Let me tell you how I'm looking at this season so far--and it hasn't been much, really only 4 episodes because the first two hours were essentially 1 episode--and it's philosophically.
First, let me say that as an
Alias viewer, I'm used to "unhappy endings," and as a rule, I find them a refreshing change from TV in general. That said, however, season 3 was so grindingly downbeat, that I don't mind going through a few good endings for a little while. (Although I don't think that Sydney learning that her mother had a hit out on her was all that "good," actually.
)
Second, I see the season so far as follows, a little housekeeping to clean up after season 3 (the 1st 2 hours), followed by a 3-hour love letter to S/V shippers with a PS hint regarding family matters. This is why the S/V shippers are so happy. This does not address the needs of non-shippers who had problems with Vaughn's character, but so what, we're in the minority (and yes, I'm in that minority). First, we have Vaughn fret that Sydney's in the clutches of a dangerous criminal, then Sydney listens to Vaughn express his guilt over Lauren (showing that he really is still a nice guy), ending up with full-bore romance as Vaughn brings up Santa Barbara, the zoo, and the imagined proposal. What a build up! ^_^
Also, let me throw this out there, as a general rule,
Alias seasons start out with simpler, more stand-alone episodes and move towards more complex, interrelated ones. Season 3 was the most complex and interrelated throughout, and that caused some problems--especially when things they were counting on didn't happen and they had to think of unexpected ways to tie off threads they started earlier on and they ended up throwing balls up in the air that they had no idea what they were (The Passenger? What the hell is that? Never mind, we'll fill in the blanks later.). If that sort of thing gets too unplanned and uncontrolled, it becomes annoyingly obvious that they don't know what they're doing and the story gets out of hand. Frankly, I'd rather that they start out slower and end up with great storyline rather than screeching into the crash that they did at the end of last season. It just wasn't completely satisfying, was it? (And it made for an awkward transition into this season.) I think that if we're patient, we'll find that the story will work out in a much more satisfying way this season.
I'm just hoping the S/V emphasis will slack of just a tad because I'm not in that S/V majority that they're trying to please right now . . . I'm not as impatient as some are, I guess . . . ^_^
