Paul Brian McCoy" />
Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      Paul Brian McCoy
      January 17, 2022
      Fiction, PDI Press, PDI Press Writers
    Recent
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      John E. Meredith
      January 17, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

      John E. Meredith
      January 16, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

      John E. Meredith
      January 15, 2022
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • X (2022)

      Paul Brian McCoy
      April 22, 2022
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • X (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 22, 2022
    • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 15, 2022
    • The Adam Project (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      March 16, 2022
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      The Final Girl
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 30, 2019
      DVD/Blu-ray, News
    Recent
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      psychodr
      July 30, 2019
    • X-Men: Dark Phoenix arrives on Digital 9/3 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 9/17

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 16, 2019
    • Avengers: Endgame arrives on Digital 7/30 and Blu-ray 8/13

      psychodr
      July 16, 2019
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • X (2022)
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
  • The Adam Project (2022)
  • The Batman (2022)
  • Entropy (2022)
  • Killer Sofa (2019)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Reviews

Alphas 2.02 “The Quick and the Dead”

Paul Brian McCoy
August 2, 2012
Reviews, TV

Rosen and his team look for an Alpha with a vendetta, but the hunter becomes the prey when the Alpha comes after them.

Alphas airs Monday nights at 10 on Syfy.

Writer: Michael Karnow
Director: Michael Nankin

 

“The Quick and the Dead” brings us back to the more familiar episode structure from the first season, as our heroes are back in business tracking down and capturing rogue Alphas. But not everything is back to normal. The NSA has moved in with a large group of agents who are now sharing office space with the Alphas and things are not going smoothly; particularly for Gary (Ryan Cartwright), whose routines are not being respected by the new officemates.

The A Plot this week involves guest-star C. Thomas Howell as Eli Aquino, an Alpha whose hyperfast metabolism keeps him moving at ten times the speed of a normal person. Unfortunately it’s also causing him to age at an accelerated rate – which provides the creative team with a clever opportunity to use a picture of Young C. Thomas (from around his Outsiders days) and claim that Old C. Thomas is really 22.

Eli

As far as typical Alphas plots go, it’s fairly pedestrian, leaning more toward the sort of story you’d see on Fringe, as Eli, since breaking out of Binghamton, is kidnapping and murdering the doctors who experimented on him a few years earlier. It doesn’t break a lot of new ground; however, it does provide a link to Dr. Rosen’s (David Strathairn) hunt for Stanton Parish (John Pyper-Ferguson) – who was apparently in charge of the lab that did the tests on Eli, amping his powers up to deadly levels.

But as one might expect, Eli is killed, shot by an unknown NSA agent.

We can assume then, as Rosen does, that Parish has agents in the NSA who quieted Eli before he could spill the beans. This is a very effective way of upping the ante and becomes the trigger event to really get the season moving as our Alphas cut themselves off from the NSA, forming a “Circle of Trust” – or a rebel cell – inside the offices.

Parish

I like this a lot, as it sets up a nice status quo of conflict that allows the creative teams to really start building the tension toward what can only be an explosive confrontation down the line. Hell, Gary’s already acting out aggressively against the NSA “jerkasses” sharing their workspace and stealing his pudding.

That’s a nice change in Gary’s behavior and helps to comfort my anxieties about this season rebooting all of the gang’s development. He’s much more assertive this season, although it’s usually expressed in light violence and throwing things. But, as he says, it works – the guy who ate his pudding fears him now.

If anything, while there are some superficial cracks in the ranks (Bill’s (Malik Yoba) tension with Dr. Rosen was believable and quickly dealt with), everybody seems to be back on task – especially Rachel (Azita Ghanizada), who is demanding a more active role in the field team assignments.

Nina

The B Plot involves the startling revelation that Hicks (Warren Christie) is sleeping with Dani (Kathleen Munroe), Rosen’s daughter. Not only does this make for an awkward situation with the team, remember, Dani is a double-agent working for Parish, so this is more dangerous for her than awkward. As for our other Alphas, Gary, as usual, provides a humorous highlight when he is tickled to realize that he broke Hicks’ “sex code,” figuring out that “breakfast” meant “sex” in a text he intercepted between Dani and Hicks. However, the revelation that Hicks isn’t pining away for her sends Nina (Laura Mennell) spiraling off away from the team.

