Alias is Super-Cool

I know Alias has hit some turgid moments--new, vaguely bland characters, super-serious, complicated missions--but lately, the writers have been having a hell of a lot of fun. First of all, Marshall, the computer geek that constantly gets our spy soldiers out of many a pickle, had to go by himself to locate and dig Sidney out of a grave. Yipes! Then he had to pluck a bad guy's eye out with a spork! Yes, a plastic spork!

Marshall's sober co-workers play well against his spastic technobabble; the chemistry is both comic and edgy. So now that Marshall's had a chance to bloom, we get to see Nadia (Syd's half-sister) actually become interesting. Apparently, she was a mean street kid-turned assassin in Argentina, and we see a potential love triangle turn deadly in fascinating flashbacks.

Finally, now there's a second bad guy. The first is Ron Rifkin's debonair, wraith-like, perfectly coiffed evil-turned-remorseful (yeah right) Arvin Sloane, now head of his own team of CIA super-spies. At the end of last week's episode, turns out there's ANOTHER A. Sloan wreaking havoc, in Chile, and looking creepily similar to Rifkin's Sloan--except even more wraithlike.

Whew--it's been done. The writers of Alias have recouped from a dip in momentum and have brought a sharp crack of mayhem back to things. I can't wait to see what happens tonight.

PS Please bring back Sark! He's cute.