Customer Reviews

Alias - The Complete Third Season

5 star:		(118)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is an honest, reasoned review from a devoted fan of Alias. I know that I will get plenty of negative votes simply because I am not giving it five stars and saying nothing more than "THis is dEfinately kewl. Buy iT now!" So be it.

As has been said many times before, Season 3 was a huge letdown from the previous two (which are stunningly excellent). This decline can be traced back to the episode that aired after the Super Bowl in Season 2. When the creators used that epsiode (one of the most exciting in TV history) to "restart" the series so new viewers wouldn't have to learn all the backstory of SD-6 and so forth, it eroded and (in Season 3) eventually wiped out all the best elements of the show. The Rambaldi elements became incredulous. The twists, turns, and liaisons became arbitrary, forced, and repetitive. Worst of all, the crackling tension in the relationships has downshifted into sniping and griping. And Lena Olin is sorely missed.

The fall of SD-6 and the end of Sydney Bristow's double life may be likened to the Scoobies of "Buffy" graduating high school. It may have been inevitable but things were never the same after.

I love "Alias" and I still ask people to ty it out - both so my friends can enjoy it and so its ratings will improve! The feature film flavor still lingers, the actors are all engaging, the look and music are still cool, and Jennifer Garner is so sweet she should be illegal. It's better than 95 percent of the pablum on the tube. But, for the first time, it didn't kill me to miss an episode during this season. I stopped caring so much about what happened to Sydney Bristow. That's an unfortunate loss.

This season may not have been like the previous 2, but it was still wonderful TV and still the only hour of TV that I absolutely will NOT miss. If you have been on the fence about buying the DVD for Alias, don't...if you watch the show from season 1 through season 3 you will be as excited and desperate to see season 4 premiere in January of 2005 (ABC). I only got into this show after buying the DVDs for season one and becoming an absolute Sydney Bristow addict.

First, the writting is great, the suspense and action is always a plus, but it is the cast the really makes this show unforgetable. Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow... quite simply no one else could do this character justice, Victor Garber as Jack Bristow.. he was one of my favorites before and I love him more now. Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn and the list goes on...

I will say this if you are looking for a series that gives you the whole package (innovative, creative, suspenceful, great character development, action packed, lots of eye candy and a little romance thrown in to the mix) this is your show. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. Go ahead get these DVDs you deserve it!

I can't wait for season 4.....Is it January yet???

How about that which made the first two seasons (Season 1 especially so great). I think the show (and I could be speaking very prematurely here as JJ Adams is a genius on Whedon scale and could pull the show back to greatness) really jumped the shark in the second season when it killed off Francie and got rid of Will. They were really the ones that I enjoyed and I found myself particularly watching the scenes when Syd was just being Syd and interacting with her friends. What made the show great was the balance between her spy life and her real life and the fact that the show as like James Bond but more human and complex.

Season 3 devolved into Sydney crying every episode, Jack doing all the dirty work to protect his precious, weak little Syd, the Rambaldi arc getting out of control and lots of little side stories that were just naff. I'm sorry but seeing a topless Ron Rifkin (I think the actor and character is genius though) made me gag ever so slightly. I did enjoy Jack getting it on with Isabella Rosselini who I hope shows up again in Season 4 ("I think you're hot Jack, deal with it" I love it!) And the long-lost sister storyline was pretty much the nail in the meandering, nonsensical coffin that was Season 3. Now that Greg Grunberg is getting his own series (yet another JJ brainchild), Sydney will have no friends and it'll be the Spy, Spy Daddy, Spy Boyfriend and Spy Partner (Dixon, whose character was just shelved and ruined by making him director of the Rotunda). Bring back the Francinator and make her a big baddy instead of Sark's henchgirl/bed buddy! I don't agree with the Amazon reviewer that Melissa George was lackluster but I think she could have had more luster. I wasn't sad to see her go though and am not exactly clamoring to have her back. Will, on the other hand, please, please, please restore this show to the greatness that it was for 2 brief seasons.

This was most definately not the best season of the great show of Alias. But that won't stop me from at least renting this. Some of the episodes were actually good, like "Hourglass" and "The Two". Actually, the main reason I think this is maybe worth the money is the fan commentary on the latter. It should be very good, I am told.

So, I am giving this more like 3 1/3 stars. This is a great show, but the love triangle of the third season is irritating to say the least. I will probably rent this first before deciding to purchase.

The merits of Alias are obvious if you watch seasons one and two. They lost their way in the third season, with frenetic action taking over -- taking too much time away from personal and interpersonal drama, characters acting out of character, and plots that were unbelievable even within the framework of a fantasy/spy/romance show. On any whim, the guys and gals would leave the CIA to go off on some rogue mission (where do they get the funding for all these insane worldwide operations?) and be back in time for supper, with no permanent repercussions.

