TV Show Review: Alias - Season 1

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters, Acting, Plot. Yep, pretty much everything

Cons: You're kidding, right?

The Bottom Line:

Sydney learns the truth

Life becomes roller coaster

That is fun for us

Disguise the Limit

Back in 2001, my Sunday nights were almost always packed with activities at church. I didn't watch any TV shows that night because I couldn't keep up with them. I had a rare Sunday free the week season 1 of Alias premiered, and I decided to watch the pilot. I wouldn't say I was hooked, but I was certainly intrigued enough to watch the next week. When I finished that episode, I was truly hooked and never looked back. While I enjoyed the show's entire five year run, this season was by far the best.

Sydney Bristow's (Jennifer Garner) life is going along fine. She's just become engaged to Danny (guest star Edward Atterton) and she's doing well in her graduate English classes. The only potential problem is her job at SD-6, a black ops department of the CIA. But it's not really a problem working for them, is it?

When she makes the mistake of telling Danny what she really does, SD-6 has him killed. That's when she learns the truth. SD-6 is not part of the US Government but really deals in organized crime. Now, she must join the real CIA as a double agent to try to take down the people who have been lying to her for six years.

But life is not that simple. She now must work closely with her father Jack (Victor Garber), someone she hardly knows and doesn't trust. She must fight her attraction to her CIA handler Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan). Her boss at SD-6, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), is not only a family friend, but also the man who ordered her fiance's murder. And her friend Will (Bradley Cooper) is investigating Danny's death, a story that puts his life in danger and gets him closer to finding out her secret.

I absolutely love this show. There are multiple stories going on all the time. We get Will's investigation, Sydney's current mission, and quiet moments at home, and that's just in 15 minutes. The writers do a great job of keeping everything balanced. The show moves so fast, you can't miss a second. Not that you'd want to.

The characters are wonderful. You come to care for all of them, even villain Sloane is likable if pure evil. Praise for this goes to the actors, who bring out the nuance of their characters expertly and keep what could be an over-the-top concept real. Extra kudos must go to star Jennifer Garner plays several characters in each episode. There's grad student Sydney, spy Sydney, and Sydney's undercover character or two from that week's missions. She never misses a beat, and the writers put her through some pretty emotional things.

And have I mentioned this show is highly addictive? When I got this set, I intended to watch just a few minutes and then dig it out when I'd have the time to really enjoy it. Didn't happen. Even though I'd seen every episode here twice already, I got pulled right back into the story. Of course, the cliffhangers at the end of every episode certainly help.

This set is any collectors dream. It contains the pilot and the rest of the first season, and the episodes, presented in surround sound and widescreen, look and sound incredible. Each episode is broken down into several chapters, mostly around commercials breaks, although they aren't listed anywhere. There are four audio commentaries with various members of the cast and crew. Especially fun was the commentary on the finale featuring the entire cast. Since the commentaries were recorded as season two drew to a close, they provide some interesting insight into both seasons and helped me understand a little more about how the series progressed that year. That's also a spoiler warning if you haven't seen season two yet. Also included are a few deleted scenes, bloopers from the season, looks at the stunts and the filming of the pilot, and more. About my only complaint with the set was that no where did they tell you where to find these special features. While most are on disc six, I had to search each disc in to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear the pilot calling me again.  Won't you join me in watching Alias's first season?