The Safe House - Expositions

But first, questions about a far more disturbing tease: the 2002 Emmy Awards. Does anyone know what happened between this year's nominations and the actual awards? Were the voters suddenly replaced with crack-smoking monkeys in some sick plot orchestrated by NBC? Inquiring Alias and Six Feet Under fans want to know!

For those of you who missed the kudocast, there were many surprises, including a few pleasant ones, like wins--at last--for Friends, Jennifer Aniston and Ray Romano. But there was also disappointment for snubbed freshman series like 24, Alias and Six Feet Under. And the biggest upset of the night: Allison Janney's win over Alias' Jennifer Garner for Best Lead Actress. Nearly every prognosticator had pegged Jennifer as the sure thing of the night--including costars Bradley Cooper and Michael Vartan.

"I thought it was going to be Jennifer," said Bradley, (Alias' Will Tippin) at HBO's post-Emmys party. "I mean, I was shocked. When it happened, Michael and I called each other, and we were like, 'Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me that she didn't win?' I was just speechless."

"Allison Janney, bless her soul, is a fantastic actress," added Vartan, who plays CIA agent Michael Vaughn. "But Jennifer should have won. And I'm not trying to be politically correct, but Sydney Bristow is the greatest female role on television right now."

That said, there certainly is a big shiny silver lining: TV's most inspiring heroine returns this Sunday night with all-new episodes on ABC. And although it may sound impossible, most critics who've seen the premiere episode say Alias has gotten even better. The season-opener blows you away--especially the addition of Lena Olin, who should be a shoo-in for next year's Emmys.

So, what else can you expect this season? Vaughn has a very serious, life-threatening issue to deal with (and you thought that exploding ball of energy was trouble), there's more whoop-ass action for Will (hurrah!), and Sydney gets a love interest.

Also, David Anders, who plays Sark, becomes a series regular, which leads my overactive Alias-aholic imagination to believe he's either a love interest or another long-lost family member. "I have no idea," Bradley said of that speculation. "But I'm going with the family member. I think that'd be weird to have him as a love interest. And you know," he added with a smile, "I would be jealous. I'll admit I would not be happy."

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