Shane Life

For four years now (we started watching regularly in Season Two), Alli and I have been hooked on the television show, Alias, starring Jennifer Garner as super-spy Sidney Bristow. That show came to an end with a 2-hour finale last night and it continued in my mind throughout my dreams (not your crazy “JG Dies” dreams, Sarah…just normal Alias dreams).

After 4 years of building up what I thought that the finale should be, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed in the final product. The finale did its best to wrap up all loose ends - Rambaldi’s endgame (immortality?), Sloane’s endgame (immortality?), Irina’s endgame (surprise…immortality) - and what ultimately will happen to the people around Sidney (most live, some die).

In a lot of ways, it was what a finale should be, a wrap-up of the previous seasons, and it tried to accomplish that with flashbacks to Sidney’s past, but I couldn’t help but feel those were trying a little too hard. I would have much rather them spent more time on the present-day story than giving back-story to the character that faithful watchers know more about than any.

Now, call me a sentimental guy, but I like happy endings in TV and movies. I was glad when Ross and Rachel ended up together on Friends, and it pleased me a lot when they revealed that Vaughn was still alive. The last several episodes have been really good and they brought us to the finale well, but you could tell that the show had “lost” its touch of its creator, JJ Abrams. I would have liked to have seen his participation in the final episodes a little more, but he was a little pre-occupied with that crazy Tom Cruise and that little Mission Impossible movie.

I don’t know. Perhaps me being disappointed with the finale is my way of dealing with the fact that the show is actually gone. It will live on in the DVDs (Season 1 and 2 are still the best), but I’ll miss Alias Night at our house. Most of all, I’ll miss the magic that was captured in this show in the early seasons. It was the kind of show that you just wanted to watch every week (because if you didn’t, you’d be lost). The characters were so endearing that you related to them, even if they were spies.

My hat is off to you, Jennifer Garner and the Alias crew. You will be missed.