The Safe House - Expositions

At its best, television does two things better than the movies: long-form storytelling and character development. This should come naturally -- you can do a lot more with a story over two dozen episodes than you can in two hours -- but too often, it doesn't happen.

But the success of the new James Bond movie, Die Another Day, offers an opportunity to look at two series -- 24 and Alias -- that, like Bond, are based in spy fiction but are doing a much better job at storytelling.

I liked Die Another Day, which pretty much tosses the plot aside and focuses on action (the car chase across a frozen area of Iceland was ridiculous, but cool). But increasingly, Bond movies give me a feeling of deja vu. The stories may have changed to suit the times, but they're still pretty much the same, and perhaps we want it that way: 007 takes on a megalomaniacal villain, meets a good woman who might be bad and a bad woman who might be good, and eventually saves the world.

Sprinkle in some action sequences, relatively demure sex scenes, smirking double-entendres and a few gadgets, and all that matters after that is execution. Different actors aside, Bond himself has changed only subtly and minimally through the years. He's still the world's most suave and dangerous arrested adolescent.

Alias and 24 might never reach the Bond series' level of cachet, but they offer more surprise and more depth. This season's 24 has been especially good, topping last year's stellar debut season by including, in every episode, some jarring piece of action or plot development. And it has allowed Kiefer Sutherland to grow as an actor, as his Jack Bauer -- still grieving from the death of his wife at last season's end -- goes deep undercover to foil a plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles.

Counter-terrorist agent Jack has been pretty deadly himself this year. But his conflicts about the violence are written all over Sutherland's face, as is Jack's love for his daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) -- who, as in the first season, has problems of her own.

Father-daughter relations also play into ABC's spy drama Alias, which tells a tale so convoluted that every episode begins with a reiteration of the back story. Essentially, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is a double agent working for the CIA and against SD-6, a mysterious agency working against the United States. Sydney's father (Victor Garber) is also a spy, and the two spent much of the first season working toward repairing their strained relationship.

This season brought us Sydney's long-lost mom, Irina (Lena Olin), who is also a spy, with considerably murky motives. Irina began this season by shooting Sydney in the shoulder, but since has surrendered herself to CIA authorities, insisting that she'll cooperate only with Sydney. Alias sprawls all over the world, and Sydney's missions allow the comely Garner to wear all manner of disguises and revealing costumes. But Sydney can take care of herself, and her troubled relationships -- and increasing attraction to her boss, Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) -- give Garner a chance to shine, showing off the young agent's confusion and angst.

Alias has a cult following and lots of critical support, but it has yet to score a big hit in the ratings. And 24 has been slipping in the ratings after a strong start. Both series do require a firm commitment on viewers' part. It's likely that neither would have existed without the James Bond series, and Bond's influence shows on both in one way or another. But we've come to the point where we go to Bond movies for the familiarity; 24 and Alias offer the unfamiliar and the challenging. They make up that rare thing: escapism that still engages your brain.

Thanks to vaughnetc.!

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