Okay, so I had the long weekend to mourn the death of Alias, which will conclude a five-season run in May, and you know what? I’m pretty much okay with ABC’s decision. I mean, it’s a telling sign that I’ve got a four-episode backlog stored on my DVR, whereas during its breathtaking first two seasons, I wouldn’t have dreamed of putting Alias off that long. Sometimes, good things need to come to an end while we’ve still got a deep affection for ‘em.
On that note, PopWatchers, do you have a favorite Alias moment? For me, it’s a toss-up between the pilot episode sequence in which Syd, sporting toxic-red hair, retrieves the prototype for SD-6 to the strains of Sinead O’Connor’s ”No Man’s Woman,” or perhaps the bone-crushing battle between our heroine and Evil Francie at the end of Season 2. Then again, I could also nominate the time Sydney parachuted into a cocktail party, tossed aside her flight gear, and emerged radiant in a black lace cocktail dress.
Good times, people, good times. What’s your pick?
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Alias had a great run. I will miss Sydney’s adventures. At its height,it was not to be missed and it is still entertaining.Thanks for some great television.
Not a huge Alias fan, but that battle between Sydney and that season’s ‘bad girl’at the end of season 2 was epic. Ranks right up there with Jessica Alba’s battles in ‘Dark Angel’ which was better than Alias, by the way!
When Sydney grieves for her fiancee in the pilot, it was the best crying scene I’d ever seen in a film or series. Much props to Garner and Abrams for it; too bad the show ran out of ideas and started repeating its own plots.
Ahn, first of all, Alias is much better than Dark Angel.
Ok, now that we got that out of the way, I have to say I love Alias, but it’s clear to everyone who followed the show that was the right time to finish it. Still, I’ll surely miss Sydney Bristow kicking someone’s ass every week.
Ok, now about my favorite moments… Besides the ones already mentioned, I loved when Sydney tries to save Will and she finds him in one of her missions on “Rendezvous”.
Also, Sydney and Vaughn trying to escape that huge wave (and he doesn’t make it, waht makes of it all that much more shocking) and Sydney first gazing at her mother in years, both moments in “Almost Thirty Years”.
There’s also Sydney’s breakdown when confronting her father about Project Christmas in “The Indicator”, or Francie’s body in her restaurant in “Phase One”, as her evil version talks on the phone.
Even the third season has an unforgetable moment, in its first episode of the season, when Sydney drops that amazing line on Vaughn: “You wanna know how I am? I AM AWFUL!”
Man, how is it that am gonna live without Alias?
Oh, I forgot about Sydney’s reaction when seeing Danny’s dead body on the bath tub on “Truth Be Told”, the pilot.
Ok, now I’ll leave you in peace…
Am sad to see Alias go, but I honestly jumped out of my chair watching the last few minutes of last year’s finale. I know the show had lost a lot of its lustre by then, but the “My name’s not really Michael Vaughn” still threw me for a loop.
I loved this show and am sorry to see it go, but the cast changes and time slot killed this show. I also have 3 back episodes saved on my TiVo when in the the past I would never have missed one second! There were so many great moments, but I always loved the cliff hangers and the end of last season was like the shock of a lifetime!
I loved Lena Olin so much in this show. I think her introduction to the show – shooting her own daughter in the shoulder – is one of my favorite, unpredictable TV moments. That should include the preceeding season closer where Sydney meekly utters “Mom?” while tied to a chair. In the pilot episode there is the interchange between Sloane and Sydney where she says “you killed my finacee!” and he replies “no Agent Bristow, you did.”
How could anyone forget Syndey and Vaughn’s first kiss amongst the SD-6 debris? It was more explosive than the stuff they used to blow the place!
The most shocking moment was Francie’s death. I loved the big fight with “bad” Francie at the end of season 2. I thought Irina jumping off the roof of the building and shooting her way through the window was a cool scence. My all time favorite action sequence is Sydney accessing server 47 on the airplane and her big escape at 35,000 feet…good stuff!!!
