It signaled the beginning of the end for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and now J.J. Abrams has pulled the writer's last-ditch trick out of his hat for Alias. Sydney Bristow is about to meet the sister she never knew she had:
Mia Maestro is set to join the cast of ABC's "Alias," playing the sister of Jennifer Garner's character. She will appear in the last three episodes of the spy drama this season and is expected to return as a regular next season, the show's fourth. Her credits include the features "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "Frida" and HBO's "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story."
Jump the shark indeed. While Abrams and his staff of able writers have kept viewers' disbelief adequately suspended in the most ridiculous and far-fetched of plots and twists for two-and-a-half seasons, this unfortunate development bodes ill for the future of one of prime time TV's best shows.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
I don't know. This show started crazy and has gotten crazier but *now* you think it'll jump the shark? We're talking about a show in which... well, I was about to list some of the crazy freaking nonsense we've swallowed heretofore, but I realized that would take a long, long time indeed.
In just the most recent episode, we learn that a character that we only recently learned is a secret "bad guy" is bad enough to kill her father, and that her mother is (surprise!) in on the whole thing. Of course, the death of a relative is enough for the CIA to move her from the "To be executed" column to the "Go ahead and trust her with all our secrets" column immediately. Um, yeah.
Besides, Buffy's sister Dawn was created out of thin air, while Sidney has had long-lost unknown relatives pop out of her past before.
2 - Nyx
Please, Buffy got better when Dawn came along. Season 4 was the worst one.
3 - Chris Puzak
There was explanation for Dawn, although it wasn't revealed for a few episodes after she was introduced. Technically, she's not even Buffy's sister.
4 - Scott Pepper
Adding Lena Olin as Sydney's mom was a natural climax to the first season as hints had been planted all along that she was still alive. Likewise, the recent revelation that Sloan, not Jack, *might* be Syd's father comes as no suprise. There have been *no* prior hints that either Jack or Irina have any other kids.
As for Buffy, the show hit its peak in seasons 2 and 3, with infrequent moments of brillance thereafter (Once More With Feeling, Tabula Rasa, etc.). Adding Dawn was a shameless bid to get a younger cast member in and a potential spin-off that didn't pan out.
5 - Phillip Winn
Scott, put a couple of sentences in your comment (#4) together. If Sloane is Sydney's father, then why would either Irina or Jack need to have any other kids for Sydney to have a sister?
Still, Sloane's sudden revelation is simply a relatively-last-minute build-up to something coming soon, and there are a few episodes left to build up to the sister thing, even if it isn't related to the Sloane angle.
In the meantime, I've tracked back to a post I just wrote up, detailing just the first season of Alias.
Give it time, see what happens.
6 - Phillip Winn
Oh, what the heck, I posted the same thing here, too.
7 - Scott Pepper
Phillip-
I don't buy into the whole Sloane as Syd's father thing. Way too obvious, and the relationship between Syd and Jack has been built up far too much for the writers to undercut it with such a stunt. Of course, the whole Lauren as a double agent plot was obvious and they went with it anyway, so who knows?
My main aversion to the addition of a new character is that the series has always been at its best when focusing on the relationships of the four principles (Syd, Vaugn, Jack, & Sloan). Time spent with guest stars and the supporting characters (with the notable exception of Greg Grunberg) is generally less interesting.
Season Three, while still good, has not managed to live up to the double-agent intensity of Season One or the Syd-Jack-Irina drama of Season Two.
And, despite the impression I may have given above, Alias is still one of my two favorite shows (The Practice being the other).
8 - Natalie Davis
Sloane: (gaspy whoosh) I am your fah-tha, Syd. (gaspy whoosh)
Shark jumped.