For those who grew up in the early 2000’s, SyFy became a big part of everyone’s television schedule. There were original movies, television shows, giveaways, and so on. However, the one thing that stuck out the most was the short-lived, unofficial X-Men spinoff series, Alphas.
The series followed Neurologist Dr. Lee Rosen, and his ragtag team of gifted individuals, as they solve cases related to other super powered civilians. While solving cases, the team comes across an organization dubbed Red Flag. But, before we can dive further into the plot, let’s first take a look at the series, and understand what made this show so unique.
What Are Alphas?
Ryan Cartwright as Gary Bell from Alphas (2011). Image from tvseriesfinale.com
To start things off, let’s begin with this question for those who weren’t tuned in. Alphas, according to main character Dr. Rosen, are special individuals with unique powers. The abilities stem from the neurological part of the human body, as opposed to the X-Chromosome we see in the X-Men series. However, each ability has its own limitations varying from host to host.
These range from overstimulation, to minor interruptions. However, in most rare cases, some Alphas are able to bypass these limitations, and evolve their abilities to the next level. A perfect example would be Gary Bell in the episode Alphaville. Aside from these minor hindrances, Alphas prove to be a possible next step in evolution.
Production:
Zak Penn, producer of Alphas (2011). Image from deadline.com
Zak Penn and Co-Creator Michael Karnow produced the series. Originally, the show was set to air on ABC, with a scheduled six episodes. Unfortunately, between 2007-2008, both Writers Guild of America East and West went on strike, derailing the project. In addition to Zak and Michael, Jack Bender, director for The Sopranos (1999) and Lost (2004-2010), joined the team. Lastly, the shows executive producers, Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, signed up shortly after.
Almost two years went by, with the show being shopped around various television networks. Eventually, the series was picked up by SyFy, with the pilot episode airing on July 11th, 2011. Between 2011-2012, Alphas received two seasons. However, after the premiere of the season two finale, the series was left on a cliffhanger.
Meet The Team:
Left to Right; Gary, Nina, Hicks, Bill, Lee, and Rachel. Image from denofgeek.com
With Dr. Lee Rosen’s help, an organized group of Alphas working for the government use their special abilities to solve cases. The main cast of these assembled individuals include:
- Gary Bell – An Autistic gentleman with the ability to view electromagnetic wavelengths (Transducer). These range from cell phones, radios, and Wi-Fi frequencies.
- Cameron Hicks – A former marine with enhanced reflex and accuracy (Hyperkinesis). This allows him to predict movements, albeit under normal situations.
- Rachel Pirzad – Originally a CIA Linguist, she can enhance one of her five senses (Synesthesia). By disabling all other senses, Rachel can see things at a more microscopic level, or hear things from miles away. However, her ability inhibits her from a normal social life.
- Nina Theroux – Despite her dark past involved with her ability to persuade others (Hyper Induction), Nina does what she can to redeem herself. She is known as a rare case, as many other Alphas with this ability go power hungry.
- Bill Harken – On leave from the FBI due to anger issues, Harken possesses an adrenaline boost (Fight-or-Flight) ability. This grants Bill enhanced strength, speed, and durability. Unfortunately, this ability puts a ton of stress on his body, forcing him to power down as soon as possible.
Alphas Side Cast:
John Pyper-Ferguson as Stanton Parish in Alphas (2011). Image from pinterest.com
Outside of Dr. Rosen and his team, a specific group of people also joined in the shows rankings. These include:
- Stanton Parish – An Alpha gifted with hypothetical Immortality (Hypercognitive). He is incapable of dying, and is the leader of Red Flag.
- Anna Levy – Originally believed to be Autistic like Gary, Anna actually has Severe Apraxia. Despite this, she can understand a wide variety of languages (Translator), through sound and object use. However, she also worked for Red Flag as their mole.
- Skylar Adams – A young woman with a MacGyver ability (Quantitative Aptitudinal), where she can create anything out of scrap. She has a daughter, Zoe, who had inherited this ability.
- Danielle Rosen – Also known as “Dani”, she is Rosen’s daughter with the ability to control emotions. She resents her father, after she realized she was being used to control her mother’s actions through emotion. She later joined Red Flag, and had a short relationship with Parish.
- Kat – The newest member to Rosen’s team, somewhere around Season 2. She has the ability to copy any action she had seen. However, she fails to recall how she obtained this ability.
Alphas; Hypothetical Conclusion:
At the end of Season 2, the series was left on a stunning cliffhanger. This left viewers with a mountain of questions needing answers. Thankfully, through an article found on retrophaseshift.com, Zak Penn’s Twitter revealed some minor details regarding what might’ve happened after the season 2 cliffhanger. Through this information provided, few key points were made:
- Lee would’ve survived, due to secretly being an Alpha himself, or Red Flags device not working as intended.
- Gary would become the new Red Flag leader, since he had ties to Anna. Unfortunately, he would be assassinated at 47, during a rally.
- There had been an intended spin-off series involving Skylar and her daughter, sparking the next generation of an Alphas series.
Through these points, fans and followers of the series concluded Alphas would never return to television. And, sadly, that had been the case. Shortly after Season 2 aired, the series was dropped as a whole. Although not many know why the show stopped after two seasons, it was sad to see Alphas left on a cliffhanger.
To this day, Alphas can be watched on iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu. Despite the show only having two seasons, and limited viewability, the series really holds for those interested in the super hero/ drama genre. If you’ve seen this amazing series, and have an opinion on the SyFy show, be sure to leave a comment down below. Also, be sure to check out our Facebook page, as we like to keep our readers up-to-date on the latest happenings.
As always, Stay Geeky!
