One day JJ Abrams was sitting around on the set of Felicity when he came up with an idea; what if Felicity was recruited by the CIA? Later, when writing the pilot for the show, he thought of Jennifer Garner who played Noel's girlfriend Hannah on a handful of episodes on Felicity. The result is a kickass show that has viewers completely hooked.
Sydney Bristow is a 20-something college student...and a spy. She works for SD-6, a covert branch of the CIA, protecting America from terrorist organizations. When her boyfriend proposes to her, Sydney tells him she's a spy. He calls and leaves a message on her answering machine and tips off SD-6 that she has told him she's a spy. Returning from a mission, Sydney discovers his body and finds out that his death was ordered by her boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin). Her finance's death makes Sydney question her loyalty to the organization. When she finds her estranged father is a top-level member of SD-6, and that SD-6 is working against the interests of the United States, she heads to the CIA headquarters and becomes a double-agent.
This is one show I'll never miss. The pilot episode sucked me in with the combination of stylish sets, cool clothes, awesome music, and a great plot. It's no surprise that Jennifer Garner has become a hot item in Hollywood.
Video
Wow, this looks great! Alias is one of a new breed of shows that have two aspect ratios; 1.33:1 and 1.78:1. These DVDs contain an anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) transfer which is a treat for me because I don't have an HD feed for ABC. The transfer is a thing of beauty; the only problems are a couple of specs of dust (a couple specs total in the first season), a bit of grain and slightly poor looking stock footage used in a few episodes. I'm tempted to stop watching the show when it airs on TV and just wait for the DVDs.
Audio
Alias: Season One features a rockin' Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Music, sound effects and dialog sound great on this set. The ambient effects are subtle, but well-placed in the sound field. When the action kicks up into high gear and the tunes come on the sub gets a very nice workout. Everything about the sound on this set is great. Also included is a Spanish Dolby Surround track, and English subtitles as well as closed captioning.
Commentary on "Truth Be Told" by Jennifer Garner & JJ Abrams
Awesome! These two are obviously very close friends and they're able to talk nonstop through the entire episode. I was very impressed with the bits of trivia that they give, but I loved that they mentioned Garner's stunt double by name. Stunt people are often overlooked so it was nice to hear her name mentioned repeatedly. Out of all the commentary tracks I've listened to in the last week, this was tops on the list. An interesting fact from the commentary track: a bunch of the show was shot on the set of Felicity.
Commentary on "So it Begins"
Michael Bonvillain, Sarah Caplan and Ken Olin deliver a commentary track that has the same vibe as the Abrams/Garner track. These are obviously people that work well together, and are probably friends off the set. There are a lot of trivia bits revealed, and a bunch of back-patting as well. Very entertaining.
Commentary on "Q & A"
John Eisendrath, Alex Kurtzman-Counter and Roberto Orci (all executive producers) provide the commentary on this episode. This was a recap episode that had to be made to save the budget (they went over a little bit). These gentlemen explain a lot of the inner-workings of the show and some of the backstory. If you haven't seen season 2 do not listen to this commentary; it contains spoilers for the second season.
Commentary on "Almost Thirty Years"
This is the actor track featuring Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan, Victor Garber, Bradley Cooper, Carl Lumbly, Ron Rifkin, Merrin Dungey and Kevin Weisman. 7 actors in a room (6 after Garber leaves) talking about the show quickly becomes chaotic. Garner tries to reign them in, but they corrupt her. Sometimes there are 4 or 5 people talking and laughing simultaneously. I think the track would have worked better dividing the group in two and adding a couple of production people. This track contains some minor season 2 spoilers.
Alias Pilot Production Diary (18:54)
JJ Abrams narrates this behind-the-scenes footage, providing commentary on many scenes from the pilot. A really great featurette that contains a ton of never-before-seen footage.
Inside Stunts (10:29)
A nice look at the stunts performed in the first season. Jennifer Garner did most of her own stunts, but a double was used when it was deemed too dangerous for her.
Deleted Scenes (9:49)
6 deleted scenes, all in anamorphic widescreen.
Gag Reel (2:48)
This is great, but too short. They had me giggling along.
Alias TV Spots (2:21)
TV spots for "Truth be Told," "Reckoning," "The Confession," "Rendezvous" and "Almost 30 Years."
Alias Video Game Preview (1:24)
Sydney and the gang are coming to video game consoles. Check out this trailer for the new Alias video game.
Season Two Sneak Peak (1:39)
If you thought season one was good, just wait until season two hits DVD this December. You won't believe what happens! If you haven't season 2, don't watch this.
ScriptScanner
I don't have a PC, so I can't use this DVD-ROM feature. I'm assuming it allows you to browse the scripts.
Credits
Who worked on this DVD? Find out in this section.
Summary
Alias is one of my favorite shows currently on the air. Buena Vista Home Entertainment has put together a wonderful set for the first season. If you enjoy awesome action, beautiful women, trendy clothes, and great writing, you'll love this set. Our friend David Naylor of The Naylor Group did a fine job on the extras for this set, and combined with the great audio and video, this is a DVD set to own.
With all the sets being released on September 2nd, be assured that you can't go wrong by picking this one up; it's an excellent set.
