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USA TODAY
May 2, 2003
Wild 'Alias' finale leaves us hanging
by Robert Bianco
Always leave 'em wanting more.
No show is more faithful to that old show-business bromide than
Alias, one of TV's best serials — and certainly its most breathless.
Over the past two seasons, Alias' clever creator, J.J. Abrams, has
written his heroine into a dizzying array of inescapable corners,
only to pull her out at the last moment and spin her off into some
new peril and direction.
Prepare to be spun again, in an unflaggingly entertaining two-hour
season finale that once again launches the show into uncharted
territory. In true serial fashion, secrets are revealed and mysteries
are solved (though not all of either), and old dangers lead to
shocking and unanticipated complications.
Does it all make sense? To the extent anything on Alias makes sense,
yes. This is, after all, a show that asks you to believe in the
existence of a 15th-century seer who invented a nuclear device while
predicting Hiroshima. Let's just say Sunday's twists are more
satisfying and convincing than David Carradine's cameo last week as a
Lost Horizon monk.
The early focus is on Will (Bradley Cooper), who is suspected of
being a spy, thanks to the work of a genetically altered "double,"
Francie (Merrin Dungey). The plot expands to reunite Jack (Victor
Garber) with Sloane (Ron Rifkin), and Irina (Lena Olin) with her
daughter, Sydney (Jennifer Garner).
As always with Alias, some of the twists are a bit hard to follow,
and many of them seem designed simply to get Garner into yet another
out-there outfit. Not since Charlie's Angels has a series been as
amusingly upfront about the market value of its star's feminine
allure. And few stars have ever complied with as much style and humor
as Garner.
Still, the key to Alias' success is that while the plots are bizarre,
the characters basically are not. Alias isn't camp; the emotions and
performances are meant to ring true — as you'll see in the
outstanding performances this week from Cooper and Carl Lumbly. But
the entire cast works as one to invest these stories with depth, from
the delightful Garner to the invaluable Garber to the charismatic
Michael Vartan.
Naturally, this high-class serial ends with a cliffhanger, and as
hangers go, it's a beaut. From here, there's no telling where the
show is headed — or how it got there. You'll just have to return in
September.
Which is the entire point of leaving you wanting more.
4 out of 4 stars
© USA TODAY 2003
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