The infamous Super Bowl reboot-20 years later

The episode changed the thriller's roller-coaster trajectory, plus revealed the real Sydney Bristow-in sexy lingerie!

- CHRISTOPHER WALLENBERG

WHEN ALIAS TOUCHED down on ABC in 2001, the J.J. Abrams-created series dazzled viewers and critics as a butt-kicking breath of fresh air. Starring Jennifer Garner as spy Sydney Bristow, the action-packed drama boasted not only a female central character but also mythology-heavy storytelling. The show's heart-stopping cliffhangers and hairpin turns left viewers picking their jaws up off the floor. And no hourlong installment prompted more reaches for defibrillators than "Phase One," broadcast the night of 2003's Super Bowl XXXVII-a victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Oakland Raiders. The episode earned Alias its best ratings ever.

A hard-to-fathom 20 years old this month, that episode sees heroine Sydney defeating longtime CIA enemy target the Alliance of Twelve, the sprawling organized crime syndicate she'd been trying to take down...ever since she learned in the series pilot that she was working for the Alliance and not the CIA.

That's right: A double agent had been born on day one.

A Bold Grab for Viewers

"I remember reading the 'Phase One' script with extra interest because I knew it was potentially a game-changer for us," Michael Vartan, who played Sydney's CIA handler and love interest Michael Vaughn, tells TV GUIDE MAGAZINE. "It was going to be the big Super Bowl episode that [could] put us over the top in terms of ratings." To that end, Season 2's 13th episode brazenly rebooted Alias, with the goal of transforming a cult fave with a rabid fanbase into a bona fide hit. It was a lot to expect of a cool little counterintelligence drama, but the script did its job.