A Season On The Fence: Alias Season Four!

The Good: Moments where characters develop, Jack's story, Acting
The Bad: Vaughn's storyline, The general plot, Lack of a coherent enemy
The Basics: Lacking a coherent enemy, season four of Alias attempts to rework the series with poor results until all of the threads come together in the last seven episodes.


When reviewing Alias the Complete Fourth Season, one must remember that the end of the season cannot redeem the whole rest of the season. The truth is, Alias' fourth season was its most inconsistent and it is impossible to recommend to those who are not already fans of the spy show.

To clarify, fans are likely to enjoy moments of the fourth season of Alias, but the truth is, it has a plot that is weaker than the previous seasons. Unlike season's one and two, season three ended with a far more nebulous and mysterious ending. Following up on that was a feat that the producers of Alias did not entirely succeed with. Unlike the previous seasons where the end set a high bar to leap over, season three ended with a "well, okaaaay, eh" feeling and Season four begins with much the same feeling.

After Sydney Bristow is apparently ejected from the CIA, she enlists in a black-ops program called APO that acts as an autonomous intelligence organization, like a CIA without the bureaucracy. Sydney finds herself once again working under Sloane and her father, partnered with Vaughn and Dixon. It does not take long before Weiss, Marshall and Nadia, Sydney's newly discovered half-sister, join the team and are set out into the world to fight evil.

The fundamental problem is the setup for the season. In the prior season, the villain was The Covenant and it was a worthy foe of our CIA heroes. The Covenant's mission appeared to be tied to the 16th Century technological prophet Milo Rambaldi and it was a pretty impressive organization. In the third season, the element that worked exceptionally well was that the Covenant was fairly well-matched to the protagonists of Alias, resulting in several draws or times when the Covenant actually achieved its goal. It took the risk of letting the good guys lose from time to time, even if they ultimately did not.

Season four is far more monolithic, our heroes always win and there is no villain as Coherent as SD-6, the unholy alliance between Sloane, Irina Derevko and Sark, or the Covenant. This leaves much of the season on far shakier ground and the plots become much more convoluted and ridiculous. Take, for example, the fifth episode of the season "Welcome To Liberty Village." In this awkward episode, Sydney and Vaughn end up impersonating Chechnians who are impersonating Americans as part of a long-term infiltration training camp. It calls to mind the equally ridiculous episode of The X-Files where Mulder and Scully impersonate a married couple to infiltrate a planned community that is plagued by a golem.

Moreover, the show takes turns that seem implausible even for Alias. Take, for example, episode eight, "Echoes." "Echoes" marks the return of Anna Espinoza, villainess from the first season of Alias. First, when Espinoza was last seen, she was an operative of K Directorate. Sark, in his ominous early appearances, killed the leadership of K Directorate for "The Man." With the destruction of K Directorate by the organization that was run by Irina Derevko, it seems unlikely that agents like Anna Espinoza would have survived, especially if such an agent was such a threat to Derevko's cherished daughter, Sydney Bristow. But even beyond that, the producers ask us to believe that the brilliantly dangerous Anna Espinoza would have paired with Sark, the man who sent her into free agenthood by killing off her employers and her steady paycheck. Sigh. Doesn't work for me. Espinoza made sense to have been dead and her reappearance was more blah than anything else. And I'm a fan of Gina Torres, who plays Espinoza.

Outside two exceptions, the first twelve episodes are mostly disappointing, leaving less than half a season for the show to recover. Unfortunately, a portion of those remaining episodes deal with the ridiculous and banal plot involving Vaughn's search for his possibly-not-dead father. Given that Vaughn's characterization involves the death of his father at the hands of Sydney's mother, and given how many characters have investigated Vaughn in previous seasons, the concept that Vaughn's father might be alive is just stupid. And it weakens - somewhat retroactively - the menace posed by Irina Derevko. After all, if Irina wasn't able to really take out Vaughn's father, who did she really kill?!

The season takes a turn for the better when an impersonator of Arvin Sloane surfaces, attempting to complete an ultra-powerful Rambaldi device. This leads to the ultimate villain and leads to a pretty kick-butt acceleration toward the end of the season. Also in the last few episodes of the season, Jack Bristow is focused on in a pair of exceptional episodes that bring him to the brink of death.

The characters in the fourth season have moments of worthwhile development, but they are terribly inconsistent. Here is how the fourth season finds our heroes:

Sydney Bristow - Having learned that her father has killed her mother, Sydney feels lost and joins the Black-ops group APO where she is forced to monitor her nemesis Arvin Sloane. As she begins to know her sister, Nadia, she tries to reform her bond with Michael Vaughn and with her father. The show does not focus on developing her much this season,

Jack Bristow - Arguably the most intriguing character on the show, Jack continues to illustrate the devotion he has toward protecting his daughter and in the process, he puts himself in serious jeopardy,

Arvin Sloane - While no one seems to remember that Sloane is - as far as the rest of the world knows - dead, Sloane is put in command of APO and is predictably deceptive while keeping up the guise of legitimacy,

Michael Vaughn - Apparently became an idiot when he joined APO because he falls for the ridiculous notion that his father is still alive and goes rogue to find out the truth,

Dixon - Always a character we've wanted to see develop more, Dixon is put in the awkward position of monitoring the man who killed his wife. There are moments when Dixon rises to be interesting, especially late in the season when he actually goes on a mission undercover that hinges on him. Unfortunately, late in the season Dixon is put in the awkward position of ending up in a relationship, as if the producers simply said "hey, we have two people of color on the show, they should hook up." Sigh,

Marshall - Almost entirely neglecting his family life, Marshall's sole character endeavor comes in a rescue mission that is his episode of the season. And in the finale, he and Weiss actually are given some dialogue,

Weiss - Sadly relegated to APO by chance - not talent - Weiss' character development is most interesting outside APO and a welcome change for his character,

and Nadia Santos - The daughter of Arvin Sloane and Irina Derevko who was introduced in the final episodes of season three, joins APO and develops as a character. When she is targeted by followers of Rambaldi, she begins to wonder if she has a destiny and what that fate is tied to.

Conversely, while the characters are inconsistent, the acting is consistently strong. Victor Garber, especially, stands out in the cast for his always-amazing portrayal of Jack Bristow.

