Over it's first three seasons, Alias has become my favourite show on television. The first two seasons were brilliant and the third, while head and shoulders above most television shows, didn't quite reach it's own standards.

It's back with a vengeance with this two part season opener. It's a stunner. Abrams has said over the summer that season three dissapointed him and he wanted to take the show back to the place it came from. In the opener, he's done that, in a literal sense, and in other ways.

Syd is now back as part of a highly secret black-ops division, headed by Arvin Sloane and joined by not only Jack Bristow, but Dixon, Marshall and Vaughn. Their remit? to get jobs done for the CIA. Doesn't matter how they get done, as long as they get results. Great stuff.

And the explaination for the season 3 finale is well thought out and satisfying, like a real conclusion should be.