Alias Ends in May 2006!

Basq

Reported on AintItCoolNews.com here with the press release below.

ABC SET TO BEGIN COUNTDOWN TO “ALIAS” SERIES FINALE

“Alias” will end its five-season run in May 2006, it was announced today by Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment.

The spy drama, which over the course of its run has garnered seven Emmy Awards, stars Jennifer Garner in her 2002 Golden Globe Award-winning role as CIA agent Sydney Bristow.

“Right out of the box, ‘Alias’ attracted a cult following of fans that were completely invested in the show,” Mr. McPherson said. “J.J. Abrams and his team developed characters that were compelling and storylines that were intricate and engaging, and Jennifer and the rest of the cast brought them to life. We owe both the storytellers and the fans a send-off worthy of a show that has been such a big part of the pop culture vernacular. J.J., Jeff Pinkner, Ken Olin, Jesse Alexander and Jeffrey Bell have an amazing story arc planned for the remainder of the season. ‘Alias’ is not going to wind down as it comes to an end, it’s going to rev up, and we’re going to make it the event it deserves to be.”

Added Mark Pedowitz, president, Touchstone Television: “’Alias’ has sustained its identity as a critical favorite because J.J. Abrams and everyone involved in this series set the bar for quality entertainment. We have been honored to work with them all, especially Jennifer Garner, who has our eternal admiration and appreciation for her dedication to the role and unarguably the best demeanor in the business.”

“Alias” executive producer Jeff Pinkner added: “This news, and its timing, is a mixed-blessing. Though we’re obviously very saddened to face the reality that ‘Alias’ is coming to an end, the lasting quality of every good story is determined by its conclusion—this news gives us the freedom to end the series in the climactic way it deserves.”

“Five years ago J.J. Abrams designed ‘Alias’ to encompass a unique and challenging blend of spy-adventure, family drama and love story that contained deeper mythological elements,” he continued. “The arc we have planned for the remainder of the season will honor all of these disparate elements, as we wrap up the story of Sydney Bristow in a surprising and, we think, thrilling way.”

“J.J., and all of us here feel blessed by our fans, the brilliant cast we’ve been fortunate to work with, our amazing crew and the support of Touchstone and ABC.”

“Alias” stars Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, Victor Garber as Jack Bristow, Ron Rifkin as Arvin Sloane, Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon, Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman, Balthazar Getty as Thomas Grace, Rachel Nichols as Rachel Gibson and Élodie Bouchez as Renée Rienne.

“Alias” was created by J.J. Abrams, who executive-produces the series along with Ken Olin, Jeff Pinkner, Jesse Alexander and Jeffrey Bell. The series, which is filmed in Los Angeles and premiered on September 30, 2001, is from Touchstone Television.

Never really watched the show after the excellent first series.. are fans of it here on Boards upset or pleased with this decision? As the general consensus by Alias fans is that the show has went downhill very quickly.

Mr E

Its a good show. Although season 4 was weak, the end of season 4 was a classic. Season 5 looks to be a return to form.

At least now that they know the end is nigh, they can focus on giving us a fantastic series finale...

Pepe LeFrits

Have only watched the first 3 seasons thus far, but those 3 seasons were fantastic. Season 3 was a bit wobbly in places but still a terrific watch. I'd prefer the show to go out with a bang while it is still relatively young than go on too long like other shows have done.

ixoy

Really enjoyed S1-S3. S4 had a poor first half but a strong second half.
S5 started out terribly but it's gradually been getting better as they adjust to the cast changes. Hope JJ gives it the attention it deserves and finishes it in style - do Rambaldi proud!

gazzer

I love Alias.. its one of my favourite shows.. I wasnt too keen on it at the beginning of Season Four cos it took a while to get used to the self contained episodes but the second half of it was great and the last episodes was a corker...

Its a pity they are finishing it but the fact they have announced it so soon means they can give it a good send off.

Its sort of the same thing that happened to Angel.. in order to get the show renewed for a fifth season the producers decided to do self contained episodes rather than arcs .. for some reason the american public dont seem to like shows that you have to watch week after week (well apart from 24 and Lost i suppose)

Elmo

I have justed started to watch the show on RTÉ. It is a bit wobbly in Season 3. I will have to get Seasons 1 and 2.

When is it back on E4?

I think continuous shows are better.

24 is becoming more and more self contained within each episode of each new season.

BuffyBot

Never really watched the show after the excellent first series..