Unlike the previous three seasons, Alias' fourth season, while enjoyable, is not the compelling spy thriller is has been. The last six episodes are worthy of being a part of the series and the last moments of the season are incredible, but the rest of the season is hard to justify. Not for those who are not already fans of the series, this season is inconsistent and works best for those who have already been invested in the show.

For other works with Greg Grunberg, be sure to check out my reviews at:
Super 8
Star Trek
Heroes - The Complete Series
Lost - Season 1
Mission: Impossible III

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for a complete listing of all the television reviews I have written.

© 2012, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Escalations Into Adventure And Espionage Come In Alias Season Three!

The Good: Excellent use of new cast, Compelling plot, Well-written, Acting, JACK!
The Bad: Some character issues, Loss of Will.
The Basics: When Sydney awakens to find her life completely changed, she works to discover what transpired in the two year absence and meets a new adversary: Vaughn's wife.


The third season of Alias takes a lot of heat. A lot of people do not like the third season and when one sits down to watch the show on DVD, it is hard to see why. Alias had a killer first season, with establishing the series, super spy Sydney Bristow, her incredible but stoic and dysfunctional father, and her mission to destroy the terrorist group SD-6, headed by Arvin Sloane. In the first season, Sydney learns that her long-lost mother is still alive, was a spy and that Sydney herself is the subject of a prophetic inventor's musings from back in the 16th century. The second season found Sydney dealing with her mother, destroying SD-6 and chasing Sloane in his attempt to fulfill the inventor's greatest invention.

The second season ended with a cliffhanger that topped even the first season's impressive finale. If you have not seen the second season of Alias, stop reading, read my review of the second season, buy the set, then when you're done watching it, come back to read this.

The third season begins literally the moment after the second season's end, with Sydney learning that she has lost two years of her life. After she is able to confirm that it is true, she finds herself caught up in putting the pieces of her life back together. She has no memories of what happened in the two years between her fight at the end of the second season and the moment she woke up. She is flown back to the United States where she discovers Vaughn is married, Dixon has been promoted, Will is in witness protection, Marshall is going to be a father, Sloane is now a humanitarian worker, and her father is imprisoned.

The third season of Alias puts Sydney on track to finding out what happened to her in the intervening years, a task that is by no means easy. When she loses the terrorist Sark in a hostage trade, she comes to believe that a new, very dangerous organization called the Covenant held her for those two years. The Covenant appears to be on a mission to find out the secrets Milo Rambaldi (the inventor) left behind and Sydney and the CIA are assigned to thwart them. In the process, Sydney butts heads with Lauren Reed, Vaughn's wife and as she searches for the secrets to her lost time, she discovers not all of the events in her life are as separate as they initially seem.

First, because it will take less time, the negative. Will Tippen, who survived the events of the previous season finale, is left alive, but not as a regular member of the cast. He does manage a guest appearance, but the role he played in the first two seasons as an anchor in Sydney's life, is noticeably absent. I miss Will and I believe it was a tremendous mistake for him to not be brought back in the third season.

That said, the other complaint most people have is that character was sacrificed for plot in season three. I disagree. I think that character was maintained remarkably well for the story being told. Sydney is obsessed (reasonably) with finding out what happened to her over the two years she was blacked out. Neglecting any aspect of her character outside the single-minded pursuit of the truth works well for the character and adds a level of realism that, lacking Will's non-CIA presence, reads as very true to me. And obsession is nothing new to Sydney. In the first two seasons, her obsession with finding and defeating Sloane is quite immediate.

Alias has always done character very well. Like all good or great serialized television, the characters grow and change throughout the season. Here is how the third season of Alias finds the principle characters:

Will Tippen - a favorite character of mine (and Jack Bristow), has disappeared into Witness Protection. As Sydney fights to regain her memory, Will is able to provide some critical information to her, but is otherwise out of the picture,

Weiss - Agent Weiss now lives next door to Sydney and acts as a human conduit for Sydney by presenting information to her about the people in her life and what has become of them. As the season progresses, Weiss allows Vaughn to express his doubts about the health of his marriage to him,

Marshall - Still completely socially inept, Marshall has managed to get closer to Carrie in the intervening years and is now looking to be a father. He continues to work his little technological miracles and his skill is evident, even after the baby is born,

Sark - Released from CIA prison, Julian Sark finds himself the inheritor of a great wealth, wealth that is appropriated by the Covenant. In exchange for his fortune and his life, Sark aids the Covenant and becomes invested in their success in their nefarious missions. And when opportunity arises, he finds himself in league with someone who can help him ascend within the Covenant,

Marcus Dixon - Now promoted to head the task force that Jack Bristow (and Kendal) once commanded, Dixon is now a leader and administrator as opposed to a field agent. Alone and raising his two children, we see very little of Dixon's life now,

Arvin Sloane - Having been granted immunity for all of his past crimes, Sloane reveals that El Dire (the device he worked so hard to assemble in the previous two seasons) spoke to him the word "peace" when it was completed and he was transformed. Sloane has become a humanitarian feeding and inoculating millions of people worldwide. And while Jack and Sydney are quite suspicious of him, he comes to their aid in working against the Covenant,

Lauren Reed - Introduced in this season, she is Michael Vaughn's wife and a woman of some mystery. Working for the NSC and not the CIA, she is a professional ally and personal adversary of the CIA and Sydney, respectively. While it appears that she is simply a normal worker who has fallen in love with Vaughn, circumstances force her to reveal herself as something completely different,

Michael Vaughn - Apparently shattered by the apparent death of Sydney two years prior, Vaughn is now a schoolteacher and is happily married until Sydney resurfaces. His relationship with Lauren is threatened when he returns to working with Sydney and he finds himself unable to reconcile the disparate parts of his life,

Jack Bristow - Aided by Sydney in getting out of prison, Jack sets Sydney on the path to discovering the truth. In the third season, Jack will find himself able to face Sloane, get closer to Sydney and learn more about his fugitive ex-wife. As well, Jack will find himself in league with Katya Derevko, his ex-wife's sister,

and Sydney Bristow - Awakened after two years without any memory of the intervening time, Sydney goes all-out on a quest to find the truth about what happened to her in those years. Learning immediately that she was awake, alive and active, she confronts the idea that she may have spent the years brainwashed as an assassin for the Covenant and works to put her life back together.

