Customer Reviews

Alias - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(336)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

My wife has watched this show since the beginning, but I never have as it interfered with my sleep schedule. After recently buying a new DVD player I was anxious to get started watching something. I bought "Alias Season 1" and "Six Feet Under" (which I would also recommend highly). Anyway, my plan was to watch one episode a week, or at most a couple, so I could make it last. So I'm thinking I can get through the 22 or so episodes in 10 weeks. Try 2.

Thats right! I would watch like three a day. I was addicted. Conversations in my house sounded something like this...

"Honey, come eat dinner."
"No, I'm watching Alias."

"Honey, help me with the groceries."
"No, I'm watching Alias."

"Honey, I'm pregnant."
"Wow, thats great, we'll talk later, I'm watching Alias."

I'm really serious. Every episode would end on such a cliffhanger you had to see at least the beginning of the next episode. But then the middle was so good you wanted to see how it would develope. But then another darn cliffhanger and you were locked in the cycle for good.

I can't wait for Season 2. I pre-ordered it at 3 in the morning because that was a minute after I finished Season 1. I'm thinking about starting AA (Alias Anonymous) until I can get my fix.

Alias is, simply put, one of the best shows currently on TV. Few shows (especially action series) are able to move at such a fast pace, yet retain a truly human element throughout. The mark of a good show is the ability to keep the viewer begging for more, and Alias is a master at this, with every Act and/or episode ending capable of making me groan simply because I have to wait for the conclusion.

Jennifer Garner leads a superb cast as Sydney Bristow, a double agent for the CIA who, until recently, had been working for SD6, which she thought was a secret unit of the CIA, but is really part of a shadowy organization known as the Alliance. In this first season, she has to keep her affiliation with the CIA a secret from both her friends and with her coworkers at SD6, while finding out about the details of her mother's death, and her father's role in both the CIA *and* SD6.

The DVD set is presented in widescreen, with some documentaries, a gag reel, a few deleted scenes, and a handful of commentaries (the best of which being the cast commentary for the season finale). Aided by good writing and direction and a few well-placed instances of "stunt" casting (Patricia Wettig, Roger Moore, and a delicious turn by Quentin Tarantino), Alias is not to be missed, and this DVD set should be a joy for fans (even if the special features are a tad too sparse).

J.J. Abrams confirmed to TV Guide Online that the first season is being preped for release:

"There are going to be a lot of great special features," he says of the mult-disc set, wich is slated to arrive in stores on Sept. 2. "When I filmed the pilot, a good friend of mine shot like eight or nine hours of behind-the-scenes footage and did interviews with most of the cast. So, in addition to a number of other really cool features, we're going to edit together a behind-the-scenes piece on the making of the pilot."

I was extremely lucky to stumble across the first episode of Alias when it was shown on cable in the UK (Wednesdays on Sky One). Since then I have been an avid fan and have not missed a single episode. I am sure that I speak for many people in the UK when I say that I think it has been one of the best, nay, the best show to grace our screens in a long while. The story line is easily as good as anything from either The X-Files or Buffy and has a strong cast of actors playing great characters (both good guys and bad). Please would someone with some influence convince the studio to release this show on DVD (Region 2 as well as Region 1 please). It makes sense to do this soon so that fans can spread the word about Alias (i.e. get our friends to watch the season 1 DVD) in order to recruit new viewers for season 2. After all, more viewers mean more advertising revenue! Go on, release Alias on DVD and make the fans happy!

I feel that I too must include my plea for an "Alias" Series DVD. It is my favorite show on television and I'm sure that all fans would purchase the DVD/video. The strange thing is that I saw the first episode and didn't really enjoy it. Throughout the year though, I got sucked in and couldn't stop! Really, once you start watching the show, you get addicted rather quickly. In case you don't already watch the show, it's about a character named Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), who is recruited to work for a covert branch of the CIA--SD6. She comes to learn that it is, in fact, not part of the CIA, but is actually the very enemy she though she had been fighting against (took that right from the show's intro). She turns to the actual CIA and becomes a double agent, in the process learning that her father is also a double agent. All of this takes place in the first episode, so that is basically just the premise. This first season is really exciting, with great storylines, and ended on a real cliffhanger. I would recommend that everyone watch the show and purchase this DVD when it is released.

