Alias just ticked me off badly!!! (Season 3)

[Othello]

Ok.. for some reason I am finally getting around to watching Alias as I never watched it before. What a great show even if I can't stand Sydeny Bristow with a passion!! Now I just got through season three and they most certainly killed off my favorite character Lauren and it looks like Sark isn't going to be back either as i imagine he can only get loose so many times even though I would prefer he get loose again.

I was SOOOOOO hoping for a much longer chase for Lauren that spilled over into season four and they killed her off. She was AMAZING in her role as the evil spy wife. Not only is she sexier than Sydney in both looks and with that amazing accent she's more likable than Sydney to me even as a villian!!!

I find Sydney to be annoying as all hell and grew to REALLY dislike her even more this season. Once she and Vaughn kissed WELL BEFORE they had a clue about who she was I despised them both with a passion as there are few people in life I despise more than cheaters. I liked Lauren even more after that and was really rooting for a long time of her making life hell for Vaugn and Sydney. BIG TIME missed opportunity there IMHO.

 

[Professor Zoom]

You should've stopped after season 2. It only further goes down hill...

I couldn't even finish watching it.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

I got about four episodes into season 3 and turned it off. It was seriously hours of nothing interesting happening.

 

[Christopher]

Seasons 3 and 4 are the weakest overall, but I felt it recovered somewhat in the final season, partly because they remembered how to have fun. Also there was less Jennifer Garner because of her pregnancy, and Rachel Nichols joined the cast.

 

[Othello]

[/QUOTE]I got about four episodes into season 3 and turned it off. It was seriously hours of nothing interesting happening. [/QUOTE]

You should've stopped after season 2. It only further goes down hill...

I couldn't even finish watching it.

Seasons 3 and 4 are the weakest overall, but I felt it recovered somewhat in the final season, partly because they remembered how to have fun. Also there was less Jennifer Garner because of her pregnancy, and Rachel Nichols joined the cast.

I loved season three myself. Just really ticked me off that they killed Lauren off cause they could have gotten so much more out of her as a character. It also appears very likely Sark won't be back but I'm not sure of that...

I'm really enjoying the show and much to my surprise my parents watched it all 5 years when it was on and really enjoyed it.

 

[Jack Bauer]

I loved season three myself. Just really ticked me off that they killed Lauren off cause they could have gotten so much more out of her as a character. It also appears very likely Sark won't be back but I'm not sure of that...

Spoiler: Sark post season 3 ...if you really wanna know

There's a lot of Sark in the final 2 seasons. So no worries if you really really like him

 

[Othello]

Thanks.. good to know.. just got season 4 from the library and am gonna start watching right now.. :>)) Now if only Lauren wan't really dead....

Any woman who tells Sark she'd gladly fulfill his rwisted fantasies in the Sydeny disguise is a-ok by me lol

Loved Sark's dig to Vaugn about how freaky she was in bed hahahaha..

 

[DarKush]

You should've stopped after season 2. It only further goes down hill...

I couldn't even finish watching it.

Agreed. Season 3 was a disaster for this series. Alias never really recovered IMO. I mean, it tried to get back on track with S4, but it never really regained its traction to me. I missed a great deal of S5, the new characters didn't interest me enough to tune in, and I got the impression that it was just a retread of what had come before. I did see the series finale, and wasn't all that impressed though it does provide appropriate closure. I hated all that Rimbaldi stuff which seemed to become more prominent each season.

 

[23skidoo]

Generally speaking, I enjoyed Alias all the way through. I liked Lauren, too, but my understanding was the network felt audiences didn't like her, hence the rather sudden kill-off.

But after a fantastic first season, I felt the show pull away from what I liked about it starting in Season 2. For one thing, Sydney became a killer. That sounds weird to say, but the fact is watch those first season episodes again, and she does come off a somewhat of an innocent. That doesn't mean her hands are completely clean, and often it's only because her partner does the dirty work, but I liked how the show often found ways for her to use her brain to get around adversaries rather than pulling out her gun all the time. If you watched through Season 3 you know about some of the stuff Bristow did as Julia; it would have made more of an impact to see her "complete her test" if she hadn't probably been offing people left, right and center since the start of Season 2.

It also lost me for a while after they prematurely ended the SD-6 arc. That was, my understanding, pure network interference. And no amount of Sydney-in-lingerie can make up for the fact the arc should have run to the end of Season 5, or at the very least been resolved in a more satisfactory manner.

They also forgot that Alias is a science fiction series. All that prophecy stuff, etc. It was basically entering Fringe territory at times. They forgot about all that for a while and it basically became a La Femma Nikita clone. Which is great if the character is introduced as a bad ass from the start, but Sydney wasn't, yet instantly became one between seasons, without an event or epiphany that changed her personality, which at least would have explained it without violating the character's own internal logic.

