Alphas Archives - SciFiEmpire.net

Syfy cancels Alphas!

Jan 172013

Syfy cancels alphas. And so there were none, after Eureka, Stargate Universe and Caprica Syfy Channel has axed its last true science-fiction show Alphas after just two seasons. You can count Continuum as being part of the Syfy Channel if you want to but that doesn’t alter the fact that Syfy Channel has been pretty much shooting down all the fan-favorite shows for over a decade now (Farscape, Stargate Atlantis, Sliders and Sanctuary to just name a few). At the moment that just leaves Haven and Warehouse 13 and they are both a bit light on the creative side as well as on the sci-fi side. What is worse is that there are no new shows scheduled to start airing in 2013, and I certainly hate the dry spells.

Alphas was canceled due to low viewership. It’s numbers were lousy since the first episode and I must admit I lost interest during season 2. Alphas was far too familiar for my taste, with a muddled super-hero turned freak characters. Only David Straithairn and guest star Summer Glau managed to shine.

As for Haven, Continuum and Warehouse 13. Expect the season 3 finale review of Haven tomorrow, though I can reveal that it was slightly less excellent than expected but the show overall still has promise. As for myself I am very eager to see the second season of Continuum which I hope will start airing in late spring. The show manages to balance drama and sci-fi elements rather well and wasn’t as undercooked as Alcatraz or Terra Nova. As for Warehouse 13, its bit of a on/off love affair that has slowly turned ‘off’ again. My best bet is that either this season or the next will be its last because its basic premise has been exploited to the full.

Fans of previous TV-shows on the Syfy Channel are left with one question. Where is the next Lost, Eureka, Battlestar Galactica or Stargate? Only the new TV-show Defiance has a shot at that title and that show is on NBC and will start airing on April 15th.

Source; www.syfy.com/alphas/

Summer Glau – Alphas regular

Alphas ‘Gaslight’ Preview!

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Aug 182012

Next Monday’s episode of Alphas is entitled Gaslight, it would seem that it deals with the aftermath of Nina’s suicide attempt in the last episode and of course the hunt for Stanton Parrish.

Sadly, the ratings for Alphas have continued to slide and are now for the first time below the 1 million mark.

Below are two preview video’s…

And in something totally new we also have an Alphas Digital Magazine, never heard of that one before…

And here are the preview photos for ‘Gas Light’…

Alphas ‘The Quick and the Dead’ Preview!

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Jul 272012

It looks like SciFiEmpire.net is moving up in the world, now that the site is getting an excellent number of readers everyday I am handed the information that you all read instead of having to scour the internet to find it. After multiple requests for interviews of some important actors and requests to urgently review promotional material I can now add Alphas to the list as well. Below you can find the promotional trailer for the second episode of the second season of Alphas, the episode is entitled ‘The Quick and the Dead’.

Last week’s season opener was OK, it was tightly written but unfortunately the suspense was too often broken by rather clumsy drama scenes. The storyline of Dr. Rosen’s incarceration ended rather abruptly and in a fashion that was not entirely believable. As I predicted in the episode preview the Alphas team was by the end of the episode back together again as though nothing happened. The second half of the episode set the tone for the season well enough, last season’s villain Stanton Parrish now has a relation with Dr. Rosen’s daughter and seems hellbent on making Alphas the primary homo-sapien on earth.

The promotional material handed to this site also reveals that Summer Glau (Firefly & The Terminator Chronicles) will again reprise her season 1 role of Skylar Adams, also Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) will have a guest role as Agnes, an Alpha who can see into people mind’s by just touching them.

Episode 2 has the following synopsis…

The team hunts for a killer with super-speed whose mission to find the truth may lead to deadly consequences

And here are the episode stills…

Alphas Season 2 Preview!

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Jul 192012

Next Monday Syfy Channel’s Alphas will be back for a second season of 13 episodes. This season is strangely enough highly anticipated by other websites despite the rather low ratings the first season got, alphas almost got cancelled last year. I can speak for myself and say that season 1 was a bit of a let down, I thought the plot lines were too jumbled together in order to legitimize the collection of characters that form the Alpha team. The show wasn’t lacking in action, drama or humor but it all felt a little rough. Season one guest star Summer Glau was a bright star in the mediocre sky and I hope she will be back this season.

As for season 2, here is a brief synopsis that can tell us what to expect…

The new season picks up eight months after last year’s stunning season finale with the stage set for an explosive turn of events at the Binghamton facility (the Guantanamo of the Alpha world) that could have devastating, far-reaching consequences. Dr. Lee Rosen, having exposed the existence of Alphas to the unsuspecting public, finds himself discredited and imprisoned by a government desperate to cover up his stunning revelation. Some of the team have disbanded and without Dr. Rosen’s care and guidance, have regressed to their old, destructive ways. They must now battle their individual demons, reunite and try to save their own.

