Alias: Quality Television and the New Woman Professional

Abstract

The character of Sydney Bristow in Alias (Warner Brothers, 2001–06) offers a compelling representation of the female spy that both reflects and illuminates contemporary debates about the role of women in the professions.¹ The cinematic production values of this spectacular series, together with its complex narrative arcs and stellar guest list, epitomize what has come to be known as American quality television.² As with earlier quality television series centred on female protagonists — such as Ally McBeal (Fox, 1997–2002) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Warner Brothers/UPN, 1997–2003) — Alias focuses on the uneasy relationship between women’s professional ambitions and personal responsibilities. Like these earlier shows, Alias explores the profound inextricability of the professional and the familial/romantic, positioning the workplace as a space in which and through which the personal is worked upon. Exploring the ways in which emotional labour is tethered to professional employment, quality series such as Alias function — at one level — as etiquette guides for the (post)modern urban woman. In this respect, Alias does invite consideration alongside HBO’s Sex and the City (1998–2004), in which the drama is based around the sexual practices and quandaries of four women with apparently limitless time and funds. Certainly, Carrie Bradshaw and friends have hours to spend planning, engaging in, and discussing their emotional and sexual lives.