Alias

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***** ALIAS Night*****

"Alias Night" is where all of us would take turns going to a persons house to watch the show. We kept it up that entire 2nd seaons and into the 3rd season. We ALL looked forward to those nights. Everyone would cook something and bring it over, we'd have a few glasses of wine (or beer for the guys), we'd chat through the commericals about what's happening in the show and our thoughts, ...
...It was like a narcotic. Alias was our cocaine and we couldn't get enough. All of us bought the TV seasons on DVD as soon as they came out. We would have Alias Marathons where several of us would get together and watch an entire season back to back to back.

Now if that's not dedication, I don't know what is.

Fast foward to the present time and my friends and I STILL watch and love this show, even though the last season ... more

Everyone has a "favourite" show. Yours might be a CSI one (Ew...that hurt me to even type "CSI", I hate that show that much....no offence to you mass amount of CSI fans out erhe) , or a Soap Opera like Coronation Street, or a fun guy show like "Top Gear", or a game show like Deal or no Deal (seriously though, how can a GAME show be your favourite show???).

No matter what your Television cup of tea is, a major percentage of you do love espionage, adventure, drama, romance, and action. Especially if they are all wrapped up in one neat little package. "ALIAS", is that package.

I started watching this show about 7 yrs ago when the 2nd season had started. It was on a whim one night while I sick at home flicking through channels mindlessly. I still remember the episode I first watched, which is odd since I hardly ever remember stuff like that. When something immediately engages and grabs you, that's a good sign.

After that first episode, I was hooked. I couldn't wait to watch the next. When I talked to my co-workers about it the following day I said, " Ok there's this new show I just watched last night that was FANSTATIC called Alias..", several of them responded in kind saying they also loved the show. 20 minutes of "Alias" talking later, we started up an "Alias Night".

***** ALIAS Night*****

"Alias Night" is where all of us would take turns going to a persons house to watch the show. We kept it up that entire 2nd seaons and into the 3rd season. We ALL looked forward to those nights. Everyone would cook something and bring it over, we'd have a few glasses of wine (or beer for the guys), we'd chat through the commericals about what's happening in the show and our thoughts, and then the next day at work, we'd talk about what the next show would be like.

Yes, we were pretty obsessed.

Other people at work would overhear our "Alias" group talking and wonder what our deal was. We'd just tell them "Watch the show". Usually, they would come back to us after taking our advice, and end up brainwashed by the show as well. It was like a narcotic. Alias was our cocaine and we couldn't get enough. All of us bought the TV seasons on DVD as soon as they came out. We would have Alias Marathons where several of us would get together and watch an entire season back to back to back.

Now if that's not dedication, I don't know what is.

Fast foward to the present time and my friends and I STILL watch and love this show, even though the last season aired a few yrs ago now. I'm not sure how many times i've watched the seasons in total, but i'm almost positive that i've watched every episode at least 5 or 6 times. Some of my fave episodes i've even watched 10 times or more.

So, i'm thinking you are fully aware now of my affliction. That i'm a diehard Alias Junkie. Since, i'm fully qualified to take you on a tour of the show, sit back in your seats and enjoy the action-packed, drama filling, spy chilling, romance thrilling ...ride.

*****In the Beginning, God Created Alias*****

God might not have been an active participant in creating Alias, but I bet you anything he watched it. I would imagine that he also has a lot of love for the show's creator, J.J. Abrams.

J.J. Abrams is on the fast track in Hollywood right now. He's created several hugely popular shows, and Alias was one of his pet projects that he has said was his "favourite to produce" . Here's a list of several films and TV shows that Abrams has either written, directed, created, or produced;

Written by Abrams:

Regarding Henry - 1991 (You know this movie, it was with Harrison Ford and Annette Benning).
Forever Young - 1992 ( Yes, the one with Mel Gibson that every girl swoons over)
Armageddon - 1998 ( Bruce Willis might have been a crap actor in it, but the movie was hugely popular at the time).

Director:

A few Episodes of Lost, Alias, and Felicity, and the Office then;
Mission Impossible III - 2006
AND .....the new Star Trek Movie out this year!

Producer:

Regarding Henry and Forever Young

Felicity ( 84 Episodes): 1998 - 2002

ALIAS (yay!)..... (105 Episodes): 2001 - 2006

What about Brian (26 Episodes) 2006 - 2007 [ This is a VERY underrated show by the way. I was sooooo upset that it was cancelled after a season!]