Alias has a real strength to reinvent itself (as I write this, I have just watched the fourth season premiere where the show has once again shifted directions). In the middle of the second season, SD-6 fell and Sydney found herself in a character struggle wherein she was chasing a loose coalition of Sark, Sloane and her mother. That conflict worked well on a character level, exposing the depths of Sydney's determination and obsession, but made for a very difficult plot to sustain. Moreover, the second season ends with a revelation that is huge and impossible to come back to the same show.

The third season of Alias is a very decent story that encapsulates the season. It is the story of one woman's hunt for herself and the reconciliation of her past with the weird present she finds herself in. But at the end of the second season, Sydney is dropped off such a major cliff that the show, by necessity, has to shift direction. And while the show exhibits wonderful rising action through the third season, the finale does not compel the way the previous two endings did (and having now seen the fourth season premiere, I am dubious).

What keeps the show watchable and compelling is that the actors sell the stories. Jennifer Garner is great as Sydney. Unfortunately, in the third season, she finds herself playing fewer characters as opposed to simply switching outfits and hair styles a lot. Is it still worth it? Absolutely.

The real reason to watch, though, is Jack Bristow. Jack's character arc continues as an amazing "protect Sydney at all costs" story of how much a father will do to keep his daughter safe. Victor Garber is exceptional as Jack and he's been robbed of awards the last few years for his portrayal of Jack.

Finally, the DVD set boasts an animated episode of Alias and let me say, I was looking forward to getting the set to watch it. Sigh. If your only reason to buy the set is because of this lost episode, let me tell you, it's not worth it. It probably will make the die-hard fans gasp, but it's not important, it is not substantive, it isn't clever and it is short. Not a full episode by any means, the animated short is a sloppy collection of Alias-esque scenes that fails to satisfy or deliver anything really new or worthwhile.

If you have seen the first two seasons of Alias, the third season is a period of transition and it is a steady escalation of revelations and cloak and dagger intrigues that deliver in much the same way the two prior seasons did, without giving much focus to Sydney's emotional life outside work. Better than most people think (except those who love the Sydney/Vaughn relationship, an audience I am not part of), the third season of Alias stacks up remarkably well and delivers on the promises of a show reinventing itself once again.

For other works with Melissa George, please check out my reviews of:
Friends - Season 9
Mulholland Drive
Dark City


7.5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the television reviews I have written!

© 2012, 2005 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Continuing Evolution Of Alias Breaks The Mold In The Second Season!

The Good: Excellent continuing character development, Acting, Plots
The Bad: Still gets repetitive, though less than in the first season, Loss of “personalities”
The Basics: When Sydney's mother, Irena, surrenders to the CIA, Jack and Sydney's lives as double agents become immensely more complicated in Alias The Complete Second Season.


If there is one thing Alias does better than most any other show in the history of television it is that it ends each episode making the viewer want the next and no holds barred season finales. The first season finale left the viewers begging for September and the finale that finishes the season two Alias DVD boxed set will make anyone who isn't already a fan and watching the third season absolutely crazy. Those dependent on the DVDs for the resolution to this amazing cliffhanger will go stark raving mad from the wait, it is that intense.

The second season of Alias begins where the first left off, with Sydney tied to a chair learning the identity of The Man. Now revealed, Sydney's mother becomes a major force in her life and she begins her reunion with her daughter in the most unpredictable way: she surrenders to the CIA. Now in CIA custody, Irena Derevko provides intelligence on her criminal organization while manipulating Sydney's trust. As Sydney chases down Sark for SD-6 and works for Sloane to retrieve Rambaldi artifacts, Jack becomes convinced that Irena is nothing but a threat playing out a long and complicated strategy against the US. As the frontier of the agents' war suddenly changes, Jack, Sydney and Vaughn find their lives completely turned up-side down.

What makes the second season of Alias worth watching is that it exceeds the expectations of a spy show and defies the preconceived notions of Alias fans. The addition of Sydney's mother to the mix forces the equation that most of the shows in the first season to break. Now facing multiple villains, the plots may no longer be as simple as they were in the first season. This adds drama and real tension to much of this season.

Moreover, the change in direction that the episodes take midway through the season is quite a shocker and the effect of the events leading up to the middle of the season on Sloane make him more of a menace and make the last half of the season even more of a treat to watch. Still, the shows focus primarily on Sydney Bristow, though there is a lot more depth added to Jack Bristow - her father - as a result of Irena's involvement.

What makes Alias fun to watch is the decent mix of characters and this season, they all have more to do. Here is how the characters evolve in this second boxed set:

Sark - Now a recurring villain, liberated and working on his own, Sark's quest for power leads him to forge an unholy alliance with his greatest enemies,

Marshall - Is granted the opportunity to go on a field mission, which has grave results,

Francie - Tired of simply being a sidekick, she starts her own restaurant, until one day her life changes entirely,

Dixon - Overcomes his suspicions of Sydney being a double agent long enough to have his life turned up-side down and his family shattered,

Vaughn - Now relying on information provided to him by his father's killer, Vaughn's bitterness is mitigated by his love for Sydney,

Irena Derevko - A former Russian spy, now apparently aiding the CIA, despite her cunning machinations seems to still have some genuine love and affection for Sydney,

Sloane - His obsession for the devices and technical knowledge of Milo Rambaldi guides him on a quest that pushes him over the edge and lands him in a very powerful position,

Will Tippen - Barely escaping the events of the first season with his life, he finds himself attempting to rebuild, find a new job and become productive, this time at Sydney's side working for the CIA,

Jack Bristow - Reveals more truths about his and Sydney's past as Derevko continually forces his hand. His unwillingness to believe that his former wife could be doing anything but advancing her own causes acts as an extreme aid and detriment of the CIA,

and Sydney Bristow - she overcomes her past difficulties surrounding her mother's death and gains some new ones as she anticipates future betrayals from Irena. Her professional life is finally balanced by being able to be honest to one of her friends (Will) and develop a strong, loving relationship with Vaughn.

The great thing about the episodes is that they feel very organic, despite being rather dramatic. That is to say that often, the people act like people, not like fictional characters. So, for instance, when Sydney is shot by her mother (this happens in the first five minutes of the first episode in the set, so it's not a big spoiler or anything), she acts betrayed by her mother for several episodes when she has the opportunity to meet with her. That makes sense. There is a lot of sensibility in this season.