I don't know if the Rambaldi stuff will ever go anywhere or not. But what made Alias special was the relationships anyway. And these have been folded, spindled, and mutilated in season 3. The season finale looks like another "good guy" is going to turn out to be a betrayer. I won't say who, but it is horrible that they spent three seasons building up a special relationship between two people who had big issues at the beginning of the series, and now it looks like they want to destroy all the trust that was built. Perhaps they are simply running out of ideas, and they are simply going to destroy all the characters we have grown to love, like one of those sick John Irving novels.

I never saw the series on TV, and I'm glad I've been able to watch the DVDs. I'm all caught up on the plot (implausible as it became) and ready for season four to begin in January. But unless they return to some of the scriptwriting sense and character consistency of the first and second seasons, I'm going to give up on it. I hope they can get back in the game. The first two seasons were magically good.

Alias is an amazing, amazing show - so much of an amazing show that I have complete and total faith in it.

Like most Alias fans, I love Sydney & Vaughn so the beginning of this season was a little trying on my patience, but I know that eventually my couple will reunite. I do understand why they did it what they did -- this season has given the chance for these characters to grow.

Do I think this is the best season yet? No. Did it live up to its second season? Not really. But, was it a failure? Not by any means at all. It is still the most entertaining hour that television has to offer. Jennifer Garner is an amazing actress that constanly amazes me. Victor Garber makes me smile everytime he graces our screens. And Michael Vartan and Greg Grunberg simply just make me happy :-)

Please give season 3 of Alias a chance. JJ Abrams' shows are never neat, they are never simple -- look at Felicity. But I can promise you that if you stay on for the ride, you will not regret it.

I have never watched Alias as a television show but now own all 3 seasons on DVD. I got hooked way too late in season 1 to catch up so I have had to wait for the DVD season to come out. But I am now a die hard fan and completely addicted to Sydney and all her friends.

But I have a real problem with Season 3 on DVD. That is that it is too dark. It seems that most scenes are so dark that we miss facial expressions and all the nuances of them. I thought it was my television but we have just gotten a new one and it is just as bad. It was so irritating trying to see it during the first disk, which was a little slow, that we just quit watching.

I realize that it is a "spy game" and many things have to be done in the dark but it is ridiculous to suffer eyestrain from squinting just to be able to tell what is happening. And then there are the fight scenes where everyone is wearing black and when it is over you are wondering what happened since you couldn't see even who hit who or how!!

But it is a great show and I have to recommend buying all 3 seasons even if you have to turn the contrast way up to see it--which we tried without much success.

I know that mostly everyone has been complaining of not liking Alias-Season 3. On the contrary, I thought Season 3 was excellent. Every person has times in their lives when nothing seems to go right and everything is upside down. Season 3 was a successful change. Seasons 1 and 2 were great, but another season similar to the previous would have been repetitive. Season 3 kept me in suspense: What really happened to Sydney? How will Sydney and Vaughn's relationship end? What will happen to Lauren? I loved Season 3. I loved how Sydney and Vaughn still loved each other, but tried to stay apart. I have bought all of the seasons of Alias, and Season 3 is one of my favorites. Buy Season 3--You will not be disappointed.

Well, now that everyone on the planet has pointed out Season 3's "bad" quirks, let's talk about some of things that make this season, not as HORRIBLE as everyone says. A devoted fan since day one, I promise you, I won't ramble on...

As tragic as it was for Sydney to be missing for two years, it brought about some very interesting and tense issues for her and Vaughn. That first episode...or was it the second, where she rightedly told him off for moving on and getting married - "I would have waited", she proclaims, not only showcased Garner's great acting abilities but brought closure to the situation (as much as we could expect) for such a traumatic experience in that she not only found out she had been missing, but she again, lost the love of her life. Another interesting pawn in the game was the level at which Laura's character brought tention to the whole story. She not only was the new wife reflecting jealousy from Sydney's point of view, but the bad guy as well. The psychological aspect and mind games that went on between the three characters was fantastic. Everyone hated her but she was so good at deceiving, you couldn't help but give her props. The whole "we know but they don't" tactic keeps things fresh. For this I give Alias Season 3 Five stars. I don't think these seasons should be compared with the last, but looked at as a work by itself.

My Alias while in viewing limbo was "Couch Potato." This series promises to suck the viewer in. I remember watching a couple of episodes of season 3 on television, and being very intrigued, however very confused as well. Deciding to rent a disc at the video store to get to the bottom of it all, I found myself returning twice and sometimes three times in one day (ahh!) to pick up the next disc. I ate my meals in front of Alias, and when sleep overcame me, I had grandiose dreams that I was Jennifer Garner, traveling all regions of the world, kicking terrorist butt! I admit it was a bit much, I had absolutley no social life while getting through all three seasons, but I cannot wait until season four starts.