Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What I’m Watching: Alphas


Alphas: Season 1, Episode 4 “Rosetta” (B+)

The opening action sequence alone was reason enough to watch this episode. I love the way the score is used on this show to enhance the more exciting scenes. What was especially cool about this episode was the way that it gave Gary someone to relate to, something with whom only he could communicate. This show does a magnificent job of visualizing these Alphas’ powers, particularly with Gary, and watching him get knocked out thanks to an information overload was a strong instance of that. Their communications were the most interesting part of the show, aside from Dr. Rosen’s clear sympathy with the Alphas, which makes him an effective lead character. It didn’t seem that Agent Wilson was all that much more open-minded than Agent Sullivan in terms of their perception of the Alphas as a separate race not deserving of the same rights, but I think that Agent Sullivan is layered enough as a character not to categorically shut down the progressive stance advocated for by Dr. Rosen. This Red Flag organization, however, does represent an interesting threat very similar to that of Magneto in the X-Men universe, someone driven to believe in the superiority of his breed because of the discrimination his people have received from those dubbed normal in society. This show is still only a few episodes into its run, and I’m confident that this will become an extraordinarily intriguing part of the show, which so far has produced some great episodes and has plenty of potential left in it.

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