Unfortunately, what is sacrificed in this season is the sense of Sydney changing her identity to go on the various missions. Whereas in the first season, there was a lot of attention paid to creating alternate characters for Sydney, who she would become when she was undercover, here the series makes it about Sydney changing clothes. For example, in one episode, Sydney impersonates a geisha. Unfortunately, she neither behaves like one, nor has the face for one (Jennifer Garner's angular face is not the round ideal for the geisha, perhaps the only role she could not have organically pulled off).

That is not to say that the hair and make-up aren't fantastic this season. They are amazing, just like in the premiere season. However, the attitude that accompanies them is absent. Furthermore, it is not so much a fault of the acting, either, as it is the result of trying to pack so much into each episode. As a result, something had to give for time and the show's priority becomes less focused on the creation of the identities as it is about using the different looks to get access.

The acting is of a very high caliber, with Kevin Weisman as Marshall getting the biggest opportunity to expand his role as Marshall. Similarly, David Anders does an amazing job portraying such a menacing villain as Sark. As with the first season, Bradley Cooper stands out as a cast member that has a lot to contribute. Putting forth more than simply good looks - in fact, in the second season, the producers seem to put him in a less good light physically - Cooper illustrates an excellent range and a clear command over complicated dialog.

In a similar vein, both Ron Rifkin and Jennifer Garner continue to play their respective characters of Sloane and Sydney with the highest abilities. Rifkin infuses his previously passionless Sloane with a mounting obsession that ekes into his performances little by little throughout the season until it reaches a crescendo in the finale. He's quite amazing. Similarly, Garner continues to easily sell the audience on the idea that she could be both the girl next door and the world class super spy. She is quite convincing as Sydney.

The strongest addition to the main cast is Lena Olin. She plays Irena Derevko with a cool grace and a lot of subtle mockery of those around her. Olin seems the consummate professional, giving a lot in each scene she is in. More than that, she seems to bring out the best in Victor Garber. Garber's performances go well beyond illustrating his range from the first season. Through scenes with Olin, Garber is allowed to reveal more emotions tied to Jack and it works wonderfully.

The second season of Alias has some nice bonuses, as well. With the commentary on in two of the episodes, the viewers are treated to alternate takes and that's a pretty cool easter egg. As well, the deleted scenes and making of featurettes are very interesting. The deleted scenes do an excellent job of fleshing out more of Sydney's humanity and it is a shame they were cut from the actual episodes they were meant for. Still, it's nice to see them here.

In the end, the second season of Alias fixes some problems of the first, but causes a few new ones, but for the most part remains a fresh, surprising series. This boxed set will leave you begging for another. Entertaining and dramatic.

For other works with Bradley Cooper, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
The Hangover Part II
The A-Team
Valentine's Day
The Hangover
He's Just Not That Into You
Yes Man

8.5/10

For other television reviews, check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the shows and seasons I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Future Of The Spy Thriller Is Here: Alias Season 1!

The Good: Action, Acting, Character, Plots
The Bad: Repetitive formula becomes evident quickly
The Basics: When Sydney Bristow's fiance is killed, she sets to ridding the world of the organization that did him in in Alias Season 1, a clever spy drama.


It is a rare thing that a series these days waits and allows itself to go into syndication to capitalize on the interest of the audience. Nowadays, the key is to exploit a hit show as soon as you have it: you put it out on DVD. I am sure we are not far off from the days when a series that has its episodes on Mondays will have its season finale on a Monday and release a boxed set of DVDs from its last season that next Tuesday. It seems that capitalizing on a show's popularity immediately is the name of the game now. Had Angel released a DVD of the last episode the next day, I would have bought it, that's how much the episode affected me. I feel, however, that a show like Alias will likely suffer from not capitalizing on the audience in syndication. After all, why stick around next weekend at midnight on a Saturday (dramas in syndication seem to get stuck on at the weirdest times) to see the resolution to a cliffhanger when you can pop your DVD in now and find out immediately.

That said, Alias is the story of Sydney Bristow. She is a graduate student and a spy for the CIA. In the first episode, she tells her fiance that she is a spy, he is killed by her employers who turn out to be one of the CIA's nemesis', SD-6. SD-6 is run by a man named Arvin Sloane, an ex-CIA operative himself and he and the Alliance he works for manipulate the world through controlling people, technology and circumstances. When Sydney learns the truth about SD-6, she goes to the real CIA, becomes a double agent working with her handler, Michael Vaughn to bring down SD-6. The only ally she has in her fight against SD-6 is her estranged, emotionally distant father, Jack.

The first season of Alias follows two essential arcs. The first is the storyline that begins in the pilot wherein Sydney learns the truth, becomes obsessed with bringing down SD-6 and begins to learn about her father. The second storyline, which begins midseason, finds Sydney at odds with her father, believing him to be a traitor to the US government back in the 70s and the consequences of her quest to bring him to justice.

Alias is a stylish show and aired Sundays at 9 PM on ABC. It's a spy drama and the essential conflict throughout Season One is between Sydney balancing her professional life as a spy with her personal life as a supposed student with her friends Will and Francie. It's a catchy concept and the nice thing about it is that it largely progresses without insulting the viewer's intelligence. The nice thing about the DVDs is that one can go back and rewatch episodes to pick up key details; often the plots are dense, working on several levels to keep the viewer engaged. Some people complain they can't figure out what is going on, though I didn't experience that. While there are reversals, they tend to make a lot of sense (nothing like the Dallas shower scene here) and be more interesting than confusing.

