As with seemingly everything J.J. Abrams is involved in Alias gradually became more complicated and outlandish as it went along. On occasions there were so many twists and turns that it came close to disappearing up its own backside and this fifth, and final, season is the culmination of that. Double agents, mysterious prophecies, ghosts, people coming back from the dead (quite literally on one occasion!) are all to be found during the seventeen episodes on offer here as, what started off as a semi-realistic spy show, had become something completely different by the time the final credits rolled. Fortunately, it did manage to remain a fairly entertaining watch with Abrams’s flair, as later demonstrated with Lost and the Star Trek reboots, for creating set pieces ably demonstrated in a number of episodes. I'm not sure that all the shows fans will readily accept the way the show changed, especially since the writers did seem to be making things up as they went along, but I personally found this final season to be a decent (if rather strange) conclusion to what was at times a very good TV show.

Unfortunately, Alias ended not with a bang but with a fizzle. I hate to say it, but Jennifer Garner's pregnancy really threw a wrench into things as Sydney Bristow was more or less phased out for a good portion of the season. The problem was, none of the new characters were nearly as likeable or interesting as the rest of the cast. Not to mention, one too many plot twists were thrown into the mix. I will say that after the cancellation was announced and the show came back to tie things into an ending, some of the original spunk returned. The ending was somewhat satisfying, if a little disappointing, but at least the show regained a fraction of its original fun before ending.