Season Review-Alias (2001)  [SEASON 1] Summary: Sydney Bristow is an international spy recruited out of college, trained for espionage and self-defense. Genre: Action, Espionage Thriller, Drama, Science Fiction Created by: J. J. Abrams Starring: Jennifer Garner, Ron Rifkin, Michael Vartan, Bradley Cooper, Merrin Dungey, Carl Lumbly, Kevin Weisman, Victor Garber, David Anders, Lena Olin, Greg Grunberg, Melissa George, Mía Maestro, Rachel Nichols, Balthazar Getty, Élodie Bouchez & Amy Acker. Composer: Michael Giacchino Country of Origin: United States Original Language: English No. of seasons: 5 No. of episodes: 105 (list of episodes) Executive Producers: J. J. Abrams, Ken Olin, John Eisendrath, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeffrey Bell, Jeff Pinkner, Jesse Alexander Producers: Sarah Caplan, Robert M. Williams Jr., Monica Breen, Alison Schapker, Chad Savage & Jennifer Garner Production Companies: Bad Robot Productions, Touchstone Television  Distributor: Buena Vista Television Original network: ABC Release: September 30, 2001 –May 22, 2006 Cast: (List of Cast Members)

Alias is a pretty "by-the-numbers" espionage drama. It's what I like to call "background noise" programming. It's just kind of something you throw on and don't pay much attention to, you can hear it, and maybe from time to time you pay attention to specific details so you understand what's going on, but it's not so compelling that you'll be hanging on every piece of dialogue or every action sequence.

The story follows Agent Sydney Bristow, who works as a double agent for both the CIA and an organization called SD-6. She was recruited to SD-6 when she was in college under the guise of it being a Black Ops division of the CIA . When she discovers that it's actually a criminal organization, she goes to the agency she thought she was working for all along and aims to help take SD-6 down. The tension of the show is Sydney juggling all of her complicated relationships, which brings it down a bit for me. The supporting cast of the show is kind of bland and at times irritating. In her personal life her friends, Will Tippin (played by a young Bradley Cooper) and Francie Calfo are two of the most annoying, uninteresting characters imaginable. Will is unrealistically resourceful and nosey. He's like...infuriatingly nosey. Sydney doesn't want her friends to know what she does because that's kind of how being a secret agent works but more importantly her fiancé was killed because she told him about SD-6 . The people in her life are in danger by knowing what she does. Francie on the other hand isn't as annoying as Will , she does however barely have a personality and she doesn't add much to the show. Her interactions with Sydney are so lifeless it almost feels like they are being forced to be friends. They have literally no chemistry. Sydney's relationship with her father, Jack and her surrogate father Arvin Sloane seems to be the center of intrigue for the story because they are the only characters that seem to complement each other on-screen. Victor Garber & Ron Rifkin nail these roles.

Jennifer Garner has some action chops, she looks good in combat, and she appears the most at home in the mission scenes. That for me is what kept me watching. It's hard for me to enjoy mainstream television because it's all dumbed down so that a wider audience can understand it, but it doesn't reach as hard as other shows to create tension. That's usually what takes me out of a show, when they try too hard to raise the stakes or ramp up the suspense. Alias pretty easily comes with viable scenarios to build some interest as you progress through the season.

The biggest indictment of the show is that it's just flat out not that fascinating or proactive, it doesn’t really take any risks. It's not terrible, it's not great...it's good enough. It's good enough to pass the time. You probably aren't going to buy the DVD box set, but you'll remember it. It will be a “Yo, remember that show with Jennifer Garner?” somewhere in your memory.

THE GOOD

Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber & Ron Rifkin play very well off each other. They spend a lot of time interacting so that’s great for the show. 

Jennifer Garner is an enchanting person. She’s not an amazing actress but she has a certain magnetism about her. Although some of the actions are kind of funny because of how they are choreographed, she looks very good in them.

THE BAD

The story isn’t very compelling thus far and it takes some weird and fantastical turns with the sub-plots. 

For some reason the 2000′s was in love with cheesy soundtracks. They LITERALLY played “In the Arms of an Angel” during a dramatic moment; which we all know to day as the “sad pet song”. It’s a song that was used on a now infamous commercial about animal abuse. It’s used for memes today. 

Everyone who isn’t an agent of some kind is a lifeless stock character. Sydney’s circle of friends and her fiancé and Arvin Sloan’s fiancé and everyone else you meet that isn’t CIA , SD-6 or a villain character in the show doesn’t add much to the quality of the show.