Syfy series Alphas

[Gingerbread Demon]

Well it lasted 2 seasons and I'm at episode 3 and it's a bit of a slog with what seems like no direction. Characters just ramble stuff and people are irritating to watch, nearly all of them. I hope it gets better past episode 3 but I have a feeling it won't.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Stick with it.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Stick with it.

I'll stick with it hopefully it improves.. Episode 4 seems a bit better paced and such.

 

[JD]

I remember enjoying it, but I think it took a little while to really hit it's stride.

 

[auntiehill]

It does get better but IIRC, it ends right when it was getting really good .

 

[Christopher]

I liked Alphas, but as I recall, I didn't like season 2 quite as much as season 1. The show was originally run by DS9's Ira Steven Behr, but in season 2 he was replaced by Bruce Miller of Eureka and The 4400. The season 1 finale set up a major status quo change that excited me, but the season 2 premiere unconvincingly hit the reset button on it.

I liked how it was generally a relatively realistic treatment of superpowers. The Alphas didn't have physics-breaking fantasy powers like flight or teleportation or shapeshifting, but more plausible powers like enhanced strength and senses, enhanced learning abilities, etc. Sometimes the powers got implausible, but not as often as usual in series about superhuman characters.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I liked Alphas, but as I recall, I didn't like season 2 quite as much as season 1. The show was originally run by DS9's Ira Steven Behr, but in season 2 he was replaced by Bruce Miller of Eureka and The 4400. The season 1 finale set up a major status quo change that excited me, but the season 2 premiere unconvincingly hit the reset button on it.

I liked how it was generally a relatively realistic treatment of superpowers. The Alphas didn't have physics-breaking fantasy powers like flight or teleportation or shapeshifting, but more plausible powers like enhanced strength and senses, enhanced learning abilities, etc. Sometimes the powers got implausible, but not as often as usual in series about superhuman characters.

I don't know Laura Mennell and her power seems a bit iffy. BTW she appears in a lot of shows and productions around the same time as this show. I like her. And a lot of them have done shit tons of scifi

 

[Christopher]

I don't know Laura Mennell and her power seems a bit iffy.

Nina's power was called "hyperinduction," and it required eye contact and verbal cues to work, so the idea was that it was like an amped-up form of hypnosis rather than telepathy or something. That's not exactly realistic -- contrary to popular belief, hypnosis is a voluntary state of relaxation and suggestibility, not any kind of mind control -- but as I said, it's much less implausible than the kinds of superpowers you usually see in fiction. At least the show tried to ground the powers in superficially plausible science, rather than throwing physics completely out the window.

And a lot of them have done shit tons of scifi

The actors, you mean? You're right that Mennell's done a lot of things, but I can't think of that much else I've seen the others in. David Strathairn was in the 2014 Godzilla, but he's mainly known for his non-genre work. Warren Christie was an impostor Bruce Wayne in Batwoman and has done scattered guest roles in a lot of Canadian shows. Azita Ghanizada, who was probably my favorite cast member besides Strathairn, has done very little else that I've seen, most recently a 2018 Elementary episode. I do remember seeing Erin Way in Agents of SHIELD, but she hasn't done much else I've seen.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Nina's power was called "hyperinduction," and it required eye contact and verbal cues to work, so the idea was that it was like an amped-up form of hypnosis rather than telepathy or something. That's not exactly realistic -- contrary to popular belief, hypnosis is a voluntary state of relaxation and suggestibility, not any kind of mind control -- but as I said, it's much less implausible than the kinds of superpowers you usually see in fiction. At least the show tried to ground the powers in superficially plausible science, rather than throwing physics completely out the window.

I did appreciate that they tried to explain the powers in a more grounded way rather then just throwing them out there like other shows / movies have done.

Yes I meant the actors, I've seen some of their faces in a few productions. I think I exaggerated a bit when I said shit tons of scifi. I also liked Azita Ghanizada as Rachel. She was fun

 

[Commander Troi]

It was a fun show, but yeah, it took a bit to find its feet.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

It was a fun show, but yeah, it took a bit to find its feet.

Yeah too late and then got canned, it could have been a great series

 

[Guy Gardener]

It was a fun show, but yeah, it took a bit to find its feet.

Alpha's only had 24 episodes.

TNG didn't get any good until season 4.

 

[wayoung]

I really enjoyed the series. Unfortunately it ends with a cliffhanger.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Yeah what was the deal with those photic devices with flashing lights?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yeah what was the deal with those photic devices with flashing lights?

Context.

Where are you up to in the story?

We saw Alphas ten years back, plus.

We might be able to answer your question, but a little help brah.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Context.

Where are you up to in the story?

We saw Alphas ten years back, plus.

We might be able to answer you question, but a little help brah.

I'm up to the part where they got one of the devices and the doctor dude wants Skylar to take it apart

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'm up to the part where they got one of the devices and the doctor dude wants Skylar to take it apart

The sensory canon that looks like a small dentist's overhead lamp?

Skyler uses it to clear a hallway worth of federal agents, who are trying to breach the Aphas head quarters in s01e07?

Rachel says "it's a stun device using sound and light."

Even in the real world strobe lights can sometimes accidentally trigger seizures, so it wouldn't be hard to build something similar that always triggers a seizure intentionally.

Is that what you were talking about?

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The sensory canon that looks like a small dentist's overhead lamp?

Skyler uses it to clear a hallway worth of federal agents, who are trying to breach the Aphas head quarters in s01e07?

Rachel says "it's a stun device using sound and light."

Even in the real world strobe lights can sometimes accidentally trigger seizures, so it wouldn't be hard to build something similar that always triggers a seizure intentionally.

Is that what you were talking about?

Kind of, I mean the doctor seemed puzzled about what it was and what it could be used for so seems silly him being a psychologist and all that he didn't come to the same conclusion you did, or surely the writers would have known that.

Doesn't the show end on a cliffhanger with these devices being triggered?

 

[Greg Cox]

Kind of, I mean the doctor seemed puzzled about what it was and what it could be used for so seems silly him being a psychologist and all that he didn't come to the same conclusion you did, or surely the writers would have known that.

Doesn't the show end on a cliffhanger with these devices being triggered?

FYI: Once you're done with the series, there's actually a BIG BANG THEORY ep about Sheldon reacting (badly) to ALPHAS being cancelled on a cliffhanger.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

FYI: Once you're done with the series, there's actually a BIG BANG THEORY ep about Sheldon reacting (badly) to ALPHAS being cancelled on a cliffhanger.

That is cool but I never really found Big Bang that funny, but shall look it up