'Alphas' - 'Pilot': Shoot to kill
What did everybody think of Syfy's new drama?
Warren Christie in "Alphas."
Credit: Syfy
I published my review of Syfy's "Alphas" this morning. Now it's your turn. What did everybody think of the new superhero series? Is David Strathairn alone enough? Did you enjoy the various powers and limitations? The chemistry between the cast?
As I said on today's podcast, this is a show I'm likely going to have to catch up on via marathon after I'm back from Comic-Con and press tour, but the pilot was promising enough that I'm going to make the effort at some point.
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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July 11, 2011 at 11:42PM EST Reply to CommentDan was definitely right about Strathairn's beard. Marvelous, that thing.
chuchundra
July 12, 2011 at 12:26AM EST Reply to CommentBetter than I thought it was going to be. I'll give it a few weeks and see how it develops.
Viginti The Beard?
July 12, 2011 at 5:53PM ESTTausif Khan
July 12, 2011 at 1:32AM EST Reply to CommentDoes anyone at Hitfix review Warehouse 13? Any of the Monkeys as Critics people?
jan
July 12, 2011 at 1:35AM EST Reply to CommentOkay, I really liked it so far; but I'm a David Strathairn fan and would watch almost anything he's in, so take that into consideration. Kept my interest throughout and enough that I will check in again next week.
webdiva Ditto. I tuned in purely for David Strathairn, figuring that if anything else worked, that would be gravy. Just enough worked that I'll give it one or two more episodes before making another judgment. That said, I really hope they give Strathairn a lot more to do than just pontificate in psychobabble.
July 16, 2011 at 10:06PM ESTTausif Khan
July 12, 2011 at 1:38AM EST Reply to CommentI actually found Strathairn to be quite annoying. For me I think the dialogue suggests that they intended Straithairn to be the quirky avuncular advisor like Artie on Warehouse 13.
Malik Yoba is basically playing a "buck" stereotype role with accompanying Angry Black Man and Unprofessional stereotypes. Terrible writing. Yoba makes the part more human. I just hope there is a point at which the characters order from his catering service.
The actresses were the best part. The one with the mind control powers was really good. I don't know whether I will watch again as my tolerance for poorly written shows is nil.
David H
July 12, 2011 at 3:07AM EST Reply to CommentI liked the unwilling assassin best. I was worried he'd be a one-episode guest, but it looks like he's part of the team. While Yoba was a stereotype, the radio waves guy was beyond annoying. Every scene he wasn't in was a blessed relief. Not sure how long I can take him, but it's sci-fi & I'll give it a few episodes.
OT: I try to "Connect with Facebook" and it just shoots me back up the page. It worked once upon a time, but no longer.
Sareeta I figured Hicks was a main character in the show because there's no way they'd hire such a handsome character and spend so much time with him for one episode.
July 12, 2011 at 8:28PM ESTI agree about the autistic (?) character...very annoying.
I like Bill (Yoba), but his "downside" is pretty rough. Hopefully he can learn to control it better so that it either lasts longer or he can get a grip on the after effects.
webdiva Autistics are by definition antisocial, which guarantees they'll irritate and frustrate whoever has to watch or interact with them. That's a given. An agreeable autistic is a contradiction in terms. The Gary character is even more annoying because he's a high-functioning autistic and can respond to questions, snark back at other people, etc. Don't expect that to change.
July 16, 2011 at 10:10PM ESTGuenna77
July 12, 2011 at 10:12AM EST Reply to CommentI loved it. Syfy has a great primetime block of programming on Mondays and I'll watch all 3 of the shows. Sure, it may not be the deepest or best written thing ever (although, let's remember, it was a pilot), but I need some shows in my life that are just fun and enjoyable and clever, and this has the makings to be all 3.
cyclops999
July 12, 2011 at 12:23PM EST Reply to CommentI enjoyed it. But if I'm being honest, I found the Heroes pilot more exhilerating and tantalyzing. Admittedly, that show went straight to hell awfuly quick, but I did find more of a "wow, this is cool" factor at the start of Heroes than I got from the pilot of Alphas. I definitely plan to keep watching Alphas for at least awhile though. I do think the pilot had promise, and Strathairn was great.
Jacob
July 12, 2011 at 4:40PM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was interesting, certainly enough to come back for more. I'm curious about Nina's drawback and I suspect Rosen's not quite as benevolent as he seems (his discussion with Hicks at the end of the ep felt more like blackmail than protectiveness to me)...
