I haven’t said much about the current season of Alias. This is mostly because it got off to a pretty rocky start, and I really wasn’t sure whether it was going to turn out okay.

Yes, Season 3 was disappointing. But pushing the shiny, candy-like reset button was sort of drastic, and a little contrived. Add to that that the first half of the current season was largely bad-guy-of-the-week (in his nightclub/bar/biergarten hideout), and I was losing hope for the show. The larger plot was pretty much forgotten. Much of the attention of the show’s creators, I think, was concentrated on Lost.

Now? I’m, shall we say, guardedly optimistic. The past few weeks have picked up measurably. We’re reconnecting with old plots, developing continuity, and everyone seems to be scheming against everyone else. Plus, Jack and Sloane are back in old form. I mean, who but Jack Bristow would so confidently assert that they could walk someone through–over the phone–cutting out a guy’s eyeball to spoof his security system? And the character moments have been coming more and more.

Tonight, of course, was the reappearance of our old friend, Clifford the Big Red Ball. Run, Vaughn, run!

Plus more fun with Arvin Cloane, and Sloane being alternately creepy and bugsh– insane. Whee!