For all the flack I have given Alphas since the premiere, "Original Sin" was such a game-changer for the show and its direction that almost all of my original reservations have been laid to rest.

Could Alphas have done a better job of mixing procedural and serial elements? Absolutely. But the characters are enjoyable, the stakes have been heightened considerably and this new direction is so fantastic and compelling that all of that seems trivial now.

It would have been enough had it just been Anna that was killed in the raid. She was the puppet all along, spreading the word of Stanton Parish, an Alpha who has dropped his humanity in favor of using his knowledge to begin building a new world of Alphas because they aren’t sick and the diseased but the future.

All of sudden, Red Flag is back to being a true nemesis to our Alphas. Before, they were interested in the same goals, but were going down different paths to accomplish them. Now, Red Flag isn’t interested in humanity and what makes both Alphas and humans unique from the rest of nature; they’re interested in reshaping the world in their own image.

Parish’s manipulation was so deep and cunning he was able to reinsert Rosen’s own daughter, Danielle, back into his life. He effectively used Rosen’s own humanity against him. Hell, Parish might actually manipulating Danielle, too, because they have a relationship together. There doesn’t seem to be any low to which he won’t stoop.

In fact, “Original Sin” ended up changing its second season in so many different ways the only relation it may end up having to season one is in name only. Dr. Rosen’s last desperate move before getting a checkmate was incredible. It would have been enough had he just hinted that Alphas existed to the masses in his incredibly risky speech, but then he called out everyone as he saw them. Rosen had no problem referring to the government and their “hospital” and warned of the looming war with Red Flag if things are changed quickly and for the better, not for worse.

Not only did Rosen call out the different sides in the potential war, he basically isolated his own Alphas team. The government probably doesn’t want them now and Red Flag wants to kill them because they’re the only real, credible threat standing in the way of their goals.

Finally, the acting has to be given its due: Ryan Cartwright’s performance when Gary realized Anna was dead was heartbreaking to watch, as was seeing Dr. Rosen “feel” through Danielle’s power how much he hurt her.

While Alphas has had some ups and downs over the season, the complete game-changer of a season finale has finally made me a true fan of the series. Does anyone know when season two starts? Not soon enough, that's the answer.