reviewed by: Charity Bishop
      

There are two key times for studios to release movies the ten days before Christmas and the midsummer months. This is when the big guns come out, movies they imagine will be huge profit-wise. Currently the only movies in theatres are the ones the studios felt couldn't compete with moneymakers. But the fall is also prime DVD season, starting off with ABCs six-disk set of the complete first season of Alias. Nominated for 11 Emmy awards, the premise revolves around a young woman employed with SD-6, what she believes to be a subsidiary of the CIA. In the midst of her covert missions, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) attempts to juggle college life, her romance with a handsome medical student (Edward Atterton), and her shaky relationship with her father.

When she tells her fiancé the truth about her job, he winds up dead. Suddenly she realizes she's not working for the CIA but has been hired to fight against them by a terrorist organization called the Alliance. Now she's a double agent whose mission is to bring SD-6 down before someone else gets hurt and the only other agent she can trust is none other than her estranged father, Jack (Victor Garber). Alias is a surprisingly good drama of the action variety full of tight-knit plots and clever twists. There's time for important character development between the action scenes, and several additional plots (both romantically and professionally) flesh out the time outside SD-6. One of the finest things about the show is how well we get to know and understand the motivations of all the characters -- not merely Sydney. This is very important when it comes to the villain, Slone (Ron Rifkin), a man so corrupt he ordered Sydney's boyfriend killed but who endures a chilling turn of the tables when his own wife is targeted by the Alliance.

This thinking mans show requires a great deal of emotional commitment. The episodes build on one another, often leaving off in terrifying cliffhangers. Don't start the series unless you're prepared to devote some time to finishing it. Add into the plot the attentions of Sydney's best friend Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), a reporter with the local newspaper who thinks there's something amiss with Danny's death, and a number of side plots involving everything from romantic relationships to rat-infested apartments and you have a truly complex series with a surprising amount of heart. Even minor characters you learn to care about. The villain of the piece is surprisingly empathetic; as much as you hate and fear the man, you also abhor the thought of seeing him tortured. There's also a nice piece of romantic tension involving Sydney's handler at the CIA, a good looking agent by the name of Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan).

The show is not perfect but the first season is surprisingly decent. Unfortunate amounts of language creep into most of the dialogue (along with some unsavory comments like "screw you," and "bite me," and a** gets a regular workout), but the TV14 rating comes from violence (major hand-to-hand combat, as well as some shootouts, dead bodies, and explosions) more than anything else. In the first episode we discover this isn't a sugar-coated glimpse into espionage when terrorists extract Sydney's molar after she refuses them information. Scenes of violent combat aren't what stuck with me after the closing credits -- it was the implications of gory torture sessions. Mouths pried open and teeth drills humming, hot-tipped needles being driven into hands, necks, and arms. One agent, knowing he won't be able to get free in time to turn off an access code with his fingerprint, has his partner cut off his finger and take it with him to the keypad.

The series is an all out exploration of hand to hand combat. People are struck in the back of the head, hit with tranquilizer darts, pummeled to the ground, kicked in the face, thrown against walls, injected with needles, and tortured. Characters get bloody after being beat up (many scenes are painful to watch due to the absolute devastation of their faces) and bloody corpses are often seen laying around in background shots. By far the most intense scenes of violence come from agents forced to keep their cover by abusing someone else. A man's arm is broken under the pretense of getting information. Characters are tied to chairs and threatened with torture devices -- hot needles, a lack of pain medication, and other heartless methods. The violence is so extreme viewers should be warned that its realism, while never overly graphic (we don't see the finger cut off or the arm broken, but instead hear it) is not for the faint of heart.

Only three of the 22 episodes have anything sexual in them. The first episode is by far the worst, primarily through the power of suggestion. Sydney and Danny are obviously in a sexual relationship outside the sanctity of marriage. He lays on top of her on the couch and kisses her bare stomach, talking about how one day they're going to have lots of beautiful children. Uneasy about the lies between them, Sydney takes him into the bathroom and tells him to get undressed. They both climb into the shower (no nudity) but not for a romantic fling; she wants to tell him about SD-6 without being overheard. It's also implied most (if not all) of the main characters have a cavalier attitude about sex. Sydney's best friends are all either living with someone or casually involved elsewhere. (She knocks on Arvin's door one evening to find a coworker lounging in the background wearing his shirt; he wakes up beside her in a later scene.)

Sydney also falls prey to a passionate moment with a former lover while on a mission for SD-6. They kiss passionately and partially undress each other before the show ends; the following episode opens with them curled up together under the covers, just in time to make a daring escape. Sexual tension permeates a few of the action scenes, the most notable two being in the 3rd and 7th episodes. In a narrative we see what is apparently a sexual tryst between an ex-agent and a terrorist; his back moving in and out of camera range and a long hand playing with the chain around his neck (on which is the key the woman needs for her assignment). Later in the series Sydney enters a sleazy bar undercover and flirts with the owner while scantily clad girls sway in the background behind glass (and also overhead). When she's caught trying to escape the owner licks her face. Some of her costume choices are immodest, with short skirts, cleavage-bearing tops, and skintight gowns. She also appears in a bikini on occasion. If all this content were in one film only, I would never recommend the movie in question. But since it's spread out over roughly nine hours of entertainment, it becomes less of a problem.

The best thing about Alias is watching the relationship between father and daughter mature. Is Jack a good or bad guy? Each show reveals a little more of his character, first showing his cold utter lack of regard for his daughter and slowly bleeding into a true bond built on trust through trial and error. Jack Bristow is one of the most complicated of the show's characters. He's nothing short of fascinating and Victor Garber does an excellent job of portraying him. Some of his actions are positively barbaric and yet we learn to take his side as along with Sydney we slowly uncover the truth. The second element I liked was the fact her grief seems real. Too many shows replace the lost romantic lead early on and fail to portray a realistic grieving period. Sydney lives through amazing and dangerous situations but doesn't go home feeling good about herself. She cries for lost comrades, resists the romantic advances of the two men in her life, and remains faithful to Danny's memory.

The bad thing about Alias is  the brutal implied violence, mildly crude language, and one element which concerns me: an agent rationalizing bad behavior. A figure we grow to respect and even like is also uncommonly brutal when faced with decisions. He breaks rules at the CIA, imposes cruel torture methods to gain information, and kills one of his informants at point-blank range. This sends mixed signals to young people searching for heroes in our corrupt society. But for mature action fans willing to devote brain time to the complex plots, Alias is an excellent alternative to 007.