Alias

2 0 0 1 – 2 0 0 6 (USA)
105 x 45 minute episodes

Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is a young, athletic, college graduate who is recruited in her freshman year as a Secret Agent for SD-6 – what she believes is a top-secret black ops branch of the CIA.

After a few years, Sydney stupidly confides her actual career to her fiancé, so the evil head of SD-6, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), has him killed to protect their secrets.

Sydney learns that SD-6 is part of a rogue, anti-American international agency called the Alliance of 12, out to rule the world.

She goes to the real CIA and becomes a double agent, working to bring down SD-6 with the assistance of her handsome handler (and primary love interest), Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan), and her estranged father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber), who is also a double agent.

Along the way, Sydney fights various rival agents, rival terrorist groups, and traitors, all the while keeping her cloak-and-dagger lifestyle a secret from her friends.

Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly) is Sydney’s fiercely loyal SD-6 partner who is initially oblivious to the fact that they are working for the bad guys.

Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) is the quirky, socially awkward tech wizard who creates Sydney’s specialised spy gadgets.

Much of the plot centres on 15th-century prophet and genius inventor Milo Rambaldi, and many episodes feature global races to recover his hidden artefacts, sketches, and texts. It becomes apparent that Rambaldi predicted modern technologies, global apocalypses, and even Sydney’s exact role in world history.

The Season 2 episode ‘Phase One’ – broadcast on the night of 2003’s Super Bowl XXXVII (a victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Oakland Raiders) – radically rebooted the show by destroying SD-6 mid-season, triggering a massive narrative shift.

The episode earned Alias its best ratings ever.

With SD-6 dismantled and Arvin Sloane on the run, Sydney and her father are finally vindicated. Sydney no longer has to hide her double-agent life from her friends, and she becomes a full-time, mainstream CIA field agent, frequently partnering with Michael Vaughn and Marcus Dixon (who was recruited into the real CIA after learning the truth about SD-6).

Shortly after SD-6’s downfall, Arvin Sloane and his ally, Julian Sark (David Anders), use Rambaldi technology to create a genetic double (a “doug”) of Sydney’s best friend and roommate, Francie Calfo (Merrin Dungey). The real Francie is murdered, and her double, Allison Doren, takes her place to spy on Sydney from the inside.

The Season 2 finale culminates in an explosive, brutal kitchen brawl in which Sydney discovers the truth and kills the fake Francie. Sydney collapses from her injuries, only to wake up alone in an alleyway in Hong Kong.

She is found by Michael Vaughn, but the world has completely changed. Two years have passed, and Sydney has no memory of what happened during that time. She had been presumed dead, and her friends had already mourned her.

Michael had left the CIA, moved on, and married another woman (Lauren Reed). This shocking cliffhanger set up Season 3, which focused entirely on Sydney unravelling the mystery of her missing two years and combating a new Russian terrorist syndicate known as The Covenant.

Created by J.J. Abrams, the show originally aired on ABC from September 2001 to May 2006, spanning 5 seasons and 105 episodes.

Famous guest stars who appeared in the series included Faye Dunaway, Roger Moore, Isabella Rossellini, Richard Roundtree, David Carradine, Ricky Gervais, Christian Slater, John Hannah, Ethan Hawke, Rutger Hauer, Quentin Tarantino and director David Cronenberg.

Sydney Bristow
Jennifer Garner
Arvin Sloane
Ron Rifkin
Marcus Dixon
Carl Lumbly
Marshall Flinkman
Kevin Weisman
Jack Bristow
Victor Garber
Michael Vaughn
Michael Vartan
Eric Weiss
Greg Grunberg
Julian Sark
David Anders
Francie Calfo/Allison Doren
Merrin Dungey
Will Tippin
Bradley Cooper