To me it sounds like this is the plot outline for just the first episode, I am expecting that later in the season everything will return to the way it was and that Alphas will resume its ‘Super-power of the week’ style episodes. I am not hoping for this, but I am expecting it. The whole set up of season 2 as described in the synopsis sounds too much like just a season cliffhanger thingy.

We can also expect more Warehouse 13 tie-ins, which may make some people cry at the very thought. As Eureka has now ended with a fizzle we might even see some characters from that series making a few guest appearance. Season 1 didn’t have that but Alphas is connected with Eureka through a mutual relation with Warehouse 13. To me that kind off sums up everything that is wrong with the Syfy Channel.

Here is the trailer for season 2…

And another one for good measure…

First below are some still pictures of season 2′s first episode entitled ‘Wake Up Call’.

Season 2 posters…

Alphas Season one final ‘Original Sin’ review!

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Sep 282011

Anna and Gary

So, the first season of Alphas is a fact. In 11 episodes that have aired so far we have seen the concept of Alphas from very familiar (X-men and other superhero concepts) to being fresh and new. We have seen dull scripts that tried to give background information on dull characters and we have seen the writers of this show trying to genuinely give a good mic of action and drama.

As you might have guessed from my tone the first season of Alphas was rather of mixed quality, most of the episodes dealing with the mythology were very good. The season ended with several episodes concerning the mythology bu alas, despite being above average in quality ratings have continued to drop.

Where does alphas fail?

Hicks and Superwoman

Alphas is about a group of people with special abilities and is headed by Dr Rosen, we follow him and his team as they try to wlk the tight rope between a Alpha xenophobic government and pro-Alpha terrorist group called Red Flag. The problem is that Dr Rosen and all the male members of the team are quite cool and the two remaining female members are quite forgettable. Its like they were and after thought for the writers or they merely sought the balance the male to female ratio. whatever their reason their writing of the male members is just brilliant. We get to learn a great deal about Gary, who is everybody’s favorite character (and he doesn’t disapoint in the finale either), Bill and Dr Rosen are also very interesting. Hicks at first seemed like and anchor character for the audience but he isn;t very well developed out. As for the ladies, I know one is called Nina but that is about it. And I don’t even which one Nina is. That’s how forgettable the female characters on this show are. In one episode we Summer Glay guest starring as Skylar and she pretty much dominated all the other female cast.

Season two will have to adress these issues as well as many others. The writers have given themselves a tough job when they allowed Dr Rosen to reveal the secret of Alphas to the world but perhaps that is a good thing.

As for the final episode.

Stanton Parish

Original Sin focuses on a lead that Alpha team has been given. They are told were the leaders of Red flag will meet and the DOD decides to take them out. The matter has greater urgency when the leader of Red Flag is revealed to be Stanton Parish (played by John Pyper-Ferguson), an immortal alpha who has been around since at least the civil war. However some things don’t add up but before Dr Rosen can object the take-down is going ahead. Quickly it is revealed that Stanton Parish set up the meeting so the other leaders of Red Flag could be arrested or shot. the fight scenes are spectacular with gun fight between the DOD on the one hand and Alphas on the other. Do there is some tragedy when Alphas get brutually shot by the DOD, this includes Anna, the Alpha with whom Gary bonded.

In the end we see our Alpha team reminisce about what happened, a few personal revelations follow. Normally a show could have ended here but the final scenes show a confrontotation betwen Dr Rosen and Stanton Parish were the bad guy just makes it clear that the game is on. This propels Dr Rosen to revealing the secret of the Alphas to the entire world…..

Dr Rosen reveals the secret of Alphas

Score; 8.5 /10.
Viewer rating; 1.16 million.

This is the lowest rating for Alphas so far, the show should actually have been killed off with ratings as low as this but apparently SyFy Channel doesnlt have many other shows left so it is going to stick with this one. The show has a problem with its image, hardly anyone has heard of it (this in contradiction to Person of Interest and Terra Nova) and quite frankly few people care about the plot. I myself am indifferent as whether season two will actually be made. Its on for know by that can change quickly.

Preview of ‘Terra Nova’ and ‘Alphas’.

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Sep 262011

Tonight fans of scifi show will have yet again a full monday line up, but it will be one of the last weeks so.

First of, tonight is the final episode of the first season of Alphas. The episode is entitled ‘Orginal sin’ and the synopsis are as follows.

‘Dr.Rosen and his team must choose sides when Red Flag launches a full-out assault on the Department of Defense.’

So it would appear that Alphas will try and stay true to the idea of a first season ending by going out with a bang. That reminds me, I didn’t write a review of the last two episodes. That I will correct right now, though they will be short reviews.

