In the pantheon of lookers with left hooks--a group that stretches from Brunhilde to the Powerpuff Girls--Sydney Bristow belongs in the geeky-but-cute niche. She's the assassin with dimples.
As played by Jennifer Garner on ABC's buzziest new-season show, Alias, Bristow is one of the most winning female-action heroes on TV. Garner's ability to plausibly embody Bristow's many identities--cheerful graduate student, plucky double agent, vulnerable loner and (this part is key) killer clotheshorse--helped the actress become something else last week: a Golden Globe winner. Best-actress laurels don't normally go to ladies who lunge, as one could tell from the look on Garner's...