Alias and Carnivale
Okay, review time.
The second former Mutant Enemy writer makes his Alias debut. It's not as stunning as his BTVS debut, Selfless, but it's a very watchable ep. To get the complaints out first - Underneath over at AtS (another Ultimate Drew ep, or was it?) made the point about the suburbs faster, and with more satire. Also, the premise of Sydney and Vaughn not able to be "American" and "loving couple" enough could have been milked for more.
Now about the bright side of things, of which there was a lot. Firstly, as with Jeff Bell's episode, I heard distinctly ME type of phrases, and was delighted. Joss & fellow scribes wrote dialogue like no-one's business, and it's good to hear something like that again. Secondly, something this episode does have in common with Selfless is that Ultimate Drew makes his first ep of the show into a continuity orgy which endears him to old-time viewers. Bringing up the books Jack used to give Irina from season 1, and the Santa Barbara trip from season 2 - yep, he definitely did his homework. Thirdly, this was an episode concentrating on Sydney's and Vaughn's relationship, and as last time with the Vaughn-centric ep, I was not bored, or tempted to fast-forward. Am stunned again by this. Why, in the scene when Vaughn brought up his marriage proposal wannabe and Sydney reacted, I was… touched. I'm buying my formerly least interesting relationship of the show. What happened?
No, seriously. While I'd love more First Generation spies screentime, I can understand why they concentrate on Vaughn and Syd at first. These were the characters most damaged in the season 3 writing, and that's where the writing repair work had to start. Nice job so far. Helps that Drew Goddard brought something ME had about its romances, but Alias did not (so far) into it - self-irony. Remember, ME spoofed the Buffy/Angel romance as early as The Zeppo, which does not mean they didn't take the characters or their feelings seriously, just that they were aware of how it could look, and had a healthy sense of humour about it. Welcome to Liberty Village, with the "cold", "boring" and lack of spontaneity cracks, was the very first time Alias showed it can have a sense of humour about Syd/Vaughn. Which removes the relationship from the annoying Soulmates ™ territory and makes it human and likable again. I hope this continues, for I approve.
Naturally, First Generation Spies fan that I am, I was utterly delighted that we have proof Jack and Sloane have their own secret agenda cooking, and that involves Elena Derevko. (This probably settles it - the child in the photo isn't Katya's kid, it's Elena's. For the record, I still like the Elena Derevko = Olivia Reed speculation, which would make the kid Lauren. If Elena is someone else entirely, the child is still alive, and this would bring up a surplus of relatives for the season.) And of course, Irina angst from Jack is always welcome. As opposed to some reviewers, I think it was a good choice not to tell us outright Irina trained in Liberty Village as well - it would have been too anvilly. I got the message anyway.
Following andrastewhite's cajoling, I also watched the first two episodes of Carnivale. (Aka what Ron Moore did after Star Trek and before Battlestar Galactica.) So far, I'm intrigued.
I also squeed when the dwarf from Twin Peaks was the very first thing we see. (The chewing gum you like is going to come back in style. See, I can still quote some of the TP utterances.) The depression-era US carries a John Steinbeck aura with it, and then obviously someone has watched Tod Browning's Freaks for inspiration.
The set up of Ben and Justin both supernaturally gifted would point to Ben being the warrior for good and Justin the one for evil mentioned in the prologue, but I appreciate the show doesn't seem to make it that simple, by giving Justin good intentions and Ben a more than reluctant nature and severe hang-ups. Similarly, the Carnivale personnel aren't presented as the better humans in comparison to the townsfolk. They're as diverse as the townspeople. And of course, between the repeated hints about "the management" and the blind seer's visit to the comatose psi, a rich backstory is indicated. Hm. We'll see.
