Alias - The Complete Fourth Season (2001)

Losing steam

Alias is gradually losing momentum in the fourth season. There are still some good moments, but Rambaldi stories become more and more painstaking. The end is just laughing stock. After this series, I stopped watching Alias. February 9, 2008

The demise of a decent show

Have no fear, this review contains NO spoilers.

Obviously whether or not you like a television show depends heavily on your taste, but for fans who have seen the first three seasons and are considering buying the fourth I have this to say...

While I found the first three season of Alias to be exciting and fun to watch, I had to wonder what happened to season 4. Somewhere during this season, the show crossed the line from an intriguing spy drama with lots of fantastic plot twists to a cheap thrills action series with plot holes through which one could drive a truck. While the show was always obviously fantasy, this season really tested (in my case, broke) the viewer's ability to suspend disbelief.

Without going into spoilers, I will simply say that if you've been watching the show to this point, don't bother buying this set- rent it. You will not watch them a second time. October 4, 2007

We love Alias season 4!

Our entire family enjoys watching Alias. We have 3 teenagers and it is great fun to have something to watch on family night that we all enjoy. The Complete Fourth Season was brand new and absolutely perfect. September 2, 2007

Still A Guilty Pleasure but a Little Tarnished This Season

I sit here to write this review having seen 21 of the 22 episodes this season so as to avoid the possibility of spoilers. J.J. Abrams Alias is still a good show and a fun watch but the fourth season has lost some of the luster of the previous three. Maybe Abrams is spending too much time on his new series Lost to care what happens here maybe the network demanded too many changes in format. Hopefully some of these issues will be resolved in thhe final season.

When I started watching this show I was amazed by both the acting and the writing. It was rare to have a network show with story arcs that kept you hanging on from week to week. I was also intrigued with the idea of Milo Rambaldi. The Fourt Season took both of these interests away. In this season the network demanded simplier stories that the casual viewer could watch and forget about. The result was a sort of bad guy of the week that was more X Files than Alias. I'm not really complaining some of the stand alone episodes were excellent just not the same. When the true story of the season got going it was just a little too late to be developed properly.

the acting in the series has always been excellent and this season was no exception. Fine performances were turned in by Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber and Ron Rifkin and some of the guests were quite good. Sonia Braga and Isabella Rossellini as the Derevko sisters and the return, albeit short, of Lena Olin helped save the show at a time it was desperately needed.

The six disc set by Touchstone is well designed despite the fact that the discs overlap. The picture and sound quality are excellent and the extra features are numerous. Speaking of these extras it would be nice if the commentary tracks could be spread over the entire season instead of being focused on the first episodes only.

The end result is a good season but bot great. But hey its television and a guilty pleasure all the same. Looking forward to Season Five. August 19, 2007

More fun with the Alias crew

I love the show and this is a great DVD set but I do think that Season 4 of Alias is one of the weakest of the series. It starts off kinda slow and with the Rambaldi plot lines taking a backseat, the first few episodes really didn't keep my attention. With a few exceptions like Liberty Village. It is nice to see Greg Grunberg's Eric Weiss character with more to do. He is one of my favorites on the show. The addition of Sidney's sister doesn't really feel worth while until about mid season, where the stories really start to get better and plot lines start to come back into focus from previous seasons. It is still a great show and always fun to watch. August 15, 2007

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