Sci-fi fans know not to fall in love. Everyone’s been burned at least once by a show’s early cancellation before the story could be finished, but only one has become a plot point on America’s most popular sitcom. Alphas, a surprisingly fun SyFy series that might remind you a little bit of Marvel’s X-Men, ended Season 2 on a cliffhanger, which became a B-plot on The Big Bang Theory in a very rare moment of the sitcom touching on real nerd culture.
Alphas decided to examine what it would be like if the X-Men had grounded powers, based on real science, in the same way that Magneto’s mastery of magnetism is based on science, featuring enhanced humans with the superhuman abilities to throw things very accurately, get low-level super strength when angry, enhanced sense (not senses, only one at a time), mind control, and autism. I’d love to say that the last one is a joke, but Gary (Ryan Cartwright) was an autistic young man who could see the electromagnetic spectrum, complete with the lack of picking up on social cues, hyperfixation, etc., and he’s also the best character in a series that defied its premise on a weekly basis.
Gary using his autistic powers on Alphas
It’s clear why The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon, a significantly less nuanced take on autism than Gary, would love Alphas. Every episode would highlight a new Alpha, or create a situation where an existing character would find a new way to use their powers.
While the science was loose, there was a sliver of a factual basis that made it fascinating when guest stars like Brent Spiner appeared as a blind man who used vibrations to see, or Summer Glau showed the real-world use of Forge’s power from the X-Men. It’s not a show to be taken seriously, and by the time Kat arrives in Season 2 with the photographic memory powers of Marvel’s Taskmaster, fans had fallen in love with the show’s brand of crazy.
Summer Glau on Alphas
On the side of the good guys was Dr. Lee Rosen, played by David Straithairn in a role he was born to play as an expert researcher trying to support the Alphas in a world that hates and fears them. His opposite is Stanton Parish, an Alpha with the ability of perfect control over his body down to the molecular level. This is the same ability as X-Men villain Apocalypse, a Civil War veteran trying to bring about a human/Alpha Civil War. Of course, after Parish’s grand plan is foiled, and our heroes are unconscious in New York’s Grand Central Station (except for Gary), the second season came to an end and was never resolved.
The Big Bang Theory showed Sheldon melting down over the lack of a resolution, needing a sense of closure over the fate of the Alphas, to the point where he managed to get executive producer Bruce Miller on the phone. The gag was that Miller, who wrote the Season 2 finale, explains what comes next to Sheldon, who tells him “that stinks” and hangs up. It’s one of the only real moments of nerd culture on the show, because what nerd is ever satisfied with the ending of their favorite show?
Fan theories have taken over nerddom to the point that even a show allowed to tell a complete story, such as The Expanse, is still filled with fans who share what they wanted to see, which is only natural. Alphas early cancellation makes it perfect for fan theories, and it sticks out from its generation, coming just after the wildly successful Eureka/Warehouse 13 era, especially since after hemorrhaging viewers over the first few episodes, it leveled off with a consistent viewership of 1.3 million fans week in and week out.
The lasting legacy of Alphas has been the single Season 6 episode of The Big Bang Theory, which is a shame, because it had fantastic worldbuilding, somehow turned low-budget SyFy special effects into a highlight. The characters, though they started as cliches and with very clear X-Men analogues, developed into more complex characters to the point where no one was morally perfect. Over a decade later, it’s still the best live-action X-Men series.
The cast of Alphas (2011)
Alphas is currently streaming for free on Fandango at Home.
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