“Come Back, Come Back To Life”

And so we begin another year's journey in the life of Alex, and the rest of her family.  Presumably it's still going to be the final journey we see, but there's no official word one way or the other (there's now a rumor that there might be one more slightly shorter season [18 episodes instead of 22 presumably over 17 weeks with a one hour double episode finale] next year).


So will tonight's opener, “I Love A Parade”,  be that significant in the grand scheme of things?

Anticipation Level: Medium.  Well, if this season were a thousand mile journey, then tonight looks like the proverbial “single step” beginning, and a baby one at that.   Alex will be there, but I doubt she'll be doing a lot.

Still, it is the season opener, so there is some pent up anticipation after the four-month summer break (not as much as some years, obviously), therefore I'll rate this somewhat higher than I probably should . Don''t expect that to be a trend, though.

Emotional Moment Potential: Very Low.  Only one story tonight has a lot of emotion potential, and it doesn't look like Alex will be a part of it (more on that shortly).

I have a feeling this meter isn't going to move until we get to whatever comes out of that story where Alex applies for a high security job and Phil's past life interferes.

Game Changing Potential: Very Low.  Ditto (on all counts).

In Which Story Do I Want To See Alex Be A Part?  It turns out that the scene where I saw Alex was actually at some sort of eating contest in which Phil and Luke were competing, and not at the parade (she could still attend that, of course).  So that's probably all she'll be doing.

But I'd rather see her be at least a small part of Haley's story of saying goodbye to the professor.  That would have at least the potential of some emotion and game changing moments for Alex.  I suppose it could still happen, but I'm not holding my breath.

Are There Any Other Questions?  Was yesterday's episode of Ellen¹ (where most of the cast appeared) a case of life imitating art or what?  Well, it did seem like Ariel was mostly just along for the ride (until that little game they played with the casts' secrets) so, yeah, it did feel a bit like one of those episodes where Alex was little more than scenery.

As is standard for me I'm on vacation this week (I always worry about missing the opener through a rare Wednesday shift), so I may or may not have the recap up at the usual time (for those new to this blog that's right after the West coast airing so as not to spoil anything for them – those of you outside of the U.S. or Canada who read this do so at your own risk).  I don't think I'm going to have a lot to say then anyway.
________________________________________________________
¹ No, there weren't any real bombshells dropped about future stories (including the big “someone dies” one) – it was mostly reminiscing by the cast and a couple of clips from the opener (that's how I found out about Alex cheering on Phil and Luke at the eating contest).