# Alias - Season 5 - a little help please? *spoilers*



## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

I'm finally getting around to finishing up the final season of Alias, and I'm confused.

At the end of episode 11 there's the big reveal: Vaughn is still alive, and apparently hiding out with monks or something. Then in episode 12, Sydney says something about telling Will that Vaughn is dead, and how it was so hard to lie to him. Did I miss something? When did she find out Vaughn is alive?

Episode 13 is the one where Sloane kills Nadia, and now I'm on episode 14, and Sydney and Jack are talking about Vaughn, and how he's still in recovery and not field-ready... huh? There's been no sign of Vaughn since the glimpse at the end of episode 11. Now everyone knows he's alive and it's no big deal? Did I miss an episode or something??


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

The whole thing was a setup. Everyone (well, Jack and Sydney) always knew Vaughn was alive and in seclusion. The only people who didn't know were the viewers, because of course Vaughn took 20 rounds of automatic weapon fire in the chest. Naturally he's alive!


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

Yeah, just a flesh-wound I guess.

I feel a little cheated. They could have showed a flashback to the cover-up or something.

Oh well. Three episodes to go!


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

etsolow said:


> I feel a little cheated.


You think you feel cheated _now_? Wait until you finish the series. 

If I ever meet J.J. Abrams, I'm going to kick him in the nuts.


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

etsolow said:


> They could have showed a flashback to the cover-up or something.


Well, at least they explained the cover-up a little, in episode 15.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

busyba said:


> You think you feel cheated _now_? Wait until you finish the series.
> 
> If I ever meet J.J. Abrams, I'm going to kick him in the nuts.


Because of Alias, or because of LOST?   :up:


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

busyba said:


> You think you feel cheated _now_? Wait until you finish the series.
> 
> If I ever meet J.J. Abrams, I'm going to kick him in the nuts.


Well, all finished. I don't know if cheated is the right word... underwhelmed, perhaps?


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

bdowell said:


> Because of Alias, or because of LOST?   :up:


I refused to watch even a minute of LOST.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

etsolow said:


> Well, all finished. I don't know if cheated is the right word... underwhelmed, perhaps?


At least you went through the series a little faster than the rest of us did. I came away feeling like I wasted 5 years of my life.


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

busyba said:


> At least you went through the series a little faster than the rest of us did. I came away feeling like I wasted 5 years of my life.


I watched the first four seasons as they aired. I lost interest in the middle of the final season, but finally got around to watching it. I zipped through the whole final season in about a week. It wasn't as bad as I remembered, but it sure wasn't anything like the first couple seasons.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

etsolow said:


> I watched the first four seasons as they aired. I lost interest in the middle of the final season, but finally got around to watching it. I zipped through the whole final season in about a week. It wasn't as bad as I remembered, but it sure wasn't anything like the first couple seasons.


The first couple of seasons were great. When they got to the big red ball in Russia and night of the living zombies, well, that was pretty much the end. The rest was just additional filler to finish up the 5 year run.


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## Mars Rocket (Mar 24, 2000)

I agree - the first two seasons were really good stuff, then it got a little weird and hard to follow, and then it just died and began to stink up the airwaves for the last year at least. I watched it until the end more for closure than because it was enjoyable, just so I would never have to think about it again.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

Mars Rocket said:


> I agree - the first two seasons were really good stuff, then it got a little weird and hard to follow, and then it just died and began to stink up the airwaves for the last year at least. I watched it until the end more for closure than because it was enjoyable, just so I would never have to think about it again.


The last few seasons were enough to cause me to sell off the DVD sets of the earlier seasons I had.  :down:

(Actually the same thing happened with The Sopranos. I'm still watching it, and some episodes have been quite enjoyable, but for the most part things went down hill after the first few seasons.)


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Mars Rocket said:


> I agree - the first two seasons were really good stuff, then it got a little weird and hard to follow, and then it just died and began to stink up the airwaves for the last year at least. I watched it until the end more for closure than because it was enjoyable, just so I would never have to think about it again.


+1

Up until the first "reboot" (mid-second season, when they blew up the the SD cells) the series was very, very good. It had the look and feel of an action flick (blatantly stolen from "Run Lola Run" among others) but still inherited the emphasis on character development and plot from J.J.'s previous series, "Felicity."