Cloverfield 2008: ( This is the movie that came out that did the shakey camera Blair Witch thing. I still have yet to see it , but I'm not sure if I will. It's one of the few projects Abrams has done, that I think he'll regret doing in the future.)

LOST (84 Episodes...so far) 2004 - 2009: Everyone knows this show and has at least seen one or two episodes. It's a fantastic storyline while being extremely original.

Soooooo folks....I think you know by now that the creator of Alias is somewhat trustworthy. Sure he's done a few silly things , like his newest show "Fringe" , that I believe was cancelled this year already after about 15 episodes. It was badly cast with actors. He's usually excellent with his casting choices, but this time , he failed. Then of course he DID do Cloverfield which, i'm not sure how to take that one. I know several people enjoyed it and several more people didn't. Regardless, his achievements outweigh his disapointments.

Alias began in 2001 with little known actress Jennifer Garner, whom is now, a household name. Before Alias she only had bit parts in various TV shows and movies. As soon as this show started though, instantly people were talking around the water coolers saying " Who IS this actress! She's amazing!"

Garner is currently one of my fave actresses simply BECAUSE of this show. Her movies have only been so-so. (13 going on 30 was GREAT, and she was good in Juno ......Catch and Release was "ok"....but Daredevil and Elektra? come ON Jennifer!) I think Alias fit her perfectly. It allowed her to showcase her dramatic talents with the various romantic and action angles. She also can wear any color or style of hair imaginable! Most people cant' get away with that. And, for the record, I would give one of my kidneys away to have her body. She's not your average stick insect actress, or a "too overly toned" either. She's very fit, but with curves, which is pretty much every guys dream.

The rest of the actors and actresses through the series are priceless.

Victor Garber: A notoriously good broadway actor (who's openly gay...sorry ladies) plays Sydney's (The name of Jennifer Garner's Character) dad on the show.

Micheal Vartan: An actor who has been in movies like Never Been Kissed, Mother-in-Law, and One Hour Photo.....who is....can I say...GORGEOUS! Seriously...he's in my top 10 of hottest men i've ever seen in my life. He plays Sydney's on again off again love interest.

Bradley Cooper: He's one of those actors that are starting to make it big in the new Hollywood. He's been in movies recently like Wedding Crashers (The annoying hot guy who kept beating Vince Vaughn up during football), The YES man (new one with Jim Carrey), "He's Just Not That Into You" (new Rom com that's out right now), The Rocker, Failure to Launch, New York , I love you, The Midnight Meat Train and various special spots on other TV shows like Nip Tuck. This guy gets around. He's also one of my FAVE characters on the show who plays Sydney's best friend.

The other character's are lesser known actors, but they are all fantastic! The show has also had several famous cameo appearances by actors like Quentin Tarrentino, Isabella Rossilini, Vivica Fox, Angela Bassett, Faye Dunaway, David Carradine, and Christian Slater.

***** Alias - Season 1 thru 5*****

I refuse to give any major plots away. I will take you though into the background a little of the popular characters.....

Jennifer Garner plays Sydney Bristow. She starts off as a girl in college that was approached by someone to be a "spy" for the Government. Sounds far-fetched, but there's a reason for the madness. Sydney's Father , Jack Bristow ( Victor Garber ), is ALSO working for the government. Although, there is a twist to WHO they are working for. They are actually double agents. They are working for a group "claiming" to be a special ops CIA affliate, when in reality, they're a terrorist organization called "SD-6". They are ALSO working for the CIA as moles inside of SD-6.

The head of SD-6 is a man named Arvin Sloan (played by Ron Rifkin). Arvin and Jack Bristow have been best friends for many years, yet Arvin has betrayed his country, and Jack has to "pretend" they are still "best friends". In reality of course, Jack is disgusted with Arvin for being a traitor, but has to play along like he is one as well. Arvin was also the man who "recruited" Sydney as well. Another reason Jack wants to bring him and SD-6 down.

When Sydney found out that SD-6 was a front, and really wasn't affiliated with the American Govt. She WENT to the CIA. This is where they recruited her, to be the double agent. Telling her that in actuality, JACK her father is ALSO a double agent. Confused yet? Haha,....thankfully the shows creator Abrams, has explained it much better in the episodes.

