Alphas

[Thallassa]

Anybody seen the new Syfy channel series, "Alphas"?

[Niemz]

No, is it good?

[Mr. Atoz]

I thought it was just a tired retread of the "Heroes" idea. People with extraordinary abilities -- no explanation for how they got them... they've just got them. And naturally there's a group of evil mutants hiding in the shadow to fight them. I really didn't like it.

[Thallassa]

The difference is in "Heroes" they were scattered all over the place and the story was messy because they had to jump back and forth between them. In this series they're a team. A dysfunctional team, too, lead by a psychologist who helps them deal with their issues. I kind of like it.

[Niemz]

I will have to watch one.

[Mr. Atoz]

A little too dysfunctional! One of them is an autistic kid, about 19 or so. He has the ability to see RF waves, television, Internet, even cell phone transmissions. So when he sits there twitching his hand, he's really changing channels, going from program to program. I wouldn't mind but he acts like a jerk, always asking if he can drive the car! Another is a woman in her late twenties I'd guess. Her power is hypnotism. We first see her abusing her power to make a traffic policeman eat the ticket he just wrote out for her. I don't know... they just all strike me as irritating people.

[Niemz]

Sounds like maybe I should wait and watch it on Netflix.

[Thallassa]

Jul 18, 2011 7:38:41 GMT -6 Mr. Atoz said:

Another is a woman in her late twenties I'd guess. Her power is hypnotism. We first see her abusing her power to make a traffic policeman eat the ticket he just wrote out for her.

You mean Nina. She shows up in every episode with a different very expensive car, which she says she "borrowed".

Sadly, the next episode did not seem to have the promise of the first one I saw. Apparently there's a government installation where "Alpha" are taken for study. You get the impression that it's generally a permanent thing.

[Mr. Atoz]

What I can't get is "Bill". He's an ex-FBI agent and the only one of the team qualified to carry a gun. He also has superhuman strength for about five minutes (brought about by an enhanced "fight-or-flight" response, supposedly). So just before he bursts into a room to confront the badguy, he "hulks out"! Why would you do that if you have a gun??? And it doesn't do him any good! He's so busy flailing around knocking holes in the walls, the badguy escapes! TWICE!

[Thallassa]

True. But you notice most of the others' powers are mental. They see things that other people can't. In the kid's case it means flashy special effects, but say Rachel for instance, just has hypersenses. That's not really something they can make visual. They probably wanted at least one with a physical power that looked good. But I agree it doesn't make much sense to have a burst of strength that only lasts a few minutes!