Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006. It starred Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a CIA agent.
The main theme of the series explores Sydney's obligation to conceal her true career from her friends and family, even as she assumes multiple aliases to carry out her missions. These themes are most prevalent in the first two seasons of the show. A major plotline of the series was the search for and recovery of artifacts created by Milo Rambaldi, a character who was a Leonardo da Vinci-like inventor and Nostradamus-like prophet from the Renaissance period. This plot and some technologies used in the series pushed Alias into the genre of science fiction.
Main characters
Main article: List of Alias characters
- Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow
- Victor Garber as Jack Bristow
- Ron Rifkin as Arvin Sloane
- Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn
- Bradley Cooper as Will Tippin
- Merrin Dungey as Francie Calfo/Allison Doren
- Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon
- Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman
- Greg Grunberg as Eric Weiss
- Lena Olin as Irina Derevko
- David Anders as Julian Sark
- Melissa George as Lauren Reed
- Mía Maestro as Nadia Santos
- Rachel Nichols as Rachel Gibson
- Élodie Bouchez as Renée Rienne
- Balthazar Getty as Thomas Grace
- Amy Acker as Kelly Peyton
Production and crew
Produced by Touchstone Television and Bad Robot Productions, film production primarily took place in the greater Los Angeles area. Studio shooting primarily took place at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, along with some outdoor shots near some of the studio's famous buildings (such as the original Animation Building or the ABC building, which appeared as a building in Hong Kong in the season 1 episode "The Coup"). Despite its worldwide locales, only one episode was ever filmed outside the Los Angeles region (Las Vegas, Nevada).
- J. J. Abrams—Executive Producer
- John Eisendrath—Executive Producer (Season 1–3)
- Alex Kurtzman—Executive Producer (Season 2–3)
- Roberto Orci—Executive Producer (Season 2–3)
- Jeff Pinkner—Executive Producer (Season 5)
- Jesse Alexander—Executive Producer (Season 5)
- Ken Olin—Executive Producer (and director)
- Michael Giacchino—Composer
- Michael Haro—Coordinating Producer
Guest appearances
Alias included a number of celebrities who appeared as special guest stars on the show. Some had semi recurring roles, like Isabella Rossellini, while others were in one or two episodes. In both cases, the stars served as important plot line characters. Some of the most notable guests include: David Cronenberg as Dr. Brezzel, Ethan Hawke as James Lennox, Christian Slater as Neil Caplan, Isabella Rossellini as Katya Derevko, Quentin Tarantino as McKenas Cole, Djimon Hounsou as Kazari Bomani, Peggy Lipton as Olivia Reed, Raymond J. Barry as Senator George Reed, Amy Irving as Emily Sloane, Ricky Gervais as Daniel Ryan, Peter Berg as Noah Hicks, Patricia Wettig as CIA psycho-therapist Dr. Judy Barnett, David Carradine as Conrad, Faye Dunaway as Ariana Kane, Sir Roger Moore as Edward Poole, Rutger Hauer as Anthony Geiger, Gina Torres as Anna Espinosa, Sonia Braga as Elena Derevko, Vivica A. Fox as Toni Cummings, Angela Bassett as CIA Director Hayden Chase, Terry O'Quinn as FBI Director Kendall, John Hannah as Martin Shepard, Richard Lewis as Counter Intelligence Analyst Mitchell Yaeger, Jason Segel as Sam Hauser, Griffin Dunne as Leonid Lisenker and Richard Roundtree as Thomas Brill.
Plot
Season One: 2001 - 2002
Main article: Alias episodes (season 1)Seven years before season 1, Sydney Bristow was an undergraduate student of English literature when she was approached with a job offer by someone claiming to work for SD-6, which was supposedly part of the Central Intelligence Agency. She accepted the offer, and quickly became a field agent. In the pilot, she tells her fiancé Danny that she is a spy. As a result of revealing SD-6's existence to an outsider, her fiancé is murdered by SD-6.
It is then that Sydney is told by her father Jack Bristow (another SD-6 agent) that SD-6 is not part of the CIA; instead, it is part of the Alliance of Twelve, an organization that is an enemy to the United States. Sydney decides to offer her services to the real CIA as a double agent. Her offer is soon accepted, and she begins the long and arduous task of destroying SD-6 from the inside. She quickly learns that her father is also a double agent for the CIA.
Major plotlines from season 1 include Sydney hiding her triple-identity from her friends, both in her personal life and in her SD-6 job, Will Tippin's investigation into Danny's death, and the past antics of Sydney's mother. Sub-plots included Sydney's friendship with Francie, Francie's romantic relationship with Charlie, and Sydney's developing relationship with her CIA handler Michael Vaughn, of whom she is skeptical at first but grows to trust as her life becomes increasingly stressful. Season One focuses on the development of Sydney's character, and allows the audience to become familiar with her. The other seasons share the feature of having a guest star who appears throughout the entire season.
