What has happened to Alias? Where has the show I’ve come to love gone? The last few episodes, while they have had their relative merits, have been bitter disappointments. Sure, we’ve had the answers to Syd’s missing time, Isabella Rosselini and Quentin Tarantino, but aside from some interesting guest stars and some Syd and Vaughn action, the show is no where near as entertaining as it was.

Many people have said the third season in general has failed to meet the Alias standard, but not I. I in actual fact rather enjoyed the saga of Sydney’s missing time and her desperate quest for answers. Not to mention Sloane as a humanitarian…it’s just so absurd its almost addictive television. But now that we know what happened during her missing time is the show missing something?

It is, but it’s not what you think. It’s not the fact that Sydney no longer need to find the answers for her past and its not that we know Mrs Vaughn is a baddie. The problem lies with the villains of the show in general.

The Covenant are clearly a terrorist organisation…the main cast themselves mention that fact often enough. Well, Alias is not a terrorist show. It is a spy show. The Covenant is obviously not interested in “gaining intel” and are more content to run around the globe blowing stuff up. The suave Alias nature is gone, leaving behind a very blah and very uninspiring shell.

“Blowback” is the pinnacle of that abandonment – where the episode could have been edited together to provide a very exciting and fast paced instalment, what we get instead is a chopped together piece which fails to hold the attention of the audience. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when writers try something new. It is obvious that what they were trying to do is tell the story from two vantage points – one showing the life of the CIA and the other The Covenant.

But do we really need it? We know The Covenant are evil, and we know what kind of crazy shenanigans Lauren and Sark get up to while on the job. You can’t help but become bored by the second iteration of the episode.

Of course, the sleazy Lark (that’s Lauren and Sark) sex scene was an interesting addition, but not enough to save the second telling of the same story and instead shows that the series is degrading to the idea of boobies and explosions make good entertainment.

It’s so sad to see this happen to a great show with so much to offer. With any luck, this will only be a short lived trend than a sign of things to come.