oyceter | Alias 3x14 Blowback

I only saw about half of it because we were out eating dinner with my grandparents' friends. And I didn't hear a lot of the half I saw, because my aunt is very loud when she talks.

That said:

Lauren is hot. Really, really hot. Not that I didn't like Lauren or think Melissa George was hot to begin with, but the scene in the car? GUH.

I care less and less about Sydney and Vaughn every minute. I'm sorry. Vaughn pisses me off to no end, and it's rubbing off on Sydney because she still likes him! Also, I am still pissed off at JJ Abrams because he brings in another could be strong female character and what does he do? He makes her and Sydney fight over this stupid guy! *growls* And now there's that giant bitch fest of "Stay away from my man!" from them, and I know everyone probably hates Lauren for saying that, plus, she's evil to boot, but I still like her and always did, so there.

Besides, I feel there was absolutely no way she would have won. If she had been good and said that, people would have just been annoyed because of her possessiveness. Now that she is evil, she gets to say that not because she has moral authority, but because obviously she is playing a role (but people complain about the hypocrisy anyway). But I still think it's completely stupid of JJ Abrams to give Sydney and Vaughn a moral thumbs up, it's ok, she was evil anyway even though neither of you know it yet and are still cheating kind of! Stupid Vaughn. So what? The fact that I know Lauren's evil but Vaughn doesn't is supposed to make him kissing Sydney ok by me?

Sorry. And from what the boy tells me, the whole perspective switching thing was just stupid and had no point.

The problem is I have imprinted hard on Lauren because I do that when they bring in characters people are supposed to hate because I feel sorry for them (the character, not the writers). And she was a cool blonde, and I already didn't like Vaughn to begin with. So this entire she might love Vaughn underneath it all pisses me off too. Stick with Sark. That's also the problem with all the Lauren femslash. It's all Lauren lusting after Sydney, and frankly, I do not care at all about the Lauren/Sydney relationship because Sydney's the good girl, Lauren's the evil other woman, despite being the wife (although evil now). I think that's what disappoints me the most about this show. They skirted with grey morality in S2 with Irina and Jack, and now we're getting this black and white stuff, and it pisses me off. I am also disappointed because I don't think JJ Abrams will ever portray Vaughn as an emotional wimp or Sydney as having a legitimate dark side, or let any of their actions have consequences. It's like the Jossverse immunity of the Scoobies times three thousand.

The plot twists might still surprise, but there is no character growth that interests me right now because Jack is not doing anything, Irina is gone, and Sloane is talking to the psychologist who annoys the hell out of me. Right now, Lauren's the only wild factor really, and I'm pissed off because Abrams is making her less and less of a wild factor. She's not working for the good side with bad methods ala Wesley. She's not compromised evil. She's just the femme fatale who seduced Vaughn out of mourning for the ever-virtuous Sydney, who has villain sex (right out of a freaking romance novel! Next thing you know, she and Sark are going to do bondage, because that means they're evil *rolls eyes*). And I'm mad that they did this to my character (I know, I imprint so randomly).

It's just... entertaining if one doesn't think too hard about the cliches and the supposed feminism which is actually not, except I do think about that and get mad. And they cancelled Angel on top of it and this is the show getting all sorts of kudos!

Yet I watch because the boy likes it.

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What hit me about the Lauren/Sark sequence was how fun and interesting it was. They could create an innovative and risky show around that couple. Both have interesting yet still vague backgrounds.

Lauren - her father is a big-wig in British Security and won't permit her to be a field agent. Sloan teased her about it in one of the season's earlier episodes. The best her father will allow is desk work or liaison.

