Alias 01/12/03: The Getaway (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Many storylines were just about wrapped up tonight:

1. Jack finally gets Kane off his tail, and finds the dirt to do her in.

2. Michael and Sydney figure out that conspicuous "dating" just isn't a good idea between the two of them.

3. Sloane did fake Emily's death and she did have her ring finger chopped off as the price for her life.

 

[Jason Seaver]

And, let me just say this... Does any show do a better teaser than Alias? Before the credits have rolled, we get a slick set piece in a movie theater, a clever reference to the show's pilot, a nifty "Spy Hunter" moment, and so much more. I've complained on the various Enterprise threads about that show's "teasers that don't", so it's only fair to acknolwedge that this show does a better job of hooking the audience in the first few minutes than any other hour on television.

 

[Joel C]

a clever reference to the show's pilot

What's that? I haven't seen Truth Be Told since it first aired (DVD! DVD! DVD!), and I was so discombobulated by the end of episode revelation that I can't think straight anyway.

I must thank JJ for stepping in with Alias just as Buffy really lost it at the beginning of season six. It makes the loss of one ass-kicking heroine easier to take when another replaces her immdeiately. This is easily my favorite show, and I can see it surpassing Buffy overall if it keeps up, since it is far more consistent than even the best years of Buffy, even if it hasn't quite hit the same highs yet (close, though).

 

[Guy Martin]

Joel-
Sydney driving up, opening the door and telling her dad to get in when he's escaping at the begining of the episode is virtually identical to a scene in Truth Be Told, only with Sydney and Jack's positions reversed.

Loved the Knight Rider escape. Also the in-joke where the waiter tells Vaughn that he "speaks French better than I do" (for those who don't know, Michael Vartan was born and partially raised in France). And Weis is back! Yeah! Will Greg Grunberg juggle both this and his new show? Hopefully so. Nicely wrapped up several plotlines too, although I'm sad that Faye Dunaway is leaving permanently (like Roger Moore, I was hoping they'd bring her back again later). Can't wait for that big superbowl episode!
- Guy

 

[Jason Quillen]

a nifty "Spy Hunter" moment

Yeah, the Spy Hunter scene was pretty cool :b
As for the rest of the episode, the biggest problem I have lies with Spy Mom. If they're trying to drag a whole season out of her arc, its already out of gas. Now they've got her helping jack mull over credit card statements? Kill her, throw her in jail, have her escape and blow up the world - I don't care, just do something better then her weekly obligatory appearance that is nothing but gratuitous.
On the plus side - a few weeks ago we got mom taking off her shirt, this week we got daughter taking off her shirt ...looks like Dads up next :frowning:
JQ

 

[BobV]

Holy crap. This show is magnificant.

Jason Quillen, I suggest you throw your TV set away if this show isn't doing it for ya (or at least, stop watching Alias). This show is easily the best written show on your set today. 'Lazy writing'? Not a chance.

You can tell the writers care about this show. The pay-off of wrapping up the 'Emily' story was awesome, superbly written, acted, and directed. That is, if it is, in fact, wrapped up... you never know with this show.

 

[Joel C]

Jason Q-

I suspect your problem is, simply, that you don't like where the show is going. Nothing wrong with that. It *is* quite different from last season, much more drama and less ass kicking, gratuitous action (though there is certainly still quite a bit of that).

I think they've done a LOT with SpyMommy, and this episode was no different. I loved her "When I was your wife..." comment. Jack is slowly beginning to rely on her again, despite his best intentions.

And "lazy writing"? I can think of no series this year that set up as intricate a storyline as Emily's faux death and actually managed to pull it off. Ask me last week, and I'd say the Emily plot was in danger of spiraling out of control. This week, it wraps up in the most unexpected, yet entirely earned, fashion possible.

 

[PhilipG]

The question is: will Sloane be back to lead a double life (sort of like Syd and Jack ), or is he now effectively "in hiding" permanently? On the one hand, I hope he reappears, since IMO Ron Rifkin is by far the best actor in the series, but on the other hand, we can now have the episode where Jack takes over SD-6 permanently (joining the Alliance council?), and perhaps letting Dixon and some of the others into the secret. Or, perhaps, shut down SD-6 and move onto SD-5...

 

[Jason Quillen]

And "lazy writing"? I can think of no series this year that set up as intricate a storyline as Emily's faux death and actually managed to pull it off

I'll give you the fact that Emilys death arc was pretty well done / executed. But, yeah, the show suffers from lots of lazy writing.
Tonights rehash of the pilot, for example - what was that supposed to be? Funny? Cool? I don't know, but to me it came off as a boring "been there done that" escape that conveniently set Syd up to learn about her father and then get her and Vaughn on a date.

