For quite some time, I've considered Zak Penn to be an extraordinary hack. He's co-written or co-plotted some of the most embarrassing failures of the Superhero genre to date, such as ELEKTRA, and X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. He also wrote original drafts of both the first and second HULK films and what is widely considered the greatest superhero film of all time, THE AVENGERS. However the success of the second HULK film was largely due to star Edward Norton almost completely rewriting the script (under the name Edward Harrison, but was denied any credit by the Writer's Guild), and the gargantuan success of THE AVENGERS, script-wise, is credited wholly to the brilliant Joss Whedon (and rightfully so, since Penn was actually relegated to a co-plotter). So from this resume', one might assume that while Penn may be a fan of the Superhero genre, he's certainly no expert at it.
With his series ALPHAS, co-created with Michael Karnow, Penn has proved that not only can he craft a really clever "superhero" story, but a very tightly-constructed television show that's both action-packed and whip-smart.
From the outset of the show, we're treated to a number of superhero archetypes: First is Bill Harken (Malik Yoba, the mini-series THIEF, NIKITA) as a gruff former federal agent who has the ability to throw his mental "fight-or-flight" response into overdrive and gain temporary super-strength. Next up is Nina Theroux (Laura Mennell, SUPERNATURAL, FRINGE, SMALLVILLE) as a beautiful young woman who can slightly exert her will on other people mentally. Then we have Rachel Pirzad (Azita Ghanizada, bit parts on shows like CASTLE, BONES, PSYCH, etc.), a very pretty girl from a Middle Eastern family who can enhance her five senses. Then comes Gary Bell (the incredible Ryan Cartwright, BONES and MAD MEN), a young man who can actually see wireless communication and decode it. Next is Cameron Hicks (Warren Christie, APOLLO 18, STEVEN SEAGAL'S TRUE JUSTICE), a handsome and rugged former Marine who has not only uncanny aim with anything he can get his hands on, but also can slightly predict where to move to allow uninterrupted motion. Finally, there's their leader, Dr. Lee Rosen (the always-amazing David Strathairn, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, SNEAKERS, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK), a psychiatrist who has assembled this merry band of abnormally-powered beings he refers to as "Alphas" to work for the government to take down threats perpetrated by other Alphas.
But the archetypes are somehow broken or twisted so that they actually work to create more fleshed-out characters. Harken's abilities not only affect his mental state, but can put a dangerous amount of stress on his heart. Theroux used to be habitual about using her powers dangerously, using them solely for "borrowing" cars and homes and also inadvertantly caused her boyfriend's suicide. Rachel's sense abilities are intense and exact but she can only use one sense at a time at the cost of all of her other senses. Gary is a high-functioning autistic. Cameron has perhaps the most immediate problem since the pilot episode is the team actually chasing him after he had been mind-controlled into an assassination and could go to prison for the rest of his life if anyone but the team found out. Dr. Rosen is not an Alpha, and despite his intelligence and perceptive abilities, is also perhaps not the ideal leader for a group of covert super-powered government agents.
The Big Bad, as it were, is a terrorist/freedom-fighter organization called Red Flag, which is essentially Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants to Professor Xavier's X-Men. Their mission statement is similar as well; Red Flag believes that being an Alpha is the next evolutionary step. Dr. Rosen believes in protecting the existing Alphas but also protecting the world from those Alphas that are on the extremist side. It all sounds kind of familiar, I know. But what is unusual for a show of this type is how this show allows for the characters and the interaction to evolve, grow and learn about themselves and the ways that their abilities can be used differently as well as how they can be an impediment to really living their lives.
The cast is quite good with the standouts really being Strathairn, Ghanizada, and Cartwright. Guest stars come from all over the genre television world, from Lindsay Wagner (who reprises her role as Dr. Calder from another SyFy show, WAREHOUSE 13, basically placing this show in the same universe of existence as that show and apparently also EUREKA) to Callum Keith Rennie (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, the last X-FILES film) to Summer Glau (FIREFLY/SERENITY, DOLLHOUSE) to Brent Spiner STAR TREK: TNG) to Garret Dillahunt (THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES) to Rebecca Mader (LOST). The only real weak link in the show to me, cast-wise, is not only the character of Cameron but the actor Warren Christie. Both the character and the actor are a little too stiff and there isn't much to work with in any real mythology to his character other than his apparent past as a wannabe professional baseball pitcher and his desire to provide for his son.
The episodes are all compelling, even if sometimes the premise is a little cliched. As a for instance, the episode "A Short Time in Paradise" is not a particularly great episode up until the end, since it deals with a Jonestown-esque cult and a religious extremest Alpha who runs it. Also not very strong in most parts is "Anger Management", which features a rage-inducing Alpha. By far the best episodes are the ones that revolve primarily around Gary. Ryan Cartwright shows remarkable ability to play a type of role that requires a great deal of care as to not careen off into the gorge of offensive comic stereotype even when the moments he has are genuinely funny. He's not just a character of comic relief. Cartwright plays Gary with weight and depth, even if he's still cut off from a great deal of the world emotionally. It's a very interesting idea from a character perspective to put a character like Gary amongst a group of people who already see the world differently than everyone else, and that creates an even bigger dilemma for the people around him and who care about him since he already is forced to see the world differently from most others.
The very best episode of the season is titled "Rosetta" in which Gary meets another, more seriously handicapped girl seemingly incapable of any kind of communication, but he connects with and is actually able to understand how she communicates. The episode is actually quite shocking when certain truths are revealed but you still are so in tune with Gary as a character that you understand the desires he has regardless of the episode's big reveal.
This is probably the only show since HEROES that has actually taken the idea of superhumans seriously, but has a less spectacular kind of superhuman. Nobody flies, nobody's indestructible, nobody can travel through time or walk through walls. There's always a more realistic explanation to the abilities of each Alpha's powers that gives the series an even greater plausibility, but never detracts from the entertainment of the fantastical elements this show has to offer.
If SyFy invested more time and patience in new shows rather than either trying to put together more "reality" television or its truly awful original film division, there might be more shows like ALPHAS on that station. The season, coming in at only eleven episodes rather than a more standard thirteen, is a little abbreviated but ends on an extremely climactic moment that could change everything going forward, and fortunately, this show was picked up for a second season, so hopefully, in 2012, we'll see more of Dr. Rosen and his Alphas soon, because this show is too good to just have one season.
You may change my mind yet, Zak.