Season Two: 2002 - 2003
Main article: Alias episodes (season 2)The second season begins with the introduction of Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother, who soon becomes a vital part of the series. Midway through the second season, the series underwent a "reboot" of sorts with Sydney successfully destroying SD-6 (after gathering valuable intelligence for tactical strikes from an airborne SD-6 server) and becoming a regular agent for the CIA, still in pursuit of former SD-6 leader Arvin Sloane, his associate Julian Sark, and the Rambaldi artifacts. Sydney's friends at SD-6, Marcus Dixon and Marshall Flinkman, are finally made aware of her dual identity and recruited into the CIA. Sydney also begins a romantic relationship with Vaughn, now that their relationship will not endanger them.
In the second half of the season, it is revealed that Francie Calfo, Sydney's best friend, was murdered and replaced by Allison Doren, a woman who was transfigured to look exactly like her. Allison was then in a position to spy on Sydney and Will. The end of the season saw Will possibly murdered and Sydney killing Allison and then falling unconscious. Sydney awakens two years later in Hong Kong, unable to remember the two years that have passed. She soon learns that her friends and the CIA believed her to be dead, and Vaughn found a new love and is now married.
Season Three: 2003 - 2004
Main article: Alias episodes (season 3)The third season takes place two years after the events of season 2, with Sydney having been missing and presumed dead. DNA evidence in a badly burned body confirmed her death to her family and friends.
The truth, however, is that Sydney was kidnapped by a terrorist organization called The Covenant, who tried to brainwash her into believing she was an assassin named Julia Thorne. Eventually Sydney voluntarily had her memories of the two years erased in an attempt to forget some of the deeds she was forced to undertake as Julia and to ensure that one of Rambaldi's most dangerous artifacts would never be found.
As Sydney recovers, she begins investigating her absence while reintegrating into the CIA. There she deals with the facts that Arvin Sloane had become a world-renowned humanitarian after being pardoned, and that Michael Vaughn had married NSC agent Lauren Reed. Reed is later revealed to be a member of the Covenant and a lover of Julian Sark. The National Security Council plays a role as a government organization that holds massive unsupervised power, with a Guantanamo-like detention facility, considerable influence over the CIA, and driven by questionable motives. Sydney later discovers that her mother and Arvin Sloane had a child together, the result of an affair between the two years earlier. She locates her half-sister, Nadia, and rescues her from being killed by the Covenant.
At the end of the season, Sydney goes on a mission and encounters Lauren. After they battle, Lauren begins to taunt Sydney by saying she has information about her past. When Vaughn shows up, Sydney goes to him, leaving Lauren a chance to attack again. Vaughn shoots Lauren, and she dies, but before she does she gives Sydney the number of a security deposit box where she can find information about her past.
Season Four: 2005
Main article: Alias episodes (season 4)Season 4 begins where season three ended with Sydney uncovering a shocking, classified document called "S.A.B. 47 Project." It is explained that the document authorizes Jack Bristow to execute Sydney's mother, who had mysteriously placed a contract on Sydney's life (this was apparently something of a retcon to cover for actress Lena Olin's presumed not returning to the series, as the first page refers to Sydney as the "active" subject of a "project" that began 17 April, 1975, a possible reference to Project Christmas, and also setting up Jack as either the real head of, or somehow involved with, the Covenant and/or being a de
Alias (New Season) - Movie-List Forum
I saw the season premiere of Alias and I gotta say I was dissapointed. It seems they threw away everything that happened in hte past seasons and everything is new.
Amazon.com: Alias - The Complete Third Season: Jennifer Garner, Ron ...
... have been on the fence about buying the DVD for Alias, don't...if you watch the show from season 1 through season 3 you will be as excited and desperate to see season 4 premiere in ...
Alias episodes (season 1) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alias episodes (season 1) ... French: Jeux dangereux, première partie (Dangerous games, part 1) Italian: La ...
HNR Forums - The Hollywood North Report Message Boards > Alias Season ...
This is a reminder for the fans of the show Alias. The season premiere will be on Wednesday January 5th at 9PM on ABC. It's going to be a 2 Hour Premiere featuring two episodes ...
Alias Season 4 Finale- Post When You See It - CB Movie Discussion ...
Alias Season 4 Premiere Date: 01/05/2005 Airs: Wednesdays 9:00 PM (ABC) Cast: Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow Victor Garber as Jack Bristow Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn
Eye-Opener: Memo: Alias Season Premiere
Alias Season Premiere. Okay, so after a semester of waiting, a two hour Alias was premiered yesterday. The beginning credits changed, which focused more on Sydney, the leading star ...
Alias (New Season) [Archive] - Movie-List Forum
I saw the season premiere of Alias and I gotta say I was dissapointed. It seems they threw away everything that happened in hte past seasons and everything is new.
Alias- Season 5 Discussion - CB Movie Discussion Forum & Message Board
ALIAS Season 5 Premiere Date: 09/29/2005 Airs: Thursdays 8:00 PM (ABC) Cast: Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, Michael Vartan, Ron Rifkin, Rachel Nichols, Balthazar Getty, Elodie Bouchez ...
When is the Alias season premiere? - Q&A
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Synopsis of Alias: Season 01
Synopsis: Viewers who tuned into the premiere episode of ABC's espionage series Alias did so already knowing the basic premise: Heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) lived a ...