Alias - The Complete Fourth Season DVD
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Buy Alias: The Complete Fourth Season
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780788858901
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0788858904
Label: Buena Vista
Manufacturer: Buena Vista
Number Of Items: 6
Publisher: Buena Vista
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 25, 2005
Running Time: 923 minutes
Sales Rank: 10277
Studio: Buena Vista
Theatrical Release Date: September 30, 2001
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Season 4 Plot Synopsis
Season 4 begins where season three ended with Sydney uncovering a
shocking, classified document called "S.A.B. 47 Project." It is
explained that the document authorizes Jack Bristow to execute
Sydney's mother, who had mysteriously placed a contract on Sydney's
life (this was apparently something of a retcon to cover for actress
Lena Olin's presumed not returning to the series, as the first page
refers to Sydney as the "active" subject of a "project" that began
17 April, 1975, a possible reference to Project Christmas, and also
setting up Jack as either the real head of, or somehow involved
with, the Covenant and/or being a descendant of Rambaldi/Rambaldi
himself).
Sydney joins a black ops division of the CIA, patterned after SD-6
and run by her one-time nemesis Arvin Sloane. The new division is
dubbed "APO": Authorized Personnel Only. Members of APO (all
hand-picked by Sloane) include almost all of the recurring
characters from previous seasons, including Jack, Vaughn, Sydney's
former partner (and third season CIA director) Marcus Dixon, the
computer and technical genius, Marshall Flinkman, and Vaughn's best
friend Eric Weiss (brought in after having to be rescued by Sydney
and Vaughn, who he previously believed to have left the CIA).
Sloane's daughter and Sydney's half-sister Nadia Santos also
eventually returns to join APO.
During the season, an Arvin Sloane impostor, jokingly identified as
"Arvin Clone," acquired the technology to implement a Rambaldi-predicted
apocalypse. Using Omnifam, the real Sloane had polluted the world's
drinking water with chemicals that caused feelings of peace and
tranquility. However, these feelings can be reversed with the
Mueller device. The third Derevko sister, Elena, had built a giant
Mueller device in Sovogda, Russia, which drove the residents to
insanity. Sydney, Jack, Irina, Nadia, and Vaughn parachute in,
destroy the device and kill Elena. But Nadia is injected with the
tainted water and driven insane. She battles Sydney until Sloane is
forced to shoot his own daughter. Nadia is later put into a coma
while a cure is sought and Irina escapes again.
The season concludes with Sydney and Vaughn becoming engaged. On a
trip to Santa Barbara, Vaughn confides a shocking secret: his name
isn't really Michael Vaughn; their initial meeting wasn't
coincidental; and that his allegiance may not be to the CIA. Before
he can divulge any more information, another car hits theirs and the
season ends.
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Editorial Review:
Description:
The action explodes in ALIAS' phenomenal fourth season. When Sydney
leaves the CIA to join a powerful new Black Ops unit, she has no
idea of the reunion in store for her. Family secrets are revealed
and old adversaries come together for a year of betrayal, suspense,
and breathtaking surprises. It's nonstop excitement -- from the
spectacular two-hour first episode to the stunning impact of the
season's final seconds. Experience all 22 heart-stopping episodes of
season four in a sensational six-disc set. ALIAS features "the best
acting and most addictive plot lines on television," raves CNN.com.
Now with exclusive bonus features, including a conversation with
Jennifer Garner, bloopers, deleted scenes, and more, this
spectacular set makes TV's most exciting show even better.
Amazon.com:
True to form, at the beginning of its fourth season J.J. Abrams'
Alias proceeded to reinvent itself yet again--and the results looked
quite a bit like the first season, but with a decided twist. Super
agent Sydney Bristow (Emmy nominee Jennifer Garner) found herself
once more working for a covert secret-ops group that was "off the
books" and headed up by Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) as she was
partnered with... Hey, wait, wasn't Sloane a bad guy before? Well,
yes, he was, but having been "rehabilitated" from his evil ways,
he's now Sydney's new boss--nevermind the fact that he's trampled
all over her life in more ways than one--and head of the CIA's new
super-secret division, APO (for Authorized Personnel Only), which
also includes all of Sydney's old friends, as well as her dad
(Victor Garber) and love interest Vaughn (Michael Vartan). But as
Sydney and Vaughn struggle with their budding relationship in the
wake of his wife's death, and Syd also comes to realize her father
may have had quite a bit to do with her mother's abrupt
disappearance, a few monkey wrenches are thrown into the works.
There's the emergence of South American agent Nadia (Mia Maestro),
who's Syd's half sister--and the daughter of Sloane; the
reappearance of Syd's nasty nemesis, Anna Espinosa (Gina Torres); a
Sloane doppelganger (Joel Grey); and a mysterious cabal intent on
harnessing the power of the legendary Rambaldi device.
Alias was definitely all over the map during its fourth season, and
a few off-screen factors managed to take their toll onscreen as
well. The end of a real-life relationship between Garner and Vartan
gave Sydney and Vaughn's scenes a lack of romantic spark, but at the
same time a decided tension, as the two warily circled each other
and deepened their relationship; they clicked best in the episode
"Welcome to Liberty Village," in which the duo infiltrates a
Stepford-like suburb as a picture-perfect couple. And the absence of
Lena Olin, as Syd's mother, was definitely felt, as her character
became a looming presence despite little screen time. Where Alias
succeeded this year was in the dramatic impact individual episodes
had: "Nocturne" was a captivating tale of Sydney in the throes of
deadly hallucinations; "The Orphan" affectingly fleshed out the
enigmatic Nadia's background; "In Dreams" (directed by Garner)
probed the subconscious of bad guy Sloane, who wasn't as evil as you
might think; and "Mirage" forced Sydney to impersonate her mother in
her father's fevered dreams. Don't worry, there was plenty of
action--especially in the season's final episodes, which prominently
featured a deadly Sonia Braga--and despite its ups and downs, Alias
remained one of the most intelligent, compelling dramas on
television. --Mark Englehart
