“Alias”

Starring: Jennifer Garner

ABC

Thursdays, 8 p.m.

Jennifer Garner’s character,… “Alias”

Starring: Jennifer Garner

ABC

Thursdays, 8 p.m.

Jennifer Garner’s character, Sydney Bristow, may be sporting her pregnant stomach in season five of the hit ABC show “Alias,” but her pregnancy isn’t the only thing that’s changed on the “Alias” set. The season premiere of the Emmy-winning show again did what it does best by shocking audiences with the death of a beloved cast member, Michael Vartan’s Agent Michael Vaughn. The character met a bloody death by getting riddled with bullets at the hands of the season’s new nemesis, Gordon Dean.

While Vaughn’s death seems to signify the end of the character, avid fans know better than to think it’s the absolute end. After all, the characters on the show thought Sydney was dead for two years until she reappeared in Hong Kong in the finale of the second season. Sydney’s mother, Irina Derevko (Lena Olin), also came back from the dead last season when whispers of a contract dispute supposedly kept Olin off the show, only to re-emerge in the last two episodes of season four.

Two other characters disappeared from the show this season: Eric Weiss, a fellow agent, and Nadia Santos, Sydney’s half-sister. Weiss (Greg Grunberg) conveniently found a new job in Washington, D.C., bidding a quiet adieu in the second episode. Mia Maestro’s character, Nadia, remains in a coma after being infected by contaminated water in last year’s season finale. While Nadia could be revived sometime this season, it seems that Weiss is gone for good, leaving two new members to take his place.

Rachel Gibson (Rachel Nichols) and Thomas Grace (Balthazar Getty) both enter “Alias” as the brand new members of the spying team. The two actors are no novices to television. Gibson sparkled in the short-lived summer series “The Inside,” and Getty played the endearing-but-tormented Richard on season six of The WB’s “Charmed.” The two actors show off their skills in their respective roles, building characters that are already complex in merely an episode.

“Alias” also adds a questionable character to its cast in the form of Renee Rienne, played by French actress Elodie Bouchez. Though Bouchez hasn’t received much screen time on the show yet, her character has kept the audience wondering whether she’s good or bad. Her uncertain behavior adds mystery to the ever-thickening plot and may help uncover questions about Michael Vaughn left unanswered by his death.

All three of the new characters fit in perfectly with the existing cast. The talent of the performers, both new and old, makes the dynamic enthralling. The changes in the cast don’t stop the suspenseful plot that makes “Alias” such a hit; in fact, they only propel it forward.

Regardless of the elements changed and the characters added, “Alias” should far surpass 90percent of the shows in primetime. The show may not be at its peak, but 8 p.m. Thursday shouldn’t be filled with anything else.