Catching up with Alias
Jan. 6th, 2003 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynI had such a love/hate relationship with Alias last year, and this year have had trouble keeping up with it because I often didn't see the ep until the following Thursday (I blame ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mlynne because she has that silly digital cable -- sheesh! -- where you can't watch one channel and tape another, so we'd get together on Thursdays and catch up on Alias and Gilmore Girls, but now we don't have to wait because Angel's moved nights), that I haven't been able to say much about it. Now that I'm finally catching up, I realize that I missed an episode last month, at least; I think I still have it on tape, but somwhere along the line Sloane's wife got officially offed, or something, and Jack was involved? Yikes, I need to get this background, because stuff last night didn't make sense in a few spots.
I also realized I didn't know precisely how Willage got from useless sidekick to CIA analyst, but I'm glad, because it will give him an opportunity to turn his glittery eyes to Vaughn and accusingly stare at him with a "be good to Syd/you don't love her like I should be able to love her" look. I really love Will, he's so cute and he suffered so much last year, and he so clearly loves Sydney. And Vaughn so clearly loves her too, but he's being all stick up his ass about following the no dating rules. Feh, I say.
Much of my love/hate was based on how much Alias ripped off La Femme Nikita yet got all the acclaim LFN never did, down to plotlines and guest stars (in the same ep at times -- last year they had an ep with Gina Torres where someone got a bomb implanted in their chest cavity; in LFN four years ago, Gina Torres guested in an ep where someone got a bomb implanted in their chest cavity; you be the judge). It's better this year, but they're doing something I really dislike, where they're building the UST stuff into the foundation of methods that keep audiences coming back to the show, and that's always a mistake in my book. When the show is predicated on such a device, once the characters finally do get together, the show suffers because there are so few places left for it to go (Moonlighting, Cheers, etc.). When it's a secondary part of the show, the device usually fares better, and LFN figured that out -- they brought Michael and Nikita together after a time of building up, then tore them apart, back together, tear them apart. (Although I still bitch about how long it took to get them back together after the shagging of second season, but then we got stuff like the bathtub scene and the love slinky, and all was forgiven.)
What I'd like to see Alias do is just get it over with, get some serious snogging/shagging going with Vaughn and Syd, and then tear them asunder, because then there's lots you can do with the characters (punishments, demotions, threats, etc.) and you get that whiz-bang thwartedness I adore so much. And there's more for Will to do besides fill ketchup bottles (the poor guy! He's reduced to taking handouts from Vaughn and filling ketchup bottles!) and kvetch with Francie. The previews look like next week Vaughn and Syd go on a date (although it's clearly a mission date), but at this point we need some forward momentum because clearly Vaughn doesn't love his girlfriend, and he knows know from Will that Syd does love him, so... let's get shagging, people!
I felt so sorry for poor Marshall yesterday, but it made me think that, if they're smart, they're going to eventually get everyone into the CIA fold. I can't see how they can maintain this dual identity thing plausibly for Syd and Jack, as well as keeping Irina involved, for long, so I'm hoping that my sense is correct, that a lot of this will build up until the SD6 story is resolved and eventually the whole family and their pals in SD6 end up officially at the CIA (they'll be like the Wild Thornberrys, only spies). And frankly, the more they do with Lena Olin, the better. She is just so much fun. Between her bickering with Jack on the mission to the cold staredowns in the cell, I'm just enjoying the hell out of her, especially with Jack. They have great chemistry, as she also does with Vaughn's actor, and I really hope that she sticks around for more than just a "guest" kind of role. What fun they can have, as well as with Sark. And where was he? Is the ep I missed Sark-significant?
