When less is more…
In this episode, we saw Alphas continue its evolution toward becoming cohesive show without the pressure of being awesome burdening the production team. In a way, the episodic approach is working quite well. The alpha-of-the-week format gives the show breathing room for the writing to steadily improve, the actors to slowly gel, and we, the audience, to get more used to the quirks that have been introduced.
Sure, we know damn well that we aren’t watching the next Lost, but maybe we don’t have to be. I tell you, if they skipped out on the case altogether and just gave us 44 minutes of the team interacting with one another, I’d be even more satisfied. Where the plot leaves something to be desired — both on the episode level and as well as the season arc — the characters thrive as a team.
There are shows that cross my mind every few minutes in the days between episodes, leaving me feeling like I care more about my television than I do my own life. As far as I can see, Alphas is not going to be one of those shows, or at least it isn’t yet, and that’s a very liberating notion. Imagine! A TV show that’s just a pleasure to watch; a TV show that doesn’t pester me all week long to theorize and agonize and empathize.
To that end, Alphas is more like a comedy than a drama. If considered in terms of classical comedy, this idea is almost artistic. Don’t pain me with the classical tragedy of Shakespeare or Dexter. Just show me how healthy characters can help each other to thrive. When you consider that even with this week’s focus on a throwaway Alpha, we still managed to see Cameron and Gary bond over the eradication of the hum, Nina and Rachel go from friends to roommates with Rachel’s unexpected bout of self-assertion, and the pretty cool, if senseless, death of Agent Don Wilson, it’s easy to see how even a fairly basic plot can yield some satisfying character moments.
Indeed, this plot does more than give the show some much-needed space after the first two episodes desperate attempts at storytelling potency. With the death of Don Wilson, it also foreshadows dark days with regards to the team’s new handler and their fast-changing relationship with the government.
I’m again reminded of the early days of Angel and Buffy, which didn’t force down our throats the endlessly spiraling plotlines that later season would be known for, instead giving us a monster-of-the-week as a mask for little hints and developments. What kept us coming back was that it was a thoroughly enjoyable monster-of-the-week, what keeps it with us is that those hints and developments ultimately meant something. If this is the model that Alphas is settling into, you can count me in, not just for this season, but for the long haul.
Keep it coming!
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.