I thought it was interesting how often they had characters talking over each other. On one hand, it felt more realistic. On the other, I thought it made it hard to understand the actors at times.
Chrissy I liked the talking over (although there were times when Gary was annoying the other characters and therefore annoying me. That's a tough line to tread; realism vs. alienating viewers). It was a good way to indicate that these people know each other quite well and have a very insular dynamic (although, is Yorba's characters supposed to be new to the team?)
July 13, 2011 at 1:44PM ESTI also really liked Rennie and his back and forth with Straitharn. Please, please let this show give Callum Keith Rennie something, anything to do. His role on The Killing was painful, it was so sparse. It made me long for Harper's Island, of all things.
R.A. Porter
July 12, 2011 at 5:37PM EST Reply to CommentI liked Straithairn a lot and thought Callum Keith Rennie made a lot of (good) oddball choices that made his character way more interesting than it was written. The rest were...okay; I was really hoping Ryan Cartwright was going to pull me in, as I've loved him elsewhere, but his performance seemed derivative of other, better portrayals of autistic characters.
I'm going to give it a few weeks to see if it heads in interesting directions, but I'm not holding my breath.
E.
July 12, 2011 at 5:47PM EST Reply to CommentIs this a joke about Natalie Portman's kids?
Sorry, couldn't resist the lame joke.
E. Sorry, meant to say "Is this a show about Natalie Portman's kids?"
July 12, 2011 at 5:49PM ESTViginti
July 12, 2011 at 6:05PM EST Reply to CommentOverall I think I can see why Strathairn would have signed up for this; sure it’s light fare but it’s also rather fun. This show seems to be what I wanted from Falling Skies, a sleek, slight summer series that I could relax into as an easy escape. As to whether it can hold out on its current character based charm or pull-off its future plot expansions? I have no idea and I don’t plan to ponder it much more, but I will be back next week to find out.
Plug: http://deerinthexenonarclights.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/alphas-pilot/
Tracey
July 12, 2011 at 7:39PM EST Reply to CommentIt's interesting, and I'll probably be back for more, if only because it's on Monday night when I'm already on SiFi watching Eureka and Warehouse 13. I thought David Strathairn was rather annoying, though, always bordering on an over-the-top stereotype of hippy-dippy psychotherapist. The autistic kid was annoying, yes, but in an interesting way I thought, and his ability makes a good explanation of why he would be disconnected from the rest of the world.
The plot was a bit predictable. I knew that the guy who jumped off the roof was the villain pretty much as soon as I saw him run out the door of the hotel room. I knew that the whole thing was a set-up to identify the Alphas as soon as I saw the guy taking pictures of them.
With a series like this, though, I always worry about Twin Peaks syndrome. Do the people behind this know where they're going with it, or are they just making it up as they go along? It's annoying to have a mystery that isn't going anywhere, and I hate to invest my time in series like that.
Mark S.
July 13, 2011 at 2:23AM EST Reply to CommentDecent. Solid is a good word. I liked the characters, but TV doesn't have a great track record with superhero shows, so I'm a little wary. My review (http://whatmarkread.blogspot.com/2011/07/alphas-tv-show-review.html).
fraying
July 13, 2011 at 4:09AM EST Reply to CommentMostly it just made me remember how terrible Heroes was, how fantastic Misfits was, and how meh all this seems.
UnHoly Diver
July 13, 2011 at 1:17PM EST Reply to CommentStrathairn was/is the main reason I tuned in, but I had to watch it twice in order to "kind of" understand it. What I thought was interesting(to me, at least) is that Ryan Cartwright(Gary) has gone from playing a character with Asperger's on Bones(that was the prevailing theory, at least) to one with autism. Typecasting?
UnHoly Diver Apologies for the plethora of parentheses on my part. I got carried away.
July 13, 2011 at 1:21PM ESTDi
July 18, 2011 at 12:46PM EST Reply to CommentI was not thrilled with the Alphas TV show, quite mediocre and boring. I thought the cast of characters did not blend well and they were annoying. The tv shows like Heroes, Santuary, Warehouse 13, Leverage, Fringe, Torchwood are superior in imagination, character casting and writing. I would rather see the new tv show Three Inches, there cast sounds like an excellent match. I also would like for the three Inches show to be the originally planned 1 hour show. I read it would be reduced to a 1/2 hour show, which is a big mistake. Haven't heard when the Three Inches tv show will be viewed. Maybe they should bring back Joss Whedon to write new tv shows. There's a talented guy who has imagination and originality.
Di