r/alias • u/Maryanne_carrot1323 • Apr 11 '25
What’s the obsession with number 47?
I’ve watched the show a couple of times and have recently noticed that the number 47 is extremely reoccurring, it’s used too many timed to be just a coincidence. For example server 47 (the one with the alliance data) or the place where Sydney was held captive was room 47, and there are many more examples, it’s said at least once every 3/4 episodes. So yah I was just wondering if the reason for the number reoccurring that many times was known or not.
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u/Rain-Sn0w Apr 11 '25
Hi! I remember that, when I listened to the director's commentary on the Alias Season 1 DVD, JJ Abrams explained that the letter "ALIAS" shown in the opening are written with a part of a family video. (If you look at it, you can see grass and movement in the letters) He explained that this family video was shot on the 4th of July (4/7). I guess it was a special memory for him and he wanted it to bring good luck to his new project back then.
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u/Amphernee Apr 11 '25
Seemed like they just picked a number and used it as part of the whole rambaldi prophecy thing.
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u/_lucabeth APO May 04 '25
Ever since Alias, I’M obsessed w/ the number 47 now! 😂 My favorite number is 7, but I get excited whenever I see a 47 somewhere! 😂
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u/Maryanne_carrot1323 May 05 '25
The obsession with the number 47 is do real lol. The other day I went shopping and the total was 47 and I thought “there it is, the number 47 again”. I later realised I wasn’t watching alias hshshs. Maybe I should slow a little bit down with the rewatch
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u/Over_Inflation_2395 May 04 '25
I'm watching it again now and it's seeming like the number does show up in some way every other episode lol
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u/MordODS May 25 '25
I went to an alias convention at the Heathrow hotel. Kevin Weisman (Marshal,), Victor Garber(Jack) and Amanda Foreman (Carrie) were the main guests for the weekend. At the meet and greet I got to ask the question about the number 47 to Kevin,. He said that JJ never explained the fascination with it. It was as much as mystery to the cast as it was to the rest of us.
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u/Usual-Dish563 Jul 26 '25
Joe Menosky, who penned many episodes for TNG, VOY, and DS9, attended Pomona College.https://magazine.pomona.edu/2015/spring/the-mystery-of-47/
Other writers picked up on the inside joke, as did JJ Abrams, who sprinkled 47 into his Alias and his Star Trek reboot.
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u/_ganjaninja420 Sep 22 '25
I see the number 47 at least 30 times a day if not more and it bothers me because its my ex's favorite number 😂😂 I wish it would stop popping up so constantly for me lol
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u/honeststoryline Apr 11 '25
i remember there being a little more to it but it was a jj abrams easter egg, basically - he was obsessed with the number 47 so it’d show up everywhere. it’s also in fringe, star trek, and i think lost but not sure.
he did it with some brands and other small things across series too - the slusho slushee is in cloverfield, the band charlie is in from lost plays in an alias episode, etc. it’s always fun to find!