Illusion of Words

Past, Present, Future

I can’t really remember how my obsession with Alias started, but it sure had everything to do with season 1 which aired some years back on TV3. That’s one of the four basic channels of Malaysia’s pathetic television network.

I still remember that the first ever episode I watched of Alias was by an accident. Almost. Alias aired on Thursday nights, 9:00pm, and before that there was the Invisible Man, which my sister and I watched periodically for entertainment. Back then we had to be in bed by 9:00pm, except on school holidays, which it was when we watched the Invisible Man. No offense, but now
I think that show is quite silly.

So when IM ended, I had to find out what show was airing next. I did not watch the pilot episode (I can’t remember why), but I managed to talk my mom into letting me watch 10 minutes of the new show. The only thing I remembered from the first 10 minutes I ever watched of my future obsession was the scene where Sydney slapped her poor father (strange, but I like this kind of weirdness).

I didn’t really care at that time, but every chance I got, I watched 10 minutes. Gradually my mom loosened up, and we got half an hour. That was great, but it still wasn’t enough. I remember just at the half-hour mark there was an exciting escapade cut off by an advertisement, and as we were ushered off to sleep, I wasn’t too happy.

Well, the big break came soon enough. There was a holiday on Friday, and it was the first time I ever watched the whole episode of Alias. And I was hooked. My mom obviously liked it too, because she let us watch the whole show finish ever since then, until the end of the season.
Everytime before watching it, I would be close to hypervilenting, my hands cold. It was silly, but I couldn’t help it. As the season closed, I prayed with all my heart that Alias would return for a second season.

It didn’t.

But I found another place to feed my obsession. Thanks to the Internet, I continued chasing after Alias. When my dad went to USA, I got him to buy the season 2 dvd, which started a whole new phase of Alias in my life.

I was finally up to date in the real Alias world.

Season 3 was a total disappointment to me, personally. The only thing that kept me going was those brilliant Alias fanfics. When season 4 came, I had high hopes, which I tried to lower. I downloaded two-thirds of all the episodes, marvelling over those last 2 episodes, where Irina Derevko came back, despite the stupid clone matter.

Now season 5 will premiere September 29. I probably will never watch Alias again live on television. Although I can still watch it after downloading and buying the dvd, watching something on tv is forever a different feeling, a different excitement. Just as long as Jack and Irina remains in Alias, it is fine with me. In the beginning, I was hooked by the roller-coaster plot. It’s different now. The plot isn’t great, I watch it purely for the sake of characters.
Alias never returned to the glory of seasons 1 and 2. But if the plot should captivate me again, that, I think, will be the best thing besides Irina’s return after one-and-a-half season’s absence.

Posted in Alias |