Alias Season 3 [DVD]

I had watched seasons 1&2 and it left me wanting to watch more. Season 3 is definitely worth purchasing.

***This review may contain spoilers, if you have not seen through season 3 of Alias and do not wish to know of plot points up to that point I recommend that you stop reading now!***Alias was never a massive hit, but it did respectable numbers. During its first season it carried approximately 9.7 million viewers. The second season saw a slight drop down to an average of 9 million viewers per episode. The critical acclaim, steady numbers, devoted cult following, and ABC's want to turn the series into a bigger success led to Alias gaining a coveted spot airing after Super Bowl XXVII. The result is that Alias obtained the biggest numbers it would see during its run with an audience of 17.3 million viewers. Unfortunately, it only retained 19% of the Super Bowl viewers and it would be noted as the lowest rating ever for a post-Super Bowl show since 1987.Despite the low numbers (which most likely had more to do with how dense the mythology of the show can be rather than quality) the post-Super Bowl episode was critically acclaimed, and marked something of a reboot for the series. With "Phase One" we watched as the underground criminal organization SD-6 was taken down and Sidney became a full-fledged CIA agent. Will Tippin started working as an analyst after being ostracized for a drug addiction SD-6 framed him for, and Sidney and Michael Vaughn are now able to bring their relationship full circle. But as we saw with the season 2 finale, this was just an appetizer.Sidney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) wakes up in the middle of Shanghai wondering how she ended up there after her fight with `fake' Francie (Merrin Dungey). After contacting the CIA Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) finds her in Shanghai and tells her that she's been missing for two years. Furthermore, Vaughn has quit the CIA and is married, Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper) is in hiding, and Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) has been pardoned by the government and is now known to the world as a humanitarian and philanthropist. Now Sidney must find out what happened during her two lost years and try to take down another organization, The Covenant, who may be responsible for her disappearance.There's an interesting subtext to the third season of Alias. Naturally, this season having been released during the 2003-2004 season, there is a subplot dealing with government agencies wielding large sums of unchecked power. Much like what we've seen in the "War on Terror" from 2001 to present, the agency NSC (National Security Council) in Alias uses illegal interrogation techniques and holds prisoners for unlimited amounts of time without representation. While the previous seasons dealt more with social commentary, this season delves a little more into political commentary without being pushy or preachy as some shows often do.That's not to say that the social context is thrown out the window. The relationships between the characters are as tortured and complex as ever. Sidney's relationship with Sloane becomes complicated by the fact that she wants him dead and the NSC and CIA need him. Add that to the fact that now Sloane is working as a mole for the CIA within The Covenant and Sidney is his handler, echoing Sidney's work as a mole within Sloane's SD-6. Jack Bristow continues trying to build his relationship while walking a gray line to protect her at all costs. The most complicated relationship once again becomes the relationship between Sidney and Michael as they maintain their love for each other but are unable to act on it. There's also an interesting plot later in the season dealing with a missing daughter who might be the key to a Rambaldi riddle.Once again I find myself pleasantly surprised by the acting. Jennifer Garner always surprises me with her chops in this series, making the audience feel her emotions and empathize with her. I lament the lack of Bradley Cooper in the series, but his absence works within the narrative, especially considering the new characters added to the series. Melissa George plays Vaughn's wife, and as Sidney's "sparring" partner she does a great job keeping up. Kurt Fuller oozes duplicity as the head of the NSC, something he always specializes in. There are also some brilliant cameos with bit parts from director David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises), Griffin Dunne (After Hours), Justin Theroux (American Psycho), Richard Roundtree (Shaft), and Ricky Gervais (The Office) among others. Alias is a smorgasbord of great performances.Even as we delve deeper into the mythology of Alias the focus remains on the human story, which is why what Abrams has created works so well. I have to admit that I do miss some of the elements of the previous seasons. Sidney no longer has a personal life outside of the people she knows at the CIA as she did in season one, and the agencies that represented a threat previously have completely gone to the wayside even though they were previously on the Rambaldi path as well. If anything, though, this show has done something special and risks have been taken in switching up the formula that most shows wouldn't normally take.4.5/5Be sure to check out:  Armadillo & Sands: Intellectual Properties at Work !

I like everything about the show....do well casted!!

I believe I never missed an episode when 1st aired on TV and have been waiting a long time for the price to go down on "Prime". Now about $11 per series. I watched it mostly because of Jennifer Gardner (beauty and acting) but the other many characters were outstanding and have had or gone on to further success on TV and/or movies. Great plots and twists/turns/tricks. Looking forward to watching it again -- which will be hard given all the wonderful spy/CIA/paranormal/science fiction/etc. series on SyFi, CW22, etc. in past and this year. I have trouble keeping up AND CAN'T.By the way -- sign up for Amazon Prime -- even as the price goes up to $99/year. It has over 40,000 movies and TV series and many are free. A discount for those that are not. I'm trying to get my wife to quit Netflix (no need for it anymore).

I have really enjoyed the experience of seeing this complete series from the pilot to the final episode over this summer. I've also read some of the books that went along with the series. There are some things that I do need to comment upon. I'd actually like to meet just one person, man or woman who could tolerate the physical beatings delivered in some of these scenes and even act like they were going to get back up and keep fighting. And of course, the good guys all need to spend some time on the shooting range, because they can't the a bull in the ass with a base fiddle on a good day. They let loose a 15 shot clip right at the bad guys and miss all of them. Oh well, it was still entertaining.

Product shipped was as described and arrived when expected.For "Alias", continuity is needed, or it makes no sense.

This season of Alias is probably the best one in my opinon.The only reason it is different then the last two seasons is because they advance the story in a big way.There is a new big bad,Vaughn is married,Marshall is haveing a baby and Jack is locked up.You find all of this out in the first episode.The twists are insane,Jack is better than ever and Weiss gets alot more screen time.This season in very entertaining,Pretty much everything is wraped up in the finale,And it does a good job at leaving good cliffhangers to carry you into season 4.The cliffhanger in the last scene doesn't tell you much,But enough to make you wonder just what the hell is going on now.Sydney can't catch a break to save her life.Great season and hope season 4 is better.I'm getting it now!

I didn't know this series existed until recently. Better late than never! Great Show

I love the Alias TV series so I had to have my own copy to be able to watch it anytime. However, I am disappointed with the quality of the discs. Below are some of the issues I noticed:1) There is skipping at the start of each episode. I confirmed by testing an older copy of the discs that it is a "factory defect" with the pressing because the skipping is exactly the same during the first few seconds of each episode. A workaround I discovered is to allow the skipping to happen then press the "rewind to start of chapter" button on your remote controller. The show will start from the beginning with no skipping. It is just annoying that you have to do this for each episode if you want to avoid the skipping. I noticed the same issue in Seasons Two, Three, and Four (to a lesser extent with Season Four).2) Although I bought this box set brand new, some discs I received have fingerprints and scuffs. I believe that this issue is due to the quality control of Buena Vista Home Video because there are no issues with other DVDs and blu-ray discs that I bought from Amazon if they were released by a different studio.Since I am giving 5 stars to the show and 1 star for the quality of the discs, my overall rating is 3 stars.

Perfect condition and fast shipping

Alias is still one of the best spy series ever, especially if you're tired of the gratuitous sexy and violence that have become the norm in recent years. Alias is good clean fun for mature viewers who want to be entertained without being disgusted.

The product came within the expected date and it was in good condition and all the DVD worked beautifully.

Excellent product quality and theme. Delivery as specified.