Absolutely, the scenes in s1 of Homeland did that as well - the one with Brody and his wife in the pilot as visceral, for example, and said so much that could not have come across the same way otherwise. I also agree re: the Riley/Faith-in-Buffy scene. Haven't watched Alphas so couldn't say.

...but such cases are rare. So it's still very noteworthy to me when a show manages to do that.