Yay, Lee! I don't usually advocate TV as there are so many other wonderful, important things a person can do with their time, but...this is THE hour to watch (IMO).
A newbie can usually get a good idea about the show from it's opening sequence alone.
Sydney Bristow is a college student who is recruited into the CIA where she immediately shows potential and is "promoted" to a special unit called SD-6. In the first episode she decides to tell her fiancee that she doesn't actually work for a bank (her cover) and is a special agent with the CIA. Telling her fiancee is against protocol and SD-6 orders his murder. Sydney soon discovers that she is not working for the CIA, but the people she thought she was working against.
She also discovers that her father (a man she doesn't know well) is not an airplane parts salesman, but also works for SD-6. Her mother died in a freak automobile accident when Sydney was in high school.
Sydney joins the real CIA and becomes a double-agent in an effort to take down SD-6 and soon realizes that her father is doing the same. A man named Michael Vaughn is Sydney's 'Handler' -- he sets up Sydney's case load and is her CIA support person.
And, as you know, with Lena Olin joining the cast as Sydney's mother, it is confirmed that her death was faked.
Check in this Sunday! It's on ABC at 9/8c. This show is smart, well acted and the cinematography is really well done. And, though the story is a little far-fetched, I think Sydney's character is that of a powerful, intelligent woman.
