I’ve just recently gotten into the show “Alias” and finished the last episode of season 3 tonight. It was pretty weak but not terrible, and it only suffered because season 1 was so engaging and season 2 was just awesome. Now, Season 4 doesn’t come out on DVD until late October, and Season 5 starts being aired at the end of this month.
At the moment, I’m trying to decide whether I want to buy that DVD set as soon as it comes out, or rent it. So I’m looking for opinions on Season 4. How would you rate it compared to 1, 2, and 3?
I’m also trying to decide whether to watch it simultaneously with Season 5, or to just record 5 and wait until I’m caught up with 4 to go on. Is 4 self-contained, or does it open a whole bunch of subplots that would be completely ruined if I saw any of 5?
Please keep in mind that I haven’t seen anything from Season 4 yet, so don’t post spoilers!
Hmm. Tough question, actually. Most of S4 is filled with largely standalone episodes that, while pretty good, don’t really advance the characters. That was OK as a break from the tangle that S3 became, but it went on too long. There are some awesome things in S4 (Joey Grey has a great guest role), but they’re kind of disjointed. The last few episodes, though, pick up a lot of threads from earlier seasons. But ultimately, the season as a whole is not as strong as either S1 or S2. I suppose I’d rent it; I don’t think it’s strong enough to purchase. On the other hand, the way S4 ended I know that some of the best stuff from it will probably be spoiled if you watch the early episodes of S5. Maybe you could do what I’m doing with Gilmore Girls – just set your VCR to tape 'em and hold onto the tapes until you get a chance to watch the DVD’s from last season.