“Alias” is no longer a great show, but it’s still a very good one — I still wouldn’t miss an episode for a second. (It’s the only show I never TiVo, but always watch live.) And though I don’t care much for the two new female characters, I wish we’d have had more time with Tom, well-played by Balthazar Getty. I agree that the end of the fifth season is the right place to end it, though.
My favorite scenes are all between Sydney and her father, Jack: His telling her that her mother was a KGB agent, the first time they see each other after she’s been missing for two years, and the eerie-sweet episode last season when he saw her as her mother. Victor Garber should really have won an Emmy for this role. Instead, two Emmys for Shatner? A shame.
No disrespect to anyone involved in this show but this is an example of how hard a network will go to bat for a show with a mostly white cast. This show never really posted good numbers during it’s entire 5 year season. It has merely been a critical hit. I wish networks would be as supportive of a fair number of good shows with minority casts that have since been cancelled. I always resented this and never watched this show.
once my favorite show, i would have done anything to see it. never missing an episode. but then ABC tinkered with it to allow new viewers to come in. storylines started to get a tad weird. but i always stuck by the show.
one of my favorite moments (hard to pick just one) has to be when Sydney helps a man out of an psychiatric hospital only to later find out that he was the one that killed her fiancee.
i’m glad that ABC gave enough notice so that we didn’t get some crappy ending to the series and that we’ll hopefully get a nice full-circle type ending and tie up all those loose ends.
Dee, Carl Lumbly, who is Sid’s partner and has been one of the main (top 4) stars of the show since Day 1, is black. Moreover, Sid’s best friend in Seasons 1&2 (Francie) was African-American, too. Hence, I don’t know where you get off saying the show has no minorities.
I’m gay and there were NO (not one!) gay characters on Alias (that I can recall), but do you hear me complaining? Well, actually…
Any time Sydney and Vaughn were on screen together in Season 2–”I love my drawer.” Awesome Victor Garber pretting much stealing every scene. Greg with his one-liners to Vaughn–”Jack is going to shoot you in the face.” RIP, Alias: in your first two seasons, you rocked harder than Lost, which is a great show in its own right.
two of my favorite moments:
- Jack and Syd in the parking garage in the pilot: Dad?!? and then Jack 180’s the car to shoot at the bad guys.
-Season2 ep 12 or so, in India: when SpyFam blast the bad guys with ak47’s
First scene in the post-Super Bowl episode: “What was wrong with the black one?!?” As an aside, absolutely nothing.
I find it interesting that the show became more episodic when serial shows like Lost and Desparate Housewives started picking up steam. That change, plus Jen carrying the Spawn of Affleck (I still think she married down), may have hastened the end of a great show that like so many never garnered (sorry, bad pun) the attention it deserved.
There is a singular moment for me of Alias brilliance that I think truly captures the talent of Jabrams and the peak of the show. This occurs in the second season when Sloane tells his wife Emily (played by the radiant Amy Irving) that he has been lying to her for years and that SD-6 is part of the Alliance. What makes this scene so fantastic though is that you can’t hear the dialogue as Jabrams had a song play over top. So what are we left with, a brilliantly beautiful scene with Sloane confessing his soul to Emily, she breaking down into tears, him filled with guilt, and only music to be heard. It’s absoloutly fantastic in every sense of the word and if I cannot have new episodes, at least I have DVD’s of Season 1 and 2 close at hand.
While I didn’t jump on the Alias bandwagon until the Super Bowl episode (and fed off the DVDs for the previous season and a half for a weekend), I haven’t missed an minute since. I agree that once the show got episodic, it lost some of its appeal. There’s a lesson to be learned for networks in lowering a show’s intelligence quotient to gain more viewers: it disappoints the loyal fans, and doesn’t really gain all that much more in viewership. My favorite moment was the cliffhanger in Hong Kong, where we discover that two years have gone by, and no one knows where Syd’s been, or what she’s been doing. I didn’t sleep that whole night, and was in a snit until the new season started. And a fond farewell to yet another female character who is intelligent, can kick anyone’s butt, and carries us through interesting plot lines.
