Alphas to Omegas

Hello everyone! As per usual, I’ve been watching many many movies and tv shows, so I thought I would tell you about some of them. The one pictured above is a newcomer this season called “Alphas”. The best way to summarize it is to say: This is how Heroes should have been.

Alphas focuses on a group of people with extraordinary gifts, neuropsychological in nature. I think Alphas does a really good job of making their gifts believeable, instead of Heroes’ sometimes outlandish powers.

Sure, you’ve still got to suspend your disbelief, but it’s much easier with Alphas because it’s not as stylized. It’s more of a procedural show, with the team getting wind of an Alpha and working together to either protect them, or take them out.

The themes of the show are pretty consistent too. The Alphas team works for the US government, (which I think is pretty realistic: if there were such people, we all know how the government would react – assimilate or destroy). And this is essentially the reaction pictured in the show. Either the Alphas work for the team, or the government ships them away to the dreaded Alpha prison: Binghampton. There’s always the fear of being sent there.

Nevertheless, rogue Alphas band together, most notably in the “terrorist” group called Red Flag. Throughout the course of the season, you gradually discover what Red Flag is all about (Alpha supremacy…duh) and who their leaders are. While I think that the idea of superhuman supremacy might be a bit overused, it certainly works within the context of the show.

Also, there are the Alphas who just don’t want to get involved, want to live their lives in peace. This is where I get into characters.

The characters are all deeply fascinating to watch. The ones with gifts especially, because along with the neurological anomaly that causes their gift, also comes a downside, sometimes pretty harsh ones. There is one character who can see and manipulate the entire electro-magnetic spectrum, but is also slightly autistic. Another can enhance her senses immensely, but only one at a time, and she also has issues with confidence. These downsides give the audience some quirks to love, and some room for the characters to grow and develop.

Then we come to the guest stars. In its first season, Alphas has the luck to have some really big guest stars, in the realm of science fiction anyway. In one memorable episode, Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles) plays an Alpha who constructs super-awesome gizmos. In another, Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays an Alpha who is blind but can see through sonic/seismic waves which he controls. In the same episode, Rebecca Mader (LOST) plays an assassin working for a mysterious employer, who can slip into natural blind spots to turn invisible.

In terms of the first season, there are eleven episodes. I was a little worried that it might be cancelled, but the show is on Syfy, so it’s not necessarily cancelled…yet. I really hope it’s not, because I like it a lot. It took Alphas eleven episodes to get where it took Heroes four seasons. The last episode was particularly good, and if it is cancelled, I guess it would make an acceptable place to stop.

But, I would still be mad.

Alphas’ main characters are all relatively fresh talent, and from what I’ve seen so far, I’m loving it. So if you get a chance, I definitely recommend that you check it out.

More on movies and books later. Junior Varsity out.