I thought after the first series, it really began to disappear up it's own spyhole. I stopped watching soon after.

lazygit

Jesus the cursing out of me after seeing the end of season 4 cliffhanger...
but i cant seem to get into season 5 at all...

mickymg2003

I watched season one on sky one i think and it was good but then they changed the time around for season 2 and i missed a few episodes and just lost interest but it was still a good show.

BopNiblets

The last 10 seconds of the finale of S4 just pissed me off. Boo-urns, it didn't make any sense.

TCamen

The last 10 seconds of the finale of S4 just pissed me off. Boo-urns, it didn't make any sense.

The explanation isn't any better. I gave up on S5 after watching episode 1 and trying several times to get through the second episode of the season. I'll probably muddle through now that it's definitely finishing up, but the golden touch left the show a long time ago (circa the re-write of the S3 cliffhanger and general crapness of S4).

gazzer

yeah.. the rewrite of the season 3 cliffhanger really pi**ed me off.

Mr E

Why was it rewritten? Was it much different from what was intended?

TCamen

Two things happened with the S3 finale 'Resurrection'. First of all, the original script for the episode was scrapped entirely when J.J Abrams wasn't happy with it.

The choice has been made--to scrap that script [where Syd could "only save one of the two people she cares about most in life"]. "I felt like it didn't do a number of things that I wanted to see," says series creator J.J. Abrams. "So the writers and I adjusted the story, and in doing that, the ending changed as well." So what will actually happen? Abrams is playing it close to the bulletproof vest. "It's a revenge tale," he offers. "It's also a morality play for Sydney because she's determined to put an end to the trouble that this year has been, yet she doesn't want to become as dark a figure as those she despises. The question is: How far will she go to right what has been wrong? And the ending--while it resolves a lot of issues--raises a key question of trust."

Then, the ending with Syd reading those files was actually shortened - the episode recap that was up on ABC.com @ the time of the finale included more details than were actually seen on screen, because it was edited when the decision to take S4 in a more stand-alone direction was made.

According to the ABC.com episode guide it said that the top secret papers Sydney found revealed that Jack wasn't in prison after Irina betrayed him, that Vaughn's father worked for him, and that he has documented her life as well as Nadia's.

Obviously this was taken out because they didn't want to deal with all that fallout in S4, so they cut the 'discovery' of the papers so that we didn't see Syd discover all that. THEN in S4 when they tried to pass the papers off as being all about Irina's murder that Jack was involved in? WEAK. I felt that to try and claim that the papers weren't about Sydney/Project Christmas (when we ACTUALLY saw the front page of the documents even in the edited cliffhanger) was a really sloppy get-out clause and it was an insult to loyal viewers who enjoyed the show up to that point. I loved S1-3, I thought they were really enjoyable - and even though J.J Abrams didn't like the overly-complicated Rambaldi stuff in S3 - it was FAR more involving and interesting than the vast majority of S4 episodes.

Personally, I think the original script for 'Resurrection' with Syd being left to choose between two loved ones sounds like a stronger cliffhanger than the actual file-cliffhanger BUT had the writers actually attempted to address the files properly in S4 it wouldn't have been so bad.

S4 for me - with the standalone episodes AND the brushing under the carpet of the S3 cliffhanger files really soured me on the show. Yes there were some decent episodes in S4 (towards the end), but S4 overall sucked. I hated the S4 cliffhanger, and the resolution in S5 was woeful. As I say, I'll watch it to the end now that it's going to finish up, but it really isn't up there on my 'must see TV' list anymore.

Mr E

Wow... thats for the explanation, TCamen
I'm just working my way through Season 1 and its brilliant stuff.

TCamen

No probs -- sorry if there's spoilers in there. I actually found the exact quote from the ABC.com recap.

It originally said: In Wittenberg, Syd opens the safe deposit box and finds a top secret document. She cries as she learns that Jack wasn't in prison after Irina betrayed him, that Vaughn's father William worked for him, and that he has documented her entire life, as well as Nadia's. Jack appears and says she was never supposed to have found these documents.

Then it was changed to reflect the aired version: In Wittenberg, Syd opens the safe deposit box and finds top secret documents. She cries as she peruses files documenting her life, each one bearing Jack Bristow's signature. Jack enters and says she was never supposed to have found these documents.

