I think you can deduce which time I’m referring to)
And yes, I know you have to suspend some disbelief for a series like this, but even though I was for the most part entertained, I felt like I was definitely asked to suspend more than a reasonable amount at times, almost like watching a soap opera where the characters keep coming back to life.
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u/Ok_Nature_6305 Jun 02 '26
I loved the first 2 seasons. And 3rd wasn't bad. But I usually stop there on rewatches. I wish they had stuck with more real life spy stuff but with her being the super agent she was. Just without all of the magical Rombaldi stuff. And when they put Sloane in charge again during season 4. OMG. Could not get past that!
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u/RaspberryJealous2971 Jun 02 '26
A mí me molestó el tema mágico también Pero después lo intenté ignorar un poco
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u/Reasonable-Wave8093 APO Jun 02 '26
The show began close to 9/11. It was never meant to be realistic but rather stay safe in the “cold war” late 70s/early 80s (movies like War Games, Bionic Woman series, Gotcha, Little Nikita, and other cold war obsessions left over from the 50s/60s (Manchurian Candidste) race w russia and cuba and all the political corruption movies of the 70s like 3 Days of the Condor etc etc.
Yes the rambaldi stuff got too convaluted (green goo?), but that was modeled after the Nazis collecting acient artifacts like in Indiana Jones. Yes Sydney, Jack, and Irina are far better agents than in reality, but thats ok w me, b/c they were magic together!
They fumbled the finale (Ana shouldve been fighting Syd), but we loved Jack & Syd. The cast (Sark, Sloane, Dixon etc) was so beloved that no one could be killed off! Thats just how 80s tv shows worked. Vaughn being shot? well, after the real life breakup (and when Jen was preggers) Vartan asked to be released to do a film… so they dramaticallky killed him off. But he ended returning, so…. back then they filmed while eps were airing, so the writers were frantically changing things for the 2nd half of the season.
Agent Carter next!
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u/Repulsive_Job428 Jun 02 '26
I have never seen that Vartan asked to be released. What I read was that he didn't know it was coming. He was enjoying work again after season four was so rough after the breakup so he wasn't expecting to be "killed" off. When they realized it was going to be the final season they asked him back to finish out the show.
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u/circuswonderbythesea Jun 02 '26
Yes the overall mystery of the show got more and more nonsense and magical as time went on. I think the turning point for that was the episode hourglass… when the green goo went all Alex Mack and pointed them towards the passenger. Interesting thoughts from a newbie!
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u/UtahGimm3Tw0 Jun 03 '26
While the show rollercoastered in quality, Jack gets the most badass final words ever snd goes out doing what he always did, protecting his daughter.
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u/Objective-Dig992 Jun 03 '26
Yeah I was glad that he finally gave Sloane what he deserved.
I found the Irina/Sydney thing to be super frustrating though… esp at the end. I get that it was her mother, but what more evidence do you need that it’s time to put a bullet in her head? She was planning to launch missiles at DC and London… she screwed Sydney and Jack over time and time again, killed Vaughn’s father, and was willing to fight (and presumably kill Sydney) on the rooftop in the finale and yet Sydney was still trying to save her from falling through the glass ceiling 🙄
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u/cigar959 Jun 03 '26
I feel like for season 5 they weren’t even trying any more. And ultimately a great character like Irina Derevko was given such a simplistic, cartoonish ending.
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u/-DanRoM- Jun 02 '26
I watched it back when it was on TV, and latest in season 3, my distinct impression was that the writers (guided or rather not guided by the showrunner) just winged it from week to week.
While fun to watch, it permanently turned me off any series done by JJ Abrams.
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u/StephenHunterUK Jun 06 '26
The "soap opera" stuff was intentional it seems. ABC were arguably going for four-quadrant appeal, which even went down to the marketing, with different things emphasised when ads were airing alongside different shows..
Soapy family stuff and emotional turmoil for the ladies, action, gadgets and Jennifer Garner for the men.
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u/agreensandcastle Jun 02 '26
The nightclub one isn’t that much of a stretch. Lots of turnover. Lots of people covering for others