The series still survived pretty well intact until the end of the second season. After that point, the hand of ABC was felt throughout the series. They couldn't leave well enough alone. After Jennifer Garner's Q ratings started skyrocketing, that was it... ABC jumped on that and amped up the cheesecake factor and dumbed down the plots until there really was nothing left to watch the series for but what skimpy outfit Jennifer would appear in this week.

If J.J. is at fault, it's for basically abandoning the series, but with ABC meddling so much, I don't even blame him for this one either. From what I heard, he was barely on the set for the entire last season or two. I think I read that J.J. was so busy with Lost and MI:3 that he had no knowledge of the season finale.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

I think LoadStar hit the problems pretty much right on the head. After the Red vs. Black superbowl following episode things went downhill fast.

The original series was very good. Thinking Syd was working for the CIA when she wasn't was cool. Working from the inside to take things down was cool. Ending that whole storyline in one episode to "reboot" was just weak. Then cycling back around to having the same good guys vs. the same bad guys was again weak and pathetic. By the end of the 5th season it was well past time to end thanks to the show having long since lost it's way.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

bdowell said:


> I think LoadStar hit the problems pretty much right on the head. After the Red vs. Black superbowl following episode things went downhill fast.


Alias is one of very few shows that really had a few moments that I wouldn't argue too loudly at people calling them "jump the shark" moments. I'm not sure that the Red vs. Black moment is one, because the show actually did redeem itself to some extent for the remainder of season two... but it comes very close.

The giant Happy Fun Ball over the city in Russia that turned the show into a bad zombie flick is definitely a Jump the Shark candidate, though. After that point - the show, she is done.


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## cyke93 (Jan 29, 2004)

I will have to agree that season 5 was probably the weakest. vaughn, alive, i knew it had to be. it was obvious in some of the flashback scenes where vaughn was in the hospital .. there were a couple of good moments here and there but by the time we saw rimbaldi's end game .. the show was pretty much over.. i guess it was good that the mom came back to finish the run of the series and the tip toe dance that sloane did between good and evil was finalized.

in the end, i thought season 4 was pretty bad, until the 2nd half where they really kicked things up a notch. 

in the end, the show still held my attention until the very end. i was sad to seeit go but at the same time, it was time.


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

bdowell said:


> Because of Alias, or because of LOST?   :up:


Because of Star Trek.


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## NoThru22 (May 6, 2005)

I remember there being a debate whether Vaughn was still alive because Sidney would only ever say he was "gone." I was on the dead side.

I think this show was excellent through the end of season 2. It wasn't defeating SD6 that killed this show, it was JJ leaving.


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## bqmeister (May 13, 2006)

I never did see the series finale. I gave up on alias after 5 or so episodes of Season 5.

I don't regret missing the ending.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

etsolow said:


> Well, at least they explained the cover-up a little, in episode 15.


Is that the one where they showed Sydney going to retrieve him from the Himalayas? And, IIRC, Anna Espinoza attacks her along the way?


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

I'm not sure if that's the same episode anymore. They all kind of ran together. Vaughn explained it in a conversation with... someone... I forget who now.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

etsolow said:


> I'm not sure if that's the same episode anymore. They all kind of ran together. Vaughn explained it in a conversation with... someone... I forget who now.


No, it wasn't a conversation. There was an ep where Sydney went to Nepal and reunited with Vaughn for the first time after everyone thought he was dead. From your comments before, it sounded like you didn't see this episode.


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

> No, it wasn't a conversation. There was an ep where Sydney went to Nepal and reunited with Vaughn for the first time after everyone thought he was dead.


No, I saw that one. That was apparently the first time they had seen each other since he went into hiding, but it wasn't when she found out he was alive, as she clearly knew all along. The conversation I'm referring to was when Vaughn explained that they used sodium something-or-other to mimic death, he spent four hours in a morgue locker, etc.


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

bdowell said:


> I think LoadStar hit the problems pretty much right on the head. After the Red vs. Black superbowl following episode things went downhill fast.
> 
> The original series was very good. Thinking Syd was working for the CIA when she wasn't was cool. Working from the inside to take things down was cool. Ending that whole storyline in one episode to "reboot" was just weak. Then cycling back around to having the same good guys vs. the same bad guys was again weak and pathetic. By the end of the 5th season it was well past time to end thanks to the show having long since lost it's way.


That moment when SD-6 was in shambles and Sid & Vaughan cross to each other and come together for the first time in front of everyone was wonderful. Unfortunately, the moment also ended all the dramatic and romantic tension on the show.

It all went downhill from there.

I'm enjoying all the Alias cast members on Brothers & Sisters, though


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