The early 2000s saw a significant shift in the portrayal of female leads on television. Gone was the one-dimensional damsel-in-distress trope, making space for empowered female protagonists who were allowed to be flawed and multi-dimensional.
Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer defined this character template in the late ‘90s, emerging as an iconic and relatable lead who embraced both strength and vulnerability. Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls), Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Battlestar Galactica), and Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars) followed in Buffy’s footsteps, bringing much-needed depth and complexity to female character writing.
Jennifer Garner’s Sydney Bristow from Alias, which ran from 2001 to 2006, is also a part of this wave. Created by J.J. Abrams three years before the genre-defying Lost, Alias was well-received by critics and audiences alike, praised for its unique genre blend and electrifying pacing. If you’ve been meaning to catch up on a somewhat underrated spy thriller series with dazzling action, you’ll be pleased to know that all five seasons of Alias are streaming for free on Pluto TV.
What is Jennifer Garner’s Alias about?
Alias follows Sydney (Garner), a CIA double agent posing as an operative for SD-6, a criminal espionage organization. The pilot immediately establishes the heightened stakes, opening with a grisly murder and Sydney stumbling upon a secret connected to her family. She comes to realize that her goal is to destroy SD-6 from the inside out, which is easier said than done, given their international influence.
The initial seasons follow Sydney’s attempts to navigate her dangerous double life, while sharing a complicated relationship with her father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). Sydney’s journalist best friend, Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), also emerges as an emotional anchor amid the chaos. Episodes would typically ramp up in action and end with a weekly cliffhanger, giving Alias a breakneck pacing that goes hand in hand with its sprawling mythos.
For instance, one major plotline revolves around Milo Rambaldi, a 15th-century philosopher whose prophecies are integral to Sydney’s present. The SD-6’s obsession with Rambaldi’s inventions grants the series a retro-futuristic edge, as a blend of the past and the future becomes the key to understanding concepts like automatism and immortality.
Alias perfected the art of being a complex drama under the guise of a spy thriller
Alias often gets lost in the shuffle or overshadowed (Kiefer Sutherland’s 24 was also airing on Fox in 2001), but its strengths lie in its willingness to reinvent itself. The moment you think you have the show figured out, the narrative shapeshifts to throw the most unexpected red herrings at the audience or take surprising detours. This is a spy show modeled on the formal structure of The X-Files and some aspects of Abrams’ college drama Felicity, but Alias also feels fresh and unconventional in its lore.
The Rambaldi plotline alone, which functions as a compelling MacGuffin, allows the show to subvert expectations associated with a slick, fast-paced spy thriller. To think that covert operatives with access to cutting-edge gadgets are devoted to medieval prophecies is a novel idea that lets a grounded story take an extremely eccentric turn. This mix between real-world espionage and Rambaldi’s astounding “artifacts” might’ve felt jarring in a show with shoddy writing, but Alias makes perfectly good use of this blend.
The primary draw of the show, however, is Sydney Bristow. Garner delivers a star-making performance as early as the pilot, which establishes Sydney as an exceptionally gifted agent with deep empathy towards people. Fluent in over 20 languages, with expertise in data analysis and psychological warfare, Sydney switches between effortless disguises to carry out dangerous missions.
There is immense depth to her outside of her professional competence, of course, as Sydney’s core persona is also challenged throughout the course of the series. Characters like CIA handler Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) and former SD-6 leader Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) push Sydney towards ethical dilemmas that are tricky to navigate despite her indomitable moral compass.
If Alias isn’t a run-of-the-mill spy show with a strong lead, how does the series stand out? Mark Cotta Vaz’s Alias: Declassified: The Complete Companion explains that Alias is “about a screwed-up family who happens to be spies,” and how that affects the world around them. “That’s the disguise — this is about a dysfunctional family,” Vaz states, touching on the multifaceted guiding principles that drive the show. If this piques your interest apart from the show’s expectedly brilliant action, Alias might be worth a shot.
Alias is streaming on Pluto TV.
