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ALIAS. Week three showed us where the series can be. Week four went back to where it was.

Week three, directed by the man who brought us the flick HARD RAIN, was the best thus far. It contained the best action scene so far, too. Basically, I think, because it wasn't just Syd swinging her long legs around. There was a suspense to the whole thing.

I thought the spy-vs.-spy stuff was terrific. (Even though they could have done a better job of casting the other role.) The CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, girl-on-girl fight scene was inevitable, but it's still good fun.

All this worked best because they gave the enemy a face; normally it's just Syd beating the snot out of big, anonymous guys.

I think the writers might be pushing the Syd-Will relationship too hard. Sure, it's obvious they want each other and that it might happen, but having them kiss now is TOO SOON. It looks bad for both of them.

Week four's episode had the flimsiest plot so far. When it's all first rushing by you, it sounds like a lot is going on. But it's really a setup -- an excuse -- for next week's episode. Filled with three fight scenes, it appears full, but when you stop and think back on it you realize nothing much has happened.

ALIAS is still Jennifer Garner's showcase. She brings unbelievable feeling to what is more or less a comic book. It could be that I recently lost someone close to me, but when Jennifer was crying on the pier, baring her soul to a man she hardly knows, the emotion leaking out faster than the tears, it hit me hard. She's also extraordinary at the duality of the project. She shuffles from ass-kicking, bomb-deactivating spy-gal to table talk with her girlfriend like the two SHOULD go together. Though the idea sounds like a ploy, having Syd be a grad student with a normal life is what makes this show what it is. It brings an answer to the question I always had: what do superheroes do in their off time? According to this, they do exactly what we're doing. And having Syd be a caring, normal gal -- a good friend and a great person -- makes it a lot easier to fall for her. Jennifer Garner is sweet as all hell, with talent to burn, and I can't wait to see where her career goes after this.

J.J. Abrams is a shrewd man. He has calibrated the show to give the viewer exactly what they're expecting. Each show follows the same formula and it's a strict regime: plot, fight, emotion, normal life, etc. It works, now, because of its star, but they might want to broaden things if they want to last.

It's still a pretty engaging show that is such a gleeful distraction from life that it's hard not to get on the bus. It's like the cliffhangers they end each episode with: they always turn out to be totally pointless, but they are still great fun nonetheless.

From: DARWIN LOOKS AT THE TV LINEUP: PART II