Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Convenient Truths: When Jews Were Funny

      Paul Brian McCoy
      May 15, 2014
      Columns, Convenient Truths
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Collecting Profile: Stan Lee

      Paul Brian McCoy
      November 9, 2019
      Big Two, Collectibles, Marvel Comics, Miscellaneous Comic Book Content
    Recent
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • Collecting Profile: Jack O’ Lantern

      nguyen ly
      October 31, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Singles Going Steady 7/27/2016: Better Late Than Never

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 30, 2016
      Boom! Studios, Dark Horse, DC Comics, IDW, Image, Reviews, Singles Going Steady
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.5

      Singles Going Steady 7/17/2013: Stuff and Things and Such

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 18, 2013
      Reviews, Singles Going Steady
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Scott Kolins and Solomon Grundy: Born on a Monday, Released on a Wednesday

      Paul Brian McCoy
      March 2, 2009
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • When Something Awful Is Beautiful: The Golden Age #1

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 24, 2015
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • The Evolution of the Geek

      Paul Brian McCoy
      September 13, 2014
      Infographiic, News
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Interview: M.K. Reed Explores Facts and Legends About Dinosaurs (and Her Imagination)

      Paul Brian McCoy
      August 24, 2016
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  • Collecting Profile: Transformers
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Alphas 2.01 "Wake Up Call"

Paul Brian McCoy
July 25, 2012
Reviews

Eight months after Dr. Rosen's startling announcement to the world about the existence of Alphas, the government has had him committed. His Alphas, which have gone their own ways, must decide whether to reunite and save their friend when Rosen is called in to deal with an Alpha prison break.

Alphas airs Monday nights at 10PM on Syfy.

Director: Matthew Hastings
Writers: Robert Hewitt Wolfe

For those of you who don't remember, or never gave it a chance, the Syfy original series Alphas was one of the biggest surprises of last year. Created by Michael Karnow and Zak Penn it follows the adventures of a group of misfits with special abilities, being treated by Dr. Lee Rosen (David Strathairn) and used by the government to hunt down others with special abilities and either treat them or imprison them in the enigmatic Alpha Prison, Binghamton.

Over the course of the season the team grew together and realized that their real enemy was an immortal Alpha named Stanton Parish (John Pyper-Ferguson) and in an attempt to avoid a coming race/species war and at the same time curb civil rights violations against Alphas, Dr. Rosen outed Alphas to the nation.

Season Two opens eight months later and the government is doing its best to keep Alphas under wraps and so far it seems to be working. Alphas are treated like tabloid fare or the rantings of the mentally ill. In the meantime, Dr. Rosen has been locked up in an asylum and government forces are trying to discredit him, Cameron Hicks (Warren Christie) and Bill Harken (Malik Yoba) are still bringing in rogue Alphas for the NSA, Nina Theroux (Laura Mennell) has taken up old habits and is living off the mind-controlled grace of others, Rachel Pirzad (Azita Ghanizada) has retreated to her room, crippled by her inability to filter out overwhelming sensory input, and Gary Bell (Ryan Cartwright) has disappeared after being forcefully recruited to the NSA.

All in all it’s a pretty satisfying opener. By the end of the episode we've got the whole band back together, of course. That kind of predetermined conclusion to the episode is a bit of a letdown, given how dramatic and world-changing the Season One finale seemed. Part of me can't help but wonder if the reason for that is because Season One showrunner Ira Stephen Behr is out and Bruce Miller is in. Miller was executive producer and showrunner for Syfy's Eureka and while I loved Eureka, it wasn't the most daring show at times.

Sure, they did completely alter the timeline and have some big game changing moments over the last two seasons, but the basic structure and endgame of Eureka was extremely safe. Comforting and enjoyable, but safe. Miller is promising new characters and a larger scale to the overall story arc for the season – although there's clearly some budgetary restraint as the CG effects in this first episode were fairly shoddy – particularly the big train explosion at the end.

He's also promising flashbacks to the Civil War as we get a glimpse at Parish's life, and I'd be surprised if there weren't going to be parallels drawn between the War Between Brothers and the conflicts between our Alpha heroes and their very own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

And that's really the big draw here.

The only other real disappointment I had was that all of the characters have been set back to confidence levels from the start of the first season or beyond. It undermines a lot of the character development from last year, forcing potential redundancies this season. I'm hoping that won't be the case and our gang will be up and running quickly and we can really start moving things forward.

