Undoubtedly you will have already seen various websites springing up around the internet gearing up for a campaign to save the character of Michael Vaughn, from J.J. Abrams' TV show Alias. This character has been played for the past 4 seasons by Michael Vartan.

    Recently, rumours have surfaced that one of the main characters of the show would be leaving very early this season and it has been speculated that this decision was not by the actor in question's choice, despite assertions to the contrary. This rumour has been believed in part due to the ending of the relationship between the two stars of the show, Vartan and Jennifer Garner. Many think that despite the previous season having gone ahead, after the aforementioned breakup, that somehow season five will see the unwilling ejection of Vartan. Which is, clearly, absurd.

    Regardless, there is no real reason for the character of Michael Vaughn not to depart the show at this point, beyond lame sentimentality. In earlier seasons, the character made sense, as Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner's character) needed a contact at the CIA through which to organise and prepare for her counter-missions during her tenure at SD-6.
Since the destruction of the Alliance, the group behind the various SD cells, Vaughn's role, which previously included him being specified as "not field-rated", has inexplicably expanded to the point where he is now proficient at hand-to-hand combat, a crack shot and expert at any number of covert operation procedures.
It seems clear that this accomodation has been reached in order to keep Michael Vartan on the show. Speculation? Because the powers that be expected exactly the kind of absurd reaction already occuring, before anything has even been confirmed.

    Is there anything more sad and pathetic than adults threatening to boycott advertisers' products and the show that has given them so much pleasure in the past, all because one actor might be leaving?

    Michael Vartan is a fine actor, and if he has decided to move on, I wish him the best of luck. But his character was virtually pointless during Season 4, after the death of his wife (Lauren Reed, played by Australian actress Melissa George) during Season 3. The final scene of Season 4 had all the hallmarks of a hastily slapped together scene, designed purely as an attempt to give Vartan's character some kind of purpose for the next season.
That, more than anything else, should be a fairly clear indication that the people in charge of the show are not looking to completely expunge the character, so why would they be so eager to cut the actor loose? At the least they would want to keep him on as a recurring character. If tension on the set has caused them to push him out - and all signs are that Garner and Vartan still share an excellent working relationship - then it would not be a stretch for the writers to organise it such that Vaughn and Sydney meet rarely, if at all.

    Of course, such reasoned arguments are lost on people who won't pull their heads out of their sand (or each other's butts) long enough to assess the situation rationally.

    If Vartan wants out, let him go and continue enjoying the show or not, at your own discretion. If he is being pushed, then the people in charge obviously feel it is for the good of the show, or it would not be happening. Pressuring them to keep an actor who they don't want anymore, or threatening to future of the show by harassing their sponsors?

    Give those of us who watch the show for more than just the eye candy a break. If the only reason you were watching was Vartan then you should rejoice - with more time on his hands for other projects, you should see him in other things soon enough. And now you'll have a whole extra hour to waste every week, when the show starts again. Surely you can find another TV show to ignore the entire point of in favour of brainless adoration of a single actor?
I hear Hasselhoff wants to bring back Knightrider...


Sincerely,
The "Kill Michael Vaughn" Campaign Team Organisation

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