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Alphas, on SyFy
Jul. 26th, 2011 02:00 amSo I found myself caught up in "Alphas", the new Syphy show. (Well, OK, I found myself in front of the television, and "Alphas" was on. It's kind of the same thing.) So far it's a really interesting mix of things that work and things that don't, or perhaps "win and fail" in the modern internet vernacular.
I appreciate the fact that one of the characters speaks Farsi on the phone with her parents; not as a plot point, not even really as a "look we're multicultural" point per se, just because the actress speaks Farsi and so why not really. On the other hand, if they were going to pick a character whose major issue is a lack of self-confidence/self-assertion, I kind of wish they hadn't picked the young female character.
I'm actually enjoying Bill, in part because I think he's one of the stronger actors on the show. He's ex-FBI (or perhaps on leave from the FBI; he still has his badge, and I get the impression that things are deliberately unclear), so he shows actual competence in investigative situations, and I like the way that contrasts with the rest of the team, especially the leader, who's a psychologist and not really a law enforcement leader. But then again, if they were going to pick a character whose superpower is brute strength, I kind of wish they hadn't picked the black man.
I'm fascinated to see what seems to be a decent portrayal of autism on television, though the flip side of that is that the character can be awfully annoying to listen to. (I think that improved by the third episode, or possibly he just grew on me, but I think they're also doing a good job of integrating his dialogue into the rest of the scene.)
But then, if I'm going to be watching a show on Syphy about humans with mental superpowers and the team that catches them and the undercurrent that perhaps the "asylum for treatment" that they're getting sent to is something more nefarious, then I'd just as soon they hadn't cancelled "Painkiller Jane", which had the same premise plus the advantage of getting to stare at Kristanna Loken.
Also, I do genuinely like David Strathairn in this; he's clearly a good actor and he's doing a fine job with the character. But I do kind of wish that if Syphy were going to put together a show about a ragtag band of misfits with the ex-government black man and the computer expert and the one with super-senses and so forth, they hadn't decided to remind me of when that premise was done as Sneakers by casting the guy who played Whistler in it.
General verdict: so far, better than my expectations from the network that's also bringing us "Legend Hunter", about a man who uses his expertise in symbology to search for Excalibur and the lost city of Shambala. And much better than "Falling Skies". We'll see if this pans out.
I appreciate the fact that one of the characters speaks Farsi on the phone with her parents; not as a plot point, not even really as a "look we're multicultural" point per se, just because the actress speaks Farsi and so why not really. On the other hand, if they were going to pick a character whose major issue is a lack of self-confidence/self-assertion, I kind of wish they hadn't picked the young female character.
I'm actually enjoying Bill, in part because I think he's one of the stronger actors on the show. He's ex-FBI (or perhaps on leave from the FBI; he still has his badge, and I get the impression that things are deliberately unclear), so he shows actual competence in investigative situations, and I like the way that contrasts with the rest of the team, especially the leader, who's a psychologist and not really a law enforcement leader. But then again, if they were going to pick a character whose superpower is brute strength, I kind of wish they hadn't picked the black man.
I'm fascinated to see what seems to be a decent portrayal of autism on television, though the flip side of that is that the character can be awfully annoying to listen to. (I think that improved by the third episode, or possibly he just grew on me, but I think they're also doing a good job of integrating his dialogue into the rest of the scene.)
But then, if I'm going to be watching a show on Syphy about humans with mental superpowers and the team that catches them and the undercurrent that perhaps the "asylum for treatment" that they're getting sent to is something more nefarious, then I'd just as soon they hadn't cancelled "Painkiller Jane", which had the same premise plus the advantage of getting to stare at Kristanna Loken.
Also, I do genuinely like David Strathairn in this; he's clearly a good actor and he's doing a fine job with the character. But I do kind of wish that if Syphy were going to put together a show about a ragtag band of misfits with the ex-government black man and the computer expert and the one with super-senses and so forth, they hadn't decided to remind me of when that premise was done as Sneakers by casting the guy who played Whistler in it.
General verdict: so far, better than my expectations from the network that's also bringing us "Legend Hunter", about a man who uses his expertise in symbology to search for Excalibur and the lost city of Shambala. And much better than "Falling Skies". We'll see if this pans out.