There are two things that makes me believe Alias will hold up well over the years (and why the boxed set of DVDs is worth it because it holds up well already over repeated viewings): the characters and the cast. The characters who are integral to the first season are:

Francie - Sydney's best friend and a pretty generic sidekick. In the first season, she wrestles with issues of love as she finds and loses it,

Marshall - the technology wizard at SD-6. He is a genius with almost no social skills,

Will - A reporter and Sydney's oldest friend, he once harbored feelings for Sydney, but his obsession with Daniel's (Sydney's fiance) death leads him down a dangerous path,

Dixon - Sydney's SD-6 partner, an intelligent man who begins to become concerned with Sydney's performance on missions as the season progresses . . .,

Michael Vaughn - Syndey's handler - contact - at the CIA, whose dad was killed by a KGB agent. He protects Sydney as best he can while pursuing his own agenda of revenge against the person he believes is responsible for his father's death . . . Jack Bristow,

Arvin Sloane - The criminal mastermind of SD-6 whose nefarious work is balanced by his love of his dying wife. As he seeks to save her life, he becomes obsessed with the inventions and writings of Milo Rambaldi, a technology prophet whose mysterious works may bring Sloane all he ever wanted,

Jack Bristow - The emotionally-aloof double agent who has experience on his side. His priorities seem to be protecting Sydney at any cost, even if it means sacrificing his own life,

Sydney Bristow - The cunning, dangerous, personality-changing spy who assumes various identities to accomplish missions and gain access to restricted locations. Her quest is to rid the world of SD-6, the people responsible for killing the man she loved.

The cool thing about the first season of Alias is that it was more than simply Syndey running around the world changing outfits. Instead, Sydney becomes various people by changing clothes, hair, speech patterns, and the entire way she moves. For example, in one episode, she plays a punk and her whole walk changes from an unobtrusive walk into an arrogant, annoyed strut. She completely changes personality.

The nice thing is that the show has a very nice mix, both of characters and stories. Will and Francie are nice people and their presence in the show balances out a lot of the morally questionable things that Sydney finds herself doing in her life as a spy. And the spy stories are fun, interesting, compelling and often real nail-biters.

They are also repetitive. Alias quickly gets into a pattern of stories that have twists and turns, but follow the same general pattern. Sydney gets a mission from SD-6, she is assigned a counter-mission from the CIA, she goes on the mission and is nearing completing her countermission when a wrinkle occurs, until she manages to make things right (usually), which puts her in a compromised position at the end of the episode. And we tune in next week, or - in this case - play the next episode.

That said, what keeps the episodes fresh and worth watching is the characters and the actors. Bradley Cooper humanizes the show as Will Tippen. The unrequited love Cooper makes evident in his eyes and body language truly is quite endearing. Similarly, Kevin Weisman who plays Marshall infuses what could be a dull role with genuine personality through long strains of quick, complicated, rambling dialog. Weisman has some of the most difficult lines, yet he works around them like a real professional, selling the viewer on Marshall's expertise.

Ron Rifkin is amazing as Sloane. Hearing Rifkin on the audio commentaries is a real treat, because it becomes obvious quite quickly that he is a happier, nicer person than Sloane. His acting is flawless, then, because Rifkin creates Sloane as a quiet, menacing presence throughout the entire first season. Jennifer Garner, as well, is clearly more than eye candy. J.J. Abrams, the show's creator, cast her perfectly as her face and body change entirely based on the outfits and hairpieces she wears. Beyond that, Garner has a way of captivating the audience with her simple genuine "girl next door" quality. Between that and selling us on someone trained to kick some serious butt - which she does in just about every episode - Garner deserves all sorts of acting credit.

But the real powerhouse of the series is Victor Garber as Jack Bristow. Classically trained, Garber brings his a-game to a complicated role, making Jack both stoic and clearly protective of this daughter. Garber uses subtle relaxations in his rigid body language to express far more than his lines ever do. With an ability to master complex dialog and sell the audience on strange reversals in his character's position on certain issues, Victor Garber easily convinces the viewer of both the plausibility of the circumstances and the dangers that Sydney faces as a double agent.

More than just a simple spy thriller, Alias is decent drama with much to recommend to members of both genders. Females are bound to find a strong role model in Syndey Bristow, while even the most base male will enjoy looking at Jennifer Garner. While considerate women will enjoy the father-daughter bond and the complex relationships Sydney has, most guys will like the action-adventure content. The result: a crowd-pleasing storyline that keeps everyone engaged and a worthy DVD collection to grace anyone's shelf.

For other works with Jennifer Garner, please visit my reviews of:
Valentine’s Day
The Invention Of Lying
Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past
Elektra
Daredevil

7.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the television shows I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Rocky Road Of Milo Rambaldi: Alias Is A Legacy (Mostly) Worth Owning.

The Good: Some truly great episodes, Wonderful acting, Some intense and great characters, bonus features
The Bad: Bonuses exclusive to this box, Series varies greatly with the seasons
The Basics: With engaging plots, interesting characters and inspired acting, Alias The Complete Series presents a story of a spy fighting terrorists for the key to unlock a 500 year-old prophecy.


The consistent thread through the five seasons (seven years in the storyline of the series) of the spy adventure show Alias was a technological prophet named Milo Rambaldi. He was a 16th Century inventor who wrote in machine code and predicted technological events hundreds of years before such things occurred. It is therefore perfectly appropriate that when the creators of the series put together all five seasons for one massive boxed set, they would make it in Rambaldi related. Alias The Complete Series is also known as Alias - The Rambaldi Collection because the box the 30 discs (counting the exclusive disc) come in is shaped like an artifact from the third and fourth season of the show. Viewing the series with this bent makes for an intriguing interpretation of the show.

Hundreds of years ago, Milo Rambaldi died, scattering artifacts throughout the world and established the Magnificent Order of Rambaldi, essentially knights, to guard his technology and prophecies. At the turn of the millennium, a man obsessed with Milo Rambaldi and his works, a man named Arvin Sloane, works as part of a nefarious agency whose objectives include assembling Rambaldi's collection and figuring out what his final, unfinished work, would be. Sloane is alternatively aided and undermined by a woman named Irina Derevko, who wants Rambaldi's masterpiece for her own use.

The problem is that Derevko had a daughter named Sydney Bristow. Rambaldi prophesied about Sydney and her place in the battle for Rambaldi's works and endgame. Sydney may thwart the Order of Rambaldi and either save or destroy the world (depending on how one interprets the prophecies and what one believes about Rambaldi's endgame). Sydney Bristow is essentially a good woman who finds herself working under Sloane, against the United States government.

When Sydney realizes she is working for a group whose objectives may well include Armageddon, she turns herself in to the CIA and begins to work against Sloane and his minions. Sydney works with a contact from the CIA named Michael Vaughn, who she soon develops a strong relationship with. While working under Sloane, she finds an ally she never expected; her estranged father who vows to work with her to bring the criminal down.

