Michael's Weblog

Due to the fact that people watching the show couldn't follow it, the show was 'dumbed down' in about 10 seconds after the Super Bowl in the middle of season 2. They took out SD-6 (and the whole alliance for that matter) in the blink of an eye. This allowed the viewer to clearly see who was supposed to be good and bad in the show. This started the downfall of Alias. Thirty-four episodes of build up on SD-6 was squashed in the last minute of an episode. The story starts over. People should be able to follow it now. Problem is JJ Abrams still has a master-crazy-plan to keep you wondering what's going on. Which is good for the core fan base.

Jump to season 4, the current one. I read somewhere that they were trying to make episodes more self-contained, at least in the beginning of the season. This would get new viewers staying on ABC after Lost interested and make it easier to follow. Which defies everything that is so good about Alias. It's the overall storyline that keeps it interesting. Shows seems to be much more contained now. Something happens in the beginning and all loose ends are tied up in the end. For the most part. Problem is that there is an overall storyline. This prevents episodes from being truly self contained. Hence, it is more dumbed-down..and the 'once in a blue moon' watchers still don't get what's going on. I think they brought new player's like Nadia into the plot line to give the writers the ability to help the newcomers understand what they've missed. They can explain, for example, who Anna Espinosa is. It's just not enough though to explain three years of relevant material.

Has Abrams Lost his passion for Alias? Perhaps. He had a vision in his head for the whole series before he filmed the first episode. I think that ABC keeps pushing him away from what he wanted to make Alias, into something that will get viewers.

I feel that Lost is where Alias was in season one. The good thing is that they started off with a much larger fan base. People must have thought it was another reality show about people stranded on an island, so they watched it. Lost has got an extremely well strategized plot. Something that Abrams seems to be really good at. There is a huge matrix of interconnectivity between the characters themselves and the happenings of the island. The show is also still very mysterious. Not a single viewer really knows what's going on. Lost is probably a good water cooler topic. I don't see anyone on a regular basis that watches it..so I wouldn't know.

They are currently plaguing Lost with the repeat syndrome that has hit Alias for the last couple seasons. ABC was nice enough to delay the start of Alias this year and show the whole season repeat free. There have been a couple of weeks off due to major events (although I would have much rather watched Alias than Bush's clamoring), but so far they have been pretty good about it. The big problem is that Alias is now following a lot of repeats which will keep the number of viewers down.

So in conclusion. Alias was a great show. Now it's just good. I'm not sure how much longer it will be around. Lost is currently great. Let's hope they can keep it that way.

I think I am tired of writing now. You should be tired of reading.