ALIAS: SEASON THREE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: violence, sensuality, thematic elements

Rated:

Despite being labeled as the poorest of the current Alias seasons, this season presented us with some new dynamics, fabulous changes in characters, and several unexpected plot twists. Two years after killing Francie's double in Los Angeles, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) wakes up in Hong Kong. Everything has changed. Vaughn (Michael Vartan) has gotten married, believing Sydney to have perished in the fire that ravaged her apartment. Will Tippen has gone into Witness Protection. Her father, Jack (Victor Garber), is in prison for associating with Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother and a Russian fugitive from the US. Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) is now an ambassador for peace with a charity organization, having been granted a pardon for his crimes of inhumanity when he helped the CIA bring down the Alliance.

Sydney has no idea where she's been the last two years. The CIA brings her in for debriefing and then puts her on active duty when she pretends to know something about the Covenant, the next wave of worldwide terrorists. Through coercing and threats Sydney manages to have her father released from prison, and he confides to her that he's been investigating into her disappearance. First it was a search for her murderers, but then he came to realize that Sydney was still alive. Her face appeared on the security tape of a Russian diplomat that was murdered several months before in cold blood. Sydney has no recollection of the action and is desperate to learn the truth. In the meantime she must contend with her feelings of resentment toward Vaughn for moving on with his life. When his wife Lauren Reed (Melissa George) comes to work in Sydney's office as a liaison between inner agencies, the sparks fly.

The woman are distinctly unfavorable toward one another but through a series of events possible friendship begins. They must fight on the same side to reach a positive conclusion as the CIA is caught up in a battle to the death with the Covenant, who continue their search for the artifacts of Milo Rambaldi, a seventeenth century mystic. With the release of British assassin Julian Sark (David Anders) the stakes get higher, the game gets dirtier, and the spies get more brutal. Within the Covenant loyalties are divided, possibilities are endless, and it's not guaranteed everyone will live to the End Game. Sloane may not be trustworthy. Lauren is hiding some secrets. Vaughn must deal with having two women in his life that he loves, and Jack is out to protect his daughter at all costs, even if it means misleading the US government. Sydney just wants to know the truth, and when it's found, what can be done with it. The season suffered from poor ratings due to ABC pre-empting half the season for television specials, but will do well on DVD.

All of the episodes are well written and intense, following in the tradition of "wicked cool spy gadgets" we've come to expect. It was nice to see tech Marshall at his finest, full of witty puns, clumsy attempts to interest others in his life, and all of his neat little spy tricks. Sydney continues to be a worthwhile heroine, but sadly Vaughn takes a darker turn in the second half. Events lead him to compromise mortal integrity due to a previous deception. Jack encourages him in this practice, leading him down the same dark road that removed Jack's sense of ethics. I'm sorry for this, since it fails to allow viewers to empathize with him. Justice must always be served, but revenge is nothing to aspire to, particularly taking delight in another person's suffering. Watching Vaughn torture people for information is both brutal and sickening. It's always been the distinction between good and evil on the show -- the bad guys torture, the good guys employ other tactics. It's a change not necessarily for the better.

The violence is fairly mainstream for the show but has gotten bloodier: when people are shot, blood spurts from the wound. Primary characters executed in the second season are shown being killed in slow motion flashbacks. A man has his throat cut. People are punched, kicked in the face, stabbed, shot, thrown through windows, set on fire, and die in explosions. The most gruesome events involve a woman stabbing two silver chopsticks through a man's hands, nailing them to the table in an intimidation tactic, and a decomposing severed hand found in a box in the desert. Sydney goes through restoration therapy and has paranormal dreams of cutting into a cake and having blood spill forth, then discovering that she's cutting through a man's hand. In this dream sequence she encounters Lauren, who attempts to strangle her with plastic. The tables are turned and she kills Lauren instead. During a high-profile rescue attempt evidence must be produced of physical abuse and Sydney is asked to brutalize Lauren just enough to avert suspicion. It's not the first nor the last time the two women exchange blows.

Sydney is strapped to a table and injected with memory-inducing drugs. We watch her being electrocuted and tortured several times. Vaughn abuses both a female spy and Sark for information, employing various cruel tactics. Language this time around is mild, some profanities, numerous accounts of "son of a..." and a few mild abuses of deity. Modern vulgar terms like "screwed" and "suck" are mentioned. Sexual content is less of a problem in this season, but does carry implications in early episodes. Marshall's girlfriend is pregnant. He wants to get married, she wants to maintain her independence. Everyone winds up with at least one night stand before the end, but only "waking up the next morning" is shown: Sydney and Will, Sark and Allison, Sloane and his therapist, Sark and another spy, etc. Early on Sydney goes undercover and has to pretend to seduce a thief in order to gain information. They kiss suggestively for awhile, and she winds up with her shirt off before he turns on her. Sydney and Vaughn are forced to change clothes in an elevator, and turn away from each other (her bare back is shown). Some sexual remarks are made -- a man tries to enrage Jack by implying that her daughter is the wildest thing he ever had in bed. One episode also features a hazy nude silhouette of Sydney through a shower screen.

One of Sark's female associates uses her wiles to lure a man into a death trap. They neck and grope (he slides his hand up her leg to her hip) before she stabs him in the heart. Turned on by a narrow escape in a later episode, she finally gives in to Sark. They're shown passionately rolling around on a bed (and partially undressing) before the scene cuts out. Several times women are shown changing clothes, one purposefully remaining in her undergarments while a male spy is in the dressing room. There's an element of adultery involved, although Sydney and Vaughn never go beyond a tortured kiss or two. Thematic elements involve mass bombings and threats, kidnapped children of CIA operatives, and family turmoil when Jack and Sydney learn a dark secret. Each episode might not contain the intense cliffhanger we've become formerly accustomed to, but it's a solid season that answers a lot of questions and leaves us with many more. Fans of the show will be thrilled, and newcomers enthralled.