Alphas: Season 2

I am taking off one star for NO CLOSED CAPTIONS, please add them, the new captioning software is great.So, noting first line, I am watching for second time because still not closed captioned, it's like seeing it all over again. Stanton Parish is a bit like an Ayn Rand character. The new theme music is like 007. Each character's past is revealed in bits and pieces, and some characters, like Bill "grow." Gary also grows. There is plenty of backsliding too, as in real life.It's the old good v. evil, similar to Heroes perhaps, but the characters have more depth, we are taken inside the perception of each character. I watched this series alongside Once Upon A Time, which is a similar good v. evil and with familiar "fairy tale" legends with small twists here and there. Alphas is a faster pace, higher tech version of that.It's not the gift that is the problem, it's what one does with it, the choices one makes. We all have gifts. This is part of Dr. Rosen's usual speech. None of the characters is really credible as a character with those particular exaggerated gifts, and it might be misleading to imply that real alphas exist who can do movie magic type stunts. That having been said, MK Ultra was real, there were US Senate hearings about it. It is in wiki, it is common knowledge. Look around...is what the intro now says, your friend, your neighbor...implies a kind of paranoia but also states a fact, with genetic engineering (live DNA in prenatal vitamins?) it is not all THAT far fetched if most soy, wheat and now corn is GMO without labeling. The "DNA" is on saliva, how alive it could be in a freeze dried pill I dunno, that's Hollywood.That having been said, I have also seen some people do some of these things some of the time where I was fairly certain it was not deception, but "pushed" shift in perception. I've experienced some of this "unplugged" from being like a zombie when traveling in and out of certain locations, just like this episode suggests. Is it a mental shift, a subjective internal phenomenon, or is it as the series suggests? and as the other series suggest...dormant gifts, "magic?" All magic comes with a price, dearies...as Gold/Rumpelstiltskin/Rush says in his other roles.Miracles and magicians explained by having one person having a larger sinus, another one having a larger hypocampus, various anatomical variations we now consider "normal" or normal enough. Yet we do treat other abilities as "dis"abilities, as a society, we do that. Admit it. Anybody who uses this type of ability is shunned. And for the same reasons that Rosen says...people don't understand...people are afraid of what they don't understand or can't control even though they don't want to be controlled or have their own space invaded either.We as a species are wired to be adaptive. Some of us adapt in extreme ways. That part is plausible. A bit of Bones, a bit Dick Tracey but it is overall plausible if one suspends belief, sits back and is ready to be entertained. The series is reliably entertaining even on second view and in some ways I find it inspiring, as with the HFA character, Gary, whose counterpart can be found on Numb3rs.I confuse two actors that are both Scotsmen, David Straithern plays Rosen and Robert Carlyle plays Rush. I actually enjoyed the Rumpelstiltskin role the best of all Carlyle's roles I have seen so far, including some of his early work (role as flaky father in documentary film about foster care in Scotland). Carlyle has far more elasticity and just plays more roles and characters, they come across as different personalities, Straithern usually plays himself, but he's well cast in this series as what I guess we would call "a handler." The FBI calls his patients "assets." Whatever.Enjoy the show!

I watched this show when it was on SyFy and remember that, at the time, it was a bit slow. Now, 2 years later, I just binge watched both seasons and found the stories and characters to be more interesting and the show better paced than I remembered it.Are there flaws, absolutely, but there was a good blend of character development and interaction, decent acting with only enough melodrama to keep things interesting, a major bad guy with many minor villains, and an interesting storyline that threaded its way quietly in the background in season 1 and became increasingly more visible in season 2 culminating in a major "event" at the end of season 2.There has been some comparisons to X-Men although I personally think the main similarity has more to do with the governments overzealous "us" versus "them" mentality which is a common theme in many different mutant, alien, and other simialar movies, TV series, and graphic novels. There was even some of that in Hero's.Speaking of Hero's, in hindsight I think I did what some others might have done when Alpha's was on and that was to compare it to Hero's. Even though Hero's also had its flaws it was a landmark show and, although it might have been unfair, Alpha seemed like a poor substitute for the special effects and scope of Hero's story.They say timing is everything and after watching Alpha's again I think if this show had come out last year or this year it would have had a better chance at survival.Now for the rant... unfortunately, unlike Eureka and Warehouse 13, both of which ended after Alpha's, SyFy did not give Alpha enthusiasts any decent closure with the show. The stories in season 1 and season 2 were not simply random stories but were progressing along a planned storyline so the abrupt cancellation of the show felt very arbitrary and last minute.The final episode of Season 2 predictably ends on a major cliffhanger. The problem is that's where it is also cancelled. Since Alpha's was the type of show that I think writer's would have had difficulty wrapping up neatly in a final two-hour episode the viewer is left with many unanswered questions. There were a lot of back-stories left untold, new characters that could have been introduced, and many "what if's" that could have been explored for at least 3 more seasons and probably more.I'd recommend re-watching it if you were a fan and can watch it for free and know what's in store at the end of Season 2.If you're a first time watcher I'd suggest you steer clear unless you like stories with no ending. While I'm a fan of the show I'm not a fan of monetarily rewarding networks for this type of obnoxiously bad behavior.

