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So, I just watched Syfy's "Alphas" ...
...and it was surprisingly enjoyable! I'm definitely in and excite for the next episode!
(click pic to download pilot episode)
I already love Nina (above: bottom middle). Laura Minnell has been on my radar since an episode of the 4400 she did where she was absolutely mesmerizing, so I'm thrilled to get to watch her being glam and sexy with an undercurrent of vulnerability on a weekly basis. Nina's ability no doubt means that she's done some shady, shady shit in her past so Minnell should get some nice dramatic moments.
I also really like the Rachel (above: top right) character. I feel she's the most accessible, the most normal of the group so far and already relate to her.
Based on nothing but prettiness and the fact that I like both of the characters, I'm also already shipping Nina/Rachel.
I've never really liked Strathairin, but I thought that he was pretty tolerable here so that's nice. I was expecting to constantly be annoyed by him, but while the Dr. Rosen (above: top middle) character is a bit overly quirky, I didn't have a problem with the actor or the character.
Bill (above: bottom right) is a bit abrasive as a character, but I like that the show acknowledged it and that it's a point clearly set up for character development rather than bad writing making a character intolerable. I would have reacted the same way as Rachel to him eating part of my muffin! Somewhat OT, but not too much: Does anyone know if Bill's wife was played by Rachael Crawford (a.k.a. Petra from When Night is Falling)? It looked like her, but I'm not sure.
Gary (above: bottom left) was interesting and pretty funny at times, but I see the potential for this character to get old really fast if the writers aren't careful. I liked him though, and I enjoyed the characters interactions with pretty much every member of the principle cast (especially Bill and Nina) so that's good. His power is the most WTF out of all of them though.
And finally Hicks (above: top left). I feel like this is the character I'm going to be the most 'whatev's' about. The actor has a nice, quite strength kind of quality thing going on, but I see the potential for this character to be hogging up a lot of screen time while pretty much every other member of the team seems more interesting than him. I don't want this show to be all about Cameron Hicks man!pain. I'm reserving judgement, but I can feel the side-eye gearing up.
Overall, I think what I liked most was how real things felt (which is saying something on a show about superpowers). I liked that all of the powers had side-effects/limits/drawbacks (i.e. Rachel's other senses becoming basically useless when she super-heightens a particular one, and Bill suffering major fatigue if he uses his strength for too long, etc.) I also really enjoyed the team dynamic and the different and interesting ways the characters interacted which other.
I'm officially looking forward to episode 2.
(click pic to download pilot episode)
I already love Nina (above: bottom middle). Laura Minnell has been on my radar since an episode of the 4400 she did where she was absolutely mesmerizing, so I'm thrilled to get to watch her being glam and sexy with an undercurrent of vulnerability on a weekly basis. Nina's ability no doubt means that she's done some shady, shady shit in her past so Minnell should get some nice dramatic moments.
I also really like the Rachel (above: top right) character. I feel she's the most accessible, the most normal of the group so far and already relate to her.
Based on nothing but prettiness and the fact that I like both of the characters, I'm also already shipping Nina/Rachel.
I've never really liked Strathairin, but I thought that he was pretty tolerable here so that's nice. I was expecting to constantly be annoyed by him, but while the Dr. Rosen (above: top middle) character is a bit overly quirky, I didn't have a problem with the actor or the character.
Bill (above: bottom right) is a bit abrasive as a character, but I like that the show acknowledged it and that it's a point clearly set up for character development rather than bad writing making a character intolerable. I would have reacted the same way as Rachel to him eating part of my muffin! Somewhat OT, but not too much: Does anyone know if Bill's wife was played by Rachael Crawford (a.k.a. Petra from When Night is Falling)? It looked like her, but I'm not sure.
Gary (above: bottom left) was interesting and pretty funny at times, but I see the potential for this character to get old really fast if the writers aren't careful. I liked him though, and I enjoyed the characters interactions with pretty much every member of the principle cast (especially Bill and Nina) so that's good. His power is the most WTF out of all of them though.
And finally Hicks (above: top left). I feel like this is the character I'm going to be the most 'whatev's' about. The actor has a nice, quite strength kind of quality thing going on, but I see the potential for this character to be hogging up a lot of screen time while pretty much every other member of the team seems more interesting than him. I don't want this show to be all about Cameron Hicks man!pain. I'm reserving judgement, but I can feel the side-eye gearing up.
