Doctor Who Club of Australia

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It has been a year and a half since 7 finished with season 4 and 7 has finally scheduled a date for the fifth and last season.

Found out from Madds at Buffy Down Under, season 5 will start on Sunday June 17 at 10:30pm following What About Brian. Incidentally What About Brian is executive produced by JJ Abrams. This means that two JJ Abrams shows will on back to back on Sundays. This brings a total of three JJ Abrams shows that are on 7 with Lost on Thursdays.

It will be disorientating for me to finally see season 5 after all this time since I am now seeing two of the regulars in other shows: Ron Rifkin in Brothers & Sisters and Greg Grunberg in Heroes. I also have not seen Jennifer Garner in anything for quite a while.

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The first episode of season 5 on Sunday June 17 comes third place in TV WEEK's highlights of the day. The reviewer says that the episode bodes well for the last season.

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Prophet 5:

The beginning of season 5. Nice to finally see it.
This episode has a pleasant surprise but also a tragedy which I did not see coming.
Interesting to see where it goes from here.

Surprise to see new names in the regular credits including Balthazar Getty who is also now a regular in Brothers & Sisters alongside Ron Rifkin. In Brothers & Sisters, Getty plays Rifkin's nephew. Talk about keeping it in the family.

Mia Maestro's (Nadia) name is absent in the credits. Nadia was last seen in a coma at the end of season 4. This makes me think of Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia in Angel who also made her final regular appearance at the end of season 4 of her show in a coma before appearing one last time in Angel season 5.

Perhaps Nadia will turn up later in season 5.

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... 1...:
What a title for this episode.
Coincidentally saw guest star Amanda Foreman in her regular role in What About Brian which preceded Alias in transmission. Did not realise before that here in Alias she was Marshall's wife.
The mystery sure deepens at the end with that body moving.

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The Shed:
Ah... Amy Acker finally appears and is pretty good as new villain Kelly Peyton.
Rachel reminds us of the younger Sydney as Sydney recounts on being recruited by SD-6. That brings back memories.
A nicely done episode.

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Mockingbird:
This is a good structured episode and I am really beginning to like Rachel.
The sequence with the car and the crane was well played out. Should have known that horn was going to get Sydney and Rachel into deeper trouble.
With Sloane released, would he be one of the bad guys that Sydney says that they have to bring down.


The next episode on Sunday July 15 comes third place in TV WEEK's highlights of the day.

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Out of the Box:
Not a bad episode.
Second episode in a row to end with a final shot of Sloane. the focus is really on him.
The theme song sounds slightly different in the credits, not bad at all.

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Solo:
What a dull episode this is. It had a nice song at the end though.
Rachel has her first solo mission and oh my the nature of her mission is unbelievable.
I speculated earlier that now former regular Mia Maestro might come back as Nadia and she does in this episode but still in a coma. Hopefully she will wake up very soon.

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Fait Accompli:
Of all the old characters to bring back, they had to bring back Sydney's old college professor. What a lousy reunion with Sydney quickly dashing off and then dismissing him as no one - someone from another life.
Overall slightly better than last week's Solo.
Love the final scene between Jack and Sydney in the nursery.

As well as this episode also saw two former Alias regulars Merrin Dungey and David Anders in the Grey's Anatomy episode The Other Side of This Life which preceded Alias in transmission. Nice to see them.

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Bob:
What a surprise that the Bob of the title turns out to be Sark.
Overall not a bad return episode for Sark and this comes a week after I saw the guy who plays Sark, David Anders in Grey's Anatomy alongside Merrin Dungey.

The next episode of Alias will be at 11pm instead of the usual 10:30pm next Sunday August 12 due to the later usual broadcast of Grey's Anatomy then a special on Princess Diana.

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The Horizon:
When I read the brief description of this episode in the tv guide saying that Sydney is reunited with Vaughn, I was confused considering the fact that he was killed in the beginning of the season.
As it turned out Sydney is reunited with him from her memories due to an interrogation process.
The episode's biggest surprise when the mysterious voice turns out to be.....Irina.
Very effective in keeping this a secret.

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S.O.S.:
Amy Acker is finally credited as a regular but Elodie Bouchez (Renee) is no longer a regular. She is credited in this episode alongside fellow former regular Greg Grunberg as Special Guest Star even though she does not appear in the episode.
Director Devlin is back whom we haven't seen in quite a long time.
Quite a surprise about Grace. Who is this Cardinal?

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Maternal Instincts:
Lena Olin pops up again as Irina and oh my looks more beautiful than ever.
Also what a surprise that comes at the end......Vaughn is still alive!!!!

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There's Only One Sydney Bristow:
The ending of this episode reveals why it has that ending and quite a shocker it is to.
Gina Torres makes a return guest appearance on the show and she is reunited with Amy Acker whom she had worked together before on Angel.
Also nice to see Bradley Cooper as Will for the first time in a long time.

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30 Seconds:
During an ad break, the trailer of Jennifer Garner's new movie The Kingdom was shown and it comes out on October 4. The final Alias episode incidentally will be shown three days later on October 7.
Finally Nadia has something to do other than lying on a hospital bed this season but like Cordelia in Angel season 5 she dies in the same episode in which she is actively back. This may have something to do with Executive Producer Jeffrey Bell being the showrunner for that final Angel season.
When Sloane said that Rambaldi and Nadia are the two most important things to him, I thought he really lost it with Nadia.
Nadia's death was just plain stupid and if that was not bad enough Renee dies. This is perhaps the first time I have seen from a TV episode that two former regulars dies in the same episode.
With four episodes left to watch I am not getting a good feeling on the series will end.

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No Hard Feelings:
The third to last episode of the series.
Overall quite enjoyable.
It's funny when Sark says in Italian "No need for heroes" as David Anders is now in the Heroes TV series in its second season which 7 will start showing two days from now.

The penultimate episode on Sunday October 7 comes second place in TV WEEK's highlights of the day. Reviewer David Kettle thinks that the penultimate episode will lead into a satisfying end for the series.

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Reprisal:
Penultimate episode of the series.
The series is almost at an end and Sydney is finally in..... Sydney.
How fitting.
The teaser is the best I have seen in a long time.
The rest of the episode is nicely paced with a shocker towards the end that I did not see coming.

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All the Time in the World:
Yet another final episode in a series that has a title that pokes fun at its own demise.
The final episode is not in anyway impressive.
Very unsatisfied with how the plotlines were wrapped up.
I really hated seeing Irina being made the ultimate baddie (it felt like this was decided at the very last minute) and I hated that she and Jack got killed off.
Sydney finally killing Sloane would have been satisfying if Sloane hadn't rise from the dead only to be blown up by Jack!!!
However it was nice to see Merrin Dungey as Francie albeit in a flashback and oh my it has been such a long time since I heard Charlie and Danny's names.


Although this is the last of Alias, I will be seeing some of the cast members in other stuff:
Greg Grunberg and David Anders currently on season 2 of Heroes and sometime in the future Ron Rifkin and Balthazar Getty in season 2 of Brothers & Sisters.

With Alias gone, that just leaves its companion piece 24 to watch in future. If there was ever a game between the two shows then 24 won for holding out the longest.