Alias 01/26/03 - Phase One (1 Viewer)

[Brett Jason]

what would Sloane have to gain by having a double for Francine? Syd doesn't tell her anything anyway. I could see replacing Will, 'cause he knows about her secret life and works for the CIA. I guess time will tell.

 

[Thomas D]

Hope the comments of new viewers here are indicative of a new wave of viewers joining the show.

I've seen a few episodes here and there, but never managed to stay watching the show -- a little something called Sunday Night Football on ESPN disrupted my Alias watching. In fact, if the show wasn't hyped during the Super Bowl as a good episode for new viewers to join in, I would've missed this one as well.

So I guess there's a good side to no more football for a while...

 

[Jeff Kohn]

Good episode overall, but am I the only who thinks the Francie double is dumb, dumb, dumb? I'm sorry but this is something I'd expect from my wife's daily soap opera. No way in hell that would work in real life, and I know this show isn't supposed to be 100% realistic, but suspension of belief can only go so far. Even if she was 100% identical in appearance (IMHO impossible via surgery and unlikely even in the case of a twin), you would never be able to "fool" lifelong friends as far as personality/knowledge/etc.

I think it would have been far more effect if Francie was a sleeper agen that SD6 had put in place years ago to keep an eye on Syd.

 

[Joel C]

I think it would have been far more effect if Francie was a sleeper agent that SD6 had put in place years ago to keep an eye on Syd.

I actually find that less believable. Francie was like Xander on Buffy, the normal one. Her relationship with Syd was handled so well in terms of conveying a normal, routine friendship that her plots stagnated and became boring (like her fiancee, originally the first season finale was to have included their wedding).

To have dimwitted, lovable old Francie turn out to be a sleeper who knew all about Syd would invalidate much of her storyline (in a very different way than the somewhat logical way the Sloane/Emily thing played out). It would be the worst retcon imaginable, basically.

The double on the other hand--I can take that from a show with ancient prophecies of a woman who will destroy the world, a ass-kicking dress up SpyBarbie, and a twisted family dynamic.

 

[Brad Grenz]

It may have been low for a post Superbowl program, but how did it compare to Alias' normal ratings? I'm betting, just by my anecdotal observations, that the show picked up a good number of new viewers. I've talked to lots of people who never watched the show before but tuned in last night. And loved it, and wanted to know the back story!

 

[Joel C]

The rating were nearly doubble, 8 million new viewers.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I guess the Victoria Secrets marketing angle worked!

 

[Michael Martin]

OK, finally watched this one last night. I'll try not to repeat comments already posted--

First, just a fantastic episode, for so many reasons, not the least of which are Red and Black.

I am in AWE of Abrams and Company: unlike so many other shows, they actually DID something: took down the Alliance, which I assumed would NEVER happen. Abrams has such belief in his characters (and his ability to continue to tell interesting and cool stories with them) that he's not afraid of giving some closure and satifaction to the viewers. Syd and Vaughn's kiss, Geiger getting whacked by Syd, Syd telling Dixon about her double agent status....wow. Stuff that could have easily been strung out over months if not years.

I am VERY impressed that the show had the intelligence to know that Sloane would have figured out Jack and Syd's double agent status, and that he used it to further his own plans. His is one crafty bastard! And Sloane's halting Kane's interrogation of Jack now makes perfect sense, as it would have thrown a wrench in his plans.

Loved seeing the airplane scene from Vaughn's POV.

Can someone tell me what K-Directorate is? I saw the first episode, but we did not watch anything from the first season.

OK, now picking some nits...

Syd should have killed the Russian on the plane after getting the information from him. I'm finding her repeated failure to eliminate threats a bit annoying.

Killing Francie and replacing her with a double was a bit weak. For the viewer, it really reduces the impact of killing the character, because we know we're seeing the same actress.

Jack should have died. Again, I have nothing against Victor Garber. I like his character quite a bit, and there would be a big hole in the show without him. However, I think it would have upped the stakes and dramatic impact if Geiger had killed him before Syd capped Geiger.

And while I certainly took some visceral pleasure in Geiger getting plugged, now that I think about it, it might have been dumb of Syd to mortally wound him. He could have been a huge source of intel for the CIA.

I am REALLY looking forward to where the show is going - mostly because I have no idea where it IS going. A rarity on network TV these days.

 

[Michael Martin]

For those who don't know, ABC has a pretty decent Web site for the show.