But enough with the anxieties! This episode did a very strong job of introducing (or re-introducing) the real threat, borrowing the Marvel Comics idea of launching the story with a huge Alpha Prison Break that gives our heroes a distinct purpose for the season. The script by co-executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe is pretty by-the-books, giving us peeks at where our main characters are emotionally with Dr. Rosen locked up, while at the same time giving new viewers a crash course in what their powers are and how they work.

We are also reintroduced to the fact that Rosen's daughter Danielle (Kathleen Munroe) is playing both sides as Parish's second-in-command and given some intriguing insight into Parish's attitudes toward Rosen. It's almost like he wants Rosen out there for some reason. Whether that's just to have a respectable, formidable opponent or if he has more subtle designs, we'll just have to see.

The entire prison break set-up is well-managed, providing an actual sense of danger for Bill, Gary, and Dr. Rosen and I was impressed with the level of violence that occurred. There was nothing too overt, but still.  Putting the show in the 10 PM slot will hopefully allow more mature and risky storytelling over the course of the season. And while that usually means more sex and violence, I trust the creators here to include complex moral decisions and grown-up relationships, too.

Another nice addition in the premiere is the introduction of a few new Alpha Villains with some distinct powers and personalities: Cornell Scipio (Elias Toufexis) who makes things burn, Megan Bates (Alex Paxton-Beesley) who can tap into electrical systems and manipulate them, and Kimi Milard (Sarah Slywchuk), who can push people in a way similar to Nina. I have big hopes that this means we'll be spending more time developing those characters and moving away from the Alpha-of-the-Week format. However, I'm sure there'll be a bit of that as they hunt down the criminals that escaped this week.

Overall, this was a very satisfying season premiere that did everything it needed to do: it established both the returning characters and dramatic situations in which the show regularly works, introduced new characters that added to the overall story plans for the new season, and allowed new viewers to get an easy handle on just what to expect from this show. We'll just overlook the dodgy CGI and potential reset our characters have been put through and give the premiere a solid 3.5 rating.


Paul Brian McCoy is the writer of Mondo Marvel and a regular contributor to Shot for Shot, Streaming Pile O' Wha?, and Classic Film/New Blu, all here at Comics Bulletin. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is on sale now for Kindle US, Kindle UK, and Nook. You can also purchase his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation at Amazon US and UK. He is unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films, Asian cult cinema, and sci-fi television. He can also be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy and blogging occasionally at Infernal Desire Machines.

AlphasPaul Brian McCoy

Share On:
Tweet
Box Office Poison
Top 10 Ways The Dark Knight Rises is Pretty Much Frank Miller's Holy Terror

About The Author

Paul Brian McCoy
Paul Brian McCoy

Paul Brian McCoy is the Editor-in-Chief of Psycho Drive-In, writer of Mondo Marvel, and a regular contributor/editor for Comics Bulletin. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK) and has kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK). Paul is unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films, Asian cult cinema, and sci-fi television. He can also be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.

Related Posts

  • “The Long, Strange Trip of Deathlok the Demolisher”

    Paul Brian McCoy
    May 22, 2017
  • 3.8

    Review: ‘Agent Carter’ 1.01 “Pilot” & 1.02 “Bridge And Tunnel”

    Paul Brian McCoy
    January 8, 2015

Latest Reviews

  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
  • 4.5

    TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    October 29, 2020
  • 4.5

    Micro Review: Commanders in Crisis #1

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    October 12, 2020
  • 3.0

    Review: GHOST WRITER Fights the Spectre of Unevenness

    Daniel Gehen
    September 3, 2020
  • 3.5

    Review: Strange Skies Over East Berlin

    Yavi Mohan
    August 11, 2020
  • DRAWING BLOOD: A Hyper-Stylized, Fictional Autobiography

    Ben Bishop, Brittany Peer, David Avallone, Drawing Blood, Kevin Eastman, Tomi Varga
    August 9, 2020
  • 3.0

    Alien: The Original Script #1 – This One’s For The Fans

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    August 7, 2020
  • Singles Going Steady: Why? Lettering!

    Daniel Gehen
    July 28, 2020
  • 4.5

    X-MEN/FANTASTIC FOUR #4 is a Finale of Moral Questions

    Daniel Gehen
    July 22, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders