HEEEELLLLLOOOOO!! HAS ANYONE NOT BEEN WATCHING THE PAST FOUR SEASONS, HAVE YOU NOT WATCHED IT FOR THIS LONG BECAUSE IT IS AN AWESOME SHOW, JJ WILL NOT DISAPPOINT, HE HASNT SO FAR, AND I CANT HARDLY SEE HIM DOING IT NOW.
Speaking for myself only, the disappointment in this season has a lot to do with why there were changes in the cast. For the first four seasons, whether they were together or not, the relationship between Sydney and Vaughn was always present and a part of the story, a part of HER, in some way, shape or form. It feels like Vaughn's death was not originally planned and that it just facilitated another agenda not related to the show.
I think most of us have stuck by Alias because it was an awesome show, but it still has an awesome cast, now minus one very important person. Obviously, Season 3 was not as successful as JJ would have wanted and that was truly a disappointment. That's when we learned that JJ was extremely talented and creative, but imperfect. Season 4 was blah - an attempt to bring the dialobolical but genius Sloane back onto the same team as Sydney and Jack - but it wasn't a successful vehicle to bring Alias back to its former glory of Seasons 1 & 2. Season 4 was partially salvaged by the return of Irina, but the addition of Nadia did not do what it was intended. And the absence of a uniformly recognized adversary, i.e. Sark, was a huge mistake.
Season 5's plot device of bringing back the SD6-type of group is a great one, but the "death" of Vaughn, whether a plot twist or an actual death, has given Alias fans (the ones who weathered and forgave JJ for Season 3 and just waited for Irina to appear in Season 4) the virtual finger. You don't have to be a S/V shipper to appreciate how much that relationship (along with the one between Sydney and Jack) was a part of the Alias foundation.
I am enjoying Alias's running plot with Gordon Dean, but it's hard to wait for something that may never happen - a palatable resolution to Vaughn's "death" and his long-hidden identity. It's been hard to watch and not hope. At this point, I can only pray they won't "dream" Vaughn back into the show for the sake of ratings. That would be too akin to Bobby Ewing in the shower on Dallas. (I'm dating myself!). Maybe Alias producers will be able to pull a rabbit out of their hat while JJ continues to concentrate on his other projects. One can always dream. But, it's not JJ's role to disappoint or please because make no mistake, he's not calling the shots now. He's too busy with MI3 and Tom Cruise.
