Contributor: John Keegan
Written by Michael Karnow and Adam Levy
Directed by Nick Copus
“Alphas” has always been the darker little brother within the larger “Syfyverse” of shows, and it has been very comfortable operating within various shades of gray. That said, this season has been a long and methodical journey towards an extremely ugly conflict between Team Rosen and Red Flag, and the lines between good and evil have definitely blurred. In fact, one might say that neither side can claim the moral high ground, even if they can justify their positions from a certain point of view.
Rosen is a dark reflection of what he once was, driven by Dani’s death into choices that he never would have made in the beginning. Watching him torture Scipio, first by proxy and then directly, was a fascinating look at what it takes to push someone over the brink. At the same time, it speaks to Parish’s contention that Rosen’s high-minded sense of moral superiority is self-delusion. Rosen routinely undermined the agency of various Alphas, after all.
The quest for vengeance also puts to question Rosen’s ultimate goals. Is he still contending that his actions are for the greater good, meant to help Alphas manage their abilities to protect the general masses? It certainly doesn’t seem like it. Rosen is using his team as blunt instruments, tools to be used for his personal vendetta, and that entails using his influence over them as a therapist to get them to do very questionable things.
Still, in its own way, this is covering the same territory as “24”: how far is too far, when the endgame of the enemy could wipe out humanity? It’s not an easy or simple question to answer. Some would draw a very firm line, even with the knowledge that the price could be the end of the human race. Others wouldn’t hesitate to do exactly what Rosen chose to do, even without the personal side of the equation. At the end of the day, what matters is that Rosen’s actions (and those of the various team members) derive from recognizable, human emotions. We can understand why they are acting as they are, even if we strongly disagree, and that keeps them sympathetic to the necessary degree.
That’s why it was important for the writers to counterbalance the darkness of Rosen’s journey with Scipio with Skyler’s plot thread. As bad as Scipio’s torture was, it was approached with a kind of honesty. Parish was happy to manipulate Skyler through her daughter, presenting a dream world scenario to make the forced cooperation more palatable. And Parish’s reason for this was to develop technology that he could use to change the world to his liking. It’s a device for mass murder of mundanes and forced evolution of Alphas. Parish may talk about giving Alphas freedom, but he is taking actions that will affect them without asking if they are willing to pay the price.
At the root of the problem with Parish’s plan, of course, is that the Alphas, while clearly more unusual than the original presentation in the pilot would suggest, are still human on a certain level. They’re not supposed to have some “X-factor” genetic difference that is common to all Alphas, and that still hasn’t been established. So how would Parish’s device to power-up Alphas and kill mundanes work? Has the concept of the human/Alpha division changed, or is this just another sign that Parish is twisted and unable to see what his device might actually do?
Even if the series has shifted over to a superhero story with a bit more grounding, it still works for me. This feels like what “Heroes” wanted to be, as I’ve said many times before, and it’s a vast improvement. “Alphas” continues to be the best show that genre fans tend to ignore, and it’s a shame that they are missing out.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Score: 9/10
