The return of the real Alias

A week or so ago I wrote about West Wing and ended by saying "Now, if only Alias would get back to first/second season form I'd be even happier." Well, I finally watched this week’s episode (4.15) and I’m happy to report that we may be seeing the beginning of a very good set of episodes. One of the things that made seasons one and two so good was the idea that there was always something going on that we didn’t know about – somebody had a plan (usually nefarious) that was complex and we eventually found out that this plan was really what was driving the plot – usually it was Arvin Sloan who was manipulating people. There was a reveal and a “oh, wow – that’s cool” realization that all was not as it appeared. That is what made the show so wonderful. In season three it lost that – there was some mystery but not the kind of gripping plot twists that made me not want to miss a single episode (and – I haven’t).

This new season (Season Four) had promise as Sydney and Jack and all the other great people got reassigned to a new black-ops division of the CIA. But that promise seemed to have been squandered on self-contained episodes that had no compelling arc that made me want to keep watching. In fact, I even toyed with the idea that maybe the show had lost its appeal for me.

Then, this week’s episode hit and I saw that spark that had been missing for so long. It could be that Alias is back! With seven more episodes left in the season I think we might be heading towards a finale that will be lots of fun.