The Safe House - Expositions

Calgary Sun

December 28, 2003

TV's best (and blondest) moments

by Kevin Williamson

6) ALIAS: If 24 at least attempts to achieve a sense of reality, Alias cheerfully churns out adrenalized plots so outlandish even James Bond would roll his eyes. Executive producer-creator J.J. Abrams spent the year piling on plot twists and ripping apart everything fans assumed about the show. January's much-hyped Superbowl episode upended the entire show, ending the mission secret agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) had been on to infilitrate and destroy SD-6 -- an arms-dealing, assassin-running agency run by former CIA officers. Audacious move? It was like Mulder and Scully having sex AND finding a UFO in the second season of The X-Files. Abrams didn't let up, though. He ended the season with an unconscious Syd waking up to learn she'd just lost the last two years of her life. Troublingly the third season thus far has been a rocky one. The amnesia storyline -- an ingenious way to attract new fans and re-energize hard-core fans -- has proven as frustrating as entertaining, despite the always-exceptional efforts of Garner, who remains pop culture's most effective and affecting super-heroine.

© Calgary Sun 2003

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Contra Costa Times

December 28, 2003

Cable, not network TV, is where it's happening

by Chuck Barney

4. "ALIAS" (ABC): While "24" was wearing thin, TV's other superspy show, with its lighter, more escapist approach, continued to find thrilling ways to raise the bar. May's electrifying season finale thrust the plucky Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) into one of the wildest, nastiest girl fights ever put to film, and then reached a jaw-dropping crescendo with a cliffhanger like no other. This season, the high-octane action, stunning plot twists and emotional wallops just keep on coming.

© Contra Costa Times 2003

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MSNBC

December 23, 2003

2003's Most Daring TV: Top 10 shows that broke the rules, kept us guessing

by Dave McCoy

9. "Alias" (ABC)
Creator J.J. Abrams isn't one to play it safe, so last season he imploded two seasons' worth of plotlines by destroying SD-6, the evil organization in which butt-kicking spy Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) was a double agent for the CIA. He also finally gave fans the long-anticipated hook-up between Sydney and her hunky "handler," Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan). How to top that? How about have Syd disappear for two years, only to return with no memory of where she's been? It was a bold move that could have alienated viewers, and while some recent episodes have been uneven, there have been enough inspired moments (e.g. casting David Cronenberg as an eccentric, vegan scientist) to keep us tuning in as Syd tries desperately to unravel her missing years while dealing with the emotional implications of the new Mrs. Vaughn, the no-longer-evil (or is he?) Arvin Sloane (the terrific Ron Rifkin), and the shadowy new uber-evil organization the Covenant.

© MSNBC.com 2003

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MSNBC

December 23, 2003

The best and worst of 2003 TV: From biggest hypocrite to brashest breakup

Here are our writers' picks for some of the bests and worsts of the '03 TV season.

[...]

Brashest Breakup: Sydney and Vaughn, in the "Alias" second-season finale. Fans celebrated when heroine Sydney Bristow and her handler Michael Vaughn got together during the second season, but the banjo string of sexual tension can't be untwanged -- so how could J.J. Abrams and Co. keep things interesting? Why, with a deus ex amnesia, of course! In the last moments of the season-ender, Syd came to with two years of her life unaccounted for, and found Vaughn married -- but not to her. It's the kind of plot cheat a 10-year-old might write, but it's exactly the kind of deliriously illogical twist upon which the show has thrived. Fans squawked, but kept tuning in to see how the writers would get themselves out of this one. -- Sarah D. Bunting

Worst Primetime Facial Hair: It's a tie, so the category has been subdivided into worst real facial hair and worst fake facial hair. Worst real facial hair goes to Noah Wyle of "ER," for his "there are no razors in Africa" horrific fringey beard. We hate to break it to Mr. Wyle, but while there was a time when he needed a beard to look older, that time has passed. Shave it. The worst fake facial hair had to belong to Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) on "Alias." Mr. Bristow put on a fake beard as part of his undercover spy duties, but viewers couldn't pay any attention to the plot, so captivated were they by his unintentionally hilarious gigantic bushy whiskers. While there are many plotlines on "Alias" that require the suspension of belief, the idea that anyone would believe that Jack's fake beard was real was the worst example.

© MSNBC.com 2003

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USA TODAY

December 21, 2003

From 'Angels' to 'Anna' quite a year

by Robert Bianco

The 10 Best
Alias (ABC). What a rush. Alias offers as entertaining an hour as you'll find on TV, but its real gift is its ability to mine reality out of absurdity. No show has more ridiculous plot complications, from the heroine with amnesia to the doppelganger who refuses to die. But through clever writing and fine acting, Alias keeps us invested in its characters, and that's enough to keep us following the often incomprehensible plots. This flat-out fun show has surprising emotional depth and a star in Jennifer Garner, who is an unfaltering delight.

© USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. 2003

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Entertainment Weekly

December 26, 2003

Television: Series of the Year

by Ken Tucker

#4: Alias (ABC) I've heard contradictory complaints that J.J. Abrams' spy puzzle has become either too thematically simple (bye-bye, SD-6; hello, full-time CIA agentry) or too emotionally complicated (did he really need to introduce Melissa George as Michael Vartan's wife, thus messing with the already confused Jennifer Garner, who lost two years of her life?). To me, however, Alias has triumphantly morphed into something else: a John le Carre novel crossed with the old Patrick McGoohan classic, The Prisoner. If you dislike George's Lauren--well, you're supposed to. I find the series' new grimness bracing and full of promise--proof once again that Abrams is crafting a show that, unlike The Prisoner or The Man From U.N.C.L.E., is neither a short-lived cult oddity nor a spoof. Its spooks, especially Victor Garber's Jack, who's been superlatively ruthless, are giddily terrifying.

© Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. 2003

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Zap2it.com

December 2003

Best of TV 2003: The Chutzpah of J.J. Abrams

By Daniel Fienberg and Rick Porter

Thanks to Ruth and Christy, Vartan Ho #2604, for sending this in.

Okay, so "Alias" has been a little uneven this fall as it tries to sort out the relationship between Sydney (Jennifer Garner) and those close to her after she reappears following a two-year blackout. Recent episodes have been some of this season's best, suggesting that creator J.J. Abrams and his staff have figured out where the show's going. What gets this on the "best" list is the incredible audacity Abrams and Co. have shown in fundamentally messing with the show not once, but twice this year. Syd's memory loss came only a few months after the takedown of SD-6 set "Alias" in a new direction. Kudos as well to ABC for letting Abrams do what he wants.

© Zap2it.com 2003

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