Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

NOTE: This review is a continuation of my reviews of this series. If you have not seen any of the volumes or my previous reviews, you risk spoilers by continuing.

Intro

Ever since I popped in season 1 of this series into my DVD player, I’ve been absolutely addicted to this series and finally at long last I am all caught up here and I can finally watch season four without a single thought in my mind as to what the bloody hell is going on!

The Story

When we last Sydney at the end of season 2, she had just finished brawling in her home with the woman that she thought was her room mate but was actually an evil spy who had undergone gene therapy to be made into an exact copy of her room mate. The battle ended with both women going down and Sydney passing out on her floor, bloody and alone. When she wakes up, she is now on the streets of Hong Kong with no idea on how she got there. Calling into the CIA she tells them what happened and is soon met by her boyfriend and fellow agent Michael Vaughn who informs her (in a not so gentle way) that two years have passed, she was thought to be dead and he has since moved on and gotten married to a rather hot English blonde chick (ok, so he doesn’t say ‘I’m married to a really hot English blonde chick’ but come on, she is!).

As you can imagine, coping with all this news isn’t easy for Sydney and it only gets worse when she learns even more about what has happened in the last two years… her mother hasn’t been seen since season 2 (and doesn’t show up at all in season 3), Arvin Sloane has gone from worldwide criminal mastermind to a pardoned world humanitarian, Marshell is about to a father, her father is currently in prision and let’s not forget that her boyfriend is now knockin boots with a really hot English chick (sorry, did I already mention that?). This leaves Sydney in quite the predicament as she must now use season 3 to discover where she’s been for the last two years and why she doesn’t remember and trust me when I say that if you thought there were plot twists in seasons 1 and 2, you haven’t seen anything yet!

The Good And The Bad

You need a reason to watch this series? I’ll give you two words: Production Values. This is a show that has full access to a wide range of technology and it makes incredible use out of all of them. Every single mission that Sydney goes on has her jetting off to some exotic location and it wasn’t until I was halfway through season 2 before I realized that they weren’t actually filming in these locations. Never once did it occur to me that they were actually just using technology on a back lot at the ABC studios to make it look like they were there. It just looked so good that I never doubted it. Now that I know better though I still have trouble reminding myself that they aren’t really there and even when I do see those rare moments when I know that it’s fake beyond a shadow of a doubt, I’m usually too wrapped up in the incredible story lines to care for more than a second.

What’s that? You need two more words? Ok, let’s go with: Guest Stars! From season 1 all the way up to now, Alias has boasted an incredible roster of guest stars and this season is no different bringing in stars such as Vivica A. Fox, Quentin Tarantino (making his second appearance), Isabella Rossalini and more!

What? You need another two words?? Ok, let’s try: Engaging (or you can choose the positive adjective of your choice) Stories! The reason why this show keeps as many viewers as it does is because it has such wonderful stories that absolutely suck you in on emotionally. When Sydney is heartbroken and crying, you just feel that urge inside of you to reach into your TV and comfort her; when Jack is ready to kill someone, you’re sitting in your chair cheering him on because you know that they deserve it; and whenever Arvin Sloane says a single sentence, you want to smack him upside the head because you know that he’s so full of it but since you have no idea what his final agenda is but you know that it just has to be evil. This show sucks you in and doesn’t let you go. It hasn’t let me go since minute one and even now when I watch season 4 on TV, I’m glued (though I have to admit that watching it on DVD without all those stupid commercials is a much more fulfilling experience). And I’m not even going to get into the incredible costumes and props that this show manages to pull off with each and every scene that is played out in this series!

To be fair though, we should talk about some of the complaints that fans have had about this season. Fans have said that this was the weakest of the three seasons and while I don’t really agree (I don’t think any of the seasons have been really weak so far but I do think that season 4 is shaping up to be a dud), I can see where they would get that impression.

Easily the biggest complaint from me was the fact that Lena Olin and the show were not able to sign a new contract and so her absence in the series left a very big void where I think her character could’ve been a wonderful addition but sadly we’ll never know now.

The second complaint that I have personally (which I’ve only heard less than 5 other people point out as well) is the very big continuity hole that someone could drive a semi truck through being that when Sydney passes out in season 2, it’s the year 2004. When she wakes up TWO YEARS LATER, it’s still 2004. Hello?? Did no one think of this before they wrote that little gem of a plot twist?

Either way, this series was indeed not as strong as previous seasons but it was in no way weak.

Music

Oh you can’t talk about Alias without talking about the incredible choices that the directors decide to use in each episode! In previous seasons we’ve heard everything from lounge music to soft rock to mellow jazz to hard rock and this one we get to hear all that and everything in between!

The soundtrack on this season is wonderful starting with Limp Bizkit in episode 1 and from there all corners of the music world are hit including R.E.M., Patsy Cline, Beth Orten, Jet, The Donna, Crystal Method, Norah Jones, Blur, John Mayer, Deftones and I’m not even hitting half of the artists featured in this season! Music lovers from all corners of the Earth should be able to find something within this season to love and if nothing else you just gotta love that catchy theme song!

Extras

As always there are tons of extras on this volume starting with four commentary tracks (1 with crew, 2 with cast and even 1 fan commentary which I found one of the most interesting), lots of backstage footage, bloopers, deleted scenes and additional promos!

And just to be complete, I can’t forget about the Easter Egg on disc 5... To find it, go into the extras section and after the music has stopped playing the first time, hit down on your remote. You’ll see the Rambaldi symbol highlighted, hit enter and you’ll be taken to a short interview with Jennifer Garner talking about Sydney in season 3. Good stuff!

Overall

Overall I wasn’t as disappointed with this season as so many other fans were. I thought it was a solid addition and was very pleased with the final results. Adding Melissa George as Vaughn’s wife, Lauren, was an excellent twist and she did a fabulous job with the role. To try and choose a standout performance in this season would be completely unfair to me because I think that if I had to choose one actor to single out above all the others it would make my head explode! Everyone from the main cast to the guest stars went above and beyond the call of duty to produce some wonderful episodes that will forever take their place along side the legacy that J.J. Abrams is creating with this series. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, I suggest you go get season 1 and start catching up because this is easily the best show ABC has had on it’s network since Sports Night!

Final Grade: 89% - B+

Related Reviews

Alias Season 1
Alias Season 2

* I should mention that while this show has won a few awards over it’s time on the air, the award that I am referring to in the title would be the coveted “Biggest WTF Moment” in Televisionwithoutpity.com’s annual Tubey Awards.







©L.B. Bryant 2005





Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older