But, of course, Rambaldi predicts things going very differently for the heroes.

Alias is a remarkably inconsistent series and the first thing to address about it is that it's impossible to nail down the timeframe of the series because the writers and producers were not attentive to details. In a series dominated by details and facts, the fact that the producers fail to keep their own timeline straight is irritating. The timeline is mucked up by three events: 1. In the first season, Sydney mentions the Patriot Act (meaning that the first season MUST occur after the September 11, 2001 attacks), 2. The third season begins two years after the second season (which means season three should begin in 2005), and 3. In season 5, a character dispatched in the season four finale is found with a medical bracelet that lists the admission date as 2005. Until the bracelet, the timeline is fine and with the bracelet, the timeline cannot be pushed back because of the comment in the first season. Tsk, tsk.

The reason I start with this is twofold: Alias takes place in a mythical present day (2001 - 2006) and so the problems of the timeline are aggravating for a series that works so hard to keep details straight and create a believable and intriguing mythology. For the most part, the series succeeds. But, the devil is in the details.

Alias is a remarkably inconsistent series, with seasons varying in quality dramatically, which is no more evident than when one looks at the entire series on these twenty-nine discs. The first season is good, rising into a truly great second season (with one of the all-time best season finale's of all time - I mean, right up with the first season finale to Twin Peaks, the third season finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the second season finale of Millennium), a much-maligned but solid third season, a weak fourth season and a near-dismal fifth season (though, to be fair the fifth season gets better the more I watch it).

The concept of the show remains constant for much of the series; Sydney Bristow, secret agent, must foil the criminals she encounters while piecing together the mystery of Milo Rambaldi's works. She does this by going on missions, using gadgets and assuming alternate personalities (alias's). Her varied alias's require her to dress up quite a bit and that leads to the weakness of the series.

Alias begins as a story about a woman assuming personalities to convince those she interacts with to provide her with information or devices while remaining untraceable. The show, because it is fairly formulaic (threat, analysis of threat, mission briefing/design, assume an alias and execute mission with spy tech, and deal with the consequences), becomes predictable rather quickly and the series spends less time developing characters for Sydney and instead, she dresses up and beats her way through her enemies. By the end of the series, Sydney is just dressing up, whereas in the pilot episode, she assumes a swagger and persona that is distinctly different from her own.

What binds the series, other than the overarching plot of the mystery of Milo Rambaldi, are the characters. Alias usually succeeds at being a strong character-based series with characters who are compelling and individual. Here are the primary characters for this series:

Sydney Bristow - A superspy who is the subject of the prophecies of Rambaldi. She is rumored to hold a great power that could potentially destroy the world,

Jack Bristow - Sydney's father, a brutal protector who lives in a rational world and will do anything to keep Sydney safe. He has spent years working to keep Sloane in check before Sydney even realizes the implications of her own existence,

Dixon - Sydney's partner and co-superspy. Agent Dixon is competent and steady in the field and a loyal and true ally to Sydney. When the Rambaldi issues begin to overwhelm Sloane, Dixon bears the brunt of Sloane's wrath,

Will Tippen - A reporter who begins to learn far too much about Sydney and Jack Bristow and finds his life in serious danger by Sloane,

Francie - Sydney's best friend, who has no idea she is a spy and tries to keep Sydney unstressed and happy,

Michael Vaughn - Sydney's CIA "handler" and coworker fighting against Sloane and the other enemies who follow Rambaldi's works obsessively. He soon begins to have more than a professional attachment to Sydney and he finds working closely with her complicates his life,

Eric Weiss - Vaughn's partner at the CIA and a competent agent in his own right,

Marshall Flinkman - The technical genius who creates the gadgets Sydney Bristow uses to recover artifacts and fight evil (a la "Q" from "James Bond"),

Julian Sark - A ruthless killer (introduced into the series by shooting a powerful gangleader in broad daylight on a streetcorner), Sark is a man whose allegiances are never stable. Instead, he is brutal and thrives on surviving, all while trying to achieve a better position in the global struggle for power,

Irina Derevko - Popping up after a significant search, she manipulates Jack and Sydney with their unresolved feelings for her as their long lost wife and mother, respectively. Her place is thorny and duplicitous, though her allegiances seem to be toward discovering what Rambaldi's end game is,

and Arvin Sloane - A man who has sacrificed family, love, and any chance at a normal life to understand what Milo Rambaldi dedicated his life to create. He has spent thirty years attempting to assemble Rambaldi's ultimate creation and he will not stop until he has it.

Of course, a great drama on the page still needs great actors to embody those characters. Alias has that from day one with some good and exceptional actors fleshing out the cast - though the cast changes with each season. Series regulars Michael Vartan (Vaughn), Carl Lumbly (Dixon), Kevin Weisman (Marshall), Greg Grunberg (Weiss), David Anders (Sark) and Merrin Dungey (Francie) provide a strong supporting cast. Notable beyond them are Bradley Cooper (Will Tippen) and Lena Olin (Irena Derevko). Cooper plays a character who has to be the heart of humanity and how it relates to the larger-than-life spy and Rambaldi concepts and he masters the role with a convincing, understated performance. Olin has to be a brilliant and quietly menacing villain and there is not a moment when she is onscreen that the viewer does not fell like she is calculating something as Derevko.

There are three actors who basically supply such consistently great performances that they make the show watching week after week, episode after episode, disc after disc. They create the series and make it worthwhile with their performances. Ron Rifkin is genius as Sloane. Rifkin portrays a character who has spent decades obsessed with a spiritual quest embodied by the mystery of Rambaldi. Rifkin is obsessive, quiet, and utterly believable as a man who will truly stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He is one of the most memorable villains ever created for television.

Alias launched the career of Jennifer Garner, who played Sydney Bristow. When she was required to do more than dress up or speak in a funny voice, Garner delivered every single time. As the show evolved, she kept it interesting and watchable by creating a sympathetic protagonist who finds herself in a world that make demands on her that no one should have to confront. Garner was a completely pragmatic and well-cast choice for Sydney with her ability to emote, using her whole body to make new characters.