Alphas episode 9 ‘Blind Spot’. This epside guest start Brent Spiner (Star Trek TNG). Dr Rosen and his team capture a doctor who has been experimenting with inducing Alpha abilities in unborn children. Quickly the team discovers he is an Alpha himself, he has the ability to see with sound despite being blind. However the team starts to see strange things and quikcly dedeuce another Alpha has penetrated their headquarters and has the ability to create blind spots in peoples perception and hide there. The invisible woman is a bounty hunter set to kill the doctor because he knows too much about Red Flagg (the pro-Alpha terrorist faction). I wont spoiler anymore but I will say this episode was good, it was sharp and daring and it paid off.

Score; 9/10
Viewer rating; 1.51 million.

Alphas episode 10 ‘The unusual suspects’. This episode brings back the character of Bill Harken who works for the DOD at the Binghamton institute. After a security breach in which old DOD employees from the 60′s were killed it is suepcted that the Alpha team of Dr Rosen has a spy. Depite Harken’s best efforts he doesn’t get anywhere with his interrogation. As a last desperate gamble he allwos them to escape in the hopes the traitor will reveal itself when he tries to erase the last traces of his stay at the Alpha team headquarters. This episode was a little less good than the one before it because some twists were a little bit predictable. Perhaps the writers sensed this because the ending suddenly turns into a brisk flow of revelations.

Score; 8.5/10.
Viewer rating; 1.39 million. These are pretty disasterous ratings, how the hell this show got renewed i do not know!

Alphas ‘Original sin’ Preview!

Terra Nova preview.

Terra nova is the new Steven spielberg scifi show, up to know the buzz has been mixed. Early reviews for the pilot are already out and they average about 8 out of 10. Personally I think a show like this can only succeed with a few Lost style mysteries, though I am not sure if the writers are capable of it. So far I have found the set design to be a little bit too hollywood like.

Alphas Renewed for second season!

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Sep 072011

Sorry dear readers for having been absent for more than a week and being a bit late with the customary triad of SyFy channel reviews but college has been hell at the moment and of course takes first priority.

Be sure to know that the Warehouse 13 review is still in the making but last weeks episodes of Eureka and Alphas were below par and could be rated mediocre rather of hand.

Speaking of mediocre I have the duty to report that Alphas starring David Strathairn and company has just been renewed for a another season of 13 episodes. The first season thus far has been a mixed bag of with some excellent but mostly mediocre episodes. The episodes that focus on the Alphas mythology have so far been the best and the ‘Rouge-Alpha’ of the week shows quite frankly have been rather derivative and boring. Somehow it doesn’t manage to be as exciting as when CSI is being derivative (which now almost every episode).

I’m happy that this show gets another chance but than again the options for the Syfy channel were slim with its competition breathing down it neck. However, the shows creative staff will need to pull every ounce of strength to make it to season 3.

Alphas will be back for the remainder of season 1 on the 12th of september

Alphas ‘Catch and release’ review!

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Aug 242011

This weeks episode of Alphas is entitled ‘Catch and release’ and guest stars Summer Glau (Terminator series) as an old Alpha team acquitance who has the ability to make astonishing things from electronics. After seeing this episode I can say that I really feel reinvigorated about this series, because ever since the episode ‘Rosetta stone’ it has been misses and before that things weren’t much better. The series revisits the Alpha team connections with government agencies and their struggle with a group of rouge alphas called ‘Red Flag’. This episode sees the Summer Glau character ‘Skylar’ being chased by NSA agents who suspect she has been using her skills to aid a foreign intelligence agency, Dr. Rosen seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place because on one side he wants to help Skylar from not being a government pawn and on the otherside he has to play ball with those government agencies.

In the meantime Gary has been kept at home by his mother who wants him to get another job and not be in harms way as he is with Dr. Rosen. The second half of the episode sees him in a comic situation where he tries to catch up with the Alpha team with the aid of a taxi cab.

Eventually the alpha team track Skylar down to a house in the countryside where she has been hiding her five year old daughter Zoe who with her Alpha ability is capable of making unbreakeble cyphers and decrypt existing ones. Here the plot seems somewhat similar to the Bruce Willis movie ‘Mercury Rising’ and this does take away a bit of the otherwise considerable plot development that takes place in this episode.

I have left out more than enough about the plot so as to not spoiler too much but suffice it to say that this episode was along with ‘Rosetta stone’ one of the best in the shows brief history. This show will need more such episode otherwise it will probably end up being killed off at the end of its first season. Bringing in guest stars also helps and Summer Glau’s appearance this week was just slick, her character immediately introduces sympathy which is more than I can say about the members of Dr. Rosen’s Alpha team. I have come to like Gary but the others are still a rollercoaster ride between like and dislike.

Viewers; 1.87 million. A marginal increase over last week and just five more episode to go.
Score; 8.5/10.

