Even though Syfy's decision to delay their announcemnt on the fate of Alphas was never an auspicious sign, and most of us were already expecting the worst, it still stung to hear yesterday that the network was canceling the super-powered series after only two seasons. It's always sad to lose a quality genre TV series, especially on a network that "imagines greater" than other channels, but here's why we're going to miss the "born this way" mutant adventure series, Alphas, in particular.
Yes, like the title states, cliffhangers blow. They blow hard. Even on shows that we're not big fans of, lack of closure can be frustrating. ABC's V wasn't as strong as Alphas, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't diabolically discouraging for them to go out on a very similarly staged cliffhanger as Alphas; everyone collapsing to the ground with no resolution or hint at what the world of the show will be like once/if they get up and recover.
Alphas, about a team of superhumans, led by David Stathairn's Dr. Lee Rosen, had much improved in its second season, leading us to a big showdown in last October's finale between Rosen's group and the Civil War-era madman, Stanton Parish. And while Rosen and his heroes might have saved the day (still with a surprising amount of collateral damage), Parish's device went off and rendered our players unconscious, with Rosen's life actually in the balance.
It's not that we don't want to be on the edges of our seats, or not have something to look forward to the following season, but sometimes showrunners take a gamble and go for the big "Tune in next time..." heart-stopper when the ratings suggest that their series might not exactly make it to "next time." So does that mean all writing teams, with shows on the bubble, must continuously give us finales that could also work as a series finale? I don't know. I don't have an answer. But that sounds a bit exhausting and not that much fun.
It's not an easy thing contractually (and often, from a business perspective, doesn't make a lot of financial sense if the show was already low-rated) to bring the cast and crew of a cancelled series back for any kind of wrap up movie, but come on... Unresolved storylines suuuuuuuuuuuck.
Okay, this one isn't really that all that fair since Glau wasn't a series regular - although (sigh...), it seems like she could have been in Season 3 based on the end of the season. Regardless - dammit! - we'd still want this actress, who's so beloved for her sci-fi series (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), to be on a show that lasts! A sci-fi fantasy show, that is. Okay, I suppose The 4400, which lasted four seasons, counts against the supposed theory of Glau being a total showkiller. And The Unit counts, I guess, as a TV show. But not a genre TV show. Which now makes me imagine The Unit as being a totally different series, filled with spaceships and laser lizards.
We don't even have Glau's crime-fighting dog series, Scent of the Missing (not joking at all), to look forward to since TNT passed on the pilot. It also starred BSG's Trisha Helfer (still not joking).
One of the things that was always apparent when you watched Alphas was that it was basically X-Men; with many of the same archtypes from the comics in play. Creator Zak Penn (story on X2, screenplay on X-Men: The Last Stand) didn't exactly journey very far for his inspiration, but I still say that Alphas being a TV version of X-Men wasn't a criticism. Because it was a TV VERSION OF X-MEN!
Do we have an X-Men TV show? Nope. Will we ever? Maybe. But if so, it's years off. This show had it's own Professor X, Magneto, Jean Grey, Colossus, and many more tweaked versions of abilities from the comics we adore. Plus, Alphas was grounded. It was one of those projects that took fantastical elements and tried, Nolan-style, to tether them to a relatable world. Make them real. There was always a biological reason for someone's ability. For example, the invisible assassin Lost's Rebecca Mader played in one episode wasn't exactly invisible. She had the ability to manipulate others' eyes and effect their peripheral blind spots.
So some may have griped that the parallels between Alphas and X-Men were too parallel-ish, but I think most reveled in the fact that we were watching an attempt at a more real world version of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
No more Alphas means no more Gary. 'Nuff said.
British actor Ryan Cartwright gave a remarkable, transformative performance as an autistic character who not only needed to learn to use his abilities to solve crimes, but also work with others and adapt to environments and timetables that were way out of his comfort zone and schedule. And Gary, in his authentic way, was touching, loving and fun. Especially when paired up with Malik Yoba's mighty, adrenaline-fueled Bill.
And speaking of performances, while the entire cast was strong (including Cartwright, Yoba, Warren Christie, Azita Ghanizada and Laura Mennell), the Oscar-nominated David Strathairn was always amazing to watch. As Rosen, he gave the show a much-needed gravity, playing a caring man who sometimes used questionable tactics.
One of the things that Alphas decided to do in its second season was move its main characters past some of the ability-related roadblocks in their lives. When you think of an X-Man having a powerful gift with extreme drawbacks, one's mind easily conjures up Rogue. Now imagine a team full of Rogues. Bill's heart was the key to his super strength, but it could also kill him. Ghanizada's Rachel was unable to have an intimate relationship because of her hyper-senses. Erin Way's Kat could learn anything, Taskmaster-style, but couldn't hold onto her actual memories longer than a month. In fact, one episode in Season 2 was entirely devoted to the team having to track down one of their own, Mennell's Nina, because her power to control others had sent her off on a self-destructive path.
So Alphas did a fantastic job of showing us heroes who we didn't automatically envy because of their crazy abilities. Most of the time, they could barely get a handle on their powers themselves. A large part of X-Men: First Class was Xavier teaching his team to harness their full potential. Now imagine that spread out over several seasons. It made for some mighty fine TV, for the two years we got it.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and on IGN at mattfowler. No other choice you will ever make will be as easy and render such a great reward.
Source : ign[dot]com
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