Overall, I think what I liked most was how real things felt (which is saying something on a show about superpowers). I liked that all of the powers had side-effects/limits/drawbacks (i.e. Rachel's other senses becoming basically useless when she super-heightens a particular one, and Bill suffering major fatigue if he uses his strength for too long, etc.) I also really enjoyed the team dynamic and the different and interesting ways the characters interacted which other.
I'm officially looking forward to episode 2.
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Keeping my fingers crossed it stays good so you'll have a fun marathon in the future :D
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And Cameron really is one big "meh". Everyone on the team is more interesting and than him. I really hope the show stays an ensemble and doesn't turn into the Cameron Hicks show.
I started to watch Harper's Island, but I think I went away and missed some episodes and then never picked it up again. I'm downloading on your rec though (and my love for Elaine Cassidy!)
Callum Keith Rennie (aka Agent the Doc talks to) always play shifty ass characters. I think may once I've seen him play a character that wasn't evil/suspicious and/or a jerk. CKR is really good a playing shady characters though, so this guy should be interesting.
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Cameron Phillips? Unless the other characters begin packing serious firepower, learn some very good fighting strategies and/or discover her electricity weakness, she'll bulldoze everyone in her path.
The most powerful of the Alphas we've encountered are the ones who can influence others, and those guys are going to be completely useless against her. Sounds like it could be awesome!
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Though seeing her on mission could be priceless. They get a report to apprehend someone. Cameron just marshes in while the others are telling her to wait. Then 5 minutes later she returns with the unconscious body of their suspect.
Then they can make it an on going joke that Cameron has let the others go a head of her a few minutes in advance just so they don't feel so useless.
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Sidenote: While I recognize it's a very effective way for a pilot to go about explaining the premise, I AM SO TIRED OF THE "THRU THE EYES OF THE NEWBIE" clichè. It's such a sloppy, boring way to excuse the stops and starts that go with explaining your plot and characters while highlighting that your aforementioned newbie is almost always the main character, aka the character the camera follows the most. Lame. I don't mind him all that much but I just don't find the actor who plays Hicks all that charismatic, or leading man-worthy, and setting him up the way the pilot did just telegraphed how much this should just be an ensemble show, not Cameron's Adventures in Alphaland. Also, I don't know if they purposely set Strathairin up as the straight man/human against all the Alphas to avoid X-Men comparisons, but I really wish they woulda made him special in some way, besides just randomly eccentric. I really enjoy the actor, but he just came off as the zookeeper/shrink/warden to the Alphas animals/nutjobs/convicts.
Maybe that was just me, and maybe the second episode will calm all these down with its non-pilotness, and I can only hope. :)
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*applauds* Me too! Audiences really aren't so dumb that you can't just start off with an established team and let us get to know them as the episodes go on.
I don't mind him all that much but I just don't find the actor who plays Hicks all that charismatic, or leading man-worthy
This! I found him to be the most boring of the main cast. It's so very beige. I cared about all of the main characters and wanted to know more about them all EXCEPT for Hicks.
but I really wish they woulda made him special in some way
Are we sure he's not special in some way? I know nothing was specified in the pilot, but I got the impression that he might be like an empath or something. Could be just wishful thinking though.
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Here hoping it's not Heroes 2.0, but then again I'm not sure how much shows can be the great letdown that is Heroes. If it's No Ordinary Family level, then that's good enough for me. Though I'm pretty sure no character on this series will come close to the awesomeness that is Autumn Reeser of NOF.
The peak of superhero shows will always be Avatar: The Last Airbender if that series can qualify as a superhero show. That show by far has probably the best cast of characters I've ever seen. When a flying Bison and a big eared winged lemur who don't even talk are more interesting and watchable than the majority of characters on TV, you know that's a tough cast of characters to beat.
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This. I honestly cannot remember a show going from awesome to the suckiest suck as fast as Heroes. I'm seeing that some thought has gone into this so far, so I'm thinking we won't have Heroes v2.0 on our hands here.
The peak of superhero shows will always be Avatar: The Last Airbender if that series can qualify as a superhero show.
I don't know if it can count as a superhero show, but it was certainly a fantastic, amazing, awesome show.