I started watching this only near the end of season one when I learned that John Pyper-Ferguson (one of my top five favorites) was guest-starring in it. Then, I realized the show was indeed very good and very interesting.Alphas is about people who have special powers, known as an "alpha" and use these powers to fight crime. One of these alphas is also autistic. The lead alpha, Dr Rosen, is an older man and has a daughter who also has a special power. She has been running away and using drugs for a long time.There are also criminal alphas known as the "Red Flag" and their leader, Stanton (JPF), has a plan to "change the world." He wants to create a new world of more immortal alphas like himself. Stanton is immortal, having come through a gunshot to the head during the American Civil War, and he is now over 150 years old and has out-lived his entire family.The Stanton Parish storyline has engulfed season two and has been gripping. JPF has done a great job bringing Stanton to life and creating an interesting character that -- no matter how diabolical -- is almost likable.Most of the other actors have also done great in bringing their characters to life. Ryan Cartright (Gary, the autistic young one) is especially deserving of such praise. He consulted with experts, observed real autistic teens, and studied all he could get on the subject. He has played the austism very well and made it more like the real thing rather than the mainstream media depiction of it.

Eight months in prison for Dr. Lee Rosen, he daring to blow the whistle on America's top secret - the existence of Alphas, people with super powers. Now the authorities need him to help combat the most dangerous of them: Civil War survivor Stanton Parish and his followers an increasing menace. Rosen's old team of Alphas is reassembled and a few added. Ahead? 13 episodes crammed with challenges, there no guarantee all will survive....The show has a cult following. Glowing reviews tempted me to give it another try. Sadly again I felt an onlooker, not involved. Admittedly Season 2 is stronger than the first, special effects once more impressive. As before, the great assets are David Strathairn as Rosen and Ryan Cartwright as autistic Gary. The latter is great. A wonderfully quirky performance - Gary able to tune in to all electrical communications - no apparatus required, just his hands. Inclined to take everything literally, he best not be taken to funerals - he at the graveside loudly challenging the vicar's platitudes. Hilarious. Throughout he delights, a main reason to watch.Modest bonuses - deleted scenes and a gag reel. Plummeting audiences led to cancellation. Although no fan myself (not from lack of trying), there can be no doubt addicts will welcome this box set souvenir.

Clearly this was a series that clearly should have continued for at least another season. Whether one considers this to be a retelling of 'Mutant X', or 'Painkiller Jane', (or just a concept in its own right), this series had high quality story lines, production values and acting performances.Add to that some quality CGI special effects along with a unique take on the flawed superhero premise, and this is a box set well worth adding to your collection (but make sure you get Season 1 as well if you don't already have it).I enjoyed this on TV first time round, even more on watching without pesky adverts.

The only reason this did not get five stars is because I know the excellent cliff-hanger ending will never be folllowed by a third season. I know it borrows (or is parallel with) Heroes and X-Men in many aspects, but the stories, characters and effects make it its own and I loved it. I think the story-arc has been done before, but that does not stop me watching countless western, or detective, or other genres of movie and tv series where the same has occurred.

It was good to watch again.The only thing I can say is 2 of the clips inside that hold the dvds are broken.

Amazing!I absolutely loved this DVD. Humour, drama, thrills, romance - it has it all. And as for the 'special talents' of each Alpha, just fabulous. I don't understand why this series has been cancelled.