![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gekidasaSo I did indeed watch The Enemy Walks In and Trust Me, the first two episodes of Alias season two, last night. Time and distance made them even more awesome, I think. A single, silent glance from Irina Derevko conveys more than an entire episode of exposition. Lena Olin rocks.
Upon rewatch, some of the shows conceits seemed sillier (why in the world would you yank an agent from a crucial undercover assignment to go traipsing off on a parallel gig with a CIA team? Doesn't the CIA have any other agents they can send?), but at the same time, the shows strengths also popped up even more. And well, much as I love Chuck, I have to say that watching Will get shot up with heroin and subsequently destroy his credibility, career and reputation, all to keep him safe from SD6, on the same week that we saw Morgan happily declare it awesome that his best friend is a spy, with nothing more than 5 minutes of debate on whether he should be sent into witness protection really highlighted how much higher the stakes were on Alias. It's not really a criticism of Chuck, because these shows are completely different in tone and purpose, but it DOES highlight the fact that Alias was willing to do pretty shitty stuff to its characters... and that made the show SO exciting.
Speaking of Will, I used to say that I would have wanted Sydney to have goten together with Will instead of with Vaughn, in part because I always found Vaughn a bit boring and because I loved Will. I still think having Will in her life Sydney grounded and ultimately made her more likeable, but I no longer think this should automatically translate into them being a good couple. It's not just my slash goggles that have been broken, the truth is that I'm no longer into shipping for the sake of shipping, and I've come to appreciate friendships on my fandoms for what they are, without the need to turn them into anything else. In fact, in many cases, the idea of warping said friendships is downright distasteful to me. Anyway, Sydney and WIll have that sort of friendships, and thinking back on it after watching last night I'm thinking htat if I continue on the rewatch it's likely to become one of my favorite things about early Alias, in and of itself, without the need to ship anyone.
But of course, Irina will ALWAYS be my favorite thing about early Alias, and her messy, complicated relationship with Jack.
And Sark, of course. I really need to rewatch more so I can see him again.
Upon rewatch, some of the shows conceits seemed sillier (why in the world would you yank an agent from a crucial undercover assignment to go traipsing off on a parallel gig with a CIA team? Doesn't the CIA have any other agents they can send?), but at the same time, the shows strengths also popped up even more. And well, much as I love Chuck, I have to say that watching Will get shot up with heroin and subsequently destroy his credibility, career and reputation, all to keep him safe from SD6, on the same week that we saw Morgan happily declare it awesome that his best friend is a spy, with nothing more than 5 minutes of debate on whether he should be sent into witness protection really highlighted how much higher the stakes were on Alias. It's not really a criticism of Chuck, because these shows are completely different in tone and purpose, but it DOES highlight the fact that Alias was willing to do pretty shitty stuff to its characters... and that made the show SO exciting.
Speaking of Will, I used to say that I would have wanted Sydney to have goten together with Will instead of with Vaughn, in part because I always found Vaughn a bit boring and because I loved Will. I still think having Will in her life Sydney grounded and ultimately made her more likeable, but I no longer think this should automatically translate into them being a good couple. It's not just my slash goggles that have been broken, the truth is that I'm no longer into shipping for the sake of shipping, and I've come to appreciate friendships on my fandoms for what they are, without the need to turn them into anything else. In fact, in many cases, the idea of warping said friendships is downright distasteful to me. Anyway, Sydney and WIll have that sort of friendships, and thinking back on it after watching last night I'm thinking htat if I continue on the rewatch it's likely to become one of my favorite things about early Alias, in and of itself, without the need to ship anyone.
But of course, Irina will ALWAYS be my favorite thing about early Alias, and her messy, complicated relationship with Jack.
And Sark, of course. I really need to rewatch more so I can see him again.