Alias: Season 2

In my experience Season 2 seems to be the most popular and beloved season of the show among fans and critics alike and it's a hard belief to argue against, though for me personally it's roughly tied for that honor with Season 3, which sadly most seem to regard as the start of the downward spiral of the show. Season 2 features each of the two most popular, highly-regarded shows of the series by mainstream fans- the mid-season turning-point episode "Phase One," which was the post-Super Bowl episode and the season finale, "The Telling." Both of these are masterful hours of television for the most part though the first 10 minutes or so of Phase One crosses the line of what I'm willing to see on network television. I thought ABC played a huge part in the show not being that big of a hit by making the entire series appear to be nothing more than Jennifer Garner running around in very little despite the show being probably the most intelligent on the networks at the time. This was the biggest reason I didn't start watching the show until I got hooked on TNT late night reruns just a few months before the final two episodes of the series in 2006. The first act of Phase One can't be blamed on ABC portraying the show wrongly (though they did make their promo for this episode feature the first act almost exclusively as I recall), that one is on the producers and, as epic and important an episode as it it, they held it back a bit in my mind and turned a lot of potential new fans of the show off with that stunt and by post-Super Bowl standards the ratings for this episode were very poor. For the most part I'd say Alias is just a bit more family-friendly, for lack of a better term, and certainly a whole lot more intelligent and developed than the ABC promos ever suggested, Phase One starts off as a very adult-oriented and shallow episode though before catching fire and becoming one of the great episodes of the series.This season has a ton of very good, very popular episodes after the top two as well. As you get closer to Phase One you may notice Jack and/or Sydney are going on CIA missions frequently while they're still working with SD6, who throughout season 1 summoned them constantly at all random times, and that pushes my suspension of disbelief a bit- especially upon repeated viewings. I took this as a sign that, as beloved as the dual double agents story line was, it was running out of steam and needed to be changed. Still, the drama in this season is fantastic, both before and after Phase One. I'd say Season 2 is the definitive season of the show without question. If you asked every fan you could find to think of a single scene, episode, or arc from any part of the series that really stuck with them I'd guarantee you'd get more answers from this season than any other and it wouldn't be close.

Series creator J.J. Abrams scored a coup when he got international movie star Lena Olin to sign on for the second season of "Alias". Playing the long-lost KGB agent mother of Sydney Bristow (series star Jennifer Garner), Olin adopted many of Garner's mannerisms (including gait, a slowly widening smile, and a distinctive tucking of her long hair behind one ear) to imply an inherited bond deeper than a 20-year absence would normally signify.To these Garneresque traits Olin added a fanatical focus on her (obscure) goals. If you've seen "Romeo is Bleeding" you'll know just how intense Olin can be. But instead of the manic glee of the movie's Mona Demarkov, in "Alias" Olin has the calm intensity of a Zen master. She can be sitting, perfectly still, and still project deadly menace.Irina Derevko, Lena Olin's character, is pivotal from the very start of the season. Walking out of the shadows we (and Sydney) first see her face. Sydney says "Mom?" -- and Irina calmly shoots her daughter.I won't go into great detail to avoid spoiling the ride for all you current (or potential) "Alias" fans. But it's thrilling to watch Irina Derevko promoting her mysterious agenda, with the audience and Sydney never knowing exactly where her allegiances lie. There's the usual plotline driven by creepily avuncular bad guy Arvin Sloan and his quest for the workings of 15th century prophet Milo Rambaldi. The series changes direction halfway through with the SuperBowl episode. And of course Sydney Bristow continues to be slicker than James Bond, but she's being steered by her mother's invisible strings more often than not this time around. If you want to know just how a superagent like Sydney Bristow can come to be, Lena Olin as her cooler-than-ice mother is the perfect recipe. It's a shame Abrams couldn't get Olin to return for Season Three.Notable guest stars for Season Two include Terry O'Quinn, Patricia Wettig, Amy Irving, Derek de Lint, Faye Dunaway, Angus Scrimm, Olivia D'Abo, Ethan Hawke, Christian Slater, and Tracy Middendorf.Season Two of "Alias": Highly Recommended.