Alias (Seasons 1–5)

Alias (2001) is J.J. Abrams' spy thriller you can watch online on iFILM. By day Sydney Bristow is a grad student; by night she runs missions for a black-ops intelligence cell — and she's been lied to about who she really serves.

Jennifer Garner plays Sydney as a woman whose whole life turns out to be a cover story. SD-6, the agency she trusted, is actually a piece of a criminal alliance. Her own father Jack delivers the news. Furious and cornered, she signs on as a double agent for the genuine CIA, which means deceiving her colleagues, her friends, and the people she loves at the same time. Michael Vartan, Victor Garber and Ron Rifkin fill out a board where loyalty is always provisional and one slip means a body bag.

Abrams fused Bond-style gadgets, wigs and disguises with a real family drama about a spy father, a mother with buried secrets, and a daughter pulled between duty and love. Garner trained hard and handled much of the stunt work herself, which is why the chases hit with such weight. The show lands hardest for viewers who like their action built on deception rather than explosions. Stream Alias (2001) online on iFILM.