The true acting gem on Alias is Victor Garber. Garber plays Jack Bristow and his task over the 105 episodes is to create a father who is strong and appears distant but able to connote enough love for Sydney in a solid enough way that the viewer believes the character's actions. Garber does that, going to the most extreme lengths to convince the viewer he is an odd combination of emotionally reserved and brutal out of love for his daughter. There is not a frame in this series he slips character.

As a loyal fan of Alias, this boxed set offends me, but it's a great investment for those who have caught the show in syndication and want to own the series on DVD (or fans who just waited it out). I was a good, loyal fan and consumer, getting the boxed sets of DVDs when they were originally released. I see this as a clear way to show support for the shows I love. After shelling out all that money, here comes a less expensive, less space-consuming option. The salt on the wound (and my real beef) is that this box includes an exclusive booklet and disc loaded with exclusive featurettes not previously available. As a loyal fan, I'm asked to either shell out $200 more or go without exclusives that should have been available given the loyalty (and good consumerism) I showed for this show. It's rotten and a beef I have with any series that does this (note to DVD producers of long-dead shows: reward the real fans first; release the complete series boxed set with exclusives BEFORE doing the season by season outings!), though for series' that are current and release their boxed set seasons ongoing, this is somewhat more understandable. The happy medium (and the producers of Alias The Complete Series have no excuse for not doing!) would have been to offer the exclusive disc to fans with the purchase of the 5th season (which was released on the same day) via mail order with the proofs of purchase from the prior sets.

Those bonus features on the extra disc and in the book are a must for the die-hard fans, but more casual viewers might want to henpeck through the series (seasons 1 - 3 make a great series as far as I'm concerned). Otherwise, this is a generally strong, well-written, well-acted spy thriller whose only real fault is that it adopts a formula and when it tries to reinvent the enemy every few seasons, it does not always succeed.

Because of the way this boxed set is organized, it impacted the slant on this review (I wanted to do something different!). To learn more about Alias by getting a more in-depth idea of each season (which can ruin some surprises I've maintained in this review), please check out (and rate!) my reviews on each season at the following locations:
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5

For other television series' that made their debut on ABC, please check out my reviews of:
V - Season 1
Lost
Invasion
Boston Legal
Once & Again - Season 2
Once & Again - Season 1
Sports Night
Twin Peaks

5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Choosing To Be Bad: Columbiana Bores Us At The End Of Summer Blockbuster Season.

The Good: One or two lines of dialogue, Zoe Saldana's acting is fine.
The Bad: Boring, No empathetic characters, Plot is so incredibly predictable as to be unwatchable, PG-13.
The Basics: Columbiana is such a typical revenge action-adventure story that it leaves the viewer feeling jaded because it is so unoriginal.


We have officially entered the August/September cinematic doldrums and with the release of Columbiana it is easy to see why. Every now and then, when August - the dumping ground for all of the movies that couldn't compete at the outset of Summer Blockbuster Season - comes, there is a movie that makes me wonder why the film was held back. With Columbiana I did not wonder for a moment. In addition to only having three actors whose names I recognized - Zoe Saldana, Callum Blue, and Michael Vartan - I went into Columbiana having seen none of the trailers, reading nothing about it and having seen nothing else by director Olivier Megaton.

Ironically, all I had seen of Columbiana before watching the movie was a still of Zoe Saldana's character with a rocket launcher which, ironically, does not appear in the film. I suspect, given when the rocket launcher comes up, that showing her shooting it was a moment too much to keep the film PG-13 and that is the first complaint I'll detail with Columbiana. Columbiana is barely PG-13 with heavy violence and an astonishing number of times Zoe Saldana gets undressed without actually showing her breasts. The thing is, Columbiana is so violent and cut so awkwardly that there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was edited to get it down to PG-13 and I can only suspect that was because on some level Megaton realized that only a 13 year old would find Columbiana fresh, interesting or new.

It is not. Columbiana is like Payback (reviewed here), without the sense of whimsy or The Usual Suspects without the sense of character. In fact, the list of movies Columbiana reminded me of could keep going on, except that whatever examples I could come up with, the common thread would be that those movies were interesting. Unfortunately, Columbiana was not and I am sure that when the "unrated" DVD version is released, it won't be any more interesting or better, it will just have more graphic murders in it.

In Columbia in 1992, Fabio is getting out of the organized crime family run by Don Luis. Smart enough to realize that Marco, his mentor in the organization, is not going to just let him go, Fabio rushes home and tries to get his wife and daughter out of the house. Unfortunately, he is too late and Marco and his men descend upon the house. Marco kills Fabio and his wife and asks the quiet girl, Cataleya, for an object he is certain she has. She does have it, but instead of giving it to him, she flees, makes it to the U.S. Embassy and is extradited to the United States. There, she finds her way to her Uncle Emilio where she is set up to have a somewhat normal life. Instead, she insists upon becoming a killer and Emilio obliges her.

Fifteen years later in California, a drunk woman crashes into a police car. She is booked at the local station which just happens to be where an important prisoner is being held for the night by the U.S. Marshals. Only, the woman isn't random and her presence there is not random; it's Cataleya and she manages to get through the prison to kill the prisoner, marking him with her trademark lipstick signature, the orchid her name is based upon. Shortly after this unauthorized mission, she goes on a kill for Emilio and has a rendezvous with her artist lover. But after twenty-three murders with her signature, the FBI has had enough and they release pictures to the press, alerting Marco and Don Luis, who are now in CIA protective custody in the U.S. to the threat Cataleya represents to them.

Columbiana is bad. Sometimes, the analysis ought to be as simple as that. The movie starts in the harsh yellow light of Columbia and Fabio's exit from the mob is so contrived as to seem scripted. The only thing that feels fresh in the first act is the fact that he is smart enough to realize everyone he cares about is about to die. Unfortunately, after this insightful character moment, the movie degenerates into five minutes - it felt like fifteen - of parkour and Honda motorbike advertisements. Olivier Megaton illustrates the whole process of Cataleya going from Columbia to Chicago and that is something slightly different from other, similar, films, but it is no more interesting.

