Alias Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[Tim Glover]

Only 7 more episodes left! Really enjoying it so far and very, very intrigued by the

Spoiler:Sloan storyline. Is he Sidney's father??? I hope not! Lauren is turning out to be quite the vixen.

 

[pitchman]

quote:My rating for S3 is a good 8 out of 10. I really enjoyed it and didn't think it was as horrible as most people seemed to think.

When I finished watching season 3 on DVD, I felt much the same as you. Yet, when I watched it over the air, I was pretty unhappy with season 3. I think I now know why. ABC did a HORRIBLE job scheduling the program last season. There were four and five week gaps between episodes. And, IIRC, from December to May, I don't think it aired more than twice. What it boils down to, is that Alias works better when episodes can be viewed consecutively (as on DVD.) As far as the network run, you can get by with a ("previously on Alias...") recap when talking about a show from a week ago, but when the last episode aired four weeks ago and you're recapping plot elements from seven or eight weeks past, that's a different story. I think ABC's pledge to air all 22 of the season 4 episodes consecutively, may be just what the doctor ordered to help make Alias the primetime hit it deserves to be.

ps - I still dislike the season 3 finale. I can deal with J.J.'s new ending, it's the rest of the episode I can't hack. With the ridiculous time-shifting, I think this is the worst episode of the three-year run.

 

[Citizen87645]

I agree scheduling was a big factor. I'm only on epsidode five and things seem to be moving much faster than how I remembered. I find myself thinking, "That happened so early in the season?"

 

[Aryn Leroux]

I really enjoyed the fan commentary on the set. That would be something id like to see more of in the future. Season 3 was terrific i don't care what anyone says. Bring on Season 4 in January!

 

[Tim Glover]

Finished Season 3 this evening! We watched about 7 episodes in all today!!!



I thought the season was very, very underrated up through Hourglass . In fact the episodes on Disc 5 were as intense and stimulating as the episodes on S1 & S2.



However, like some here, I felt a bit of a letdown with the final 2 Legacy & Resurrection



They just didn't have the same punch as the episodes that preceded it and found myself growing a bit tired of Spoiler:Sark & Lauren.



Still a great season that overall not as effective as the first 2 but still great in it's own right.



Certainly the cliffhanger episode wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped but will see what season 4 holds.

 

[Nick Sievers]

quote:Certainly the cliffhanger episode wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped but will see what season 4 holds.

I quite liked most of S3, but that last episode easily ranks as the worst i've seen on Alias. Way too much sloppy writing:

Spoiler:The Mission:Impossible mask trick, not once but twice.

Handing the gun back to Isabella Rossellini's character and she couldn't feel that her gun is empty a whole clip.

Vaughn having a punctured lung, making a daring hospital escape, travelling half way around the world and showing up at the exact right time to save Sydney.

Those examples aren't even believable in the world of 'Alias'

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Spoiler:don't forget that after shooting Lauren they BOTH turn around so that the obligatory "thought dead killer can rise one last time" scene can take place. Aren't spys supposed to be trained to be sure a dangerous villain is completely dead or knocked out...?

 

[Tim Glover]

Re-watched the final 2 episodes again today. They work better the second time around.

Still as Nick mentioned, Spoiler:Vaughan's punctered lung and recovery is toooo much. as is

Spoiler:Not knowing the gun was empty. Excellent points Nick. I agree. Still plays better the second time around knowing it's coming.

Still a very good season and better than I expected.
We also watched The Pilot from Season 1. Pretty cool, and still holds up.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I still think the pilot was an amazingly done bit of television. I could watch that episode stand-alone any time, and be entertained.

 

[Nick Sievers]

Spoiler:The prosthetics department at the CIA sure knows how to make one of those masks in a timely manner. Somehow they also found a way to shrink Sydney in size as well.

My favorite episode is still the one where Marshall gets to go on an Op with Sydney and he speaks Ewok to the guards.

 

[Tim Glover]

While re-watching the Pilot from S1 I noticed the insert that read....Alias Season 3 Expect the Unexpected .



That about sums up alot of what happened.

 

[Citizen87645]

I just watched the episode "Facade" with Ricky Gervais from "The Office." I hope his character comes back. I thought he did a great job and it turns out that was his first time acting dramatically!

 

[ThomasC]

Perhaps the scene in the finale where Katya takes the empty gun from Sydney was an homage to Die Hard when McClane hands over a gun to Hans on the roof.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i finally started to dip into this set a couple days ago (never saw S3 before).
i had a very positive experience with the last two seasons of Buffy, which ran contrary to the general fan assessments, so i was hoping that i would be in the minority for this one too after all the bad buzz i've heard about it- but after the first four eps i think i can clearly see where all the negativity was coming from.
both prior seasons had a lot of cornball improbability but for some reason, i found it easy to be swept up by it and just go with the flow.
i expect to have to overlook some level of implausibility with somehthing like this, but i feel like i've been asked waaaaaay too much already in just the first four eps.
and worse, i feel this is all in the service of just arbitrary spectacle...that there is no master plan here.

i had a real blast with the first two seasons, but watching this one now, i'm actually starting to resent the time i invested in those, especially when things are built up to a fever pitch and then just dismissed (the Rambaldi nonsense).
when Sloan says it may seem anticlimatic, thats not being hiply self referential, thats just coming across as insulting.

the more i contemplate this, the more rankled i get.

 

[TravisR]

I think that we're going to find out that Sloane was lying about the Rambaldi message.

OK, I hope and pray that he was lying about the Rambaldi message because if that's the real message anti-climatic is hardly the word for it

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Believe me, stick with it. Season 4 is supposed to right a lot of season 3's wrongs.

 

[Manendra]

When do ya'll think Season 4 will come out on DVD? I about to invest in Seasons 1-3 from Amazon. Also, how is this show, in general, compared to, say, 24 or Angel?

 

[Ric Easton]

I'm guessing sometime in the Fall. They are only about four episodes into the 4th season on broadcast TV right now.

 

[Citizen87645]

Never mind. I was confused about what series you were discussing

 

[MaraKM]

Remember, though, back when Season 3 was starting the show's cast & crew were making a lot of positive statements about how incredibly awesome that season was going to be, and how amazing the Lauren character was. So I take any of the "Season 4 brings us back to the level of Season 1!" comments with a big grain of salt.

Two episodes in to Season 4, I can't tell it's better than S3, or if my standards for the show have been so drastically lowered by the lousiness of S3 that I'm more forgiving of it. Character assassination still seems to be running rampant. And they've ret-conned what was shown in the S3 finale (re: what was found in the safety deposit box).