There's a part of me that's wanted to just say, well, if Syd can't have Vaughn, then heck, just go get the tension out with Sark, you know you want it, girl. And if Vaughn can't have Syd, I think he and Will need to get together and relieve each other's unrequited feelings. But I'm waiting for the big love for Syd and Vaughn, then tear them apart for awhile; and frankly, I'd love to see Jack and Irina getting their freak on for a time or two, and see what develops when she turns on him. Whee!
mlynne because she has that silly digital cable -- sheesh! -- where you can't watch one channel and tape another, so we'd get together on Thursdays and catch up on Alias and Gilmore Girls, but now we don't have to wait because Angel's moved nights), that I haven't been able to say much about it. Now that I'm finally catching up, I realize that I missed an episode last month, at least; I think I still have it on tape, but somwhere along the line Sloane's wife got officially offed, or something, and Jack was involved? Yikes, I need to get this background, because stuff last night didn't make sense in a few spots.I also realized I didn't know precisely how Willage got from useless sidekick to CIA analyst, but I'm glad, because it will give him an opportunity to turn his glittery eyes to Vaughn and accusingly stare at him with a "be good to Syd/you don't love her like I should be able to love her" look. I really love Will, he's so cute and he suffered so much last year, and he so clearly loves Sydney. And Vaughn so clearly loves her too, but he's being all stick up his ass about following the no dating rules. Feh, I say.
Much of my love/hate was based on how much Alias ripped off La Femme Nikita yet got all the acclaim LFN never did, down to plotlines and guest stars (in the same ep at times -- last year they had an ep with Gina Torres where someone got a bomb implanted in their chest cavity; in LFN four years ago, Gina Torres guested in an ep where someone got a bomb implanted in their chest cavity; you be the judge). It's better this year, but they're doing something I really dislike, where they're building the UST stuff into the foundation of methods that keep audiences coming back to the show, and that's always a mistake in my book. When the show is predicated on such a device, once the characters finally do get together, the show suffers because there are so few places left for it to go (Moonlighting, Cheers, etc.). When it's a secondary part of the show, the device usually fares better, and LFN figured that out -- they brought Michael and Nikita together after a time of building up, then tore them apart, back together, tear them apart. (Although I still bitch about how long it took to get them back together after the shagging of second season, but then we got stuff like the bathtub scene and the love slinky, and all was forgiven.)
What I'd like to see Alias do is just get it over with, get some serious snogging/shagging going with Vaughn and Syd, and then tear them asunder, because then there's lots you can do with the characters (punishments, demotions, threats, etc.) and you get that whiz-bang thwartedness I adore so much. And there's more for Will to do besides fill ketchup bottles (the poor guy! He's reduced to taking handouts from Vaughn and filling ketchup bottles!) and kvetch with Francie. The previews look like next week Vaughn and Syd go on a date (although it's clearly a mission date), but at this point we need some forward momentum because clearly Vaughn doesn't love his girlfriend, and he knows know from Will that Syd does love him, so... let's get shagging, people!
I felt so sorry for poor Marshall yesterday, but it made me think that, if they're smart, they're going to eventually get everyone into the CIA fold. I can't see how they can maintain this dual identity thing plausibly for Syd and Jack, as well as keeping Irina involved, for long, so I'm hoping that my sense is correct, that a lot of this will build up until the SD6 story is resolved and eventually the whole family and their pals in SD6 end up officially at the CIA (they'll be like the Wild Thornberrys, only spies). And frankly, the more they do with Lena Olin, the better. She is just so much fun. Between her bickering with Jack on the mission to the cold staredowns in the cell, I'm just enjoying the hell out of her, especially with Jack. They have great chemistry, as she also does with Vaughn's actor, and I really hope that she sticks around for more than just a "guest" kind of role. What fun they can have, as well as with Sark. And where was he? Is the ep I missed Sark-significant?
There's a part of me that's wanted to just say, well, if Syd can't have Vaughn, then heck, just go get the tension out with Sark, you know you want it, girl. And if Vaughn can't have Syd, I think he and Will need to get together and relieve each other's unrequited feelings. But I'm waiting for the big love for Syd and Vaughn, then tear them apart for awhile; and frankly, I'd love to see Jack and Irina getting their freak on for a time or two, and see what develops when she turns on him. Whee!
