Whenever a new TV series is suggested to me, I ask one particular question: what is the purpose of that series? In this question, I try to follow the subject of the series, the tone and the message it tries to convey with the respect to the subject. If I find at least the subject to be of interest, I watch it. Once I receive the message, I start judging whether the series succeeds at what it tries to do. Obviously, a good TV series is one that succeeds at what it tries to do.

Enter Alphas. Alphas is a TV series the follow a group of people endowed with what seems to be a set of preternatural powers (cue: difference between preternatural and supernatural). The premise of the show is a hardcore stereotype: a unit of special people way outside the law that uses their powers to enforce a particular brand of justice and opposing a similar group that uses their powers for what is suggested to be evil.

Since the purpose of the show is to be yet another stereotype, we can skip the moral presumptuousness. The key to this kind of story is whether it is able to function within its own universe. Unfortunately, Alphas fails to stay true even to itself and flops even elementary tests of logic against its own universe.

David Strathairn – he wastes his talent playing Dr Lee Rosen, a scientist who studies and records these preternatural powers. Coincidently he also leads the team, leaving the audience wondering why exactly is a doctor in charge of what is in effect a special ops team.

Malik Yoba – he is Bill Harken, an ex-FBI agent who, at times, manages to activate an endocrinal burst that in effect greatly enhances a series of physical attributes (strength, speed, etc) for short periods of times. He is the muscle. That’s all.

Warren Christie – is Cameron Hicks, an ex-Marine who can observe, process and predict motion at great rates. While this allows him to predict where objects in motion will end, it is also apparent that in addition he can also predict the path of objects not yet in motion. His power is apparently linked to an emotional state.

Laura Mennel – is Nina Theroux, an apparent “pusher” who can bend people to her will through verbal commands as well as eye contact. Classic pusher as seen before.

Ryan Cartwright – is Gary Bell, an autistic boy (claimed to be a sort of genius). His ability is first claimed to be interaction with electromagnetic waves but is described closer to an ability to view and interact with wireless communication as well as a superhuman ability to process information.

Azita Ghanizada – as Rachel Pirzad, has the ability to temporarily enhance one sense at the expense of the others. While initially stated that the others are reduced, it becomes obvious from the pilot that they become completely absent.

The most annoying thing about this series is the fact that the producing team can’t seem to stay true to their intentions. Character descriptions constantly change, but not through some evolution in time (eg: wow, I just discovered I can also do that!) but by simply ignoring what was described in the first place.

The issue stands with two characters: Gary and Cameron.

Cameron has the aforementioned ability. Let’s give the writers the benefit of a doubt and consider a test scenario. Somebody prepares to shoot at him. In the pilot, he predicts and dodges bullets. According to the self-made description, the doctor’s claims and so on, he shouldn’t be able to. Sure, he can anticipate trajectories and accurately predict where objects in motion will go. But before a bullet is actually fired, it is at rest. Not in motion. Cameron has no information to process because the exact trajectory will depend on many factors: weapon’s energy, bullet mass, muzzle velocity, etc … all these factors that he can evaluate so rapidly once the bullet flies, but not before. Also, his ability to also retrace trajectories is pretty much pointless. Why exactly use an unstable superhuman when a simple laser light will do the same job without the fuss and emotional issues?

Gary. Possibly the most retarded character description ever. Initially he is said to manipulate electromagnetic fields (Magneto, anyone?) but later is shown (and description changed) to access the information within said fields. Problem?

• Well, information is transferred not willy-nilly but according to various protocols. TCP and UDP (for example) package data in different ways while FTP, HTTP, etc set various protocols that data exchanges need to follow. Let’s give Gary the ability to observe data. Let’s give him the ability to instantly process. There are still a lot of "but"’s involved.
• Like, for example, that some information is sent as a stream (each segment in order) but most are not (segments are sent when available and the receiver has to buffer and put them in the right order). That means in the second case Gary would have to sit and wait for all the relevant packages to arrive before his amazing processing power could kick in and build a video or audio render. This is not up to Gary, it’s up to the service provide, carrieer and hardware involved.
• Stilll, even this would have Gary in need of another power: digital storage (he needs to accurately store the data in a mind-buffer). Then, his power works awkwardly: the transmissions he accesses all are represented as horizontal grids, when in fact they should point from one end of the transmission to the other (cell phone to GSM tower/antenna, in the pilot).
• Want more? Radio waves are a form of radiation, therefore they go towards all directions, freely (which is exactly why a receiver can tap into a mobile conversation regardless of position). It’s not a straight line that can be followed. If you start with a GSM handset, using Gary’s power, you might find the GSM tower but not the other end of the conversation, since for that you’d need information from the provider network (Gary can’t get that directly since they’re not broadcast).
• Ironically enough, Gary’s interpolation via electromagnetic radiation could be done better and faster via a good hacker (who could hack into the GSM provider network, hack the target handset’s GPS and return an accurate location, while Gary – with a lot of suspension of disbelief – could, at best, tell the coverage area of the GSM tower).

Unfortunately, Alphas can’t logically sustain its own universe. In fact, there is no reason why this is even necessary and a movie that can’t explain why the story it contains is necessary within its own universe is probably amazingly dumb. After all, you, as a writer, are a God of your own universe. If you can’t explain the universe within itself then you end up with nothing.