What works throughout the film is the occasional line of dialog. Not all of the writing is great, like the tribute to the conceit early on in the film with Fabio wearing a white shirt (so we know pretty much right away he's going to get shot), but some of the dialogue actually manages to feel fresh. Luis Besson and Robert Mark Kamen seem to actually enjoy writing lines like "I want to be a killer" (young Cataleya) "Okay" (Emilio). The writers also have a pretty decent sense of time, with references to Xena: Warrior Princess making 1992 seem like 1992. There is a somewhat quirky sense to some of the lines - about one every half hour - and the movie has a few moments where the sensibilities are fairly smart. Emilio pointing out that "A tag killer is stupid" is one of the smarter observations in this genre.

Unfortunately, it does not phase Cataleya. Nothing seems to. Cataleya is always one step ahead, but because she chooses the life she gets, it is impossible to have empathy for her. In fact, Cataleya is usually several steps ahead, but again, she chooses to be a killer and this is a revenge movie, so it is not surprising. The first time we see Zoe Saldana's incarnation of Cataleya, it is obvious to anyone seasoned in the genre that she is in control. She has a plan, none of it is coincidence. The whole thing feels so choreographed that one is surprised that FBI Special Agent Ross takes so long to believe a woman could be responsible for the killing inside the prison. But the fact that moments after Cataleya is incarcerated, the mark shows up pretty much makes a blinding arrow to insist viewers connect the dots.

Similarly, the moment Michael Vartan's Danny enters the narrative, it is obvious that he is there to be Cataleya's love object and while Megaton does not keep us waiting long, the PG-13 nature of the film is especially dull in the love story between Danny and Cataleya. In fact, the elements of that subplot seem like the most obvious form of counterbalance. There is a moment when the two are in bed that is clearly intended to humanize Cataleya, but instead it just feels like it is supposed to be that type of moment - i.e. it never becomes the actual moment, it is always supposed to be that moment and Cataleya is never humanized.

As for the acting, "meh" is the best judgment I am going to muster up tonight. Zoe Saldana burst onto the big screen and collective conscious for the masses with Star Trek (reviewed here!) a few years back and she hasn't stopped rocking it since. In Columbiana, she is convincing, but one has to wonder if she really cares to make a specific statement or if she's just happy to make any statement. In Columbiana, Saldana's Cataleya comes across not only as focused and determined, but mechanized. She does not seem particularly hurt and instead, Saldana seems to be sleepwalking through the motions of most of her scenes. That only further diminishes the level of interest in the movie; that the star seems bored in many of her scenes sucks the life out of them.

Finally, because my eyes lit up when I saw Michael Vartan in the cast, I feel it is worth mentioning this: the action-adventure sequences are not all that they could be. Without spoiling anything, the climactic battle is nothing for fans of the genre. In fact, the second season finale of Alias (which Vartan was an integral part of) had a fight that puts the climactic hand-to-hand battle in Columbiana to shame. Part of the significant difference: for the Alias episode, the battle was frenetic, fast and the key moments were shown with lethal precision. In Columbiana, when the fight gets stale or choreographed, Megaton just shakes the camera more until the camerawork begins to look like it is being done by an individual who is having a seizure. This doesn't make it better or more interesting, it just makes it more movementy*.

Sadly, that is the epitaph of Columbiana: it is not better or more interesting than any other revenge story or action adventure film. It's just here now and that's hardly a reason to see it.

For other revenge films, please check out my reviews of:
Hanna
X-Men First Class
Hannibal Rising

3/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my index page on the subject by clicking here!

* I know this is not a real word.

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Another Fine Film to Mystery Science Theater 3000 Apart: The Mists Of Avalon.

The Good: Plot is intriguing, Acting is good, Directing is competent.
The Bad: Characters!!! Most of the effects.
The Basics: An overall unremarkable film telling the Arthurian tale. At least The Mists Of Avalon didn't have Sean Connery and Richard Gere.


This is another review where I haven't read the novel the film is based on and I wouldn't care if I had; I'm evaluating what I watched. This is a review on The Mists of Avalon, the film. I watched it on DVD. On that front, let me first mention that the deleted scenes are a hoot. Especially when they write why they were deleted. The answer is usually "this scene was too obvious" or "this was edited for time constraints." While The Mists of Avalon seems to have quite the following, it did not win me over. Thus, I would have recommended far more scenes be added to the cutting room floor.

The Mists of Avalon is a retelling of the classic Camelot/Arthurian tale. This retelling focus's on the women of Avalon and Camelot and how they influence the course of British history. So, it's truly a tale of Morgaine, daughter of Igraine. Morgaine's mother is part of prophecy and intrigue and ends up married to the high king Uther and bearing him a son, Arthur. Arthur, in a series of events, ends up the focus of a soap opera. In the course of the film sires a son with his sister, has a threesome, and fights for England against the Saxons.

The question I have is what's superlative about this film? From my point of view, not much. Most of the acting is. Michael Vartan is excellent as Lancelot and Anjelica Huston does quite well as the matriarch Viviane. Also excelling are Michael Byrne (as Merlin) and Samantha Mathis as Gwenwyfar. Joan Allen is horribly underused as the villainous Morgause. And Julianna Margulies did not impress me as Morgaine. In fact, this was my first experience with her as an actress and she left nothing in her performance to recommend her by. This is a major fault of the film as the story is narrated by Morgaine.

In fact, the characters are the weakest link of The Mists of Avalon. There are several revelations in the film, usually about bloodlines, alliances or truths. Not a single character is appropriately shocked by any event. Frankly, if I were a king and I discovered I had sired a son with my sister, it would throw me for more than simply moment. Not a single character seems to feel shock or revulsion for their actions.

This alone makes it terrific for a night of mockery. No kidding. If you are watching this with people who lack a sense of humor about such things, you're out of luck. This film takes itself too seriously, everyone is so earnest. That's fine. I like deep, serious films. But this film is the hyperbole of that; the characters are so serious and deadpan there is an utter lack of humor about the film. It is begging to be editorialized. So, even in my first viewing, I could not resist making quips, pointing out obvious problems, ect.

At best, this is a film that looks good. It is, however, populated by people who make little to no sense and some actors who aren't carrying their weight while others take their parts perfectly and are underscored for time. It's easy to watch, hard to get immersed in because of the unflinching tone of righteousness and pomp. I'd highly recommend it for time with friends who want to watch something they can joke through.

For other fantasy films, please check out my reviews of:
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
Clash Of The Titans
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

4.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page for an organized listing by clicking here!

© 2010, 2002 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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