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| alitar (profile) wrote, on 9-28-2003 at 10:23pm | |
| Subject: Alias Premiere - |
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| Hmmmmm. That was a rather weak episode. I knew some spoilers going in, but that's not the reason I didn't enjoy it. This episode had some huge pacing problems, and too much exposition. It looked like a pilot episode (series opener) with all the introductions and updates - lots of information and not much time to develop emotion. Still, I expected as much with the two year gap, and I'm willing to cut the premiere some slack. I will, however, be expecting better stuff in the upcoming weeks. You hear me, JJ? :) Where do we start? Syd. Good job, Jennifer Garner. This ep can definitely be submitted for the Emmys. She had great juicy stuff to play, and Jen pulled it off extremely well. I like that Syd was angry and harsh with Vaughn - very kneejerk and believable. To her, it's the next morning, but to everyone else, it's been two years. She hit all the emotions very well in her scenes with Jack (SpyDaddy) and Vaughn. She does the almost crying thing really well. However, and I'll blame the writing for this, I felt that she went from crying to normal rather frequently (Marshall, Dixon, Weiss), and maybe Syd's good at compartmentalizing, but not THAT good. She went into her kickass spy mode pretty automatically, as well. There was NO reason for Syd to dress up in the hot little red number with excellent hair and makeup, though. She could have blown up that car in pjs. SpyDaddy. Hee. Love TWOP and its nicknames. I'm sorry, Victor Garber is a handsome man, but the first time he came out? I was LMAO - he looked like a chimp! LOL. Great conversation and acting in that glass jail cell. Bad contrived 90 sec. "oops, we're out of time!" writing just as the disturbing thing was revealed. The hug at the end mirrored the ep when Syd saved Vaughn from the virus: both had the relieve hug and "thank you" whispered to Syd, standing in the middle of the CIA headquarters. Nice touch. Yes, I watch this show too much. Shut up. Vaughn. Pussywhipped bitch. I'm being harsh, sorry. I don't like where the writers and maybe the actor has taken this character. Season 1 Ep 2 had Vaughn yelling at Syd when she was out of line, and calling her on her mistakes: "Reflected on both our records, FYI." Where's that Vaughn? He's been mopey, weak, pathetic and all about Syd since then, for 2 seasons. Michael Vartan has a total of 2 expressions (Happy!Smiling!Vaughn and FurrowedBrow!Confused/Surprised/Worried!Unhappy!Vaughn) and slight variations. I loved the shot of Vaughn crying in the ashes. That was quite heartbreaking. Well done, Vartan. Finally, a new expression, a grand total of 3! Vartan did very little with the material given, and that was glaring during Jen's expressive acting. He should have been more happy and relieved, more anguished, more pained, had more of a presence. Pretty face, but not yet an actor. HOWEVER, one development I did love was that they made Vaughn a teacher. Syd had always wanted to be a teacher (like her mother, Laura/Irina) if she ever left the spy world. This was Vaughn's way of keeping a part of Syd with him forever. Awww, he tried to realize her dream in her "death." He really did love her, and that's why this whole marriage thing stinks. Sloane. OMG, he's going to save the children of this world! Heal them! Cure cancer! And feed them lollipops! While gracing the cover of Time! And winning the Nobel Peace Prize! President of the World Health Organization! "I had an epiphany. Rambaldi said 'Let there be peace!' and suddenly, the angels sang, and a light came from the heavens above. My heart soared, and I cried 'Yes! Peace! There shall be peace and harmony among all creatures of this world, and I shall be the one to bring it!" Well, fuck me, Miss America. I don't buy it for a second. But it gave me a huge laugh. Thanks. Weiss. Well look at him being all sexy and spylike. I like his larger role, and I hope he'll get more stuff to do as the season rolls along. Dixon. Does this mean he'll not get to go on missions anymore? That would suck. I like this role; I've always taken him to be the noble, purehearted lion type of character, and he has the dignity and morality to be a firm, but kind leader. NSC guy. Sucks ass. Where's Kendall? They just supplanted him with an assier white old guy. At least Kendall was funny. Dixon and NSC guy standing there in the Ops center mirrored Jack and Kendall, bitching over the next course of action. Kill NSC, now. The Good: - I liked the mirrors to the pilot: Sydney, fueled by her anger and sense of justice, goes on a solo mission with crazy hair and clothes to retrieve some important artifact, brings it to her organization demanding re-instatement. Syd in a chem lab shotting, and causing a huge explosion to escape. - Vaughn crying - Syd's smackdown at the end. Great, great acting and writing. Not Vartan, though. - Marshall. "I've lost my keys, where are they?....Um, that's a metaphor, by the way." Hee! He's gonna be a daddy! I hope Carrie sticks around. - I'm intrigued by Jack and Irina working together. I want some huge flashbacks, now. - The footage Jack showed Syd at the end implied that she may have been evil, or darker. I hope that's the case. It would be fascinating for the writers to explore a darker Syd. She's had so much tragedy in her life - isn't she angry? Doesn't she sometimes want to rip the world apart? I want to see her being bloodthirsty and evil, and then having to deal with that now. Fat chance that's going to happen, though. Almost like Buffy season 5/6. - "that boy was never good enough for you" Sing it Daddy! "I love you" I love you, too, Victor Garber! The Bad: - the wife. I hate the whole marriage plot. - Vaughn. He needs to grow a pair of balls, stat. And some acting skills. - Plot holes. Why didn't SpyDaddy tell Vaughn about the footage? Why didn't Vaughn investigate even a little? C'mon! "Because I believe in you, Syd." Season 2 Ep, 18. (Shut up, yes I can reference things from off the top of my head) "You've got my number." Season 1, Ep 4. He waited for her through SD-6 takedown, he could have at least made the effort. He investigated Irina, for god's sake, but not his one true love? - No Sark, or Irina. I love them. Please give them back to me. - too little SpyDaddy, Vaughn. More stuff with them, please - I HATE the amesiac thing. It's SO soapy. Now Syd can selectively remember whenever the plot calls for it. Stupid, contrived, cheap writing. Please don't go there. - Pacing sucked. The missions didn't feel fully developed, and the emotional highs didn't feel appropriate given the sequencing. The time and care weren't put in to lead up to the moments, and so the big moments didn't resonate; the writers hadn't earned them yet. Yes, I understand there was a lot to go through this ep, many openings had to be established for the rest of the season, but it still felt rushed and sloppy. The acting really saved the ep, and Jen picked up the slack. That was long. Whew. Till next Sunday! |
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tmx | OMG!!, 09-29-03 1:31am I was incredibly emotional throughout the entire thing, even though it didn't seem THAT much of a nice pretty, deep, and fulfilling episode. I TOTALLY missed the characters..and I'm like..what...so does it mean that Vaughn is going to NOT COME BACK?! omG@!!!! THat would be PAIN. Hey, in the beginning when Syd beat him up, I had that little spark of hope that he WAS fake, lol. Too bad. |