Alphas Delivers the Best Episode of the Season

I’m going to just come out and say this. “Blind Spot” is easily, without a doubt in my mind, the BEST episode of Alphas so far. I say so far because it wasn’t all that long ago it was announced Alphas would be getting a second season. That means this wonderful series can continue crafting stories like this.

Something needs to be said about Brent Spiner’s role in “Blind Spot.” A lot of Star Trek geeks instantly know this is the man behind Data. He’s a fantastic character performer, and he brings his full game to Alphas as Dr. Kern, a Alpha with connections to Red Flag and a sonar ability. He is brought in to the DCIS headquarters for questioning, and we soon find out he’s attempting to introduce Alpha DNA into human fetuses, a dangerous and horrible experiment.

His character is evil in the subtlest of ways. He believes he’s right and that Dr. Rosen is just misguided. He even offers Rosen a chance to join him. This is the kind of villain who dismisses the acts of others as renegade factions operating independently, making his group look bad. And how do you prove him wrong? That’s his method of getting in your head. You can never fully tell if he’s lying or being honest.

On top of that, we have a second Alpha roaming the halls of DCIS. For the first half, we’re led to believe this could be Kern using his ability in a different way, but it becomes clear quickly enough this is the work of an invisible person. And the build up to that reveal is perfectly set. There’s creepiness to this episode that we haven’t quite experienced before, and that mood is helped by the entirety of the hour being spent in the office. Everything feels closed in, even before the characters are literally closed in. There was so much tension and thrills to be had from being locked in a building with a terrorist and an unknown threat that terrifies the terrorist.

The idea of an Alpha that can turn invisible comes off as a little too comic booky. How do you rationalize that ability? Surprisingly easy, apparently. Rosen effortlessly makes sense of how someone could appear invisible. And that’s all it is. Rebecca Mader’s character, Griffin, never actually becomes see through, she simply tricks the brain into not seeing her. It’s genius. And while we don’t see much of Griffin, what we do get sets her up as someone who would make a wonderful recurring character next season. She also expands the mythology of the show by introducing a third organization for the Alphas to tangle with in the future.

What makes this episode so fun is how it meshes every storyline together in a way that’s energetic, so something’s always happening, but it never feels too crowded. We deal with a lot of plots that have not been dealt with properly, like Bill’s ability loss and Nina and Hicks’ relationship. It all gets handled within the context of what’s happening, which makes those moments feel rightfully earned.

If I had to choose which episode of Alphas’ first season to show my friends, it would be “Blind Spot,” without question.