DJariya

By djariya at 2011-06-23

Synopsis:



Episode 11 of 11

Already renewed for a 2nd season for next summer. I haven't seen too many comments recently. Who's managed to still keep up with this week to week? I've enjoyed this 1st season alot. I'm actually glad it's over now because of the networks eatings up most of the viewers.

TheKing

Looks like they're going with an X-Men type of scenario with the end of the episode exposing the Alphas to the public. Heroes ended in virtually the same way, never getting a chance to show what happened when everything was exposed.

Mysteryfan

I thought it was a decent 1st season although it took time to warm up to the characters. Will be interesting to see where they go from here.

PhantomStranger

This is the type of show where an 11-episode season really hurts the narrative momentum. You get into the plot and characters just as the season ends. Many viewers simply do not come back the next year. SyFy needs to rethink their split-season strategy for genre shows.

Cellar Door

Great episode! The combat action in the warehouse was pretty good. I loved Dr. Rosen's scene at the end, and the twist with his daughter was nice. I'm sorry they killed off Anna, though. I thought she was a cool character.

Fist of Doom

Great finale to a strong season. Once the bullets started flying in the warehouse, I figured the gang would go rogue somehow. Nice to hear the show got renewed.

(Somebody at SyFy must like Kathleen Munroe. This is the fourth of their shows she's guested in).

Cellar Door

Yeah, I remembered her from SGU and from one of the really bad recent Dead movies.

Shady12

Really dug this and I'm not a fan of 'super hero' type stuff.

Rex Fenestrarum

That would be me. I started this show because of the "nothing else on in the summer" thing, and while it was OK... I don't think I'll be back.

aaronalive

Just finished it. That was a fantastic finale. Liked the season a good bit. I got behind and have been really busy, and it got pushed back on my viewing, but it ended up getting better and better each episode. Glad it will be back for a 2nd season.

SiberianLlama

I agree. I enjoyed Alphas all season, but really think the last 2-3 episodes really picked it up.

DJariya

Just finished this yesterday. Pretty solid finale. It looks like John Pyper-Ferguson is going to be the big baddie next season.

It was pretty insane when the bullets started flying around the Warehouse and Anna ended up dying. I liked Rosen's speech at the end.

DJariya

What makes you think that? SyFy airs this during the summer when their is less competition and I have no problem with 11 episodes. Next season the show is getting 13.

I just read a few weeks ago that Eureka's showrunner will be taking over this series next season since Eureka already wrapped production on their final season.

PhantomStranger

An expansive fictional universe like Alphas needs more than eleven episodes to lay a solid foundation with viewers before going off the air for a long hiatus. It's one of the huge problems I have with British television and their abbreviated seasons for complex dramas.

The only reasons cable networks have moved to shortened seasons is financial gain.

DJariya

It's not all about financial gain. Cable advertising revenue is alot less than broadcast. As you can probably tell on shows like Alphas and other SyFy series, the budgets are alot smaller than network TV. Hence, they can't afford to produce 22-24 episodes during one fiscal period (Summer). There were a few exceptions like Battlestar Galactica and Sanctuary, but those had split seasons with very long gaps and their production budgets were allocated to different fiscal periods.

But, I understand your point. For a rookie drama like this, 11 hours isn't enough time to get really invested in the show and characters.

Thrush

I dont like the sound of that.

PhantomStranger

Have to agree on that, I dropped Eureka after the second or third season.

DJariya

Different strokes, but the 4th season of Eureka (20 eps over the last 2 summers), which just finished airing a month ago was fantastic. Alot of us who follow it here thought season 4 was great.

http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/873...howrunner.html

According to this story, they are going to start shooting season 2 soon for a Spring 2012 launch.

sven

Couldn't possibly disagree more. Network drama's suffer greatly because their seasons are too long and there is just far too much filler and horrible storylines thrown in just to waste time.

10-13 episodes work way better for this type of show.

aaronalive

Agreed, I enjoy a 10-13 episode season. Thought it worked fantastic for Alphas, and I like the show, so I'll be ready for it, when it comes back.

wmansir

Sounds like y'all like the show. I watched the pilot and thought it was OK, but didn't really get drawn in.

Were any of you on the fence like me? Did it significantly improve over the pilot? Did they pay off some of the darker, subversive elements hinted at in the pilot?

aaronalive

Each episode gets better. Some of the later episodes have a darker tone. I'd say its worth the time checking it out.