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Commentary: 'Alias' unansweredA warning to 'Lost' fans everywhereBy Joshua Levs YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- And so it ends. After five fascinating/frustrating seasons, the Jennifer Garner slinky-dress-wearing/ world-saving/ dysfunctional-family drama "Alias" reaches its conclusion Monday night. Those of us who have hung on for the rocky ride are hoping against hope that the ludicrous number of outstanding mysteries will miraculously be solved. But it's doubtful. And that serves as a warning to fans of J.J. Abrams' bigger hit, "Lost," which also rides on the premise that someday everything you've seen will make sense. When "Alias" began in 2001, it was addictive. Balancing a "normal" life as a student with a fantasy world of espionage -- backed by a "Run Lola Run" music beat -- the story of Sydney Bristow pulled us in. We joined her search for the truth about the agency she worked for, her family, and herself. Even when J.J. tossed out the premise, ending Sydney's normal life (no more friends or studies) and double-agent duty (the nefarious network she worked for went kaput), we kept watching -- largely for the incredibly complex family triangle of Sydney, her distant father (Victor Garber) and is-she-really-evil mother (Lena Olin). But we were too rarely rewarded. "Alias" kept layering dozens of fresh mysteries without resolving most of them, and took so many sudden left turns it made us dizzy. Even now, on the eve of the final broadcast, we still don't have answers to some of the biggest questions introduced in the first season. Just a sampling: Did Sydney's mom really kill CIA agents, including Vaughn's father? How can Sydney be the woman prophesied by Rambaldi when she climbed a mountain to prove she isn't? Who is this Rambaldi guy, and how did he prognosticate everything? Why did Sydney's Aunt (Isabella Rossellini) try to kill Sydney and Vaughn? Why exactly did Sydney have those two years wiped from her memory? At one point the show teased us, having Sydney's nemesis-of-the-moment suggest the answers lay in a bank vault. But then the writers threw that opportunity away, giving us virtually nothing. The twists lately have felt like efforts to patch up some holes -- not the results of thoroughly mapped-out storytelling. In fact, it often seems like J.J. and company forgot all about some of the mysteries -- or are hoping viewers did. Yes, any good show, like life, is about the journey. And the fact that I, and others like me, have kept watching means we have gotten something out of it. The action and acting alone keep it fun. Still, if we don't get a long list of legit answers tonight, I'm going to doubt whether the whole ride was worth it. There is a chance. Current executive producer Jeff Pinkner promised the show will "wrap up" Sydney's story in a "surprising" and "thrilling" way. And maybe J.J., with his brilliance for storytelling, can still pull it off. Otherwise, he'll just be leaving his most committed viewers ... lost. 
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