I didn't hate the idea of Lauren Reed but I certainly hated the execution of the character. I would have had no problem with the idea that she was a double agent who was deliberately sent into Vaughn's life to seduce and marry him had that been the original concept of her character. Alias was never shy in sharing with the viewers the secrets and conflicted motivations of the characters - we always knew that Sloane didn't work for the CIA. We knew, from very early on, that Laura Bristow was really a deeply embedded Soviet spy. We knew that Will Tippin was, idiotically, investigating Danny's death. What we didn't know, and what was often so delicious and delightful, was how those secrets and conflicts would be revealed to the rest of the characters and what the fall-out of their choices would be. With Lauren, we were presented with "she's wonderful, she is not grey, she just came along when Vaughn was vulnerable" and it was very clear that the writers, especially JJ Abrams, thought the viewers would accept, maybe even love the character. When it became obvious that the show's fans were not and would not warm to Lauren Reed, or Melissa George's portrayal of her (that accent had to be the worst!), all of a sudden, TPTB shifted and suddenly she was turned into an almost cartoonish villain. Had she been introduced with even shades of grey, had it seemed, at any point in the first half of the season, that she might potentially be playing Vaughn or been in league with Sark & Irina or Sloane, then I wouldn't have felt like we fans were being appeased by the show. And that's ultimately what it felt like. There was nothing subtle about Lauren Reed.