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Yeah the first season of Heroes was basically just one big build up, and it lead to something very disappointing.
I don't know if it can count as a superhero show, but it was certainly a fantastic, amazing, awesome show.
Definitely. May have been more of a fantasy show, but easily one of the best shows in recent memory. Wasn't just a great cast, but one of those rare shows that's consistently good throughout. Those are just the advantages when your creators actually have a plan for the whole series and not simply milk a premise until it gets cancelled.
It really says something when I love the animal characters who only make brief appearances more than most TV characters. For example Hawky. I love that hawk and was sad we didn't get to see him return to the team. He and Sokka had a great dynamic.
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When a witness is inexplicably murdered in a locked room at a federal courthouse, Dr. Lee Rosen is put on the case. He leads a team of "Alphas", human beings with enhanced abilities due to differences in their brain structure: Gary Bell, a highly functioning autistic with an ability to process information that rivals most computers; Bill Harken, a former FBI agent who can amp up his "fight or flight" reflex, giving him extraordinary strength for a brief period of time; Nina Theroux, a beautiful woman who can reprogram other people's minds to do as she bids; and Rachel Pirzad, a sheltered Persian girl who can intensify one sense at the expense of the others. However, with said powers comes a price - for Gary, autism which makes him a child for all intents and purposes; for Harken, severe anger issues that cost him his job and family; for Rachel, struggling to overcome her parents shame at her "illness"; and Nina, never really knowing how those close to her actually feel. In any case, they've all come together for the common good with Rosen as their mentor, teaching them to further control their abilities with each passing day. As for the courthouse murder, it's not long before the team uncovers that one of their own kind was responsible - Cameron Hicks, a former Marine sharpshooter with supernatural balance and aim (he guided the bullet through a ventilation duct). After bringing him in, however, they realize someone even more powerful was pulling the strings... someone with a new technology that can be used to mimic one of the team's gifts.
That little logo in the bottom right of the screen during W13 is what reminded me to check "Alphas" out, and I liked it, so even though those little bubbles are annoying they ARE effective too :D
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Though I did like the little moment before Nina mind-fucked that guard where she was like giving Rachel some fashion advice. I like the idea of them being polar opposite BFFs (super-powered Rizzoli&Isles plz!)
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Cameron/Rachel is a possibility, but they're both kind of 'quiet' characters so they have the potential to be really boring (even though I don't want Bill/Anyone to happen because he's in a relationship, I could almost see Bill/Rachel more. Shows love that cliched characters fight/don't get along because they want to do each other thing).
But yeah, like you said, none of that's what we want to see. Nina/Rachel all the way!
(nonetheless hardens heart in anticipation of Cameron/Nina and very likely back-story of Nina/Rosen *shudder* )
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About Hicks, yeah I see him taking up a lot of screen time in the future. His powers scream "action hero", and there's no way I can see a character like that being benched. Though I'll reserve judgement too. I found Warren Christie so far a far more better actor and watchable than any of the leading characters from Heroes that the creators had a boner for. As long as the creators don't over do it, I think he'll be fine. Zak Penn is no stranger to superheroes, but the success varies, so I guess we'll see where this falls.
I'll be interested to see what other superpowers will be introduced since the show seems to be aiming for a realistic quality. So that will probably mean no people who can walk through walls, no flyers, no multipliers and no one who can shoot energy blasts. Actually with enough pseudo science, I think they can pull off an energy blast character. They can say the character absorbs electricity and fires it. Or say they can create fire with a combination of stored up sunlight and body heat. The drawback is that just like the electric guy, they have a limit to how much they can use. Or possibly if they go too hot, they risk burning/hurting themselves, which would be an interesting angle on an energy manipulator since superhero stuff general ignores stuff like that.
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I loved the Nina/Gary interactions, especially since she originally came off as more shallow and bitchy, but the fact that she's so watchful and patient with him and actually pretty friendly with Rachel too bumped the show up from a vaguely mediocre powers show to something more interesting. And Nina and Rachel actually having a genuine conversation...a pass on Bechdel's test so soon! It's sometimes a surprise how rare that is. I was expecting more boring Hicks.
Also, with the kind of sfx we usually get in Syfy originals, was glad we with what we got here, especially Gary and Rachel's pretty, pretty powers.