ALPHAS |
|
|
|
WAKE UP CALLDr Rosen is in a secure psychiatric institution after revealing the alphas to the world. The government have buried him, but he knows that there will be an incident that will make the authorities release him. The prison holding all the known alphas coming under siege is that incident. The second season of the would-be gritty drama starts off slow since the group's leader is locked away and half the team have quit. The plot with the prison is a fairly standard one as a result of having only half an episode to fill and much of it is predictable, as is the whole putting the band back together sequence. That said, the characters remain as borderline unlikeable as ever, the threat level has been ramped up and emotional entanglements are to the fore. It's a solid start rather than a spectacular one, but it does need to do better. TopTHE QUICK AND THE DEADWhilst Cameron and Nina's relationship melts down, Gary can't cope with all the new people in the building and a man with superspeed is an irritation. Personal stories seem to be the priority for this second season of the show since the plot around the man who is growing old as fast as he can move is relegated to mere sideshow whilst the characters bitch about each other and things go generally nowhere. This isn't a great deal of fun to watch. The effects around the C Thomas Howell superfast man are just bizarre and undermine any sense of reality about him. TopALPHA DOGSHicks and Bill go undercover to infiltrate an illegal fight club and find that some of the competitors are alphas. Ah, the old gladiatorial combat episode. It pops up in so many genre shows and here it is in ALPHAS. Having Bill being trained by a teen girl and then being beaten by said girl is the only real plus point as there isn't much of anything else going for it. Familiarity breeds contempt, but here it mainly breeds a yawn. TopWHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVEA series of robberies involving mind control leads the team to chasing one of their own. Nina is back as the villain in a straightforward investigation that has a load of unbelievable motives and justifications on her part and at least one nice face-off on a high roof. It's certainly a step up from the rest of the episodes and does bring the team back together, but doesn't exactly raise the bar very high. TopGASLIGHTA hospital is thrown into disarray when a disturbed alpha starts throwing strange visions into everyone else's minds. ALPHAS goes for the creepy factor in this story where there are lots of disorientating odd angles and plenty of wierdness to freak everyone out before they are able to come to the simple conclusion that the audience already know. Before that, though, there are plenty of horror movie staples and it's a fun, if ultimately pointless, trip down a side alley. TopALPHAVILLERosen goes to an uncertain ally for some help in figuring out Parrish's alpha-enhancing device, but discovers a whole community of alphas living off the grid. It's ALPHAS in the woods, but the story has very little going for it. The focus would be on Rosen's guilt for 'outing' the Alphas to the world and thus creating chaos on the people in the community (something that he will replicate), but the rest of the plot is a flimsy hook to hang this on. It's good to see Summer Glau back in a guest role and the problems of bringing up an Alpha as a child are touched upon, but in the end this is an empty and rather uninteresting episode. TopGODS AND MONSTERSA teenager takes over the minds of his entire school in a bid to be popular. Parrish and Rosen team up to try and bring him down without having to kill him. It's hard to take on an army when you're not willing to kill any of them and that's the problem facing the Alphas in this episode. With the kid at the centre hiding behind a wall of willing victims the team are relatively hamstrung, which doesn't make for hugely fascinating television. The sparring between the two leaders is quite nice, but not really enough to lift this out of the ordinary. TopFALLINGKids are taking a drug that allows them to dive off buildings and not die. A new recruit follows links with one of the youngsters and finds herself caught between the team and someone she apparently once cared for. Once you get over the huge convenience of Kat having spent time with one of the thrill seekers and have dealt with her lack of any long-term memory then this is a simple straightforward undercover cop goes native story that fails to convince on any level. Rosen having to deal with the fact that it is his daughter who has been passing Parrish information is a much more touching drama, but not enough to save the episode from being yet another merely mediocre outing. TopTHE DEVIL WILL DRAG YOU UNDERRosen's daughter has gone missing after going back to Stanton Parrish. Cameron's gone off the reservation and is helping Parrish build a bomb capable of killing millions. The team are at war with themselves. It really feels like we've missed an episode between this and the last one. We saw Rosen have his own daughter arrested, but now she's back in with Parrish working undercover. Parrish has reasons to believe that Danielle isn't being honest with him, but what those reasons are we only get hints about. That aside, this is one of the better episodes of this second season with some action, some shouty acting and a thoroughly predictable, but effective all the same, final act. It's scrappy and rough around the edges, as this show has the habit of being, but just about manges to pull it out of the fire. TopLIFE AFTER DEATHMembers of the team have to come to terms with their loss. Gary is handed an alpha baby and doesn't believe the people who have come for it are its real parents. It's nice that the show feels it is able to take time out to deal with the emotional impact of a deeply felt loss on the characters in the show. Unfortunately, this isn't wrapped in with an interesting storyline to underpin that and so the show's momentum suffers. TopIF MEMORY SERVESThe team get a lead on Parrish that takes them to a farmhouse where a deeply troubled man with the ability to put people into the memories of anyone he has touched has clues as to what is being planned. There is a running battle between an unkillable alpha bad guy and two of the team that starts off well but ends rather unbelievably when he refuses to get out of the way of a slow moving truck. Matters aren't helped any by the presence of the least interesting character that the show has ever come up with, the memory man with no sense of ... well anything. TopNEED TO KNOWRosen leads the team rogue in order to get Parrish, torturing a captive to find out where the bad guy is. Gary, meanwhile, locates an old friend being held captive. Two separate stories just about manage to meld into one episode. Rosen and Cameron's fall off the moral high ground is interesting, but never seems to go anywhere until right at the end it is mentioned that they suddenly have all they need to know. It's nice to see Summer Glau back, but her storyline of a woman trapped in a waking dream is hardly original. TopGOD'S EYEParrish's plan to make the populace either into Alphas or corpses is due at 8.18 and the team are on a race against time to find the injured Dr Rosen and stop the apocalypse. It's the season finale and finally the show kicks off its shoes and gets down to business. The ticking time bomb scenario of course has a built-in tension factor, but the episode plays with that well and racks up that tension with a series of half-wins leading to the big climax. It's a cliffhanger and a half that the season ends on and only time will tell if the show has done enough to come back and play out the aftermath. Top |