You are Sark
Which Member of the Alias SpyGang are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
I'm probably the only Alias fan who finds him neither attractive nor very interesting (they could kill him off tomorrow and I wouldn't care), but then I also thought the X-Files kept Krychek alive for far too long, and am bored with Draco Malfoy. Meaning: this result is less than thrilling.*g*
The second former Mutant Enemy writer makes his Alias debut. It's not as stunning as his BTVS debut, Selfless, but it's a very watchable ep. To get the complaints out first - Underneath over at AtS (another Ultimate Drew ep, or was it?) made the point about the suburbs faster, and with more satire. Also, the premise of Sydney and Vaughn not able to be "American" and "loving couple" enough could have been milked for more.
Now about the bright side of things, of which there was a lot. Firstly, as with Jeff Bell's episode, I heard distinctly ME type of phrases, and was delighted. Joss & fellow scribes wrote dialogue like no-one's business, and it's good to hear something like that again. Secondly, something this episode does have in common with Selfless is that Ultimate Drew makes his first ep of the show into a continuity orgy which endears him to old-time viewers. Bringing up the books Jack used to give Irina from season 1, and the Santa Barbara trip from season 2 - yep, he definitely did his homework. Thirdly, this was an episode concentrating on Sydney's and Vaughn's relationship, and as last time with the Vaughn-centric ep, I was not bored, or tempted to fast-forward. Am stunned again by this. Why, in the scene when Vaughn brought up his marriage proposal wannabe and Sydney reacted, I was… touched. I'm buying my formerly least interesting relationship of the show. What happened?
No, seriously. While I'd love more First Generation spies screentime, I can understand why they concentrate on Vaughn and Syd at first. These were the characters most damaged in the season 3 writing, and that's where the writing repair work had to start. Nice job so far. Helps that Drew Goddard brought something ME had about its romances, but Alias did not (so far) into it - self-irony. Remember, ME spoofed the Buffy/Angel romance as early as The Zeppo, which does not mean they didn't take the characters or their feelings seriously, just that they were aware of how it could look, and had a healthy sense of humour about it. Welcome to Liberty Village, with the "cold", "boring" and lack of spontaneity cracks, was the very first time Alias showed it can have a sense of humour about Syd/Vaughn. Which removes the relationship from the annoying Soulmates ™ territory and makes it human and likable again. I hope this continues, for I approve.
Naturally, First Generation Spies fan that I am, I was utterly delighted that we have proof Jack and Sloane have their own secret agenda cooking, and that involves Elena Derevko. (This probably settles it - the child in the photo isn't Katya's kid, it's Elena's. For the record, I still like the Elena Derevko = Olivia Reed speculation, which would make the kid Lauren. If Elena is someone else entirely, the child is still alive, and this would bring up a surplus of relatives for the season.) And of course, Irina angst from Jack is always welcome. As opposed to some reviewers, I think it was a good choice not to tell us outright Irina trained in Liberty Village as well - it would have been too anvilly. I got the message anyway.
Following andrastewhite's cajoling, I also watched the first two episodes of Carnivale. (Aka what Ron Moore did after Star Trek and before Battlestar Galactica.) So far, I'm intrigued.
I also squeed when the dwarf from Twin Peaks was the very first thing we see. (The chewing gum you like is going to come back in style. See, I can still quote some of the TP utterances.) The depression-era US carries a John Steinbeck aura with it, and then obviously someone has watched Tod Browning's Freaks for inspiration.
The set up of Ben and Justin both supernaturally gifted would point to Ben being the warrior for good and Justin the one for evil mentioned in the prologue, but I appreciate the show doesn't seem to make it that simple, by giving Justin good intentions and Ben a more than reluctant nature and severe hang-ups. Similarly, the Carnivale personnel aren't presented as the better humans in comparison to the townsfolk. They're as diverse as the townspeople. And of course, between the repeated hints about "the management" and the blind seer's visit to the comatose psi, a rich backstory is indicated. Hm. We'll see.
You are Sark
Which Member of the Alias SpyGang are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
I'm probably the only Alias fan who finds him neither attractive nor very interesting (they could kill him off tomorrow and I wouldn't care), but then I also thought the X-Files kept Krychek alive for far too long, and am bored with Draco Malfoy. Meaning: this result is less than thrilling.*g*