Theres another instance of lazy writing in Vaughn's "girlfriend" Alice - Alice is nothing more than an convenient switch for the writers to turn on or off as they see fit. "Surprise! Alice is now my girlfriend again because her dog died...so we decided to get back together while I console her". All just to keep Syd and Vaughn apart in the middle of the first 1/4 of this season.

Want a little more lazy writing? How about predictability, thats a pretty good product of lazy writing. I think that whole "Operation Christmas" fits the bill. That story was so weak and predictable it was painful to watch.

The final piece of lazy writing evidence I will present is the jet pack boots Sydney wore earlier this season. There is a line between James Bond gadgets and sheer stupidity, and those boots flew wayyyyyyyy into stupid airspace.

Don't get me wrong - recent episodes of Alias have seemed to make a come back - like the one with Sark and Syd in Paris, or the Marshall arc. Each one of those is Alias as it should be (and used to be)- quality

 

[Joel C]

He'll be back. That's why he was so concerned about the device that blocked his implant. If he was planning on staying gone, he would've disappeared with Emily right off the bat.

I love that Slone outfoxed the Bristows (except, maybe, Irina at the end there). And while I agree that Ron Rifkin is a wonderful actor, I don't think anyone can hold a candle to the amazing Victor Garber when it comes to acting on Alias. I still think that his loss at the Emmys was a great injustice (as was 24's loss to The West Wing, and the lack of a nomination for Alias, for that matter).

 

[Joel C]

"Surprise! Alice is now my girlfriend again because her dog died...so we decided to get back together while I console her".

Er... her *dad* died. And you bill the garage rescue as a "rehash," like it was a big drawn out thing. It was a BRIEF homage, and a subtle one at that, since I, huge fan of the series and owner of the official book, ect., did not even pick up on it until it was pointed out to me. Maybe if Sydney had had a quip about "This seems familiar" or something, I'd agree with you.

And honestly, the rest of your complaints? Can easily be applied to the first season too. Especially the complaint about the rocket boots. There have been any number of ridiculous gadgets that Marshall has cooked up since the show began.

As for the predictability factor.... well, I'll admit that Project Christmas was predictable to an extent, but the initial surprise that it was children worked fairly well, I believe. The Sydney factor certainly was rather obvious, but it moved the characters foward, so I can live with it.

If you want to see *really* lazy writing, look to Buffy. At least the Alias team can write consistent characters and include actual sub-plots.

Oh, and the Vaugn/Sydney thing. If they get together, it will significantly impact their chemistry. See: EVERY SINGLE SHOW EVER where such unrequited love has existed.

 

[Jason Quillen]

If you want to see *really* lazy writing, look to Buffy. At least the Alias team can write consistent characters and include actual sub-plots.

Now you woke me up. Not even in Bizzaro world is Buffy's writing lazy. And sub plots? You must not have watched a season of Buffy, cause theres plenty of subplots. And Buffy's characters aren't consistent? Now I know you've either never watched the show or you're joking - I've heard a lot of valid complaints about Buffy, but their characters not being consistent is not, and will never be, one of them.

Watch season 2 of Buffy (we'll skip season one since it was only 12 eps). Theres more going on in a single episode of S2 then there is in the whole season of Alias so far. And at least Buffy has something to say about the real world.

And your telling me Alias has consistent characters? Right. Jack has proven how smart he is time and time again but he needs his wifes help to look at a sheet (that jack already had) to see that money was missing *once*? Yeah, thats consistent with his character.

If you say Alias season 1 is better written then Buffy season 6, I'll believe it (though I'll probably go through a couple episode guides real quick to refresh my memory just in case) - but there is no way Alias is better written then any other season of Buffy.

JQ

 

[Joel C]

I'm a huge Buffy fan, but try telling me that season seven isn't full of lazy writing and I'll be forced to discount your opinion entirely. Parhaps I should've mentioned that I was referring only to post The Gift Buffy.

Season seven has *no* subplots AT ALL, the show has become a dull soap opera with flat, dull characters, Selfless and CwDP notwithstanding (the only two episodes of "real" Buffy in years, discounting the gimmick of OMwF and Normal Again).

And you complain about the Alias "re-hash" yet have praised Him, the shittiest retread episode of Buffy ever written (correct me if I'm wrong, but you did say you liked it in the Buffy thread, IIRC). It was a good episode, when it was called Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered. When it was ages of Dawn whining and the rest of the characters acting ludicrously out of character, and the writers once again degrading their heroine by having her dry hump a teenager, it was called Him and it sucked. No matter how many physical gags with a bazooka go on in the background.

Oh, I did like Help... that season one episode that many refer to as Prophecy Girl.

Lazy writing galore with the First (Jack is inconsistent? Explain why it took like 7 episodes to get enough blood to raise Ube, or why the First was able to blow up all the Watchers but can't seem to take care of Casa Summers... Buffy nearly gets killed by the Ubervamp, then manages, but a day or so later, to once again fight him sans weapons, except this time, she wins because she decides she's going to? Why doesn't she decide to win the Lotto and buy the writers a dictionary so they can look up the word "continuity"?).

