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Alphas 2.03 “Alpha Dogs” TV REVIEW
Episode 2.02
Writer: Eric Tuchman
Director: Nick Copus
THE ONE WHERE When the team investigate a body burned with acidic saliva, they uncover a subterranean Alpha fight club.
VERDICT Alphas goes all Fight Club on us this week, although it’s not as exciting as it sounds. The underground fisticuffs meeting is such a familiar and over-used idea these days that it can’t help but disappoint. Still, it provided a platform for Bill’s power to suddenly become a lot more explosive. It's about time Bill had something interesting to do, and his ability’s escalation should provide his character with a bit of sorely needed momentum.
I wish the same could be said for Rachel. She’s still little more than an incredibly irritating whinger, and the introduction of John (Steve Byers) is an obvious and heavy handed attempt to inject some romantic entanglement in her life. For some reason, Alphas just can’t seem to get relationships right. It was difficult to care about Hicks and Nina, and Rachel and John are already face-smashingly dull.
Thankfully, while Alphas is lacking in the love department, it’s more than making up for any shortcomings elsewhere. Gary’s early morning screaming and subsequent moving out of home is deeply affecting, and Ryan Cartwright continues to steal every scene he's in. I’m not sure how happy Gary’s going to be with his new-found freedom after he’s spend a couple of nights on that sofa though.
The real meat of this episode was once again Rosen’s ongoing battle with Stanton Parish. Admittedly, Parish’s power and back story are becoming increasingly hard to distinguish from Wolverine’s, but, well, it is a good story. The flashbacks worked well, and Parish’s chilling chat with Rosen about the nature of man felt authentic, the words of a man who survived the biggest conflicts the world has ever seen. God only knows how Rosen is going to stop the ageless assassin when he goes completely off the reservation…
WHAT A SHOT! Hicks knocks a bullet out of the air with… another bullet! He’s clearly got his dead-eye mojo back, and the top-notch bullet-time effects were pretty tasty too.
BEST LINE
Kat: “You want me on your team, I’m awesome”
Rob Power
