For all those who think an SD-6 mole is either a rare skin disease or the scientific term for Cindy Crawford's birthmark, we have a mission: possible for you: Stick around Sunday immediately following ABC's telecast of Super Bowl XXXVII for a special Alias and get caught up on the best spy game in town. And don't let the show's intricate plots and labyrinthine mythology intimidate you. As exec producer J.J. Abrams explains to TV Guide Online, this particular installment has been tailor-made for folks who wouldn't know a Rambaldi artifact from a rubber ducky. "It's an episode that I definitely wanted to make [accessible] to non-viewers," he says. "You never have to have seen the show to understand it, and yet, if you have seen the show, some of the stories will have more meaning." Even better, there's a fantastic chance you'll get to see two of the best-looking people on the planet — Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan — make the biggest score of the night! Now that we've hooked the novices, here's a treat for all you Alias diehards. The crucial extra points...
TV Guide Online: So, what's the basic gist of Sunday's episode?
J.J. Abrams: Sydney Bristow (Garner), as a CIA operative acting as a double agent within SD-6, confronts the new boss of SD-6 and, in doing so, ends up learning of a potential vulnerability within this evil agency. This vulnerability, she believes, can bring this evil organization to its knees. So, it's about her leading the charge with the CIA to destroy this enemy. In a way, this episode sort of breaks the dam and lets us do the stories that I, as a writer, have personally been dying to do, but have been unable to, given the structure of the premise and the paradigm of the show. This lets us go places that we've wanted to go for quite a while.
TVGO: Will there be any major romantic developments between Sydney and Vaughn (Vartan)?
Abrams: Yes. If I had another scene of Jennifer and Michael staring longingly at each other and not saying anything, I was going to lose my mind. It was a relationship that we were not letting ourselves get that deep into, [and by moving it forward], it allows [Sydney] to experience as much joy and pleasure as heartache and stress and anxiety and fret. And unless you get her to that place, the relationship ends up existing forever in a somewhat sophomoric, juvenile place where we're not allowing it to deepen. I'm not saying that I wanted them to get together at the beginning of the first season — or even at the end of the first season — but I feel like we're at a place where they clearly have come together far enough that to not allow them to get together feels false. Like we're trying to create a Moonlighting situation, as if the show needs that.
TVGO: Why was the episode featuring guest star Ethan Hawke — originally slated to air after the Super Bowl — delayed until Feb. 2?
Abrams: It's an incredibly strong episode, but the story didn't address some of the things that the episode following the Super Bowl needed to address. Basically, we wanted to feature all of our characters in a way that would allow a mass audience of new viewers who had never seen the show before to really get a taste of who is who and what the show is about in a larger sense.
TVGO: So, it won't affect continuity?
Abrams: No. We never would have done it if it would have been a bizarre reverse thing. We made the choice early enough so that creatively, it fit perfectly.
TVGO: Christian Slater recently signed on for a couple of episodes (the first of which airs Feb. 9). Who will he be playing?
Abrams: A scientist who is kidnapped and forced against his will to assist Sloane (Ron Rifkin) in the hunt for Rambaldi.
TVGO: So, we haven't seen the last of Sloane?
Abrams: You'll have to see what happens, but I can tell you that his story is the most compelling now, given [what happens] in the post-Super Bowl episodes.
TVGO: Are you still planning to bring Keri Russell on as a guest? (Abrams was Russell's boss on the WB's late, great Felicity.)
Abrams: We talked about it a couple of times and the fact is, though her name has come up for things, I haven't written anything for her. I haven't had the role that I thought was the right one for her. But I'd love to have her on because I really miss working with her. I think she's a genius. But there's no plan at the moment.
TVGO: What big-name movie star are you currently trying to recruit?
Abrams: The deals aren't closed, but I am certain that by the end of the year there will be a handful of [A-list celebs] on the show. — Michael Ausiello
On Monday, J.J. Abrams talks about the upcoming Alias DVD and whether Sydney and Co. will see a third season.
