>From the moment Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) puts on a fiery-red wig and starts kicking bad guy’s asses all over the place during its pilot episode (a look that is preserved for posterity in the cover of the new Acclaim-published videogame) you know that “Alias” is no ordinary TV show. The 90 min. pilot of the show is so well put-together and brimming with so much potential for true dramatic conflict (including a guilt trip on the main character for her boyfriend’s death because of a secret Sydney shared with him) that you think the stand-alone episodes can’t possibly live up to the pilot episode’s high standards. 60+ episodes later and “Alias” is wrapping its third season tonight (5/23/04) with what is sure to be a boatload of plot twists and cliffhangers that will surely fuel two year’s worth of episodes.
Not bad for a TV show that isn’t in the top 20, costs a ton of money to make (well over $1.5 million per episode) and is routinely beaten on Sunday nights by the older-skewing “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” spinoff. For all the media attention and publicity that the show and Jennifer Garner have received over the past three years though, it’s on DVD that “Alias” has made more of an impact and received a second wind of fan support. I know I can’t pull myself away from my “Law & Order: CI” viewing habit on Sunday nights, and since I don’t want to catch shows mid-season (when the story arc has already gone through numerous plot twists) I kept missing on “Alias” for the first year-and-a-half of its existence. But on DVD I can enjoy “Alias” without the pressures of a scheduled time slot I’ve already committed to another show. It’s a new market that bypasses the traditional ‘wait until syndication’ route, and one that has also benefited other shows like “The Shield” and “24.”
The brainchild of “Felicity” co-creator J.J. Abrams, “Alias” began its current Network TV run on ABC-TV in late September of 2001. Premiering just a few days after the September 11 attacks on America the powers-that-be at ABC were fearful that the show’s reliance on foreign terrorist as bad guys would hit too close to home for some viewers. Eventually the mood of the country relaxed and those that kept tuning in week after week were in for a hell of a ride. Sydney, undercover agent of a secret operation branch of the CIA known as SD-6, discovers through her stranged father Jack (Victor Garber) that SD-6 is actually the enemy that she thought she and her co-horts were fighting against. Despite her personal issues with her father Sydney kept going about her business of saving the world one unbelievable adventure at a time.
We the viewers know that, since she’s the star, there’s no way that Sydney won’t defeat the bad guys and get away with the loot she’s after for the good of the ol’ US of A. But Abrams and his writers use this audience conditioning tool (the result of decades of movies and TV teaching us that good always triumphs over evil) to really screw with our heads. Sydney may get away all the time, but the emotional and psychological baggage that her life as a double-crossing agent brings into her everyday life has consequences. Helping to sell the illusion that we have stepped in a James Bond-like universe are competent actors (Michael Vartan, Ron Rifkin, etc.) that have the thankless role of appealing in every episode to the audience’s ability to suspend its collective disbelief past the point of credulity, yet still buy that these are real people with real-life problems. It also helps that the writing (sharp, colorful and self-aware without being coy), directing and budget were good-enough (by Network TV standards) to keep the fantasy looking as good as in the middle-of-the-road Bond flicks.
The only reason we rate the first season of “Alias” with 3.5 is that its second season (which we’re also reviewing today) is much, much better at throwing out-of-left-field loops at the audience than this original batch of 22 shows. The picture, sound and extra features are also slightly better on Season Two, so there. For a complete episode-by-episode blow of all the plot twists and cliffhangers (something we strongly urge you NOT to look at before you watch all the shows in the Box Set) just go to: http://www.tvtome.com/Alias/season1.html.
The Disc:
“Alias” looks and sounds very good on DVD considering the source material is no more than two years old. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack is a little lackluster in the rear… speakers that is (you sick puppies!), but what comes from the side and front speakers is usually well-mixed and audible. A Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Track is also included (one isn’t included on “Alias’” Second Season Box Set though, WTF??!!), along with English & Spanish Subtitles. The Widescreen Anamorphic (1:78:1) Video Transfer is good but occasionally exhibits minor artifacts from compression and a little bit of grain. Blink and you’ll most likely see no difference between these 45 min. long episodes and your average “X-Files” or “Stargate SG-1” episode on DVD.
There are Four Commentary Tracks spread across several discs, with J.J. Abrams and Jennifer Garner’s comments over the pilot episode of “Alias” the most interesting of the bunch. Lots of cast & crew members (too many to mention here) rotate through the microphones, and their stories vary the gamut from the dull participants heard during ‘Q&A’ to the extemporaneous laughter from the actors in ‘Almost 30 Years.’ A 19 min. ’Pilot Production Diary’ Featurette offers “Alias” creator J.J. Abrams’ thoughts (backed by on-the-set footage) on what it took to get the series off the ground. The 10 min. long ’Inside Stunts’ Featurette will give viewers more footage of Jennifer Garner getting in shape than anyone has a right to see. There’s also an unfunny Gag Reel, Six Deleted Scenes, Five TV Spots, a Season Two Preview, a Videogame Preview and, last and certainly least, DVD-ROM Content that links your web browser to “Alias” related websites. Except for the commentary tracks all these goodies are housed in the Box Set’s sixth disc.
bottom line:
Despite not enough viewers to make it a breakthrough hit (NBC’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” regularly beats it in the ratings) ABC-TV’s “Alias” is the perfect type of fantastic adventure to pig out in front of a TV for days on end via continuous play of the six DVD’s in this Box Set. No sitting around waiting for the previous week’s cliffhanger to be resolved (or turned into a dozen more subplots!) = priceless in my book. This is the type of fun rollercoaster ride that Network TV forgot how to make while making reality shows, and the decent audio/video specs compensate for the few but interesting bonus features. Not a bad start for those of us that would rather watch “Alias” on DVD than on Network TV.
By - J.M. Vargas
1/2
