Alias (TV series): Difference between revisions

'''''Alias''''' is a [[Cliché Storm]]/[[Troperiffic]] [[Spy Drama]] (2001-2006) by [[J.J. Abrams]] about Sydney Bristow ([[Jennifer Garner]]), an agent for SD-6, black-ops division of the CIA, who discovers that, whoops, it wasn't a black-ops division of the CIA so much as a faction of a powerful [[Western Terrorists|terrorist group]] called The Alliance; so she becomes a [[Reverse Mole|double agent]]. She then discovers her father, a supposed salesman, is also a double agent for the CIA. Sydney then has to divide her loyalties between a team of good men at SD-6 who simply don't know their boss is the devil, and a team of mostly good men and a few pricks at the real CIA.

Pretty much a show full of [[Trope Workshop:Impossible Mission]] episodes, with a twist -- Sydney must perform her mission for the CIA, while appearing to be performing her mission for SD-6. There's also a large element of soap opera though, as she learns all kinds of secrets about her parents and their [[Mysterious Past]].

Unusual for its willingness to embrace a fanciful [[Story Arc]] about a centuries-old prophecy. The first four seasons all featured a subtle, never explained [[Myth Arc]] about an [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|Italian inventor with a penchant for odd drawings and fanciful words]]. Somehow, this 15th century prophet is still relevant today. His designs have been implemented and his writings dissected. And apparently the global intelligence community has nothing better to do than go to war over every piece of technology he might have even glanced at.

Also notable for the fact that the show was [[Retool|ReTooled]] three separate times. Each time, character relationships and roles changed in fundamental ways.

* [[Action Girl]]: Mainly Sydney, but also Irina, Lauren, Nadia, Rachel, Anna Espinosa and Allison Dorren.

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Averted. The suave international terrorist Sark clearly has eyes for Sydney, but she'll have none of it.

* [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]]: {{spoiler|In the series finale Sloane is shot and killed by Sydney. Luckily, his body fell into a vat of special Rambaldi liquid that healed his wounds and brought him back to life}}.

** Bigger problem though. {{spoiler|He was stuck under a collapsed pillar when Jack blew himself up}}.

* [[Badass Family]]: Almost. The characters are related somehow, and sometimes they even go on missions together. It's dangerous enough to mess with Sydney, but if you mess with Sydney ''and'' Jack at the same time, you're just asking for trouble. Also, the two-part episode in Season 2, "Passage", where {{spoiler|Irina goes undercover with Jack and Sydney to India as a family of tourists to recover six stolen nuclear warheads}}, is a badass family vacation if there ever was one.

* [[Dueling Hackers]]: Marshall (the resident Omnidisciplinary Nerd) was in a hacking duel at least once, as someone tried to break into [[SD 6]]'s system.

* [[Faking the Dead]]: Nearly every character does this at least twice.

* [[The Generic Guy]]: Rachel Gibson and Thomas Grace were two characters added in the fifth season to fill in while Jennifer Garner was pregnant (which meant she wasn't up to full Action Girl speed). They were both fine and action-y, but neither one was equal to Sydney.

* [[I Have Come Too Far]]

* [[Trope Workshop:Impossible Mission]] {{context}}

* [[Instant Sedation]]: Happens a ''lot''.

* [[Jigsaw Puzzle Plot]]: The show juggles with its Rambaldi devices, ancient conspiracies, modern spy dramas, and family problems. There's an overarching [[Myth Arc]], but by the fifth season, there are too many pieces and they don't all fit it in the same puzzle.

** Except for {{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All|a large number]] in the last season - Jack, Irina, Thomas, Nadia, and Sloane all bite the big one}}.

* [[Martial Arts Do Not Work That Way]]: Mostly seen with the female characters, who occasionally use high-flying kicks, backflips and the like. The male characters' fighting styles are generally less flamboyant.

* [[MotifsMotif]]: A number of them, running throughout the series.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: [[Quentin Tarantino]], visibly enjoying himself as McKenas Cole. In Season 1, he's more of a Two Episode Wonder, but when he pops up again in Season 3, he fits the trope perfectly.

* [[Retool]]: The show was [[Retool]]ed several times. By nature, of course, this contains several spoilers.

** In Season 3, {{spoiler|after Sydney's 2-year memory hole, faked death, etc}}, Sydney finds that Vaughn is {{spoiler|married}}, her dad {{spoiler|is in jail}}, Dixon {{spoiler|is the director of the LA office of the CIA}}, Sloane is {{spoiler|living in Europe as a philanthropist,}} and other things.

* [[Something They Would Never Say|Something They Would Never Do]]: This how Sydney knows that {{spoiler|Francie}} is an imposter. Sydney offers her some coffee ice cream, something the real {{spoiler|Francie}} hated, and she accepts.

* [[Spot the Imposter]]: Via [[Cloning Blues|Project Helix]].

** Except Jack, who allegedly manufactured airplane parts for Jennings Aerospace.

* [[The Teaser]]: At times long enough to have their own commercial breaks.

* [[Terrorists Without a Cause]]: Sark routinely changes his alliances, and his true allegiance seems to be only to himself.

** "Well, for starters, my name's not {{spoiler|Michael Vaughn}}."

[[Category:Turn of the Millennium/Live Action TV{{PAGENAME}}]]