So, I believe that this is a re-issue of the original first season that must have been discontinued. When I ordered this, I couldn't figure out why the price was so low. The packaging is much smaller and simpler, with all discs inside of a case barely larger than a standard DVD case. They are arranged in a similar fashion to some of the Full House DVD's, where the discs lay on top of each other, slightly overlapping. I believe the first season of House does this as well.

So, if you don't really care about having extensive packaging such as the 24 box sets, you can't go wrong with this for the price. The show is wonderful, and I'm glad that I'll be able to add them all to my collection at this price. (Also posted this review for season 2, since the packaging is identical.)

"Alias" was the best show of the 2001-02 season. The writing is amazing. The hour-long show, because of the twists, turns, constant action and depth, covers more ground than any other show of that length. At least every-other week found me gasping at the outcome of an episode. Jennifer Garner, besides incredibly capturing the torment of her character's double life, does most of her own stunts, and is absolutely amazing. Ron Rifkin is the consumate villain, but sometimes reveals a tender side, especially for his terminally-ill wife (Amy Irving). Victor Garber and Carl Lumbly are outstanding. The sexual tension between Garner and Michael Vartan, and Bradley Cooper's unrequited Will, keeps one coming back for more. All-in-all, "Alias" is a thrilling ride through the world of counter-intelligence and the resulting relationships.

As my review title indications, this fast-paced series comes across as a stylish blend of a James Bond spy flick, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER girl-powered heroine, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE capers, and PERILS OF PAULINE cliffhangers. The latter is not peripheral to the series: like old style film serials, almost every episode of Season One ends with a shock. I have only recently discovered the series on DVD, which I believe is merciful. Had I been watching it on TV as it first came out, I would have found the week-in, week-out cliffhanging endings to be exasperating. The show is brilliant at breaking the action at precisely the most thrilling instant each week. I know this: if I had been watching this on TV, I would definitely have tuned in the next week. As it is, I immediately pop in the next DVD just to see what happened next. Like both MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and I SPY, the show features locales from all over the world, though obviously most of the scenes consist of a single remote shot to establish the country, with the rest of the scene most likely shot on a backlot or in a studio. Nonetheless, even this gives the show a very cosmopolitan, exotic feel.

I'm one of those who thinks that the best thing that ever happened to TV is the long story arc TV show that was popularized by THE X-FILES, and carried on by such shows as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, and FARSCAPE. The one way that TV surpasses cinema is in its ability to tell a long, carefully detailed story in a lovingly nuanced and unrushed manner. ALIAS has a host of storylines, but it isn't forced to develop any of them all at once. One week might find a small development in Sydney's ongoing attempt to work as a double agent in SD6, a larger development in Will's investigation into the death of Sydney's fiance in the first episode, and a tiny bit on some non-espionage friendship. Movies have to rush such things, or at most present the illusion of not having to rush. TV can truly take its time, and the overall effect in the best shows can be exhilarating.

Everything about this show clicks. It is visually as slick as anything that has ever been on TV. The writing is absolutely brilliant. The cast is rock solid, and features some great acting on the part of several performers. Among my favorite are Victor Garber as Sydney's father, Kevin as Marshall J. Flinkman (basically SD6's equivalent of Q), and Ron Rifkin as Sloane. But the heart of the show is Jennifer Garner as double agent Sydney Bristow. Sydney is idealistic, brilliant, and enormously competent, but also haunted and conflicted by her family background and tragic events in her life. I love the contrast between her professional competence and her emotional fragility. A lesser actress wouldn't be able to sell that combination, but she makes it the key to her personality.

It is difficult to overpraise the writing on the show. Even compared to shows like BUFFY it has almost completely avoided the episodic approach to television. In fact, the episodes spill over into each other to such a degree that it is almost as if the entire season were a single story, except for the way it spills over as well. Not every storyline gets equal attention, but overall the balance they achieve is astonishing. Some reviewers decry the show as derivative, but I find the particular combination of familiar elements to be quite unique. Other shows do some of the things that ALIAS does, but not all of them.

"Alias" is a great show. It's also wildly implausible. Jennifer Gardner stars as Sydney Bristow: grad student by day, spy by night, and double agent in her spare time. She does all this while racking up a million frequent flyer miles a year. It's not surprising that she's unlucky in love and often an emotional basket case. But when she's in the middle of a mission Sydney's got cool that James Bond can't match (OK, maybe the Timothy Dalton Bond could keep up).

