I think the reason people haven't warmed up the Rachel character is because she really lacks any motivation for her role. Remember Syd had revenge on her mind when she first show up, wanting to take Sloane down for killing her fiance and ruining Sloanes empire. Nadia had some movitvation although she took care of it with a few bullets.Dixon has his motivation for revenge as Sloane killed his wife etc. And so on.

With Rachel, she really has no motivation to get back at Dean. Really all it's been from the season start Syd getting her revenge and Rachel being forced to tag along. Dean never really hurt her, in fact she was one of his favorites. As she stated in an earlier ep, she was not a field agent but a computer specialist desk jockey because she couldn't take high pressure situations. Now Syd is pushing her to be what she really never wanted to be just because she can't do it her self.

If only the writers weren't doing this by the seat of their pants, they could have used Nadia who would have been much more convincing in the field role and had Rachel as a the field tech person who hides out in the vehicle etc helping out. Now in two weeks it seems Rachel's been on the advanced Super Agent training track, because she gets her own mission. Suddenly she can kick ass with the best of them in only a few weeks time!? It's like the writers are saying "Look see, she now she's super agent Rachel Gibson able to kick butt and take names! Forget what you saw earlier it means nothing!"

I like the character of Rachel and the actress is not bad, but I feel she is being let down by poor, implausable writing.

eh? Rachels character is the person who i think people are MOST warming too and thats worrying because it could lead to Jennifer Garner departing the show. Mia Maestro, as pretty as she was, lacked interesting attributes - she was the mildly whiny good angel on Sydneys shoulder. The only problem there being she already has a more interesting dirty angel on her shoulder in the form of Jack. Mia Maestro was really just there to try and add a new family dynamic and make sydneys "home scenes" feel more interesting. She was the attempt at a moulded francie meets will and it really didnt work all that well

?

Alias is going to be pre-empted on November 3 for Pirates of the Caribbean, December 1 for Pope John Paul II movie, and possibly Thanksgiving. This is not good for the show considering it will not be returning in January, but in March.

You now what they should do (translation: you know something really brilliant that ABC won't take advantage of...)??

They have what 5 episodes already aired?
Okay. Keep whatever episodes ahve been filmed so far and that are still filming and don't air em anymore.
Instead save them. Do what they did last season. Start mid-seeason and go with all new episodes until the end.
But that's not all. Now that the season 4 DVD set is out, people can check it out. Re-air the 5 episodes in some kind of marathon or one each week leading up to the continuously new episodes until season, err series' end!

Of course I'm not suggesting they repeat low-rated first-run episodes on a prime timeslot. Maybe on Saturdays or something! They should just cancel Night-Stalker and air the Alias repeats after Dancing with Stars in its last 5 weeks before Alias takes it's spot again. I mean, you can't get worse than Night-Stalker so might as well risk maybe losing 1 million or so viewer off of that dead show to try and deliver better ratings for Alias, in a timeslot that seems more feasible than against CSI.

Of course they have to promote the heck out of like they did last year!

ABC is proof that if you advertise a show enough. People will watch. [Alias s4, Lost, DH, Greys]
FOX is proof that if you advertise a bad show enough. People will make a point of not watching [Jerry Brukhiemers "Skin"]

ABC just arent being kind to Alias this year, December the 1st will have no Alias.

From a chatlog with Kristen over at E! who is generally reliable about Alias

Q: Do you think ABC is going to stick it out with Alias? So it can have a proper ending?

A: Actually, good news. I've heard from someone who knows that ABC is actually very happy with how Alias has been performing this season. Given that it's on Thursday night, the powers that be are thrilled it's claiming any kind of audience at all. And Jennifer is signed through season seven, so I don't think we need to start prepping our goodbyes just yet....

Which really means nothing since they can buy out her contract if they decide to cancel the show. And Kristen is totally unreliable. I think her sources like to see her blab on and make a fool of her self, since most of what she says is crap!

I can't really see how ABC is happy with Alias's performance. Then again, they didn't cancel Night Stalker yet, and that's doing worse. Maybe they're happy with less?

