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TV Guide Online
December 16, 2002
Dispatches
by Matt Roush
It's going to be a long three weeks waiting for the return of ABC's Alias after the thrilling cliffhanger delivered Sunday night (Dec. 15). Fans had been clamoring for some time (in e-mails to me, anyway) for the show to return to its riveting first-season format that left us gasping at the end of each episode, as a character (usually Sydney) found herself in a dire situation of peril worthy of those old-time silent movie serials.
This time, the person in danger was SD-6's endearingly bumbling comic-relief computer nerd Marshall (Kevin Weisman), sent on his first field mission to London alongside Syd (Jennifer Garner). Watching him try to contain his enthusiasm, and fear, was great fun: "This is so cool," he said as he strutted in his undercover tux. And big laughs when he blurted out gibberish in Ewok language to baffle the guards who shot him with a tranquilizer gun, nearly imperiling the mission — until Sydney revived (or is that aroused) him with a kiss.
But the caper, as is so often the case with this emotionally charged series, was undercut with sadness. When Marshall crowed, "I've never been prouder to be one of the good guys," Syd knew better. She knew his life was about to change forever. She was about to deliver him into the hands of the CIA — who would tell him the truth about SD-6 before putting him (and his doting mother) into protective custody.
But the real bad guys got to him first. And we were left with the terrifying image of a petrified Marshall in the clutches of that evil master of torture who has bedeviled Syd since the show's very first episode. "Please don't hurt me!" Marshall begged. We second that.
The only thing scarier was trying to glimpse a single human expression in guest star Faye Dunaway's almost unrecognizable face.
But we digress. With The Sopranos no longer siphoning so much of Alias's target audience, let's hope the winter months bring higher viewership and better fortunes to this wonderful piece of escapism.
And a big thumbs-up to ABC for finally deciding to give Alias the post-Super Bowl time period for what is being promised as a standout episode. It couldn't happen to a more entertaining and deserving show.
© TV Guide Online 2002
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