Fave scenes: 1.Vaughn & Sid’s first kiss amid the debris
2. Marshall’s 1st field mission with Sid when they are trapped in a highrise, and he whips off his coat to reveal a parachute pack & says (paraphrasing..) “My name is Marshall and I’ll be your rescuer today.” Love that Marshall.
3. Jack killing Ricky Gervais’s character (as Sid watches)then shocking him back to life, only to threaten to do it again if he doesn’t talk. Jack is hardcore!! Love love love Victor Garber.
4. Any scene where Marshall is jabbering and Jack is glowering at him. Those two together kill me!
5. No particular scene, but I love ALL of Weiss’ oneliners!
There are too many great moments to mention, but any show with Sark (David Anders) was worth watching. I especially loved scenes with Sark and Sydney, as he always knew how to push her buttons. He was severely under-used in this show. Can’t wait to see the next episode..won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t heard what happens.
Last week’s show was great…Sydney and Jack trying to get the crib through the doorway, and Jack (in his best deadpan voice) says, “Pass me the screwdriver.” Priceless!
‘Alias’ has redeemed itself this season with good storylines, but it’s too little, too late.
The best episodes were the ones with Marshall out in the field. Jumping off the skyscraper with Syd from season 2 (?) and last season’s Syd buried alive ep.
The worst episode was last season’s zombie episode.
The best scene ever was when Sydney was in the kitchen and whipped out and threw that drawer at Evil Francie during their fight at the end of season 2. A FULL DRAWER!
I have/still am an avid ALIAS fan since the beginning. I remember watching “Truth Be Told” from my hospital bed after open heart surgery and have not missed an ep since. I agree with most of the posts how it was great in seasons 1 and 2 and with the best moments of the show. It was truly a great adventure and an emotional one as well. It will rank as an all-time favorite. Garner, Garber, and Olin all deserved Emmys. Watching seasons 1 and 2 on dvd(as I recently have) shows how much it’s slipped creatively, but still good enough. JJ better write the finale!!!! And that Syd and Vaughn live happily ever after.
My favorite Alias moment was at the end of the first Season when Syd rescues Will from “The Man” and he realizes that the pink-haired woman kicking ass in front of him is Sydney.
James Garner deserves an Emmy for making Jack Bristow convincing. For godsakes, he was Oprhan Annie’s uncle!
My favorite scenes usually involve some girl on girl fighting – like Sydney vs. Evil Francie, or the episodes with Anna Espinosa, or Sydney-Lauren fights. I will miss Alias when it’s gone, even though it did jump the shark last season.
I will miss this show so much. I never intentionally missed an episode and own all the seasons on DVD. The Sydney Bristow character is such an inspiration, and ranks up there with Buffy as strong female characters. (Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrahms are in the same league in my book. They should really get together and do something.)
Some of my faves (besides the obvious first episode):
I LOVED the episode when Will finds out that Sydney is a spy; the expression on his face spoke volumes. The throwdown episode between Syd and Francie culminating with her waking up two years later (?!@#). Sydney and Nadia teaming up for this first time on a mission. Sydney and Vaughn vs. Lauren and Sark. Dixon and Sydney in a throwdown. Dixon confronting Sydney about spying for someone else. Anything Weiss or Marshall.
Oops! I meant Victor Garber, nor James Garner.
“Alias” is a good example that every single show on TV shouldn’t have to run 7-10 years. Some shows only have 3-4 really good years and the rest is just padding or rehashes to get to syndication $$$.
“The Prisoner” was a great series and it only lasted one season. I’d say “Alias” is similar with four outstanding seasons.
As for the question: the Sydney-Evil Francie fight was very good. There hasn’t been kitchen mayhem like that since “Gremlins.” Hope the James Bond producers noticed what they USED to be able to pull off.
And for the record: I have two current “Alias” episodes from this unnecessary season taking up space on my DVR.