The site includes episode guides (and it's up to date, as it includes a summary of Sunday's ep) and, impressively, a music guide: listings of the songs and artists of music heard during the show.

Also has some nice extras, such as info on Rambaldi and more. Nice to see a network do a program Web site well.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Didn't the Russian also get thrown out the plane door? Either way, that plane was crashing, and the Russian wasn't going to survive.

Plugging Geiger was a basically a no-win for Sydney because he was just about to kill Jack, and Geiger is too dangerous to just wound given the circumstances, Geiger represented a huge potential risk, so she plugged him quite a few times, the last few shots more out of pain and revenge than just doing her duty after seeing her father being tortured by Geiger.

 

[Michael Martin]

Didn't the Russian also get thrown out the plane door?

Doh! I completely forgot about that - which is really dumb, considering I thought it was very cool when we watched it last night.

Patrick's points about Syd killing Geiger are also good. I was essentially just thinking out loud in my post. It was good to see Rutger Hauer in something besides straight-to-video dreck.

 

[PhilipG]

Best. Episode. Ever.

Just a pity Rutger Hauer only survived one ep...

Thank goodness: something happened to make the awful Francie character more interesting. My own interpretation as to the "why her" question is this: Sloane has always known Syd and Jack were double agents. He's not stupid, yet time and again he's defended them for the SD-X torture police. I think Sloane thinks he's Sydney's father. He had an affair with Irena while she was "married" to Jack. Now that SD-6 is gone, and Sloane is in hiding, he wants to keep tabs on the Bristows. We still haven't covered in detail why Sloane left the CIA for the Alliance, and why Irena left when she did (please correct me if I'm wrong).

re: Sloane being "The Man"... unfortunately his torture by QT's character undermines that theory. Sark works for Sloane, but in earlier episodes they talked about their "partnership". Sloane got 10mil out of the Alliance. That's probably a drop in the ocean of the resources of the Alliance. So I believe there's someone higher up... The suspects, as I see them, are Irena (too obvious?), Jack (that would be a neat twist), or someone we've not yet met.

The second season started badly, IMHO, and got a lot worse, but now, in the past few episodes it's really improved by leaps and bounds. Let's hope they can keep the impetus.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Syd should have killed the Russian on the plane after getting the information from him. I'm finding her repeated failure to eliminate threats a bit annoying.

I think it has to do with her not wanting to "Kill" someone.

Even the man who killed Danny (sloane), when she had the chance, it was a hard decision for her to make. I'm glad she doesn't juse go into an operation and kill every guard (not to mention, some might not be aware of what they're involved in, so why do they deserve death?) but instead just knocks them out. It's an interesting twist for a spy series I think.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Syd has a real problem with killing people, and as a secret agent that is a real liability. She should not kill every foe she meets, but geez, I would've shot Sark a long time ago, and Anna, and Asian Dentist Man. Make sure he's REALLY REALLY DEAD

 

[Michael Martin]

I'm glad she doesn't juse go into an operation and kill every guard

I've never wanted that from Syd. I'm talking more about perfect opportunities to eliminate someone who is a huge threat, either short or long term, to her, the US, and the CIA. Asian Dentist Guy is a GREAT example - I still can't believe she left him alive.

 

[Paul P]

Also the issue with Geiger was he was pulling a gun, making it as much a defense shooting as a rescue. I was both shocked by the francie switch(because it was a surprise), and annoyed. But I guess it could be worse, they could have had an amnesia plotline

 

[Rob T]

Can someone tell me what K-Directorate is?

K-Directorate is supposed to be the new KGB, I think.

 

[Jason Seaver]

K-directorate was a section of the KGB which went into business for itself after the fall of the Soviet Union. They were Irina's original employers.

 

[Jeff Kohn]

Maybe I'm misrembering, but I didn't think Syd usually carried or used guns, last night seemed like a departure for her character in that regard.

 

[Jeff Kohn]

To have dimwitted, lovable old Francie turn out to be a sleeper who knew all about Syd would invalidate much of her storyline (in a very different way than the somewhat logical way the Sloane/Emily thing played out). It would be the worst retcon imaginable, basically.

I disagree. Yes it would be a shocking betrayal, and maybe it's not the absolute best way to go. But pretty much anything would have been better than the evil twin idea, which is just incredibly stupid.

Also, I'm wondering what the explanation is going to be for why Will wasn't able to get to safety with Francie.