The ABC network has helped the series considerably with liberal deviation from the accepted hour show format. This began with an uninterrupted showing of the pilot when the series debuted: 66 minutes without commercial or other interruption, a nearly unheard-of occurrence in American TV. The following 21 episodes fit the standard 45 minutes of content for an "hour" show, but many ran for 15 or more minutes before the credits and first commercial break (in sharp contrast to the 2-3 minute convention before first ad break).

The star and special effects crew of "Alias" are constantly pushing the envelope. Jennifer Garner had minimal action show work under her belt when she started on the series. Garner could run and dance, but was keen to learn more. It soon became apparent to the writers and stunt crew that she was adept at memorizing: not just scripts, but also stunt choreography and foreign language phonetics. The foreign languages in "Alias" are much more compelling than the usual cheat of English with some phony foreign accent. Garner has since studied kickboxing and wire stunts, and actually looks forward to jumping off 100' buildings as a regular part of her job.

"Alias" is in many ways a very flawed show. The flaws do not keep it from being remarkably entertaining. There's lots of impossible spy gadgetry, but the Bond movies have made us come to expect that. No real spy agency would keep on an agent as prone to emotional collapse as Sydney Bristow, yet both SD-6 and the CIA consider her a valuable asset. The whole prophetic 15th century Milo Rambaldi technology schtick is WAY out there. And many of the effects over-reach. One particularly egregious example is the oft-shown exploding car sequence. The hood pops off and the car pitches up while fire lights it from below/behind. Since you can see through the engine compartment it's glaringly apparent that this stunt car did not, in fact, actually have an engine in it as it rolled down the road.

"Alias" show honchos have hedged their bets by going with known quantities where possible. Series creator J.J. Abrams worked with star Garner on "Felicity", and has known Greg Grunberg (a "Felicity" regular) since childhood. Kevin Weisman played a recurring role on "Felicity". (Amanda Foreman, another "Felicity" regular, shows up in seasons two and three.) Executive producer Ken Olin appears in a small recurring role, and his wife and "thirtysomething" costar Patricia Wettig also plays a recurring character on "Alias".

In the first season notable guest stars include Gina Torres, Quentin Tarantino, Angus Scrimm, Amy Irving, Lindsay Crouse, Terry O'Quinn, and Peter Berg.

"Alias" is written as a continuous story arc and few episodes end without leaving the viewer eager to see what comes next. The first season has plot threads involving Sydney's graduate school studies, her secret agent work for SD-6, her double agent work for the CIA, clueless best friends Will and Francie, the thaw in her relationship with her distant father, the mysterious Alliance, the prophetic works of Milo Rambaldi, and the growing question of what happened to her mother.

As Sydney's view of her mother changes, so does the casting. The character is played in the first season by Arabella Holzbog (in old photos), Natasha Pavlovich (in grainy surveillance footage), and April Webster in a quick backlit scene. The character gains major importance in the second season when played by Lena Olin.

It's not surprising that the show's producers and writers spend considerable time worrying about ways to bring viewers up to speed if they've missed or forgotten plot points. There's a lot going on in "Alias", and you don't want to blink sometimes for fear of being thrown off the roller-coaster.

The DVD first season collection of "Alias" is unremarkable for its packaging and extra content. This is mostly a good thing. The effort went into excellent video and audio transfer, and the menus are less annoying than most. Extra content is largely what they had lying around in the editing room: a few deleted scenes, and the ABC promo spots for a few episodes. Audio commentary was added in three of the 22 episodes, including the first and last.

ALIAS, in my opinion, was an instant classic from the moment it debuted in September 2001. ALIAS is a spy-thriller staring Jennifer Garner as double-agent Sydney Bristow.

Agent Sydney Bristow leads a double life, triple even at times working for SD-6, an enemy spy operation working within the United States. SD-6 claims to be a black book division of the CIA to it's employees and supporters when in reality it acts in it's own interests. Sydney Bristow, player by Garner (Felicity, Pear Harbor). Bristow learns that her father (played by Victor Garber), who she doesn't know all that well, works within SD-6 as well. They both work as double-agents and hand over top information about SD-6's missions to the CIA.

Sydney tries to lead a normal life as a university student and have friends but working as a double agent spy is no easy task.
Bristow at the end of Season One learns that her mother had faked her death and is still alive acting as an enemy operative in Europe. The twists, turns and action packed episodes in this show will keep you on the edge of your seat.

You will fall in love with Alias immediately. X-Files is now off the air and you don't have to make the decision what to watch on Sundays at 9pm anymore. ALIAS is your only choice!