Or, maybe, the utter uselessness of Xander (he's almost as useless as Francie), the character assassination of Willow, the continued intrusion of Dawn (who, in effect, renders all those S1-4 episodes we love so much non-existant, since the gang remembers them *with* her included... barf), the cheeseball "is he or isn't he?" handling of Giles that's likely to end in disaster, and, oh yeah, the fact that NOTHING has happened since perhaps Sleeper that couldn't have been condensed into one epsode. And I didn't even mention Spike.

When Buffy was good, the Big Bad arc played out throughout the season at a low boil, allowing for character interaction and stand alone episodes that were packed with humor and intelligence, and those metaphors about the "real world" you love so much. Tell me, how exactly is season seven of Buffy REMOTELY like the real world? Buffy lost the metaphor last year, which was about growing up only if you live in the bizarro world of constant pain and depression. Buffy and Co. went from college kids to haggard middle aged depressives, particularly Buffy herself, who now only lives to show Dawn the world? Fuck that.

We clearly disagree about the merits of Alias, but Buffy season seven, despite the surface cool of an epic story, is pretty piss poor, and if I hadn't fallen in love with the characters over five of the last six years, I'd quit watching.

 

[PhilipG]

I don't think anyone can hold a candle to the amazing Victor Garber when it comes to acting on Alias.

That's a tricky one for me to agree on, because his character is about as 2D as they come. Victor Garber may be a good actor, but I don't think he's been given much of a chance to shine. Sloane, on the other hand, is a much more complicated and subtle character, and by far the greater acting challenge.

 

[Michael Martin]

I thought last night's ep of Alias was solid. One thing only vaguely referenced by most of you was Syd and Vaughn's dinner. They did something really cool with that scene: both characters now KNOW they are attracted to each other and have romantic yearnings. However, thanks to Kane's minions, they were prevented from acting on those desires. Vaugh and Syd subsequently decide that it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but can't bring themselves to completely walk away from each other, insisting they stay together for "work's sake."

JJ Abrams did something really cool here: he actually gave the viewers something to chew on - Syd and Vaughn recognizing and acknowledging the mutual attraction - but managed to keep the tension by refusing to let them sleep together. I think we'll see a bit of cooling off between them for a while, but because the characters BOTH know how the other feels, the show can move forward and see what happens witht them together and as individuals.

Also, really liked seeing Jack kick some ass in the beginning of the show - most of the time, he seems very coiled and observant, and was cool showing him using his fighting skills.

I think Sloane intends to stay gone, but something will draw him out.

What do y'all think happened to Kane? Did Sloane have her killed?

 

[Joel C]

What do y'all think happened to Kane? Did Sloane have her killed?

To quote Pee-Wee Herman: "Duh!" Sloane can't very well cover his tracks if a deep interrogation proves her to be innocent, right?

Though he could've just waited for her to die of a botched face life ala Brazil. On another forum, her character's nickname is Face Doneaway. Hee.

 

[Patrick Sun]

For those who watched Alias last night in HDTV, was this episode more grainier than usual?
The new ring that Sloane has is just like the pen that Jack has in that it allows Sloane to talk freely when it's activated, but he can't keep it on all the time or the Alliance would be wondering why he's driving around the 405 all the time listening to the radio.
I love the Jack and Irina scenes because they are playing such a dangerous game of cat-n-mouse. Jack still has the hots for Irina, but he keeps having to tell himself to think with his head, not his...heart.
Michael and Sydney reached that romantic impasse with this close call with Kane's henchmen. (It's like the same "smart" writing that the writers on "Ed" are doing with Ed and Carol by keeping them apart, meaning you lose a lot of steam if you let Michael and Sydney "get together", so they'll keep dancing around the issue for a while longer).

 

[Jason Seaver]

Garber's pretty much become my favorite, too - I love how he'll seem cold, and almost reptilian, but get completely irrational when the subject of Irina comes up. It may not be the most complex performance, but it's great to watch.

 

[Jason Seaver]

It's like the same "smart" writing that the writers on "Ed" are doing with Ed and Carol by keeping them apart, meaning you lose a lot of steam if you let Michael and Sydney "get together", so they'll keep dancing around the issue for a while longer

Well, it's been a while since I watched "Ed", but I'd hardly call that prolonging of the will-they-or-won't-they bit "smart". Closer to "contrived and borderline insulting".

What Abrahms & co. are doing, though, is much better - acknowledging the situation, acting on it, and then throwing up very real roadblocks. The characters and their relationship are moving forward, rather than just staying in a holding pattern.

 

[OliverT]

Why do people think Sloane is leaving the show? By his, "We are free" statement I figured he meant he was free to visit and spend time with his wife. I'm sure he'll still be going full bore at SD-6.

OT