What happened to Alphas feels like a tragedy, as it was canceled following the cliffhanger season 2 finale. It was an incredible and inventive use of the super hero genre. The story followed a group of individuals with special abilities called ‘Alphas’ and led by a neurologist and psychologist named Lee Rosen. It was the addition and use of Dr. Rosen, in my opinion, that elevated the series beyond standard super hero fiction. He was, first and foremost, each individual’s therapist, and used his understanding of human behavior to come to terms with their abilities and use said abilities responsibly. It’s also important to notice that he is the only member of the group without an Alpha ability, although his insight into human behavior is often the only reason the group could potentially exist. It is shown on numerous occasions throughout the show, that when Rosen is unavailable, the group encounters its greatest challenge…itself. He and his group are called upon (sparingly, at first) to investigate criminal cases that potentially involve suspected Alphas. This often leads to the best portion of the show…the team basically butting heads both with the government agencies they work with, as well as the troubled Alphas they investigate. In other words, there is no defined hero/villain dynamic (at least, not at first). Instead, the entire show is built on shades of morality, which leads to one of the most important images to show up in the show. It’s not until the middle of the second season that they speak this sentiment out loud, as they’re investigating one of their own who they believe has turned traitor. One of the characters remarks that, “People do things for complicated reasons.” The show is a wonderful look into how someone can be judged, sometimes harshly, simply for being different in some way; and the lengths that others will go to in order to understand, explain, contain or eliminate those differences. These simple changes: the morality gradient, the complex and dynamic character interactions and the intensity of character analysis built into each character’s arc; all of these come together to create a powerful and memorable experience. I think the issue for why Alphas was abandoned can be summed up in the fact that it was different from what most people were expecting, so they stopped watching it. With the over-saturation of what we think of when a super hero show or movie is brought up, the likes of Alphas is probably not first in our minds. More likely, we’re thinking of the Marvel or DC franchises, or Heroes (for the more casual super hero fan). The reason this would become a problem, is because historically speaking, we’ve feared changes to classic formulae. This is evident in video games, television shows and movies. I won’t go into detail on this point, simply because someone else beat me to it. The link is [here], and YouTuber MatPat explains his theory on the lack of innovation specifically in the video game industry. It is my personal theory that alot of the people who watched the pilot episode for Alphas and didn’t come back to watch it again, did so because they had wanted it to be Heroes/X-Men/Super Man/[Insert Comic Book Hero Here]. They wanted a superhero story that was global in scale, not a story about misfit individuals with mental abnormalities trying to fit into a society that doesn’t know about or respect their gifts. These people didn’t want characters with emotional insecurities and flexible morality, they wanted a clear-cut good versus evil story. Alphas was just too different.
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AuthorLawrence Henry is an aspiring author with more caffeine than time. BTW, here's some of my thoughts on a few varied subjects. Archives
July 2023
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