Summary

• Michael Vartan's character, Michael Vaughn, faced a unique exit on Alias in the show's fifth season.
• Vartan reportedly left the show not due to personal reasons, but rather to film another project in Australia.
• Vaughn's exit, along with other character changes, contributed to Alias ending after five seasons.

Airing for five seasons on ABC, J.J. Abrams' spy thriller Alias featured Michael Vartan, alongside Jennifer Garner and a slew of other great actors, as a series regular from the very beginning. His character, Michael Vaughn, began as the CIA handler of protagonist Garner's Sydney Bristow, before eventually becoming her husband after season long trials and tribulations. Because he was so prominent on the show, it was extremely surprising for fans when his role was significantly diminished in the final season of the J.J. Abrams series.

The final shot of the Alias Season 4 finale showed Vaughn and a pregnant Sydney getting into a car crash moments after he revealed that his name was never Michael Vaughn. It was, in fact, an alias. Season 5 picked up moments later when an armed group extracted Vaughn from the car. The audience was meant to believe Vaughn was murdered, and Sydney then spent the next 10 episodes attempting to cope with life without him while trying to figure out the truth. But Alias Season 5, Episode 11, titled "Instinct maternel," threw the audience for another loop when Vaughn was revealed to be alive. When he was taken to the hospital after the crash, Jack gave him a pill to slow his heart rate - a tactic similar to the one Jack used once before of Arvin Sloane. Jack's men then pulled Vaughn out of the morgue and helped him go into hiding, where he remained until his shocking return. The kicker was that Sydney was also in on the ruse, and her display of grief had been for the sake of appearances, all in a day's work for an international spy.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on February 18, 2024: Over fifteen years after its finale, Alias remains one of the most memorable spy thriller series of its time, shooting Jennifer Garner to stardom and making its dent in a genre that would soon become densely saturated with similar shows. While Alias was filled with all kinds of shocking twists and turns, perhaps the most memorable of these was Michael Vaughn's exit. Though Alias could have taken a more traditional approach with the character's departure, the show instead took a decidedly unique route to write Vaughn out.

Why Did Michael Vartan Leave Alias in Season 5?

Rumors circulated regarding the "real" reason for Michael Vartan's departure in Alias Season 5, the most prevalent being his real-life breakup with Jennifer Garner. The suggestion was that Vartan took the end of their relationship hard, and continuing to work with her was a challenge. However, the true reason is a lot less complicated. IMDb confirmed that the reason why Vartan had to step back from the final season of Alias in was so that he could film another project.

While that was stated as the reason for Vartan's departure, it's unclear for which film he left Alias. All that is known is the project was being filmed in Australia. Alias ended in 2006, and Vartan was in the 2007 Australian film Rogue, so it's probably safe to assume that was the project in question. J.J. Abrams confirmed during a TV Guide interview the character of Michael Vaughn was never meant to stay dead; the plan had been for Vartan to return for Alias' final season and give his character a proper conclusion alongside his on-screen wife Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow.

It ain’t over till the fat lady sings. You have to see what the story is. And when I said at the beginning of the year that [Vartan] is back this season, I wasn’t lying. So, in the way that Alias does things that you might not expect in a way that you might not expect it’s typical of that. The conclusion people are coming to isn’t exactly what it is. — J.J. Abrams

Michael Vaughn's Alias Exit Hastened the End of the Series

Michael Vartan's scaled-back role wasn't the only major shakeup for Alias Season 5. Series regular Greg Grunberg was phased out in order to allow the actor to pursue other opportunities. Mia Maestro's Nadia was also killed off because she had only signed a one-year contract as a series regular. Even Jennifer Garner's Sydney had to become less active in the final season due to her being pregnant, which became an actual plot point in the last season as Sydney also discovered that she was pregnant.

The writers knew how to handle each of these exits in a way that felt very organic, albiet shocking, to the overarching story. It was a sign the cast was ready to move on to other projects. Because someone as prominent as Vartan was also ready to pursue other projects, it solidified the team behind Alias' decision to end the show after five seasons. Those were not the only prominent characters to leave Alias, as the first exit was of now-A-list star Bradley Cooper who had his final and short-lived appearance in the third season.

What Has Michael Vartan Done Since Leaving Alias?

Since leaving Alias, Michael Vartan has gone on to star in many different projects, though not all of them were particularly notable. Shortly after Alias, Vartan starred in the horror-thriller Rogue, a film that follows an adventurer as he tries to cross a river filled with crocodiles--including one particularly monstrous 25-foot croc. Rogue mostly faded into obscurity but remains one of Vartan's most well-received films critically and offered the actor a chance to work with other talented individuals like Mia Wasikowska and Avatar's Sam Worthington.

Vartan has also shown up in several popular television series, making guest appearances in shows like God Friended Me and Rectify. He also starred alongside Jada Pinkett-Smith in the short-lived medical drama Hawthorne, in which he portrayed Dr. Tom Wakefield. More recently, Vartan took on a prominent role in The Arrangement, a series depicting the uglier side of Hollywood as a young up-and-coming actress is offered a major contract if she marries a major star.

Since starring in Alias, Michael Vartan has kept up a successful but mostly under-the-radar career in both films and television. While his departure from the hit spy series may have disappointed some fans, it is difficult to deny that his exit was masterfully executed while simultaneously paving the way for the actor to take on new and exciting roles over the years.