Okay, random notes:

Why do reporters call JG Jen? Her name is Jennifer or Garner; it's not Jen. Drives me batty.

I hate how they treat Vaughn's return as just another return, not the BIG return that it should be. Asshats!

I'm thinking that those pics are from "the future." I think the little girl is the baby that she is about to have and the baby is maybe their second one? If not...who's that little girl in all the pictures?

From Kristin's Weekly Column:

Your Countermission: Try Not to Cry I'll admit it. My voice cracked this week while interviewing Kevin Weisman about the end of Alias. And I'm not talking about a Peter Brady kind of hormone-induced crack, but rather, the kind you get when you're saying goodbye to not one but a whole group of friends you've adored for years. The kind that puts a vice grip on your heart 'cause you realize it's the end of a really good era.

Say what you want about Alias' ups and downs over the seasons; even in its darkest days, it continued to be 99.9 percent better than anything else on television. And that is why Weisman told me the cast and crew are actually at peace with the timing of the show's final wrap.

"It's hard, but we really feel like we're going out on top," he said. "You know, we're not getting the ratings that some of these other shows get, but we still have our loyal fan base, and I think ABC is honoring that and honoring the fans by really promoting these last episodes."

"It's a bittersweet thing," echoed creator JJ Abrams, "but it's wonderful to know it's the end, so that we can actually end the series the right way, as opposed to finishing a season and then having the network just say, 'It's over.' "

FYI, by all accounts, JJ was so not kidding about "the right way." Everyone I've spoken with who has seen the final episodes told me more or less the same thing: They are "classic Alias" and "the fans are going to love it."

Of course, with the Rimbaldi storyline finally coming back and giving us some long-awaited resolution, the return of one Mr. Michael Vaughn, aka the delicious Michael Vartan (whose life-pulse status I will reveal in this Monday's chat, if you still don't know), not to mention Irina (Lena Olin), Will (Bradley Cooper), Nadia (Mía Maestro), Anna Espinosa (Gina Torres) and Weiss (Greg Grunberg), how could we not?

That's one hell of a bon voyage party.

Speaking of celebrations, in case you hadn't heard, Kevin's wife just gave birth to his first child, Maya Rose. "My mother was excited, 'cause she was a TV grandma first and now a real grandma!" he laughed, referring to Marshall starting a family a few seasons back. "So, yeah, I didn't change diapers or anything, but I think the love I had for my TV son prepared me for the love I have for my real-life daughter."

By the way, we're gonna see Marshall's spawn before the series ends. "My son on the show is now, like, three and a half, and in the 16th episode, the kid has a couple scenes. He was really cute." Amanda Foreman of Felicity, who plays Marshall's wife, also is back, and Kevin said it's one of his favorite episodes yet. "I was actually doing that episode when the baby was born and it was crazy," he said. "It's a really big episode for me, where I get captured and tortured and all this crazy s--t happens."

Crazy s--t? On Alias? Ya don't say! Still, Kevin promised we won't be disappointed. "Creatively, the end is amazing," he said. "I wish I could tell you all about it, because I think they really did a good job. It's insane what happens at the end, and you know, not everybody survives. That's all I'm sayin'! Get ready, 'cause yeah, it's a little sad."

www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/Archive2006/060414b.html

Spoiler clips from tomorrows 2 hour episode!

Yahoo Alias

From jojo: We're dying for hints about who dies on Alias. Where are you?
I'm here, lovey. Give mama a hug. I think there are three deaths, actually (99 percent sure). Two major-ish, one minor-ish. As Kevin Weisman told me, "There will be at least one death. And I think people will be taken aback by who."

I'm going with Irina, Sloan and Dixon

Alias Added to iTunes, and ABC.com

Mike Shields

APRIL 18, 2006 -

ABC has added Alias to the list of shows it now sells directly to consumers within Apple's iTunes Music Store.

Seasons four and five of the spy drama, which is set to rap up its network run in May, are now available for iTunes users at $1.99 per episode. In addition, in what may become an increasingly common alternative for fans accustomed to purchasing full season DVDs of their favorite shows, the entire fourth season of Alias is up for sale for $34.99.

Alias joins a growing list of Disney-ABC properties available through iTunes, ranging from ABC's Lost to Disney's Kim Possible to ABC Family's Wildfire. And, like Lost, Desperate Housewives and Commander in Chief, episodes of Alias will also be available for fans to stream for free on ABC.com next month as part of a network experiment announced last week.

From: Mediaweek

Finale of 'Alias'
stamped top secret

By MARISA GUTHRIE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

How will "Alias" end?
"Everybody dies," joked executive producer Jeff Pinkner.

The spy thriller thrives on unpredictability and volatility and situations where appearances can be deceiving and the presumed dead turn out to be alive.

The show returns tonight at 8 on ABC, with back-to-back episodes. The cast and crew are currently filming the series' two-hour denouement, to air May 22. And, said Pinkner yesterday from the set, "all the regulars are here."

So nobody dies?

"Some people will die. Some people might live forever or at least live on in our imaginations," he said, clarifying nothing.

We do know who isn't dead: Vaughn (Michael Vartan), the father of Sydney's child and a fan favorite since he walked into her life after the murder of her fiancé in the series' premiere. Their relationship has been an arduous one and the heart of the show. As with Sam and Diane or Mulder and Scully, the struggle to be together is a propelling force, and consummation (physical or emotional) is withheld in the interest of good TV. Mom, dad and baby in a happily-ever-after scenario is by no means a foregone conclusion.

"Will they end up together or not is something we deal with in the second half of the season," said Pinkner.

Another issue on the agenda is the outcome of Sloane's nefarious alliance with Prophet Five and the endgame of the Rambaldi prophecy. The final episodes also will resurrect many familiar faces, including Syd's old friend Will (Bradley Cooper) and her mother, Irina Derevko (Lena Olin).

"Alias" has been on hiatus since last fall due to star Jennifer Garner's pregnancy. Garner and husband Ben Affleck welcomed daughter Violet in December. The actress' pregnancy was written into the show.

"Literally for a minute-and-a-half, we considered playing her as not pregnant this year," said Pinkner. "One idea we considered for 42 seconds was whether we could put Jennifer's face on another actress' body all season until Jennifer had her baby."

But they quickly recognized the poetic fortuitousness of life imposing its will on art.

"So much of the storytelling the first couple of years is her being a child to Jack Bristow [Victor Garber]. The natural place to take that character is her being a parent.

"Jennifer's pregnancy was actually a tremendous gift for the series."

And Pinkner, who has worked on the show since the first season and co-wrote the finale, said Garner's pregnancy didn't hasten the series' conclusion.

"I think that this season would have been the last season for 'Alias' under any circumstances. When you have a series that's character-based, the best of them allow their characters to grow up and change."

From: NY Daily News

Apparently. JG shot a hot love scene for the finale... but the question is... who was it with, I guess? Kristin didn't say. Ugh!

Now I'm worried...

If that hot love scene is not with Vaughn...there will be alot of dead people at ABC!

Supposedly, Dixon/Marshall knew Vaughn was alive too.

Sure, whatever.