What else would they replace it with? And i've always found Kristen to be reliable. She missfires once or twice and its usually about big stuff, but then for stuff like this, she knows her shit.

That's like saying "What will Fox put on Friday nights now?!". If ABC cancels Alias, it will just be a cycle of failed shows on Thursdays, like Fox with Friday nights. Alias is the best bet to possibly build an audience over the season, but does ABC think that? We'll wait and see.

Well i think this is the ONLY indication we have to ABCs reaction either way; so im just going to buy it until the show gets cancelled.

Good news and all, but come on it's Kristin Veitch!!!! Her and TV Gal from Zap2it must be the most inept correspondents ever.

Ask Ausiello is a better rumor mill. Just as long as he sways away from Veronica Mars news, lol.

Um, Dancing With the Stars? It'd probably do better, and is waaaaay cheaper.

Well the Pirates movie on Thrusday did about 10 points better, getting a 5.6 rating and beating Will and Joey. Still it came in second to Surviour.

Keep forgetting about it. But, I believe its worth when I see it. ABC has the Fox Syndrome. Some shows are best left to once a year (for Stars, the summertime), or it's overkill. Remember all the talk of Fox wanting to do two American Idols a year? What did they do when they couldn't? Junior Idol. That was so bad. We'll see if Dancing With the Stars can actually survive outside of summer.

I still say that if Survivor, Fear Factor, American Idol and America's Next Top Model can all survive in the regular season, DWTS can too. And it has a Parents Television Council following!

Well, for ABC, it would be pretty cool to see ANOTHER regular season hit. That way, if it takes off, maybe Invasion will wrap its season early (air all the episodes right through), or save a few for the summer, and air Alias after Lost. A man can dream...

Abc has made the stupid mistake of placing its eggs in the reality format before. They are clearly more interested in original drama.

Plus Dancing with the Stars isn't exactly a cheap show to make; they had to pay BBC for the rights to even make it, BBC get a share of everything ABC make and then on top of that they have to actually produce the show. Surely it'll be cheaper than Alias; but Reality TV is no cheap make these days.

There's always

Lost: Miami
Lost: SVU

They're gonna keep Alias going? For what, the 86 people who still watch?

Add 8 million more... And Alias has also u large following outside US. Not that US network really care about viewers outside US, but anyway...

For a show that actually sports a budget, having a fucking movie get just as many viewers as a new episode of your show looks pretty sad. 8 million? That's about 2 million away from Night Stalker territory, and is even closer to the level where most networks would just let the show die with dignity.

Moviedude, Alias season 4 just sold top 10 figures in DVD. It's ancillary markets [collectables and merchandise] will be far an wide ABC's strongest. Sure Lost has big cult appeal; but in that same way it loses the "hard core" cult sellability in things like busts and games etc.

I think your looking at Alias v POTC in the wrong way. Pirates of the Carribean is a HUGE movie. On any other night it probobly could have achieved 12m viewers +

But look at what Thursday did to it. Thats what Thursdays doing to Alias. Its hammering it down with massive competition and its doing it with twists and turns that some people definately dont like [but actually make the show a lot better and more interesting]

If i were an ABC exec id be more than hessitant to call the final curtain on Alias. It's not only consistently the networks best show [No matter what Lost or DH fans might preach - two shows which i also LOVE and think are excellent] but it's also anchored their entire dramatic hopes for three years and the only awards cow they had until they struck gold last year. It's also had a constant tirade of critical acclaim and has a cult fanbase on the level of Buffy The Vampire Slayer [albiet skewed to a less internet geek demographic so theres less evidence online ]

Cancelling the show is always going to have been a tough call. I doubt ABC is hopping at it anyway; they only have three strong other dramas right now; and they know how fickle measures [cancelling lots of shows and replacing them with reality which soon imploded] can bite them in the ass. I think it would be wise for them to see it through for at least one more year and then if the shows still doing this poorly, axing it is the commercially viable thing to do.