Sy Fy cancels Alphas

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by USS Kongo, Jan 17, 2013.

  1. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I didn't miss the word. My whole point is that reputations are often wrong, which is why people should have the good sense to ignore reputations and pay attention to facts instead.
     
  2. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think the general consensus showed by a lack of interest in The Alphas cliff-hanger shows why the series was canceled. As an unwanted public service (the easy kind to fulfill, meeting social obligations is no problem if you pick'em wisely:techman:) I will tell you How It All Ends.

    Dr. Lee Rosen is not killed. But he is very unhappy to discover that the reason Stanton Parrish had designated him the new leader was because, unbeknownst to him, Parrish knew that Rosen was one of his descendants. Rosen finds it really icky that one of his grandmothers cheated with Parrish, but, really, these things happen.

    The photostimulator that created new Alphas is eventually reverse engineered to become a destimulator. Alphas who work for the government are the only Alphas left. The revolutionary threat posed by the power of "ordinary" people is repressed. This is just as it should be because human nature decrees that ordinary people are unfit for power. That is why every Alpha has some miserable weakness or flaw created by his or her ability.

    Except that eventually Parrish will escape and find a cure for the destimulator! That is because human nature also decrees that the rabble will always have some class traitor who panders to their malevolent dreams of a world where they, instead of those who earned their privileges, have power. The end is not really an end, but an endless Manichean struggle, that corrupts the defenders of order and justice by the tragic fate of humanity at war with itself.

    Or, to put it another way, angst never really dies, it just changes actors!:lol:
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I wasn't so much addressing your post as the whole "Syfy always cancels things" meme in general--which has been popping again at the usual places: io9, blastr, etc.

    And, yeah, Syfy's "reputation" for cancelling shows prematurely seems to bear little connection to reality, especially when you take into account TV programming in general, as opposed to just our own little corner of the woods.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2013
  4. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    A few months back, after watching the whole thing on Netflix, I found a description of what Season 2 would have been, and it sounds like it would have been really crazy.
    I don't remember everything exactly, but the big things are that they created a whole new 'verse where they had now always been connected, Charlie looked like 01 and 01 like Charlie, and they were going to deal with The Men in Grey Suits.
    Turns out the site is gone, but I did save the PDF of the season 2 plan if anyone who watched the show is interested.
     
  5. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    I don't remember an unresolved cliffhanger for The Dead Zone. I remember something low-key, but not unresolved. I could be wrong though, since I had long since lost interest in the show and was just riding it out at that point.
     
  6. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Yea, I saved the PDF myself, when you provided the second link in my thread, since the first link dried up. It definitely sounded like an excellent expansion on the Series, even though Season 1 ends quite satisfactorily on it's own.

    SGU and Carica, I thought their endings were quite sufficient as Series finales, though I would definitely have liked to have seen them continue. Sanctuary too, was a sufficient Series Finale, but, it definitely left me wanting a S5 in the new Sanctuary

    Farscape was the really, really cruel Cliff hanger cancellation. Thank God we got Peacekeeper Wars, finally or Bad Timing (Talk about ironic title) would still be stuck in my craw with hatred
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    They did wrap up the season's arcs, but ended it in a way that introduced some major new complications and problems, particularly
    bringing back Greg Stillson as a major Big Bad and revealing through Johnny's visions that the Apocalypse hadn't been averted after all -- not to mention revealing that Johnny's son was psychic too.


    I agree about SGU, but less so about Caprica. Not that it wouldn't have been interesting to see the story continue, but I think the pilot and one season were successful at revealing the backstory of the human-Cylon conflict, so I feel the saga is complete as it is. Maybe some worthwhile stuff could've been filled in, but it didn't need to be. (And the Blood and Chrome pilot about the First Cylon War is a complete waste. It's mostly just action and spectacle and inconsistently convincing virtual sets, with a boring lead character and a thoroughly unpleasant second lead and a storyline that doesn't add anything new or surprising to the saga.)


    Actually I would've been satisfied if "Bad Timing" had been the end. I mean, Farscape never did anything conventionally, and the characters were always bouncing from one insane crisis to the next. I would've been happy with an ending that made it clear their wacky and bizarre adventures would continue. It would've been fitting. Kind of like one of those "Well, here we go again!" endings you often see in cartoons or sitcoms.
     
  8. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    As I recall, DARK SHADOW's final episode wrapped up its current storyline, but ended on a cliffhanger that was presumedly intended to launch a new storyline. The show dealt with this by adding a final voiceover along the lines of:

    "But, for the first time in Collinswood's history, the marks on Carolyn's neck were just caused by an animal. She soon recovered and everybody lived happily ever after, no longer haunted by . . . Dark Shadows."

    (I'm paraphrasing from memory here, but that was the gist of it!)
     
  9. hyzmarca

    hyzmarca Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    The entire writing staff left and were replaced after the first eight episodes. It's one of the few instances of mid-season total writer turnover that makes a show vastly better.
     
  10. the_wildcard

    the_wildcard Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You know those moments when you feel like an idiot? I just had one when I was thinking to myself when Syfy was going to start running previews for Alphas this season. When I didn't see any, I decided to do a Google search and then I found this thread too.

    Damm Syfy.
     
  11. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    There's an episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon goes into a hissy fit when he becomes aware of this cancellation.
     
  12. propita

    propita Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'll miss Gary. The actor being English was surprising, he did such a good job in this role.
     
  13. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    I said out, dammit!
    ^He'd been on Bones for a while before that, playing a forensic intern, with his natural accent. So it was a huge surprise to me when we saw doing such an amazing job of being an autistic American kid.
     
  14. Psion

    Psion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I clicked on this link hoping there'd been a change in the show's status.

    Now I'm depressed all over again.
     
  15. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    No. Remember the final shots, where the camera keeps panning over all those people, struck down by the pocket version of Magneto's Statue of Liberty mutant maker machine? Since the series is over, if they looked dead, they are dead.

    At least it has a definitive resolution!:techman:
     
  16. Caretaker

    Caretaker Commodore Premium Member

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    Or, it could be an eternal state of Schrödingerism - both alive and dead at the same time.
     
  17. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    I said out, dammit!
    Well THAT's a quantum of solace.

    (SWIDT? :D )
     
  18. auntiehill

    auntiehill The Blooness Premium Member

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    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vozDJMjmhYA[/yt]
     
  19. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^^ BBT was pretty dead-on in that occasion


    Ba-dum-tish.

    (or however you represent a rimshot....)
     
  20. Caretaker

    Caretaker Commodore Premium Member

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    For curiosity's sake, I'm wondering how the writers planned to conclude that cliffhanger if the show had returned for another season, especially with regards to the character of Lee Rosen.