I don't mind that maybe J.J Abrams changed his mind about the cliffhanger, and edited it differently - obviously that's his choice. It just annoyed me so much that they fobbed it off as something completely different to the brief glimpse we got of the documents. Either way, the actual footage aired and altered ABC.com summary still clearly points to the documents being about Sydney and NOT Irina.

TCamen

The following is an excert from ALIAS MAGAZINE, ISSUE 5.

As many of you are aware, the season 3 finale was filmed with an ending in place. However, JJ ABRAMS (creator) did not like it, so he had it changed. This is what the ending was going to be like:

Written by Jeff Pinkner:


ALIAS- EP#E322- "Resurrection"- 04/09/2004- First Draft

Below her: Vaughn dangles by his shoulder from the hook, and now the cable is lashed around Jack's leg, to untangle it would require letting go with his hands.

ON SYDNEY: Straining with effort. HER HANDS: White with effort-- refusing to drop them--- but their combined weight IS CAUSING THE RAILING TO GIVE WAY -- IT'S BREAKING -- IN A MOMENT THEY'LL ALL GO OVER.

VAUGHN: -- you can't hold us both --

She struggles to pull them back up --

SYDNEY (straining): -- no --

-- But Vaughn's right. It's too much. Her eyes go to her dad.

JACK: -- CUT ME LOOSE.

-Then to Vaughn.

VAUGHN: Let me go.

And looking down at her father and Vaughn, Sydney realizes that all 3 of them are going to die... unless she does the unthinkable...

Sydney pulls a BLADE from her belt -- she opens it -- and holding it to the rope, we UNDERSTAND: if she cuts one of them free, she and the other will survive -- she has to choose which one, but how...

AND ALL MUSIC CUTS OUT -- replaced by just the sound of Sydney's strained breathing.

We're TIGHT ON HER FACE -- streaked with sweat -- straining with this impossible choice -- when-- Oh, God -- suddenly. SHE'S PULLED FORWARD OUT OF THE FRAME.

WIDER: the railing Sydney clings to is collapsing --

Vaughn: SYD -- NOW -- DO IT NOW

AND THERE'S NO MORE TIME .. WE'RE ON SYDNEY AS SHE DECIDES THEN BRINGS THE KNIFE TO ONE OF THE ROPES --- AND WE'RE VERY CLOSE AS SHE SLICES THROUGH IT -- IT DROPS AWAY --

WHO'S AT THE OTHER END?

FOR THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT SEASON, BECAUSE NOW, OFF SYDNEY'S CHOICE, WE...
CUT TO BLACK.

END OF SEASON THREE"

Wheels

TCamen wrote:

The following is an excert from ALIAS MAGAZINE, ISSUE 5.

As many of you are aware, the season 3 finale was filmed with an ending in place. However, JJ ABRAMS (creator) did not like it, so he had it changed. This is what the ending was going to be like:
SNIP

Hmm can't say I would have been a big fan of that ending. A cliffhanger of "life or death" situations should only be done if there is a big chance one of the characters involved weren't coming back.

To be honest I'm not sure I would have even been happy with the rewrite where Syd finds out her and Nadia's life had been documented by Jack the whole time. Syd's relationship with Jack was complicated enough before this and the "he killed Irena" storyline of Season4, there was a lot more to explore on the relationship without adding anymore soap opera dramatics.

IMO bringing back Sydney after two years worked well, but she should have had a real none CIA friend. Writing Will out was a mistake, I would have liked to have seen him deal with all that had happened while trying to live a normal life that Sydney craved so much. I also still don't understand why a bigger deal wasn't made of Faux Francie. The actress has said she would have come back for more episodes but they never asked her, in many ways I've felt she was as good a villian as Sloane and I think they missed a great oppertunity by not using her.

Alas, the end is nigh. I invested a lot in the series and in season 1 and 2 is blew me away but I think too many things got in the way including the quest for ratings and ABC wanting to make changes. I am however looking forward to the final, I still think JJ could pull something outta the bag and put right what once went wrong Or maybe even set up the possiblity of Alias, The Movie Franchise. Now THAT would rock.

TCamen

Hmm can't say I would have been a big fan of that ending. A cliffhanger of "life or death" situations should only be done if there is a big chance one of the characters involved weren't coming back.

I agree to a certain extent -- I hated the S1 cliffhanger and the S4 cliffhanger because I never once believed that anyone was in any real danger of dying. The S2 cliffhanger was SO much more effective because it wasn't about life or death but a huge change for Syd.