Without spoilers, they did finally start to get back on track in some areas in the final season. Adding Rachel Nichols helped because it brought back some of the "innocent agent" aspects that worked so well in Season 1. But I do feel that Seasons 3 and 4, in many respects, were lost opportunities. But the basic concept as introduced in Season 1 only had a limited life expectancy anyway. This would have been so much better a show if they'd just produced a single 22-episode season.

Alex

 

[Christopher]

It also lost me for a while after they prematurely ended the SD-6 arc. That was, my understanding, pure network interference. And no amount of Sydney-in-lingerie can make up for the fact the arc should have run to the end of Season 5, or at the very least been resolved in a more satisfactory manner.

Odd that you say this when you also say:

But the basic concept as introduced in Season 1 only had a limited life expectancy anyway. This would have been so much better a show if they'd just produced a single 22-episode season.

I agree with the latter statement. By the time they ended the initial SD-6 arc, it had grown ridiculous. Every mission SD-6 sent Sydney on ended up failing one way or another because of her sabotage, and yet Sloane never suspected that she was either a traitor or an incompetent? Why would he keep sending her on missions when, as far as he could tell, she never got anything right?? The premise had outlived its believability, and I think it was right to end it when they did. The problem is that they didn't figure out anything good to replace it with. Instead of an abrupt midseason retool, it would've been better if the decision had been made between seasons so that the staff had time to figure out a good way to wrap up the SD-6 arc and transition into a worthwhile new storyline.

 

[Othello]

Oh man.. how anyone couldn't like Lauren as a character is beyond me.. damn networks interfere FAR too often...

 

[Warp Coil]

Lauren started off as an irritating roadblock, a plot device designed merely to keep Syd and Vaughn apart. She wasn't a bad character but she wasn't all that likable or interesting. Until they revealed her to be bad. Then she became 500% more fascinating and fun as a character. I agree that it was unfortunate that she was killed off at the end of the season.

Season 3 was a bit uneven, but I don't think it was a terrible season. It just wasn't as tightly written or cohesive as the first two seasons. It introduced some interesting plot points and mysteries but poorly resolved/developed them. Basically, it was an adequate premise but a disappointing execution. The mystery surrounding Syd's missing two years was cool, but the reveal was ultimately underwhelming. The introduction of the Passenger was fine, but making her Syd's long-lost half sister was lame. I also feel like they did not adequately follow up on Nadia's role as the Passenger in subsequent seasons.

Season 4 is a massive disappointment from beginning to end. There's very little to enjoy. Season 5 starts to get back on track and I really like the season, but at this point it's too late and the show gets a rushed, poorly-planned finale that I was not happy with. Ultimately, I find Alias to be a really fun, entertaining show with great characters, but the plots and storylines are horribly contrived and poorly executed (at least, everything after season 2).

 

[Scotty]

Season 3 as a whole was very dull an uneventful. I liked season 4 because of some wild ideas and a terrific season finale. Season 5 felt like a best of season. Everyone and everthing from the previous four seasons made an encore.

Seasons from best to worst:
Season 2
Season 1
Season 4
Season 5
Season 3

 

[Pingfah]

Ricky Gervais puts on one of the least convincing performances i've ever seen in a primetime show in this season.

 

[Forbin]

I think someone here, back during first run, came up with the ideal description: "Season 3 is ass."

 

[Jack Bauer]

I didn't like how they wrapped up the missing two years in just a single episode. I think that was ordered by ABC just like they mandated that season 4 have standalones mainly at the start. Unfortunately those were pretty boring.

 

[Othello]

Hmm... I loved season three myself. I wonder if watching them for the firt time all in a matter of a few days makes a big difference in your enjoyment as compared to over the course of three months.

I'm about 6-7 episodes into season 4 and I am SOOOOO hoping that Nadia ends up making Syd's life a living hell later in the season. I'm not fond of Syd or Jack and want to see their lives really messed with.

 

[Othello]

And this is why i despise the good guys on tv most of the time.. Just watching that hypocrite Sydney lecture Nadia about trust right after she USED and LIED to her about her birthday dinner in a previous episode pisses me off to no end. Add the ongoing lie she's covering about who killed her mother and I end up rooting for Nadia to kick the crap out fo her and win in the death duel they are eventually supposed to have even if I knwo no tv show would ever have the balls to do something like that.

 

[Othello]

Vaugn KNOWINGLY goes against the CIA and I have ZERO doubt they will find a lame ass excuse to have him suffer no consequences.. more reason I can't stand supposed "good guys" on tv and the movies... cause more often they really aren't and excuses for REALLY bad behavior often gets excused for the flimsiest of reasons and people just accept it like sheep...

Perfect example.. Vaughn goes back to Sydney and say he "couldn't walk away from those he loved".. what a compleet crock of shit.. he just did that with the rouge mission eh went on and shot at fellow CIA agents. bastard should rot in prison for a lifetime but instea dhe'll weasel his way out of it..

 

[Othello]

Just started the double Sloane episode and all i can say is.. man what a bunch of blind morons so easy to play..