Alias: Part Two: Side Characters
Continuing...
Marshall somebody-or-other is the tech guy for SD6, more than roughly equivalent to James Bond's "Q". Things you need to know about him: He has a crush on Sydney, he's shy and nervous and goofy, and he's basically there for comic relief. The interesting thing about this guy is he comes up with brand-new technological marvels every episode -- from the camera/purse to the phone bug/wire to the fingerprint lifter to the, you get the idea. He's either very fast or very busy or both. Marshall is an example of a character that shouldn't work but does -- he's an obvious James Bond ripoff, and obviously comic relief, and he has no reason to exist outside of that. But we like him anyway.
Anna Espinosa was the Baby with One Eyebrow to Sydney's Maggie Simpson. She's gone now, but she sure was important early on. Maybe the actress that played her passed away (but couldn't she come back with a new face? This is a spy show) . Ok, wtf? I can't get blogger to get me out of italics. This is all coming out as an aside. I'm sorry, but I can't continue with this if I can't italicize when I want, where I want. Bleaaagh!
Ok. That's better. It's just as well, I don't want to discuss characters anymore anyway. I'll just skim over the archetypes: Hot Young Spy Bad Guy (Sark), Wisecracking CIA Friend (Weiss), Intrepid Reporter Friend (Will "15%" Tippin), Felicity-Style Best Friend (Francie), Unknown Important Character Who Could Show Up At Any Second (Mom). That about does it. Oh, there's also Sam from "The Single Guy", but you pretty much know he's dead from the moment you lay eyes on him.
The amazing thing about the show for me is all the spares that worked on it. I mean, the people in charge of this and having creative control over it are the same people involved in Felicity, for Pete's sake. Fricking Felicity. Plus, the director has never done action before, the actors are either unknown or spares themselves, and on top of all that it's on ABC. Let that sink in. They haven't had a good show since...gosh, I can't think of one. They never picked up Mulholland Drive, and God is punishing them for that. Anyway, God let this one through. How did this happen? Are the writers of the average spare show, say, Will and Grace, able to go off and write a perfectly good show later on if given the right environment? I don't know why, but this is fascinating to me.
Alias works because it has style, it has fun, it has plot twists galore, it has hot girls kickboxing, and it knows what its trying to do and it does it. And can I repeat that Jennifer Garner is awesome in the best female role on network TV. She manages to be both cute and bad-a__ at the same time. I wholeheartedly recommend it, even if it does take a few episodes to really "get" what's going on.
We'll see what I think after Season Two. Jack Bristow just did his most toolish deed ever, and I need to see what happens. come on, Netflix, disk two is a day late!
Marshall somebody-or-other is the tech guy for SD6, more than roughly equivalent to James Bond's "Q". Things you need to know about him: He has a crush on Sydney, he's shy and nervous and goofy, and he's basically there for comic relief. The interesting thing about this guy is he comes up with brand-new technological marvels every episode -- from the camera/purse to the phone bug/wire to the fingerprint lifter to the, you get the idea. He's either very fast or very busy or both. Marshall is an example of a character that shouldn't work but does -- he's an obvious James Bond ripoff, and obviously comic relief, and he has no reason to exist outside of that. But we like him anyway.
Anna Espinosa was the Baby with One Eyebrow to Sydney's Maggie Simpson. She's gone now, but she sure was important early on. Maybe the actress that played her passed away (but couldn't she come back with a new face? This is a spy show) . Ok, wtf? I can't get blogger to get me out of italics. This is all coming out as an aside. I'm sorry, but I can't continue with this if I can't italicize when I want, where I want. Bleaaagh!
Ok. That's better. It's just as well, I don't want to discuss characters anymore anyway. I'll just skim over the archetypes: Hot Young Spy Bad Guy (Sark), Wisecracking CIA Friend (Weiss), Intrepid Reporter Friend (Will "15%" Tippin), Felicity-Style Best Friend (Francie), Unknown Important Character Who Could Show Up At Any Second (Mom). That about does it. Oh, there's also Sam from "The Single Guy", but you pretty much know he's dead from the moment you lay eyes on him.
The amazing thing about the show for me is all the spares that worked on it. I mean, the people in charge of this and having creative control over it are the same people involved in Felicity, for Pete's sake. Fricking Felicity. Plus, the director has never done action before, the actors are either unknown or spares themselves, and on top of all that it's on ABC. Let that sink in. They haven't had a good show since...gosh, I can't think of one. They never picked up Mulholland Drive, and God is punishing them for that. Anyway, God let this one through. How did this happen? Are the writers of the average spare show, say, Will and Grace, able to go off and write a perfectly good show later on if given the right environment? I don't know why, but this is fascinating to me.
Alias works because it has style, it has fun, it has plot twists galore, it has hot girls kickboxing, and it knows what its trying to do and it does it. And can I repeat that Jennifer Garner is awesome in the best female role on network TV. She manages to be both cute and bad-a__ at the same time. I wholeheartedly recommend it, even if it does take a few episodes to really "get" what's going on.
We'll see what I think after Season Two. Jack Bristow just did his most toolish deed ever, and I need to see what happens. come on, Netflix, disk two is a day late!
posted by Mike Pape @ 8:21 AM
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