Alias Stars Reunite on SAG Picket Line

Sydney Bristow hasn’t forgotten that Francie Calfo doesn’t like coffee ice cream — or at least, Jennifer Garner and Merrin Dungey haven’t forgotten. The former Alias stars recently reunited on the picket line for SAG-AFTRA on Monday with both Garner and Dungey taking to social media to share a photo of the reunion and both referenced the coffee joke from their characters on the fan-favorite ABC series. “We had coffee, but not coffee ice cream! #IYKYK Thank you for our picketing date, @realmerrindungey, I love you,” Garner wrote.

“Happy to walk the line and fight for what’s right instead of fighting each other! Coffee was had but no coffee ice cream. Love you my sweet @jennifer.garner!!” Dungey wrote, referencing their characters.

As fans of Alias, which ran on ABC for five seasons between 2001 and 2006 may recall, it’s coffee ice cream that tipped Garner’s Sydney Bristow off to the woman that she thought was her best friend Francie (Dungey) wasn’t exactly who she believed her to be in Season 2. It was soon revealed that instead, the woman was an assassin named Allison Doren (also played by Dungey) who had taken on Francie’s identity after murdering the real Francie. When Sydney realized this — after getting a voicemail from Will (Bradley Cooper) — the fake Allison noted “I just remembered, Francie doesn’t like coffee ice cream” and a showdown between the two women ensued.

What is Alias About?

Created by J.J. Abrams, Alias starred Garner as Sydney Bristow, a double agent for the CIA posing as an operative for SD-6, a global criminal and espionage organization with Sydney discovering the truth about SD-6 early in the series. Alias follows Sydney as she tries to not only hide her career from her friends and family, but works to take down SD-6 with the CIA. The series also had a bit of a sci-fi bent to it, with later seasons focusing on the prophecy of Milo Rambaldi, a fictional Renaissance-era figure whose work and those obsessed with it is intricately connected to the lives of Sydney and those around her. The series also starred Dungey, Cooper, Michael Vartan, Carl Lumbly, Victor Garber, and Ron Rifkin.

“I also felt that we always operated at the top of our intelligence,” Lumbly said. “I mean, we didn’t disdain the material. In fact, I think because we were all working to elevate everything we did. And that of course came from the top down because I think Jennifer was just an exemplar. So yeah, I loved that. I really loved what happened on that show in terms of how we were able to work out character liens and storylines. And I loved what happened as a cast. Because we definitely grew, I think. The connective tissue just keeps getting stronger, and stronger, and stronger.”

Will There Be An Alias Reboot?

While it’s been more than 20 years since Alias debuted, fans have long been wondering if there will be a follow up series or a reboot and it’s something that Garner herself has previously said that she is open to.

“Sign me up,” Garner said before joking that she’d “grab Bradley by the scruff of his neck.”

While there are currently no plans for an Alias reboot — though Abrams’ longtime editor Maryann Brandon revealed back in 2019 that she and Abrams have talked about it in the past.

“We’ve talked about it,” Brandon said. “I’ve often asked him about it, and he’ll say, ‘Yeah, maybe.’ I have no insight whatsoever other than that. I mean, I love Jennifer Garner. She’s extremely good at what she does and so I would be happy if they did reboot it.”

Stay tuned for more updates about the SAG and WGA strikes.