Next weeks episode preview!

Warehouse 13 and Alphas review!

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Aug 202011

I finally managed to get round finding time to write a review for this weeks episodes of Warehouse 13 and Alphas. Unfortunately, one reason why I delayed writing a review was that both episodes were mediocre as best this week. That’s why both reviews won’t be as extensive as normally as I have already described both shows shortcomings before and now like a perfect storm they found their way into these episodes.

Warehouse 13 ‘Don’t hate the player’ , starts of quite well, a geeky friend of Fargo (Eureka) anxiously calls up saying he can’t wake him and a friend from virtual reality. Pete, Myka and Claudia investigate and quickly discover the VR effect is enhanced with the use of an artifact. Pete and Claudia also go into the VR game to Fargo and his friend out, along the way coming into contact with their fantasy clones which in the case of Claudia is dresses in a rather skimpy outfit with details that are described by Pete as freckles. Things take a turn for the worst when they find out they can die in VR, luckily they are later helped out by Myka who is also sporting a tight skimpy outfit in VR (probably an attempt by the producers to make up for HG wells’ absence). In the end they manage to defeat the monster who is no other than the girlfriend of Fargo’s friend (two otherwise completely forgettable characters).

In the meantime Steve and Artie are on a art-artifact hunt that seems only mildly more interesting because its sets the storyline for the coming episodes.

The special effects to create the VR in the beginning quite good but as the episode progresses they get worse and become quite distracting, the acting is apart from a few well delivered one-liners nothing to write home about. This show suffers from the fact it isn’t just serious enough, mostly because of the premise which doesn’t make much sense. The drama that has been added this season makes up a little but it needs the synergy of good special effects, good plots that viewers care about and character development. Most of the time we aren’t getting this synergy and the show is marching off to jump the shark. That it got renewed for another season is a mystery that might best be investigated as a premise for an episode.

Score; 7/10.

Alphas ‘Bill and Gary’s Excellent Adventure’ , has at first sight the ingredients for an excellent episode. Both Gary and Bill are the most interesting characters of Alphas, this episode also sports a guest star with an interesting background and the premise is a hunt of an non-Alpha villain. Nevertheless the episode suffers from being dull….. i just can’t say it in any other way, the episode is mostly centered around Bill who wishes to catch some drug dealers in order to get into the good books with the FBI, but it just doesn’t work. The show’s writers perhaps hoped foolishly that a character motivated beyond good and evil would be interesting for a character who only sees good and evil. It merely undermines what has been built up over the past few weeks. The special effects for this episode are mediocre, the plot development is unsurprising and in fact I’m still having trouble remembering the names of the characters on this show. The episode got this seasons lowest viewer rating of Alphas so far, just 1.83 million. I’m pretty sure there won’t be a second season of Alphas.

Score; 6/10.

Next weeks previews, lets hope both shows will try harder.

Alphas ‘Never Let Me Go’ review!

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Aug 122011

‘Never let me go’ is the latest episode of Alphas. After last weeks excellent episode I was really anticipating this one as well. Though it is ultimately not as good as last weeks we do get to see the alphas formula starting to mature, and it doesn’t disappoint. The story is simple enough, there are unexplained deaths at a highschool and the Alpha team is sent to investigate. This week they got badges and they now belong to DCIS (DCIS!!!! as gary likes to put it). The episode is Rachel centric meaning we learn more about her families difficult history and her attempts to come to terms with her extraordinary nasal faculties. At first an attempt is made to exclude everyone else but Dr. Rosen and Rachel from this episode but eventually the rest of the gang does join when the investigation starts to center on a ‘Alpha’ suspect. In this episode we are also graced by the appearance of Dr. Vanessa Calder (played by Lindsay Wagner), a crossover character from Warehouse 13.

Though the episode focusses on Rachel and tries to give more backstory there was however a deluge of information at the end, and I don’t think I took in every detail. I hope the show will revisit some of Rachel’s sensitivities to other Alpha powers otherwise it might alienate viewers if they are in the future suddenly brought forward,

Though I wont spoiler the story any further this episode does have some hit and miss elements. One definite miss is the setting, which with its sunny provincial colouring does not add any suspense to the story. In fact, since we have departed from the urban setting for several episodes one can only assume that the budget for the show is tight. The hits however outshine the misses. The special effects that shows the affliction people suffer from Alpha attack is very good and very creepy. The story keeps viewers guessing the exact alpha skill used by the antagonist, this is done deliberately because otherwise this show would have problems with Alpha skills becoming a sort of ‘deus ex machina’.

Score; 8/10.

Next week’s Alphas preview…. ‘Bill And Gary’s Excellent Adventure’.

Next week will see the guest appearance of Alaine Huffman, whom we now from Stargate Universe as T.J.

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