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verdantheart

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Here is a Q&A from the latest Ask Matt column in TV Guide Online:

Question:
I can't believe I'm going to say this about my favorite show — but Alias has gotten, well, boring. The show lacks the dramatic urgency and emotional heft it had in the first two seasons when the stakes felt so high. When Sydney had a home and friends and a relationship, she had something to lose and something to fight for. Now she just goes on missions and whatever curves the show might throw at us, we know she isn't going to die. The loss of the personal [aspect] would be fine if the spy side was up to snuff, but it's not. The missions have become formulaic. At least when Sloane was evil and Irina was in the picture, the opponents mattered. Now we have the vague, faceless Covenant. Sark is the perpetual bad guy but it isn't personal between him and Syd, and the whole Lauren-is-evil thing is so "been there, done that." Sloane may be up to something but his actions are vague bordering on obtuse, and the whole "Sydney is my daughter" thing is a bad idea all around. I admire the artistic risk they took at the end of Season 2, but I just don't think it has paid off. It's time for another radical shift (and to bring Lena Olin back — stat). Having said all that, I'll be the first one to concede that J.J. Abrams has earned the right to make a few missteps, but my question is this (see, I do have a question): Do you think the show's team realize that they have taken a wrong turn creatively or is this going to be like Buffy Season 6, where they beat the dead horse so long that they ended up killing the show's vitality? — Matt

Matt:
The mail I've been getting on Alias for a long while has been, for the most part, pretty negative, although depending on the quality of a particular week's episode, fans will weigh in with cautious optimism that the show is getting back on its feet. Which makes me believe that people haven't altogether lost the faith and that there's still lots of fun to be had here, while most everyone can agree the show isn't what it used to be. For the record, I thought the March 14 episode with Ricky Gervais was pretty terrific, great fun. But to answer this specific question, I think the show's production team would have to be pretty naïve to feel this was their best season. The pivotal character of Lauren was a total disaster until she went evil — but the predictability of that "surprise" twist irked lots of people (although I still think she's more fun to watch now) — and the red herring concerning Sloane's possible paternity of Sydney is just annoying. I hope that J.J.'s new series projects don't distract him or his staff from trying to turn things around on this show. It's not too late. And I really do have a sense that they realize there's work to be done.
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ahhh, very interesting...thanks for posting!

i actually agree with almost everything he said...Lauren is more exciting to watch now that she's evil, before she was just annoying and i just wanted her to go away. Even though making her evil was kind of the easy way out in my opinion, it worked for her character's sake...And I couldn't agree more with what he said about the whole Sloane may be Syndey's father thing. I hate this plot point to bits and hope more than anything that he does not turn out to be her father...

This last episode was satisfying, I enjoyed it immensely...I wouldn't say that they have made mistakes creatively, i just think more can be done...just look at the first two seasons...

welp, there's my two cents. ^_^
 
When I'm watching the Alias episodes, i'm like..OMG, this episode is so great...Alias is really picking up..and then I think about it and i'm like.."what happened in this episode that was so significant?"..and, i hope that the end of the season is filled with as much information as the last two...it's like they keep on building on to stories, and then they don't finish them...one of the big things that was part of last seasons finale, the telling, hasn't been even mentioned once this season...i'm still curious to know what it is, and what it does? then now there is this box, and sloane being her father, which i find completely ridiculous, and predictable..but i really hope most of these questions are answered in a GREAT Alias episode..
 
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