Throughout the show you learn about the complex relationship of Sydney, Her Father, and Arvin Sloan. You also are introduced later on, to two other Female Characters (can't give those away) who are "related" to her. While working for the CIA she has a handler named Micheal Vaughn (Micheal Vartan). They begin a close relationship where he's her anchor during the madness of her missions and the emotional rollarcoasters she has to endure being a double agent. You see early on the chemistry they have together and you just KNOW, that a romance between the two of them is inevitable.

On Sydney's "off days".....the days where she's not going all over the world wearing wigs and tight clothes, speaking different languages, getting precious artifacts, stopping murders, rescuing people, and just general spy stuff......you see her "at home". When she's just "herself", you meet her friends Francie, and Will (Bradley Cooper). They are a close group of friends that add a certain amount of stability to the show.

Remember, a lot of this show is full of action, mayhem, double crossing, villians, good guys, almost good guys, almost bad guys, ancient artifacts, and all types of crazy stuff. It's good to have some grounding influences in her friends. In a way this show is half Mission Impossible half "TV Drama". The combination of the two though, make for some exciting edge of your seat television.

As you go through the various seasons you see Sydney's different relationships with agents at the CIA , but there are always a close knit group of people that stay in her life. It's those people and relationships that really made me want to watch each week. My friends and I would always ask questions like....." Do you think Sloan is a good guy that makes bad decisions?" or, " Is Sydney and Vaughn going to end up together for good?" or, " Is this Milo Rimbaldi Character still alive?"

***** Who is Milo Rimbaldi?*****

Fictional.

J.J Abrams with his incredible imagination made him up. He's what you would call, a cross between a Nostradamus and a Da Vinci. The entire series is unequivically wrapped around the meaning of Rimbaldi's inventions and his "end game".

Rimbaldi is a 15th Century "Inventor, Philosopher, Soothsayer, etc". Throughout his life, he had gathered many "followers". Those obediant to him, helped create many of his inventions. All of which, usually dealt with some type of doomsday prophecies and the people in those prophecies. As fate would have it.....Sydney is actually IN one of those prophecies, so are a few of her family members.

I will say one bad thing about this Rimbaldi storyline.....it can get tedious at times. About every other episode you find out some new "Artifact" that's found from the clues of the LAST artifact that was found. Rimbaldi has left hundreds of clues around the world and he's left his future followers on what seems, a wild goose chase. Several of these inventions though are pretty wild. Most are hard to describe or explain without giving away major plots in the series. You are left wondering all the time " Was he a good guy or a bad guy?" As a slight spoiler here......I still don't have the answer to that.

***** Ok you read all that....now WATCH THE SHOW!*****

I think I could sit here and talk about Alias all day long. The plots, the subplots, the characters, the relationships, the music (which I forgot to mention , the music that is included in the backgrounds of the series is terrific in my opinion), the acting, the ....education? It's funny but you do learn some things about the interworkings of the a government agency like the CIA. How Interpol works for instance, or Echelon (the Satillite surveillance system).

The gadgets this show has , would make even James Bond want to switch sides and work for the CIA (hahah I'm sure some of you find that slightly sacreligious maybe??).....What's even greater about the gadgets is that 99% of them are completely believable.

One of the funniest characters on the show, a Tech Ops guy named Marshall, is in charge of "creating" these "spy tools". He usually incorporates them into very mundane type objects. Like a tie, or a lipstick, glasses, or an earing. There not everyday spy gadgets either. Usually they're full on microchips that allow you to up/download 1 Terrabyte of data, or can videotape and record conversations while also scanning an X-ray of the person to see what they are carrying (weapons, money, documents etc..). Each time they incorporate a new gadget I'm always impressed of what they've "thought up" and wonder if the CIA really HAVE gadgets like these.

I'm positive that you'll at least be "intriqued" by this show. The only people ( a total of TWO people so far), i've run into that haven't gone out and bought the DVD or spent the entire night watching an entire season, at least did say" I would watch it again, it was interesting"......Of course, when they said that I was aghast and asked them what their problem was since it's 10 times more stuff than just INTERESTING.

Go out.....rent season one. Or ask several friends close to you if maybe they have season one. However you get it, watch the first episode, and then come back and tell me what you thought. I'd be very interested to know how many of you end up hooked on it like the rest of us Alias Diehards are.

 

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