Sydney Bristow agrees to become an international spy for a secret branch of the CIA. The secrecy complicates her social and love lives, but it's nothing compared to what happens when she fin... Read allSydney Bristow agrees to become an international spy for a secret branch of the CIA. The secrecy complicates her social and love lives, but it's nothing compared to what happens when she finds out her employer has no ties to the CIA.Sydney Bristow agrees to become an international spy for a secret branch of the CIA. The secrecy complicates her social and love lives, but it's nothing compared to what happens when she finds out her employer has no ties to the CIA.
- Won 4 Primetime Emmys
- 33 wins & 146 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJennifer Garner's opening narration, which was used throughout season one, was literally phoned in. She was working on-location, and had to read it on the phone to J.J. Abrams, who was recording it on the other end.
- GoofsIn many of the episodes when Sydney visits other "countries", one can identify that filming took place in the US because of American telephones, traffic lights, types of signage, types of cars, architecture, door frames and door knobs in the background. Those are subtle for the most part but people living in the countries depicted feel that "something isn't quite right".
- Quotes
[talking about Sydney]
Weiss: So she gave you a drawer, huh?
Vaughn: It was a gesture of convenience.
Weiss: And, uh, what did you put it in?
Vaughn: Why do you care?
Weiss: What do you mean, why do I care? Do you know how spoiled you are? You know, a drawer! I wish I had a girlfriend to say 'Hey, do you want a drawer?'
Vaughn: I'll give you a drawer at my place.
Weiss: I don't want a drawer at your place.
- Crazy creditsAll episodes end with the word "ALIAS" appearing on the screen, except for the final episode of the final season in which the message "Thank you for five wonderful years" appears on screen instead.
- Alternate versionsIn the UK the sixty minute version aired when premiered on Channel 4, but because of the early time slot of the show (5:30pm) cuts to violence were made. The scenes in Taipei were Sydney is tortured were all cut and we only see this section of the episode when the flashbacks end and the episode's timeline catches up with the character in Taipei. Throughtout the series' duration on Channel 4, cuts were made frequently to the violence and sometimes bad language.
- ConnectionsEdited into Alias: The Lost Episode (2002)
When this series started on TV last year there was a lot of hype about it being the teenage 24 and other such things. When I saw the pilot I wasn't overly taken as it had too many `music video' moments and the action seemed forced. However I stuck with it and, once I got into the way it all works then it became actually quite enjoyable if not exactly gripping. The plot is pretty stretched never more so when a run of 15 or so episodes are based around getting the work of a prophet who may have designed the ultimate weapon etc. However it is still quite fun to watch and moves along with a certain amount of energy and pace. The cliff hangers are often a little forced and didn't keep me waiting for the next show. In fact most of the `cliff hangers' are sorted out in the first few moments of the next episode.
The overall theme of Sydney versus SD6 is one that runs consistently well even where the week to week plots may be weak. The action of the weekly missions is OK and I was glad to see that the series did not go the way of just putting Garner into different skimpy clothes each week as a way of getting an audience (although she does do that quite a lot!). Sydney's friends are also given reasonable side plots rather than just filling out the cast. The journalist is the best subplot although it isn't consistent and runs out of steam, while Francie's romances don't quite fit the rest of the action they do make an occasional change of pace.
Garner is very sexy and can also act very well and is a good lead. She deservedly has had good film roles out of it. Vartan is very good as Vaughn and has a good chemistry with Garner without going overboard on the `will they won't they' thing. The support cast is full of famous faces who do sterling work most noticeably Garber and Rifkin. Also the guest stars who come and go for a few episodes here and there are quite good with even Quentin Tarantino giving a good performance. It's not all perfect but the cast do good work generally.
The series may not be well enough written and the thrills are mainly manufactured and temporary, although the running plot is enough to keep tension and excitement running through the show. Overall this series is polished and slick and is well serviced with a good cast and a reasonably good plot. Series one has been good if not great and I can see what series 2 will be dealing with. However I hope that they stop after 2 (or 3 at a push) series rather than taking it too far and outstaying it's welcome.
Series one has been enjoyable if not perfect and I will be looking forward to series two, I hope it can keep up the energy, polish and enjoyment of the first series and maybe even improve on it's weaknesses.
- bob the moo
- Feb 2, 2003
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Bí Danh
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3
- 16:9 HD