ALPHAS SEASON TWO

SY-FY 12 PART SERIES

STARRING: David Strathairn - Dr. Lee Rosen (The Bourne Legacy, The Whistleblower)
          Ryan Cartwright - Gary Bell (Bones, Madmen
          Warren Christie - Cameron Hicks (True Justice, Happy Town)
          Malik Yoba - Bill Harken (Defying Gravity)
          Laura Mennell - Nina Theroux (Sanctuary)
          Anita Ghanizada - Rachel (General Hospital: Night Shift)
          Mahershala Ali - Nathan Clay (Crossing Jordan, The 4400)



A look at season two so far.

At the end of season one the Alphas team was in turmoil: pushed to their limit by the

government and suffering internal problems. Dr Rosen decided to announce the existence of

Alphas to the world and the government were not ready for that. So the start of season two

sees Rosen committed and the team split up. The first objective is for the team to reform.

The series begins with Rosen in a session with a psychiatrist. He knows why he has been

locked away and when his daughter (also an Alpha) visits him he tells her that he will be

out as soon as there is an incident. This proves to be correct, as Cameron and Bill find out

when they take an Alpha to the infamous building seven, where the government lock up the

troublesome Alphas. While they are there they see Gary: he has been imprisoned and had a

chip implanted in his head, as do all the incarcerated Alphas (I bet the govt. would love to

chip our brains!). However the girl that Cameron and Bill bring in can control electric and

shorts out the system and all the Alphas wake up.


A hostage situation develops and Rosen is called in by Clay to negotiate. Before he does he

visits Rachel, who we see in a previous scene has shut herself in her room. In addition to

this problem and Garys situation it appears that Nina has gone rogue, using her ability for

personal gain and not working with the team. Once they are all reunited they go to building

seven. Life is not exactly smelling of Roses for Rosen (sorry!) as there appears to be a lot

of resentment in the team because of his TV announcement, which he made without warning

anybody. Naturally, being the gullible fool that he is Rosen walks straight in to the middle

of the Alphas and thinks that he can win them over with a few softly spoken words. Series

One should have taught him that never works, but he seems to have an unshakeable belief that

he can get everyone to live together in perfect harmony (cue McCartney and Wonder).


The Alphas being held at building seven all escape, thereby giving the team plenty of work

to do in the coming weeks trying to recapture them. There are other problems on the horizon,

too, the biggest of which is the growing power of Stanton Parish, a man believed to be over

two hundred years old. Of course the series needs a Stanton Parish because the team need

someone as powerful as them to oppose, otherwise there would be no problems for them to

solve. Just like Batman has the Joker, and Fringe had the alternative universe and now the

watchers, Rosen and the Alphas need a foe like Parrish.


The second season looks like it will be as good as the first, and the star, for me, is Gary,

played by Ryan Cartwright. Gary is always unintentionally funny, particularly his inability

to display tact, which inevitably leads to  comic situations. The rest of the cast are ok, but

Cartwright stands out as the best performer.

Naturally there are comparisons made between Alphas and Heroes, but whereas Heroes petered

out, the writers seemingly unable to find a direction for the storyline Alphas is written

far better with a strong storyline that appears to have a direction. Part of the problem

with Heroes was that there was neither a task force to stop the rogue Heroes or an organized

criminal gang. The writers tried in the last series to create a funfair full of baddies but

still couldn't find an endgame with which to bring a resolution to the story. Alphas is

better written, with the characters better thought out and the action is dynamic.  However,

there does seem to be a plethora of Alphas, so many that they are in danger of losing their status as special

or different. I mean, what percentage of the population is supposed to have these powers?





The series is about to kick off again in the UK on Sy-Fy. I have watched five episodes and

can tell fans of the show that they are not going to be disappointed. The growing menace of

Parrish, the escaped Alphas and the behavior of Nina give Rosens team plenty of headaches

in the coming weeks. Enjoy!