Alphas: Worst Heart Break Ever

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The newest episode of Alphas left a kind of bitter taste in my mouth and was easily the weakest of the season so far. It started off in a positive way, with a large focus being put on Rachel and her personal life. I was really excited to get to know more about her and was pleased to see the first half of the episode significantly featured her. But then the rest of the Alpha team came back into the picture, and her story got shuffled to the side as they dealt with the Freak of the Week. There was still some resolution to Rachel’s story, but it didn’t feel earned. It came about too quickly, as if the writers realized, “Oh hey, we forgot this episode was about Rachel and her family issues. We should probably finish that.”

I like the idea of just having a couple Alphas investigating a case, although that wouldn’t work every episode. But it does make it a lot easier to focus on certain characters. I’m not saying the rest of the characters should be off screen the entire time, but they should just be called upon when absolutely needed. Last week’s “Rosetta” balanced Gary’s story with the other Alphas very well, so we know they can make it work. If “Never Let Me Go” had stayed with just with Rachel and Rosen the whole way through, it would have fared better. Because it didn’t, it lacked balance.

As for our Freak of the Week, that was a little disappointing. The idea of someone whose love is addictive and can cause a kind of withdrawal is okay, if a little wishy-washy. Naturally, they explain it with very scientific terms, but more importantly how do you show that ability? Alphas had a hard time answering that question and never found a good way to do it. What they went with was pretty lame. I couldn’t help but feel something better could have been done.

I’m chalking this episode up to growing pains. Alphas is a young show still and has time to prove it can be something great. It just needs to figure out the best way to explore its characters without hurting the latest investigation and vice versa. Fingers crossed.