Sark - his father denied him, although he left him everything money wise, he pretended Sark didn't exist apparently. Sark as a result as become a sociopathic killer whose mentor was Irina, Sydney's mother. Not sure what the writer plans to do with Sark or what his role is. I think Abrhams may see him as a shadow self to Syd or Vaughn, just as he sees Lauren as shadow self to Syd. Problem is the actors playing Lauren and Sark are better actors than the ones playing Vaughn and Sydney, and their characters are also much more interesting and if written right could be very complex. Not mention the fact that we have no idea what is going to happen to Sark and Lauren, my guess is they'll probably be killed a la Alison Dorn, but Sloan survived as have other villians, so it's more than possible they will. Vaughn and Syde? We know they'll live - they've both come back from the dead twice already. Which is another problem with the show - they keep putting Vaughn in jeopardy every week and well, we know he isn't going to die, so where's the suspense? There was more suspense this week - when I worried that Lauren's double agent act would be exposed, I wasn't worried about Syd or Vaughn. But I was worried about Lauren and Sark - who I want to keep watching. If Abrahms is smart he'll play with those two more - their chemistry is electric and a gift. If he drops them. I'm finished with the show. I could care less what happens with Vaughn at this point or Sydney.

Ooo, I didn't even think about their backgrounds! I desperately want to write some sort of Lauren fic, except I can't write.

I have a problem with Lauren as shadow self to Syd -- mainly like you, I think Lauren's much more interesting! Hee, I don't want a character I like to be just a shadow figure ;). I'm desperately hoping that they don't just kill off Lauren like Allison, but I'm betting she's going to be revealed as evil soon so Sydney and Vaughn's Twu Wuv can continue.

Sigh. I wish they'd even through Weiss in more. Or Dixon, both of whom I find interesting.

And to be completely shallow, Lauren and Sark sizzle with chemistry. Desperately hoping they're there this Sunday.

I agree - I want Abrhams to build Lauren and Sark more and not just use them as shadows or contrasts for the leads (or as a means to make his bland vanilla leads more interesting). The problem Alias has is the writer is afraid of giving his lead a dark side, he pulls back like lots of TV shows do. He also pulls back from giving Vauhn that complexity or edge.
As a result both Syd and Vaughn have become somewhat two-dimensional and very predictable. What made ME and Whedon such interesting writers for television was they explored the dark side of their characters, they did not reduce Faith or Spike or even Angel to shadow selves. Even though you could analyze those characters as that - they also acted separate from it.
Whedon was even willing to do spin-offs with at least two of them. Vaughn isn't an Angel or Spike character, he's more like Riley, yet even Riley had more depth to him, more complexity than Vaughn. The only depth I've seen to Vaughn is a)he can't make up his mind about women (so he's wishy-washy, passive)
b) he mopes about his dad's death at the hands of Syd's mother. Niether of these really make me that interested. Sark on the other hand? Whoa. Apprenticed and betrayed by Irina, who he may have had a thing for and saw as a type of surrogate mother. A father who was wealthy and a diplomat who ignored him and denied him. Falling in love with women who play double agents and pretend to love other men, whom he can't stand. This guy is a writer's dream come true.
And yes, villains can be more interesting...but they don't have to be. There's so much they can do with Sydney regarding her fathers and family which they've been ignoring this year to play with Vaughn. It's a shame. Personally, I think the best thing Abrhams could do is kill Vaughn off - it opens up characters and allows him to explore a wider group of relationships, instead of constantly letting Vaughn play damsel every week - it would also jolt the audience. But he'll never do it - too many fans seem to like Vaughn and the sappy romance. (sigh).

Why don't you try writing a Lauren fic? You don't have to show it to anyone.

I know! That's what frustrates me the most! The show has got all this great potential, and yet, not used. There's all this hope in dark sides in S2, with Irina and Jack and Sark and Sloane, and in the beginning of this season, with Julia and the Covenant. Sigh. I even wanted some sort of thing in which Lauren would be a sort of Dixon-like character, which would make Sydney's conflict even worse.

Plus, I dislike the fact that Sydney very often acts on her whims and emotions (the rescue of Will in S1, etc) like Buffy did, even when something very much larger is at stake. I was more ok with it in Buffy, but Alias is supposed to be set in this world, so yeah, it annoys me when CIA operatives routinely bend the rules or outright break them and don't get anything more than a little wrist-slap.

I wish I could blend the paranoia and moral ambiguity of La Femme Nikita with Alias' production values.

Alias 3x14 Blowback

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