tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730608556280912177.post695112637108331034..comments2023-11-16T00:14:27.155-08:00Comments on Unwelcome Commentary: Alias: Prophet Five (5.1)maxpower03http://www.blogger.com/profile/11951553958753040457noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730608556280912177.post-66227372972794001742014-07-17T15:40:59.859-07:002014-07-17T15:40:59.859-07:00Again, fantastic comments, Lamounier. It's als...Again, fantastic comments, Lamounier. It's also great to hear the perspective of somebody more involved in Alias fandom at the time, especially since TWoP took down their forums recently so that whole fanbase history has been wiped. Thank you!maxpower03https://www.blogger.com/profile/11951553958753040457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730608556280912177.post-812027654697195722014-07-10T12:20:00.017-07:002014-07-10T12:20:00.017-07:00The first time I watched this episode I didn’t kno...The first time I watched this episode I didn’t know Vartan was leaving the show. I was soooooo shocked when Vaughn got shot a gazillion times. My sister and I were looking at the screen in complete disbelief and I actually said out loud “they really killed him”. So when the show returned from the break and Vaughn was at the hospital still alive I rolled my eyes so hard. He should’ve been dead and decomposing already. You described it perfectly, max. It was like every Lifetime movie death ever.<br /><br />I think the writers wanted to have it both ways: they wanted a moment to shock the audience and an emotional death scene in which they could leave Vaughn’s death open to interpretation (did he really die or was it just a fake out?). But, really, if they wanted to leave us wondering if Vaughn was dead or not, the million bullets were not the way to go. Even though that moment is not as visually dumb as Sidney being chased by a toy helicopter, as far as writing goes it’s the hardest to swallow. I know I have written two paragraphs about it, but it’s a bit that bothers me a lot.<br /><br />Moving on, Prophet Five intrigued me from the get go. I loved the conspiracy flavor surrounding it, how it seemed so big yet so vague, how it was related to Rambaldi but from a different approach. I read on the web that the writers couldn’t use the name “Rambaldi” on the scripts (have no idea why, though; maybe the suits were tired of Rambaldi too), but the fact that the story had Rambaldi all over it with no direct mention to him made it that more intriguing.<br /><br />It’s funny because Rambaldi is not the only element from the past to resurface. Here we have Sydney losing her fiancé for the second time. There was even a joke online that Syd should never get engaged again. But even with the show repeating elements, it feels emotionally engaging again. Sydney learning she’s pregnant and losing Vaughn after it creates an emotional element that the show’s been missing for a long time. There was no character development for Sydney on season four (apart from her relationship with Sloane), and the treatment she got on season three was boring to watch (crying all the time and unable to move on). Season five finally nails a good story for her, though it’s somewhat weird the components of that story are made of external factors (Garner’s pregnancy and Vartan’s departure from the series).<br /><br />So where season four failed, season five delivers, but the inverse can be said as well. While “Authorized Personal Only” kicked last season with a lot of energy, “Prophet Five” feels tired, as if ALIAS was entering its eight season and ready to go. It’s unfortunate that suddenly the show seems old, but I can only assume that’s due to several changes behind the cameras, too much network interference and the absence of the show’s creator, who completely dumped the series to go shoot a big fancy movie. Man, how I resent J. J. Abrams for that. Considering all that was up against the show, I’m pretty forgiving of the story’s missteps on the first half of the season.Lamounierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00225447169375363236noreply@blogger.com