While that’s a little soap opera, it actually works very well. Nina is a much more interesting character when she’s acting out and hopefully this will lead to some major character moments in the coming weeks. The closing moments, where she reveals to Rosen that Hicks is sleeping with his daughter and orders him to leave her alone, was startling and a little disturbing. Rosen didn’t wake up from the order until hours later and gave us a hint as to just how powerful Nina really is. If she ever goes totally rogue, rather than just using her power to live extravagantly, she could be a major threat.

Rosen

Also, with Nina going off-reservation, that means that next week we get a new recurring character introduced, Kat (Erin Way), an Alpha with the ability to duplicate any skill she sees – kind of a Taskmaster-lite. So, all in all, this was another solid, if not spectacular, episode of Alphas, and it looks like things are about to start getting very interesting with our heroes working secretly to stop Parish right under the nose of the NSA.

(Visited 69 times, 1 visits today)
Alphas 2.02 "The Quick and the Dead"
3.5Overall Score

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

AlphasPaul Brian McCoy

Breaking Bad 5.03 “Hazard Pay”
Kamui Gaiden (2009)

About The Author

monsterid
Paul Brian McCoy
Co-Founder / Editor-in-Chief / Dreamweaver

Paul Brian McCoy is the Editor-in-Chief of Psycho Drive-In. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK). He also kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK) and PDI Press with Marvel at the Movies: 1977-1998 (US & UK), Marvel at the Movies: Marvel Studios (US & UK), and Spoiler Warning: Hannibal Season 1 - An Unauthorized Critical Guide (US & UK). Paul is also unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films and sci-fi television. He can be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.

Daily Top Ten

  • Lost in Translation 415: Remaking Gilligan's IslandLost in Translation 415: Remaking Gilligan’s Island by Scott Delahunt
  • Kevin O'Neill: A Film Worth Traveling Far and Wide to SeeKevin O’Neill: A Film Worth Traveling Far and… by Jason Sacks
  • The Blacklist 1.08 "General Ludd"The Blacklist 1.08 “General Ludd” by Natalie Amato
  • All Binge... No Purge: Boardwalk Empire S04 Part TwoAll Binge… No Purge: Boardwalk Empire S04 Part Two by Jamil Scalese
  • 11.22.63 1.08 "The Day in Question"11.22.63 1.08 “The Day in Question” by Joshua Mattern
  • Lost in Translation 164: BattleTech: The Animated SeriesLost in Translation 164: BattleTech: The Animated Series by Scott Delahunt
  • Women in Horror: Karen Black and Trilogy of TerrorWomen in Horror: Karen Black and Trilogy of Terror by Laura Akers
  • Lost in Translation 204: Nancy DrewLost in Translation 204: Nancy Drew by Scott Delahunt
  • Lost in Translation 206: Hanna-Barbera's GodzillaLost in Translation 206: Hanna-Barbera’s Godzilla by Scott Delahunt
  • Lost in Translation 241: Thunderbirds (2004)Lost in Translation 241: Thunderbirds (2004) by Scott Delahunt
400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

Weekly Top Ten

  • Page to Screen: The Boys Season OnePage to Screen: The Boys Season One by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy”Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
  • The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006)The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006) by Corin Totin
  • Advance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-rayAdvance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-ray by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) by Alex Wolfe
  • Nice Guys Finish First: The Death of Masculinity in Friday the 13th (2009)Nice Guys Finish First: The Death of Masculinity in… by The Final Girl
  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Superman II (1980)Superman II (1980) by John Clark
  • Adventure Time 6.20 “Jake the Brick”Adventure Time 6.20 “Jake the Brick” by Dave Hearn
400x400 UA Affiliate Banner

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

Latest Reviews

  • X (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 22, 2022
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 15, 2022
  • The Adam Project (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    March 16, 2022

psychodrivein

Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Unboxing Kotobukiya's Dawn Moreno (Snake Eyes II) & Mighty Jaxx's Off Werk Snake Eyes Vinyl!