To be honest I'm not sure I would have even been happy with the rewrite where Syd finds out her and Nadia's life had been documented by Jack the whole time.

I don't mind that they changed it - but what bugs me about it is that what we SEE in the final moments of the S3 finale [Project S.A.B Sydney Anne Bristow, start date of 1975 & project manager: Jack Bristow] isn't followed through. HOW that can be rationalised as being about Irina's death @ Jack's hands in the recent present (2005 or whatever year S4 is set in) like they said in S4 is beyond me. They SHOULD have at least made an effort to explain what they showed in the S3 finale. If they were undecided about where they were taking the series then fine -- DON'T show the file with the project name etc if the way forward isn't totally decided. This laziness on the part of the writers/producers to actually tie it all together is what really bugged me. I understand that the script changed - again it doesn't bother me in the slightest about the final product on screen as long as it's good, and as long as it isn't hastily swept under the carpet the following season, which it was.

IMO bringing back Sydney after two years worked well, but she should have had a real none CIA friend. Writing Will out was a mistake, I would have liked to have seen him deal with all that had happened while trying to live a normal life that Sydney craved so much. I also still don't understand why a bigger deal wasn't made of Faux Francie. The actress has said she would have come back for more episodes but they never asked her, in many ways I've felt she was as good a villian as Sloane and I think they missed a great opportunity by not using her.

Can't agree more. The episodes with Will were SO good in S3, and I absolutely loved the Francinator -- I was really disappointed that we didn't see more of her (even in S4).

I am however looking forward to the final, I still think JJ could pull something outta the bag and put right what once went wrong

We can only hope. It's the ONLY reason I'm gonna give S5 another shot. Roll on Alias finale

tvnutz

The season 2 finale was great,loved it. That brilliant fight between Syd and the Francie double was really cool,and then the ending...you have been missing for 2 years! :eek: Brilliant cliffhanger.

Pepe LeFrits

Just finished watching season 4 on DVD. Started slowly but really got good towards the end - apart from the cliffhanger. Seriously, what the **** was that all about?

I HATE double agent twists, they are so cliched and such a weak way to try to shock the audience... especially when it's so blatently obvious that TPTB just decided on the spur of the moment to turn a long standing character on his head, and it makes no sense.

I know what happens in the first episode of season 5, and frankly i'm not sure i'm going to bother with s5. I think I may just go into denial and say that Alias ended with Syd & Vaughan driving off to Santa Barbara and getting married.

Basq

Avoiding PepeLeFrits comment.. am currently working my way through all 5 series of 'Alias'.

As i said in my original post, i watched the excellent first series and am currently nearing the end of the 2nd series. Truly excellent stuff especially the episode

where they take down SD6 / Francie's killed and fake Francie takes her place / Vaughn and Syd hook up.

Have a lot of episodes to go through but not looking forward to it ending.. am enjoying it for now anyways!

d-redser

When is Season 5 starting over here, or has it already started???

ScruffySlayer

it's on bravo in the next few weeks. can't remember exactly when. their website has the exact date.

sweetie

ScruffySlayer wrote:

it's on bravo in the next few weeks. can't remember exactly when. their website has the exact date.

Sunday 26th 10pm. Clashes with Rescue Me.

Elmo

When is Season 5 starting over here, or has it already started???

RTE begins the 4 season on Friday Night on RTE two at about 2am.

I think last weeks episode was the last one of the 3rd Series.

lostexpectation

i've caught most of the third season at 12.15 ish but why so late?

Elmo

Oh don't ask! It is futile.

gazzer

Originally Posted by ScruffySlayer
it's on bravo in the next few weeks. can't remember exactly when. their website has the exact date.


Sunday 26th 10pm. Clashes with Rescue Me.


It starts on Friday 24th March at 9pm and as said earlier also on Sunday 26th.

gazzer

I watched the 100th ep of Alias last night.. thought it was fantastic.. plotwise it was quiet similar to MI:3.

It was pretty cool to see Amy Acker and Gina Torres in a scene together.. they havnt had a scene together since season 4 of Alias.

Just one question though.. i didnt see last weeks episode so im not sure how Sydney knows the truth about Vaughan or did i mishear her when she said to Jack "i hate lying to Will about Vaughan".

Mr E

It is explained by Jack in a couple of episodes (basically:

Vaughan's death was fabricated, and the only ones who knew were Jack and Syd

).