Greg takes a quick look at two new releases in the world of GI Joe statues and collectibles!
---
Watch Greg at the link in our profile!

#GIJoe #AnythingJoes @AnythingJoesPod #DawnMorano #SnakeEyes2 #SnakeEyes #Kotobukiya #MightyJaxx #OffWerk
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 414: I Love You, Colonel Sanders! (2019)

The game has a heart, and that heart is Colonel Sanders.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#ColonelSanders #KFC #LostInTranslation #ILoveYouColonelSanders
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 413: Cloak & Dagger (2018)

Cloak & Dagger is a coming-of-age story with superheroes, a teen drama with superheroes, and works as such.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #MarvelComics #MarvelTelevision #CloakAndDagger #AubreyJoseph #OliviaHolt
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Popcorn Cinema Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Popcorn Cinema 48: THE MULTIVERSE IS MADNESS

POPCORN raises his hands, putting them together in front of his face. He then pushes his face slowly through them as if he's giving birth to himself. 
---
Read more of John's reviews at the link in our profile!

#DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce #SamRaimi #Daniels #BenedictCumberbatch #MichelleYeoh #ElizabethOlsen #JamesHong #JamieLeeCurtis #KeHuyQuan #StephanieHsu
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E37 - G.I. Joe #12 / Three Strikes For Snake-Eyes!

It's the start of one of the most iconic Joe stories in it's entire history, and it includes the return of two pivotal characters from the past! Join Greg and Jaren as they venture into Rio Lindo to root out Cobra's next devious plot!
---
Watch Greg and Jaren at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes @anythingjoespod #GIJoe #MarvelComics #SnakeEyes
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 412: Good Omens (2014 BBC Radio Dramatisation)

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was first published in 1990 and was a comedy about Revelations and Armageddon.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #GoodOmens #NeilGaiman #TerryPratchett #BBC #MarkHeap #PeterSerafinowicz #JimNorton #AdamThomasWright #JosieLawrence #Charlotterichie #ColinMorgan #CliveRussell #JuliaDeakin #BBCRadio
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E36 - Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022

Greg & Jaren recount their experience meeting Larry Hama at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022. Plus, the latest news, recent acquisitions, and listener mail!
---
Listen to Greg and Jaren's podcast at the link in our profile!

@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Mezco #LarryHama
Today at https://psychodrivein.com X (2022) Ti W Today at https://psychodrivein.com

X (2022)

Ti West is a director I haven’t fully enjoyed, though I would say X is his most accomplished film to date for me. 
---
Read more of Nate's review at the link in our profile!

#X #TiWest #MiaGoth #Slasher
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 411: The Secret of Marvel's Success

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been dominating the box office since the release of Iron Man.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Marvel #MarvelStudios #MarvelCinematicUniverse #MCU #IronMan #Avengers #MoonKnight #WandaVision #Hawkeye #RobertDowneyJr
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Latest Columns

  • Anything Joes: S01E38 – Greg And Joel’s Favorite Modern Figures, Part 1

    Greg Engle
    June 24, 2022
  • Lost in Translation 415: Remaking Gilligan’s Island

    Scott Delahunt
    June 24, 2022
  • Anything Joes: Unboxing Kotobukiya’s Dawn Moreno (Snake Eyes II) & Mighty Jaxx’s Off Werk Snake Eyes Vinyl!

    Greg Engle
    June 15, 2022

TWITTER

My Tweets

Look Who's Talking

Oliver Ghingold
Oliver Ghingold - 2/18/2022
Muppet Madness: You’re the Director
Do you still have these tapes? I've been looking everywhere for them! I loved the Interactive Vision...
white swan
white swan - 12/22/2021
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
I enjoyed the article though I would never call brutality gorgeous.
Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 10/26/2021
13 Days of Halloween Day 12: Halloween Kills (2021)
Very disappointing, it's true. And very mean-spirited murders of nobodies. And I don't even see how...
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

Large_rectangle_336X280
All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: