Alias Season 2 Reviews by Billie Doux
Alias: Season Two
2.1 The Enemy Walks In
2.2 Trust Me
2.3 Cipher
2.4 Dead Drop
2.5 The Indicator
2.6 Salvation
2.7 The Counteragent
2.8 Passage (1)
2.9 Passage (2)
2.10 The Abduction
2.11 A Higher Echelon
2.12 The Getaway
2.13 Phase One
2.14 Double Agent
2.15 A Free Agent
2.16 Firebomb
2.17 A Dark Turn
2.18 Truth Takes Time
2.19 Endgame
2.20 Countdown
2.21 Second Double
2.22 The Telling
2.1 The Enemy Walks In
Irina: "Tell me, Sydney. Who sent you here? You must
tell me."
Sydney: "Or what? I'm grounded?"
Fun and exciting, although I was mildly let down.
This episode was mostly a resolution and re-set of last season's
cliffhangers, with a good deal of material aimed at bringing
new viewers up to speed. Which is okay; I really do want this
show to acquire a big audience, so I don't have to fret about
it being picked up every year.
It did include an intriguing introduction to Mommy Deadliest,
a.k.a Laura Bristow, a.k.a. Irina Derevko. It was clever of
them to have her shoot Sydney right at the beginning; it made
her seem capable of anything, and every time she showed up,
I had no idea what she would do. (Plus I thought it was extremely
creepy the way she intimated that she should have killed Sydney
as an infant.)
The rest of it was a little too pat. Dixon is no longer a
threat to Sydney's cover, because Jack covered for Sydney.
Sloane is also under control again, for the same reason. Will's
expose has been negated by portraying him as a heroin addict...
yes, Jack again. Spy Daddy is quite the fixer here.
The one plot point I found myself most intrigued by is, what
the hell really happened to Vaughn? Sure, great, he can swim
really well, he got himself out of danger... but then what
happened to him? Why move Vaughn to France if they were going
to harvest his organs? Was Khasinau about to surgically implant
a homing device?
Bits and pieces:
-- Same cast, with the addition of Lena Olin as Irina, and
David Anders as Sark, and a new saga sell. I liked last year's
intro by Sydney better, though.
-- Did Irina really kill Khasinau, or was it a red herring?
Is Vaughn's buddy Weiss really dead, too?
-- There were some grossout moments: Khasinau with the scalpel
on that guy's forehead, followed by Sydney stabbing Vaughn
with the adrenalyn needle.
-- This week's most romantic moment was Sydney and Vaughn
after his rescue, gazing speechlessly at each other.
-- So Sloane *did* kill his wife, Emily. Possibly with her
consent. He supposedly loved her deeply; how can this turkey
live with himself?
-- Here's a question. Are Irina and Jack still married??
I must admit that Jack is probably my favorite character,
and I can't wait to see these two people alone in a room together.
-- Are you telling me that a non-Asian woman with blue hair
isn't going to be noticed in Taipei, even in a hazmat suit?
-- Vaughn (or Vartan, the guy who plays him) has a tattoo
on his upper left shoulder. What was it? If you know, email
me!
-- The basic re-set of characters and plot had one major
change. Will, Syd's friend, will never be the same again,
and she no longer has to lie to him. Plus, hey, his life is
totally ruined. Lots of plot possibilities there.
-- The scenes with CIA shrink, played by Patricia Wettig,
might be a fun continuing plot line this season; Jack and
Sydney are going to be dealing with major trauma, with Irina
back in their lives.
-- This week's itinerary: Cliffhanger clean-up in Taipei,
short trip to Cap Ferrat, France to plant a bug in Jean-Marc
Ravais' office. (Ravais is an associate of Khasinau's, right?)
And a trip to the Port of Barcelona (looking a bit like the
Port of Los Angeles) to get the Bible.
-- This week's hair report: Jennifer Garner's hair has been
lightened a bit and looks longer. Loved the blue wig from
the last season ender, and the blonde wig with that incredible
dress in Cap Ferrat.
I'm intrigued, and waiting breathlessly for next week. What
does Irina have planned for our heroes? As she said at one
point, "Truth takes time." Wanna bet it takes the
rest of the second season?
Very good episode,
Billie
------------
2.2 Trust Me
Vaughn: "Guess it's two-for-one day on blackmail."
And I thought *my* family was dysfunctional.
The very dislikeable Assistant Director Kendall is back,
played by the very talented Terry O'Quinn. And he's the one
holding Irina, and pressuring Sydney to interact with her.
Getting in to see her was like visiting Hannibal Lector, wasn't
it?
It was very touching of Vaughn, who has his own issues, to
go confront Irina in Syd's place. (And it was creepy that
it only took Irina about ten seconds to figure out whose son
Vaughn was, and that Vaughn cares for Sydney.)
Sydney said at one point, "I don't support the death
penalty, but I hope that she dies for all that she's done."
Sydney may think that she's on top of her feelings for her
mother, but she's lying to herself. That final scene where
Sydney was laying down the law to Irina was terrific, but
I get the feeling it was just what Irina wanted all along
- to get a rise out of Sydney. Am I completely off base thinking
Darth Vader here? Is Irina there to turn Sydney, or possibly
Jack?
One scene I absolutely cannot wait to see is Jack and Irina
in the same room for the first time. He can't talk about her
without exploding; I love it.
So SD-6 has Irina's blackmail disk, and the CIA doesn't.
Sloane is already using it, as poor Peter Fordson now knows.
Plus the Derevko Operations Bible is still out and about.
Bet we'll hear about that again.
Sloane is now a full-fledged member of the Alliance. What
did they inject into him as part of the initiation procedure?
A remote-control caplet that will kill him if he turns or
is captured? Or was it something else?
Bits and pieces:
-- Weiss is still alive and is going to be okay. Khasinau
is reportedly dead, though. Why exactly did Irina kill him?
-- Was anyone else shuddering when Sloane took Sydney's hand
and said he was there for her? Eeeeee...
-- On the home front, Will gets probation, treatment, and
community service, Francie decides to paint her new restaurant
red, and Will offers to help her get a legal liquor license.
Francie has always seemed like a pointless character to me,
but I realize that her function is to inject normalcy into
Sydney's life. Francie is there for contrast; she's living
the life Sydney can't have.
-- May I say that Vaughn looks way hot in all black?
-- This week's geographical highlights: Rabat (where's that?),
Helsinki, and London.
-- This week's coolest moment: Sydney jumping off the balcony
right before Sloane saw her.
-- This week's hottest moment: Jack reacting to Irina's intel
instructions for Sydney.
-- This week's hair report: we got Jennifer's own hair, piled
up and sexy, plus a cool, black, flippy wig.
-- This week's language: Syd's very impressive Italian.
Four out of five stars, and I'm very much looking for a Mommy/Daddy
scene next week,
Billie
---------------
2.3 Cipher
Receptionist: "Did you enjoy the launch?"
Sydney: "It was a thrill."
So, let me recap.
Sark, who is now in control of Irina's organization, planned
to use a special camera launched by the Asiatic Space Agency
to find yet another weirdo Rambaldi artifact -- a music box.
Vaughn used induced regression to take Will back to his near-death
experience; Will came up with the combination to the music
box from Sark's laptop. Irina decoded the combination for
Sydney, and Sydney (1) played the music box for the CIA; (2)
destroyed it before SD-6 or Sark could get to it, and (3)
ended up trapped under the ice in this season's first whopping
cliffhanger.
Irina continued to manipulate away, and I think she's making
progress with Sydney. But she certainly isn't getting anywhere
with Jack, at least not yet; whatever Irina was trying to
sell Jack with that speech about their marriage, he wasn't
buying. I was sorta hoping for more fireworks. Ah, well; the
season is young.
The whole Sloane grieving for Emily thing made my skin crawl.
How dared he elicit sympathy from Jack and Sydney? One can
only hope that he is experiencing crippling guilt; I found
it amazing that Sydney was able to say to him, "It's
not your fault," with a straight face. (Wow, Rifkin is
good, isn't he? He hits all my buttons.) We may be moving
into supernatural weirdness, too. That call from the bed &
breakfast certainly had a Twilight Zone feel to it, and her
"dead" garden is now blooming; looks like Emily
isn't "gone". I hope she haunts the holy hell out
of him.
Vaughn and Will finally met, and Will almost instantly picked
up on Vaughn's feelings for Sydney. Will seems to be handling
the complete obliteration of his former life with humor and
aplomb. He's also bunking with Sydney and Francie; that's
a situation fraught with possible peril.
The big unanswered question, other than how Sydney will escape
from the ice, is: Sydney has gaps in her childhood memories,
and Irina knows that Jack "did something" to Sydney
after Irina disappeared. Jack even tried unsuccessfully to
enlist the CIA shrink to help him cover it up. What did Jack
do to Sydney all those years ago, and how will it affect this
dysfunctional family circle?
Bits and pieces:
-- The Thanksgiving play thing was exceptionally cute and
made me laugh out loud. Jack almost smiled. I saw it.
-- When talking to the shrink, Jack at first referred to
Irina as Laura. Very interesting.
-- It sounds like Will and Vaughn aren't the only ones with
a thing for Sydney; Marshall cares for her, too.
-- This week's majorly cool gadget: Sydney rocketing through
the exhaust ducts on her portable suitcase luge. I want one
of those; it might be the perfect way to beat the L.A. freeways.
Of course, I would have crashed into the sides of the exhaust
ducts and died a fiery death.
-- This week's itinerary: Sri Lanka and Siberia. And they
even rhyme.
-- This week's hot looks: A curly red professional do, and
a Siberian snow jumpsuit with a snazzy fur-lined hood.
Pretty good episode, but somehow it wasn't what I wanted.
Three out of five stars,
Billie
---------
2.4 Dead Drop
Sydney: "You heard me tell her I was a turkey?"
Sydney managed to escape from the ice with Dixon's help,
and didn't suffer any lasting effects, which is just miraculous.
Personally, I'm surprised that she was able to grip the gun
and the mouthpiece.
And she retrieved the map with Irina's help, and in the process
fielded a very interesting job offer from Sark. :) Irina even
decoded the map -- she's incredibly helpful, huh? -- but when
Sydney and Vaughn went to retrieve it in Madagascar, Jack
managed to have a friend blow up the building it was in and
make it appear that Irina had tried to kill Sydney. A confused
Irina was taken away for questioning, and Jack did the happy
dance of triumph. Well, okay, he didn't dance, but he almost
smiled.
This was like the Dysfunctional Spy Parent Superbowl, which
makes poor Sydney the football. Irina makes a move, Jack makes
a move; this week, Jack won. But Jack just made a serious
mistake. Sydney is eventually going to find out that Jack
set Irina up, and it's going to blow up in his face, so to
speak. When it does, he's going to lose whatever ground he's
gained with Sydney; how could she ever trust him again? Even
though my sympathies are with Jack, it's hard to tell which
of them is the worst parent.
On the home front, Will did an absolutely fabulous job coping
with an SD-6 agent sent undercover at an NA meeting to try
and trip him up. Will is certainly finding the cup half full;
he's happy that his new exploded failure of a life has brought
him closer to Sydney. He's got it bad.
On the supernatural front, it is starting to look like Emily
is haunting her killer. Or someone is making a serious effort
to make it appear so. Personally, I hope it *is* Emily and
I hope she makes Sloane miserable. It occurred to me that
Sloane could be faking all this for some unknown reason. That
would probably be too devious, even for Sloane.
Bits and pieces:
-- Jack is a frightening man. It was cool that he gave Richter
morphine instead of torturing him. Just a tad more sympathetic
than usual, huh?
-- Conspiracychick.com. :)
-- Okay, why did Irina want the earrings? Really?
-- Loved the scene where Vaughn reassured Sydney that while
parental craziness was surrounding her, he was there for her,
and always her ally. They looked like they were dying to fall
into each other's arms.
-- I'm sorry, but I'm a librarian; a first edition of "War
and Peace" would not be that easy to retrieve from ANY
library, and they certainly wouldn't allow a machine to drop
it into a chute. It would be in Special Collections under
lock and key and temperature control.
-- Does the explosion at the end mean that the Operations
Manual is now toast?
-- This week's itinerary: Siberia; Moscow; Madagascar. Plus
we got a short bit on Sark in the Falklands.
-- This week's cool look: short, black wig and Russian military
uniform with lockpicks posing as service medals.
-- This week's impressive language skill: Russian!
Very good. Four out of five stars,
Billie
-------------
2.5 The Indicator
Sydney to Jack: "You took away my choices in life. You
programmed me to be a spy. I will never forgive you for this."
Sydney learned a couple of very interesting facts here: that
she had been subjected to spy kid testing -- by Jack; and
that Mom's original mission was to spy on Jack because of
his involvement in that very project, called Project Christmas.
(Which of course gave Jack another excellent reason to set
up Irina.)
Vaughn figured out that Jack framed Irina, and confronted
Jack about it, which took some major cojones; not too many
people would have that kind of nerve, but Vaughn seems capable
of doing just about anything when Sydney is involved.
Sydney has now lost all the trust and faith in her father;
she's pretty much an emotional time bomb right now. I'm wondering
if all of this emotional yo-yo-ing is going to push her right
into bed with Vaughn. He's the only person she can trust now,
and she certainly seems to turn naturally to him when she's
in turmoil; if she made the first move, would he be able to
resist her?
Moving on to the Emily subplot, Sloane actually confided
in Jack about killing Emily. (I can't imagine anyone choosing
Jack as a confidant, but Sloane probably doesn't have a lot
of choices out there.) We now know exactly what Sloane did
to Emily... and how Emily might have evaded it with a drug
called VTX. Is Emily alive? Or is an Alliance competitor faking
this haunting? Hey, maybe Jack is doing it. Jack is Machiavellian;
I wouldn't put it past him.
On the home front, Francie's restaurant opened successfully,
thanks to Will inviting a number of his AA friends. Will still
seems to be doing fine. I think I'd be in analysis if I'd
been through what happened to him.
Bits and pieces:
-- Irina wasn't in this episode at all. Understandable; this
was a Sydney/Jack episode. She did, however, leave her earrings
in her cell, probably for Sydney to find.
-- Is Jack in serious shit now? Or is he too valuable as
a double agent to punish for what he did?
-- This week's itinerary: Vienna, Budapest, Buenos Aires,
-- This week's impressive language skill: Hungarian!
-- This week's cool look: short blond do with glasses.
-- This week's fun gadget: Marshall's lip gloss/flying camera.
This was a dramatic, powerful episode, moody and somewhat
sad. Very good. Four out of five stars,
Billie
------------
2.6 Salvation
Sydney to Jack: "If you hadn't been so gullible, I never
would have been born."
This episode was heavy on the plot twists and the emotion,
and light on the spy stuff. I loved it.
Jack and Sydney went undercover at a hospital in Geneva to
obtain data on Sark's virus and a blood sample from patient
zero. Their cover, ironically enough, was as a loving father
and daughter. That was fun to see, because they were both
too professional not to do it well. I also loved the cool
shoot-out in the corridor. It was chilling, hearing patient
zero call Sydney "Irina," and discovering that Irina
had deliberately ordered Sark to infect her own operatives.
I completely believe Jack's take on Irina, by the way. I
think she did indeed plead guilty so that Sydney wouldn't
hear the details of all of the terrible things she has done.
But I also think that Jack, by confessing to Devlin and testifying
as he did at the Joint Intelligence Committee hearing, was
continuing to manipulate Sydney as well. This is still the
parental manipulation Superbowl, Alias fans. Who will win?
These strong emotions are what I love to see in this show
-- Sydney and Jack, who really do love each other, clashing
at such an intimate level. And Sydney and Vaughn are continuing
to project a strong connection and attraction to each other
without ever referring to it directly. (Although when they
were in quarantine, what *was* Sydney going to tell him when
they were interrupted?)
Ron Rifkin, as Sloane, is also doing a bang-up job with the
Emily subplot, which advanced quite a bit here as Sloane glimpsed
a woman who could have been Emily on the street, and went
to the extreme step of disinterring her body. The fact that
it wasn't in her coffin isn't conclusive, though, because
if someone is indeed doing this to bring down Sloane and SD-6,
they could have removed her body. I certainly do hope that
Emily is alive, because it would serve Sloane right. Whatever
is happening is certainly having its desired effect on Sloane,
because he's losing it. I love it.
We now know that Jack taught Sydney the "Project Christmas"
techniques, hoping she would join the CIA out of college.
And as we all know, Sloane got to her, first. This contradicts
my earlier impression that Jack didn't want Sydney to be a
spy. I'm confused.
Vaughn wanted to investigate the possibility that a KGB "Project
Christmas" test for first graders was administered in
the U.S., but Devlin didn't seem to care. In a nice little
plot twist, Will was desperate enough for money to ask Vaughn
for work, and now he'll be researching the test for Vaughn
on the sly. I'll bet Will, with his background, will do a
bang-up job, and what a great way to bring him back into the
story.
Sydney, by lying to Senator Douglas, managed to save Jack
from a prison sentence and Irina from lethal injection. Wouldn't
it be ironic if her lie about a senator in SD-6's pocket turned
out to be true? (And what if it were Senator Douglas himself?)
We got a cliffhanger this time -- Vaughn has the virus. Somehow,
I get the feeling that in the next episode, Sydney will be
doing anything she can to get Irina to help her save Vaughn.
Do you think?
Bits and pieces:
-- Sydney talks in her sleep ("don't frost the pie").
Isn't that a dangerous characteristic for a spy?
-- This week's itinerary: Geneva and Washington, D.C.
-- This week's look: Sydney in fluffy Harlow-blonde hair
and giggles. And Jack looked damned good in that dark suit
and red tie.
-- This week's cool gadget: Marshall's anti-anesthesia with
synthetic caffeine.
Five out of five stars,
Billie
------------
2.7 The Counteragent
Sark to Sydney: "You and I were destined to work together.
I truly believe that."
Another excellent episode.
I noticed Sydney didn't hesitate to disobey the CIA when
it came right down to Vaughn's life in the balance -- not
to mention her willingness to set up Sloane! That decontam
scene was pretty powerful; I was a little shocked that she
gave in to Sark's proposal so quickly, but she hates Sloane
with a passion, and what else could she do?
Sloane, after losing his cool while having Richter tortured,
and desperate for a hit to keep the Alliance from closing
down SD-6, was thrilled to be able to flaunt his new partnership
with Sark, while Sark seemed to be a lot more fascinated with,
and fixated on, Sydney. Sark and Sydney make an interesting
pair. He is clearly interested in her (transferring a fixation
on Irina, perhaps?) and she despises him; he brings out the
worst in her.
Sydney and Jack seem to have a working truce now; he surprised
and pleased Sydney by helping her kidnap Sloane. Jack clearly
doesn't want Sydney to carry the guilt and responsibility
of committing murder, though; he doesn't want Sydney to become
the person that *he* is. She *thought* she was doing it, though,
so even though she didn't take that step in fact, she took
it emotionally.
On the ghostly front, Sloane now believes that Emily is alive
and that she knows he tried to kill her. When Sloane was on
the massage table, he was about to confess everything about
Emily to a disguised Sydney... or was he? Sydney still doesn't
know about Emily, and hearing Sloane confess to killing her
could have been explosive.
Sydney's relationship with Vaughn is becoming more emotional,
and more romantic, every week. Twice in this episode, I thought
Vaughn would tell Sydney that he loves her; in the hospital
bed, and later at the end -- and he didn't. He did tell Irina,
though. They had the same conversation twice, in reverse:
thank you for saving my life... and, I didn't do it for you,
meaning, they both did it for Sydney. How interesting. Well,
she made him do it, but still...
Bits and pieces:
-- Syd told Will about Project Christmas, which could have
been tried on five million American children in 33 states.
Wow.
-- I knew something had happened to Vaughn in Cap Ferrat.
My original thought back at the beginning of the season was
that he had been brainwashed in some way. Now we know; he'd
been exposed to the virus, and Khasinau was experimenting
on the victims. To find a cure, according to Irina.
-- Vaughn has a good-sized tattoo on his top left shoulder.
He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would have a tattoo...
so either Michael Vartan has one and they decided not to cover
it, or there's stuff we don't know about Vaughn. ;-)
-- Vaughn also has a girlfriend, Alice, who was listed as
his emergency contact. Very interesting. One doesn't think
of Vaughn as having a life, since we only see his contacts
with Sydney.
-- This week's cool device: propulsion boots that zip Sydney
through the water
-- This week's itinerary: Paldiski, Estonia; Tokyo, Japan;
-- This week's language and disguise: Sydney, almost unrecognizable
as a geisha, and even speaking Japanese.
Five out of five stars; excellent.
Billie
-----------
2.8 Passage (1)
Jack to Sydney: "I'm not about to let Irina Derevko
near six nuclear weapons, supervised only by you."
This episode was tremendous spy family fun; I loved every
minute of it. My favorite moment was when all three of them
were in the train, with the James Bond music in the background,
arguing about who was going to jump off the bridge first.
:)
Irina is definitely working on Jack, isn't she, with the
bra thing in the sleeper compartment (did you get the stunned
look on his face when he saw her half naked) and the kisses
in the train station? And she's smiling at him in the most
beguiling way. I'd love to know what's going on in Jack's
head right now.
So what's up with Sark, and do I care? Well, I sort of care.
Sark knows that Sydney tried to kill Sloane, so he has something
on her. Also, he may very well know that Sydney and Jack are
double agents. Irina said that she never told Sark, but hey,
Sydney may be falling for Irina's game to the point of finally
calling her "Mom," but I'm not. Jack even pointed
out the fact that Sark and Irina are both in infiltration
mode; can this be a coincidence? I don't think so.
Vaughn finally managed to tell Sydney that he loved her,
in an incredibly convoluted, indefinite kind of way involving
his father's watch. Does Sydney love him back? Is that what
her "me, too" meant? English, people! And for goodness
sake, why is Irina trying to get Vaughn and Sydney together?
What does she have to gain by it?
On the home front, Vaughn was forced by Devlin to fire Will...
but it looks like Will isn't going to stay fired. The investigative
reporter once again has the bit between his teeth, and he's
going to find those forty kids who might be Soviet sleeper
agents. We all know how well his last obsession went.
On the Emily front, Sloane finally got a ransom demand...
and ewww. The "kidnappers" want account numbers
for all SD-6 investments, or they tell the Alliance Emily
is alive, which would be very bad for Sloane. But is she alive?
They could have stolen her body, kept it on ice so that they
would have convenient access to body parts, put an Emily ringer
on the street for Sloane to see... I'll admit I'm completely
perplexed.
Bits and pieces:
-- No saga sell this week.
-- The opening Sydney/Sark car scene had one of my favorite
places in L.A. in the background: the Griffith Observatory.
-- Marshall, upon being introduced to Sark: "Hi. Welcome.
Don't kill me."
-- Loved Jack faking out Kendall by agreeing with Sydney!
Machiavelli has nothing on him.
-- Sydney, to Irina: "Stop baiting him." To Jack:
"And stop being such an easy target."
-- We're seeing a lot more of Kendall now than Devlin, and
I very much approve. The talented Terry O'Quinn is an asset
to any show.
-- This week's itinerary: an opium den in Uzbekistan, the
People's Revolutionary Front prison camp in Kashmir, a train
station in New Delhi.
-- This week's cool looks: first a corpse in a body bag,
complete with a bullet hole in Sydney's head, and then the
wavy blond, no-brain look in New Delhi.
-- This week's cool gadget: the C4 necklace-slash-decapitator
that Jack put on Irina.
Five out of five stars. Can't wait for part two,
Billie
------------
2.9 Passage (2)
Sydney: "You know, some people go miniature golfing
with their parents. We go to India and look for nukes."
I liked this one a lot, even though I felt a bit let down
when it ended and the status was once again quo. But I guess
things have changed a little: Irina may be back in the slammer,
but she gained a pillow and blanket, as well as serious ground
with both Sydney and Jack.
I enjoyed the Jack/Irina interaction; Garber and Olin did
darned well with conveying the anger and the sexual tension.
The two of them have found a place where they connect -- their
daughter, of course -- and they're allowing themselves to
remember and even reminisce about their marriage. The extremely
cute toaster story was one of the few glimpses we've gotten
into Jack and Irina's past relationship; it implied that they
had a passionate connection. I also enjoyed seeing Sydney
lecture the two of them about dealing with their "issues"
later. I certainly want to see the two of them work out their
issues; bring it on.
Even with Irina's tearful explanation to Sydney about why
she had to shoot her in the season opener, and the fact that
Irina could have gotten Jack dead more than once in this episode
without consequences to herself, I still can't quite believe
she's sincere. Maybe she needs Jack alive for some reason.
Maybe she wants to sleep with him again before she kills him,
or some twisted thing like that. And hey, we didn't actually
see Irina getting caught in the prison, now did we? What really
went on with Irina and Cuvee, who was her KGB supervisor as
well as her lover? Are the two of them and Sark all playing
some kind of complex game with the CIA *and* SD-6?
All that carrying on about a possible India-Pakistan nuclear
exchange and the PRF rebels having the SD-6 launch codes,
and it turns out not to be about the nukes at all -- it's
a 600 year old flower that is proof of Rambaldi's theory of
self-sustaining cell regeneration. (I hope you all appreciate
that I have to take notes in order to get the plot points
straight in these Alias reviews, you know. :)
On the Emily front, I'm not at all surprised that Sloane
went right to the Alliance with the ransom demand. If he was
evil enough to kill her in the first place, why would he hesitate
to make certain she dies again? And hey, is Emily finally
dead now, or were the photos a fake-out?
Will and Francie only showed up for a few minutes of miniature
golf at the end of the episode. There was also very little
Sark; he just stopped by to mispronounce the word "nuclear"
as "nucular," which is one of my pet peeves.
Bits and pieces:
-- Jack is indiscreet enough to brag about Sydney to associates?
I don't believe it.
-- Sloane: "This is about money?" Kidnapper: "Everything
is about money."
-- Irina to Sydney, in the minefield: "So Sydney. How
is school?"
-- We learned that Vaughn was stationed in India for two
years, and he has a contact who knew his father. I'm willing
to bet that real secret agents don't have quite so many family
connections in the workplace.
-- This week's itinerary: New Delhi and Srinagar.
-- This week's cool look: Sydney and Irina both in Indian
garb. Jack didn't look quite so hot in that bushy beard and
turban, though.
-- This week's cool gadget: Marshall's invisible liquid tracer.
Too bad it didn't keep working. I wonder why? Marshall's gadgets
always work. Hmmm.
Four out of five stars,
Billie
--------------
2.10 The Abduction
Sloane: "That's why you're going in with Marshall."
Marshall: "Marshall who?"
This was Marshall's episode, and it was long overdue. He
was very cute throughout, I must admit -- the bad British
accent, the parachute in his jacket, telling Sydney he loved
her while under the influence. But poor baby! Seeing Sark
in the torture chair didn't bother me much, but Marshall?
It was like watching them torture a Muppet Baby.
Sydney is completely under Irina's spell now, isn't she?
("I was a fool to think that any ideology could come
before my daughter." Wow, she's convincing.) And now
Irina is working on Jack. Isn't it interesting that they're
still married? I was wondering about that. Jack believes that
Irina's scheme is a long-term one, and that Sark is in on
it with her. Jack's a sharp guy; he may be right.
Sloane has set Faye Dunaway to catch his blackmailer, and
she's zeroed in on Jack. So who *is* blackmailing Sloane?
It isn't Jack, is it? Or is Ariana/Faye just picking up double
agent vibes? (And was Jack actually *flirting* with her, or
was it business? Hmmmmm?)
On the home front, Will has, understandably, become Sydney's
confidant, and they're inadvertently closing out Francie.
I'm sure Will can pass that psych test; he seems to have taken
the complete implosion of his entire life with such aplomb.
Very funny that he had to take the test at the post office.
Bits and pieces:
-- Syd went on a mission with Sark, and then with Marshall.
Not her usual partners. Where is Dixon, by the way?
-- When Marshall gave Sydney that camera, I thought it was
a listening device and that Sydney and Sark had given away
the assassination attempt on Sloane.
-- That bar scene with Vaughn, Alice, Will, and "Rita"
was very intriguing. Lots of jealous vibes going on there.
-- Sark said, of Irina: "In some ways, I think of her
as a mother, myself." Was that a hint? You don't suppose
Sark is a member of super spy family, too?
-- Ariana: "Men always call women crazy when they're
caught with their pants down."
-- Sark looked very French in that gendarme's outfit.
-- The opening credits get later every week, which I find
amusing. This time, they were nearly twenty minutes into the
episode, which I believe is an "Alias" record.
-- This week's itinerary: Paris and London.
-- This week's hot look: an auburn do and formal black dress.
-- This week's unexpected language skill: Marshall speaking
Ewok.
Pretty good. Three out of five stars?
Billie
-----------
2.11 A Higher Echelon
Francie to Sydney: "No one in the free world works as
hard as you."
This episode was delightful; Marshall was actually up to
the challenge, outwitting Cuvee's Chinese Torture Guy, getting
himself rescued, and having that parachute in his coat. Go,
Marshall! I guess he's not a genius for nothing, huh? Too
bad they didn't kill Chinese Torture Guy when they had the
chance.
Sloane's utter disregard for Marshall's life and safety was
chilling. This man is *evil.* As if we didn't know that already.
It looks like Jack is now in major trouble with both SD-6
and the CIA. Vaughn looked stunned when he heard about Jack
killing Haladki; what is this going to do to Jack's standing
with the CIA? And Sloane must think that Jack really is the
blackmailer. So who did kill Emily, and who is the blackmailer?
Is Emily even dead? We still don't know. Maybe Emily herself
is the blackmailer.
Mom continued to make inroads on Sydney, Jack, *and* Kendall
by having exactly what they need when they need it. I laughed
out loud when Irina asked Vaughn to fetch her some coffee.
"I have a crush on a guy at work"? I thought it
was a hoot, watching it go from Sydney to Francie, Francie
to Will, and finally Will to Vaughn; very high school. It's
normal for someone to confide something like this to her best
friend, but it's also a sign that Sydney and Vaughn are heading
toward something dangerous. But then again, Sydney risks her
life every day; how much more dangerous could it be? Doesn't
she deserve a chance at love, a little pleasure in her life?
A raucous liaison in a basement storage room, perhaps?
Bits and pieces:
-- Marshall was held prisoner on the forty-seventh floor.
There's that number again.
-- Sark fits into SD-6 as if he'd worked there for years.
-- Will now has a job as a CIA analyst. This is a good development;
it brings him further into the main story lines, leaving only
Francie out in the cold. It's Francie's function as a character,
though, to show a contrast to Sydney's job, so it's probably
best that Francie stay out in the cold.
-- Sydney's mission in Vietnam was again inadvertently sabotaged
by Dixon, who thinks he's serving his country. Dixon is Sydney's
partner; it would sure be a lot easier on her if the CIA brought
Dixon in, too.
-- Sydney was a little blase about Echelon being okay because
it's the government; I'm much more with Will's opinion of
Echelon "shamelessly violating the constitution."
-- I'm not the catty type, but Faye Dunaway looks like she's
had too much work done on her face. I noticed that her lips
looked a bit stretched, shall we say.
-- This week's itinerary: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Mexico
City, Mexico.
-- This week's cool look: Jennifer Garner as her own stunning
self in a black dress with her hair up. Actually, Dixon gets
the cool look this week, with a pale blue ensemble, jewelry,
and dreadlocks. :) ("I speak nine languages. Techno is
not one of them.")
Four out of five stars -- lots of fun,
Billie
----------
2.12 The Getaway
Weiss: "I'm three months past a near death experience.
What the hell are you listening to my advice for?"
And I thought Sloane was devious and manipulative *before*
this episode!
I have to give him some credit for loving Emily enough to
betray the Alliance for her sake; I should have seen it coming,
but didn't expect it. And framing Ariana? Couldn't happen
to a nicer girl. Sloane also used Jack shamelessly -- he needed
Jack to discover Ariana's link to Brio and the planted ransom
booty. Could have been disastrous, and Sloane probably wouldn't
have cared; he certainly didn't think twice about killing
that programmer.
Vaughn and Sydney have passed the point of no return. No
smoochies yet, but they took three big steps closer to succumbing
to their mutual attraction: (1) that fight they had about
Jack (and Alice); (2) their massively stupid "date",
which almost ended in an upstairs rented room; and (3) agreeing
to cover up their mutual lapse so that they could keep working
together. I think they should forget dating and just have
clandestine, surrepticious sex.
Jack and Irina are connecting in a big way, too. He needed
help, he wanted someone smart and experienced to bounce ideas
off of, and whom did he go to? He even went back to tell her
what happened at the end, and they were smiling at each other.
*Ooooooh.* Can parental hanky-panky be far behind?
Bits and pieces:
-- In the full circle department, Sydney got to rescue Jack
the way he rescued her at the beginning of the series. And
speaking of coolness, Vaughn, with the knife in his boot and
the cool moves in the alley? Way to go, Boy Scout.
-- Jack got a (mercifully brief) turn in the torture chair.
Heavy scene, although I did pretty much expect Sloane to show
up and rescue Jack.
-- Marshall: "I'll just stop talking." Sloane:
"I appreciate that."
-- I may have mentioned this before, but I live in L.A. and
it always makes me smile when they show a clear, smog-free
view of the city.
-- Vaughn to Sydney, as they mutually peruse an available
room key: "I think we should have an open mind about
this."
-- This week's itinerary: Nice, and the Philippines.
-- This week's cool looks: Dixon as a French priest, and
Sydney in purple hair, dog collar, tattoo, and fishnet stockings.
In fact, that whole airport security scene was priceless;
Jennifer Garner just makes it work, every time.
This episode was one hell of a lot of fun, and had more than
one "omigod" moment. Five out of five stars,
Billie
-----------
2.13 Phase One
Sydney: "What was wrong with the black one? Do you think
it's *comfortable* wearing clothes like this?"
Holy series-changing episode, Batman! I said "Whoa!"
out loud more than once, and I think my jaw actually, literally
dropped at the end. When they decide it's time to shake things
up, they sure don't fool around.
SD-6 is history, and Sloane has brought down the entire Alliance.
What a shock. I mean, SD-6 and the Alliance were at the center
of the entire plot of this show until this point. And that
wasn't all; just about every major plot element got twisted
and shaken up:
1. Jack got caught by Sloane's replacement and exposed as
a double agent; he wound up back in the torture chamber. Looks
like the rift between Sydney and Jack is now gone; she was
pretty upset about him getting caught, wasn't she?
2. In order to rescue Jack, Sydney told Dixon the truth,
and he was pissed. And who could blame him? (Carl Lumbly did
some excellent work here. And Jennifer Garner was terrific.)
3. After dancing around it for far too long, Vaughn finally
brought his feelings for Syd out into the open. How about
that kiss, huh? How conscientious of both of them to wait
until their official mission was complete before locking lips!
4. And speaking of locked lips, poor Francie! I liked Francie,
and I'm bummed that she's dead. How long can a false Francie
stay unexposed, especially since the real Francie and Will
started smooching? Is the actress being written out of the
show at the end of this year, and are they letting her go
out with a bang? And by the way, Sydney told Will to get Francie
and leave town. What was Francie still doing in the restaurant?
All this, and I haven't even mentioned the server-47-on-the-airplane
sequence, which was extremely cool -- the outfits, the explosive
decompression, the parachute, and even Vaughn, jealous and
worried and suffering from an overdose of aftershave.
As much as I was enjoying the (way too short) guest spot
by Rutger Hauer, I was very much aware that Sloane was unaccounted
for... but I was still surprised at the end, when we discovered
that Sloane was behind the whole thing. What also surprised
me was that Sloane knew about Jack and Sydney being double
agents. How long has he known?
This was like an end-of-the-series episode, but this isn't
the end, thank goodness. I can't wait to see where it goes
from here. What is Phase Two? Bringing down the CIA? Could
that be why Irina turned herself in?
Bits and pieces:
-- The server was number 47 again, that magic Rambaldi number.
And it was even *on* a 747.
-- Sark: "When I met with Geiger this morning, I left
his office feeling as unstrung as you look." Sydney:
"Just so you know, I'm fully strung."
-- Weiss to Vaughn: "There's no way that guy smells
as good as you."
-- Geiger: "Both your files... there were so many red
flags, I thought I was in a Russian airport."
-- Lena Olin wasn't in this episode.
-- This week's itinerary: "Over the Atlantic."
:)
-- This week's hot look: Do I even have to spell it out?
I bet that fans who are hot for Jennifer Garner had to put
their tongues back in their mouths after that opening scene.
(Speaking of which, it's too bad that Vaughn didn't get to
see her in either of those outfits.)
-- Just a brief plug. If you like sci-fi and you've never
seen Rutger Hauer's incredible performance in "Blade
Runner," you should. He should have gotten an Academy
award for it. There are several versions of "Blade Runner";
the U.S. Director's Cut is by far the best.
What a slam-bang episode. Six out of five stars,
Billie
-------------
2.14 Double Agent
Sydney: "I was thinking... I can actually go to the
CIA through the front door."
Vaughn: "And I can actually give you a ride."
So we had two Ethan Hawkes' running around and causing confusion,
which gave us an explanation of where alt-Francie actually
came from. And we had Sydney and Vaughn finally hitting the
sheets... while being observed, ick, by the previously mentioned
alt-Francie.
I don't care much for Ethan Hawke, but I think he did well
here -- at least as poor, real Lennox, who lost his fiance,
made a drunken pass at Sydney, was tortured, and broke his
own hand. He wasn't all that threatening or believeable as
fake Lennox a.k.a. Markovic, though. Why did Sloane duplicate
Markovic? Was Markovic just testing his own invention on himself?
If the ocular scan won't detect the duplicate, the only way
is by tripping up a duplicate's prior knowledge, then. Alt-Francie
seems to be faking it well, although Sydney was unsuccessful
in getting a reaction from her about Vaughn. It occurred to
me that if the "Helix" prototype was really destroyed,
alt-Francie is now stuck in her current form permanently.
Bits and pieces:
-- The opening scene with Emma and the bubblewrapped C4 in
the street was effective, and sad.
-- A new character was introduced: Christine Philips, a clandestine
services graduate. That was sure a fun first day, seeing a
workmate blown up in a Berlin street.
-- Lennox was held in Room 47.
-- Irina, Will, Dixon and Marshall weren't in this episode.
I guess they had to make room for two Ethan Hawkeses.
-- Weiss: "You like Italian food?" Christine: "I
have a boyfriend." Weiss: "Yeah, me too." I
like Weiss. I'm glad he's back. (I also love Kendall. Please
keep him!)
-- That final train yard scene with all of the Ethans running
around made me think of Star Trek. ("Kill us both, Spock.")
-- This week's itinerary: Berlin, Somewhere in Poland, and
Cayo Concha. (Where is Cayo Concha, by the way?)
-- This week's cool language skill: Sydney speaks German.
-- This week's cool look: champagne-colored hair on top of
a champagne-colored pant suit.
Three out of five stars,
Billie
-------------
2.15 A Free Agent
Vaughn: "When the hell did you have time to take a class
this year?"
It's the morning after for Sydney and Vaughn, with very little
time for pillow talk. Good question -- when *did* she have
time to take a class this year?
Clearly, Sydney is not free and can't quit the CIA because
Sloane is still on the loose; you could practically see her
changing her mind throughout the episode even before the confrontation
at the end. That phone call Sydney got from Sloane was chilling.
Why did he tell her that *he* was behind bringing down the
Alliance? Must be part of the master plan somehow, because
Sloane never does anything without a reason.
Dixon finally got some screen time, and wow, he's still majorly
pissed at Sydney. He meant it when he said he never wanted
to see her again. And now the poor guy now has to choose between
his wife and his career, and it's not a simple choice; a man
like Dixon must be thinking of all the bad he inadvertently
did, and that he owes his country. It would be in character
for Dixon to choose the job.
Marshall is, predictably, having a ball now that he's part
of the real CIA. He's such a fun character. I must admit I'm
enjoying seeing him help the good guys for a change.
A long time ago, people used to believe that the last thing
a person saw before they died was imprinted on their retinas.
The subplot with the intra-ocular retinal implant reminded
me of that old belief, with the guy Sloane murdered actually
being able to implicate his own murderer with his implant.
And we got a closing cliffhanger; Sydney is now Sloane's
prisoner. This can't be good.
Bits and pieces:
-- Christian Slater had a smaller part than Ethan Hawke's,
but it looks like it may continue to the next episode. I wonder
if this Caplan guy is going to be able to assemble the Rambaldi
artifacts for Sloane. If he does, what sort of weapon will
Sloane have?
-- How about Kendall blackmailing Sydney to stay in the CIA
by threatening to remove her access to Irina? ("Legally,
he's right. Ethically, he's an ass.")
-- Irina said that Jack had told her about Sydney's success.
Is Jack visiting Irina regularly, now? Hmmmm?
-- According to this episode, Sloane's obsession with Rambaldi
goes back to when Sloane was in the Army Corps of Engineers
and was told to study a Rambaldi manuscript.
-- Sloane has bought a Tuscan villa, and is planning to stash
Emily there.
-- Propeller scene, ick. I hate bloody propeller scenes.
-- This week's itinerary: Mojave desert; Zurich, Switzerland.
Pretty good. Four out of five stars,
Billie
----------
2.16 Firebomb
Sloane: "This is bigger than SD-6, Sydney, than the
CIA. Than you being deceived by me, and me being betrayed
by you. If things were different..."
There was a lot of plot in this one.
Sloane still cares about Sydney. I actually shuddered when
he kissed her on the forehead. And he's even more devious
than I gave him credit for. I thought he was trying to build
a new alliance, and that he planned to make a partner out
of Kabir, but all he really wanted was the manuscript that
Kabir had.
The "suitcase neutron bomb designed in the sixteenth
century" was extremely freaky, and the scene in the church
was hard to watch. I think they did well not sensationalizing
it; just showing all those people burning to death was sad
enough. Sark was unhappy that Sloane kept him in harm's way.
Am I projecting, or was Sark a little freaked by the Doomsday
Device as well?
Dixon made his choice; he was unable to let Sydney die, and
he's finally forgiven her. I'm glad he's back in the story,
but I wonder if he is going to lose his wife because of it.
I loved Sydney's tirade at Kendall. Did you notice that Sydney
chose *not* to incinerate innocent people, but not doing it
allowed Sloane to do exactly that? I also really enjoyed Will's
big scene briefing Kendall and outshining the suits from Harvard.
(Vaughn: "No suit, huh?" Will: "It's been awhile
since I tried it on...or worked out, apparently... which makes
me overwhelmed, and fat.")
Vaughn, Jack, and Kendall all showed impatience with Marshall
in this episode, but Sydney never seems to become impatient
with him. Even when he says things to her like: "They
read heat signatures, which is kind of a problem, 'cause,
well, you're incredibly hot."
Bits and pieces:
-- Sydney and Vaughn found that audio and (gulp) video bugs,
originally designed by Marshall, were planted in Syd's apartment.
This might put a damper on their extracurricular activities.
-- Alt-Francie is a smart one, going on the offensive and
telling Syd that Syd has been acting weird?
-- The Kennedy School is Harvard? Is that a common expression,
or CIA weirdness? Speaking of which, is it true that there
are 35 people CIA agents are legally allowed to kill on sight?
-- I was a bit taken aback by the Ford Focus commercial written
into the plot. Not that anything would make me buy one.
-- Lena Olin wasn't in this episode.
-- Is it me, or does Jennifer Garner look noticeably thinner?
I guess that can happen when you're making movies and starring
in a one-hour action series at the same time.
-- Caplan (Christian Slater) was referred to in this episode,
even though we didn't see him. Do Sloane and Sark plan to
keep the guy permanently?
-- This week's itinerary: Switzerland; Kandahar; Mexico City.
-- This week's hot look: Sydney as a little old lady, complete
with pearls, a cane, and a hat with a net.
-- This week's cool device: The "cold suit" that
was invisible to infrared security cameras. Cool idea, no
pun intended.
Complex, moody, and intense episode. Very good.
Four out of five stars,
Billie
------------
2.17 A Dark Turn
Jack to Irina: "Sydney can be stubborn. Where she got
that from is anybody's guess."
This was a couples episode: Irina and Jack, Sydney and Vaughn,
Will and ... who is that woman wearing Francie's face?
As Jack was cutting the homing device out of Irina's shoulder,
Dan was yelling, "Don't do it, Jack! She's playing you!"
She was so obviously getting ready to split; she said goodbye
to Sydney in the prison when she said, "I love you,"
and to Jack on the plane when she thanked him for raising
Sydney. (Not to mention their farewell fling in the hotel
room; I just knew she would seduce Jack before she took off.)
Did Jack know? Did he do it on purpose?
Irina said to Stuka (right before she knifed him), "You
know me. I love games." What game *is* she playing? I
don't understand why she turned herself in in the first place,
and why she picked this particular time to leave; her motivations
are still clear as mud. I thought she was trying to turn Sydney
to the dark side of the Force, but if she is, why leave now?
Moving on to Syd and Vaughn: I absolutely did not believe
that Vaughn could be a traitor, and of course, he wasn't;
he's simply still suspicious of the woman who killed his father,
and he has good reason to be -- even though he wasn't able
to find anything bad about Irina's current motives. It was
nice that both Sydney *and* Weiss were ready to defy the CIA
to support Vaughn. I wonder if that will come back to bite
them.
Finally, how about the situation with Will and the woman
wearing Francie's face? That dream sequence shocked me (clearly,
Will's subconscious was trying to tell him something); and
then the second scene in bed where Francie was questioning
a hypnotized Will about CIA secrets just blew me away.
Sloane has some kind of personal connection to Rambaldi;
I don't think I realized that before. The latest Rambaldi
artifact is about immortality. I keep wondering when Rambaldi
himself will show up.
Bits and pieces:
-- The opening scene was a ripoff of the opening scene of
"Speed." Except that the elevator actually *did*
get stopped by the basement. And I noticed that there were
only 47 floors.
-- Michael Vartan must have been a hockey player at some
point. You think?
-- Richard Lewis played an obnoxious counter-intelligence
threat analyst; his interrogation of Sydney was meant to grate
on us, and it did.
-- More yellow tint photography during the limo-chase scene.
-- Kendall: "Jack, when the hell did we switch places?"
-- This week's itinerary: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Panama, and
a smushed elevator somewhere in Russia.
This season has just been wonderful so far, and it keeps
getting better. Four out of five stars,
Billie
---------------
2.18 Truth Takes Time
Vaughn: "No one should have to hunt down their own mother,
no matter what the circumstances are."
About halfway through the episode, I realized that it was
Emily, not Irina, who would be killed -- but it was still
a good red herring. One thing has changed for me, though;
I now believe that Irina really loves Sydney -- possibly much
as Darth Vader loved Luke, because of (1) Irina tellling Sloane,
"Never talk to me about your love for Sydney again,"
and of course, (2) because Irina called Sydney's name in order
to get her out of the building. To further the Darth/Luke
comparison, Sydney and Irina have now both shot each other,
and even in pretty much the same spot.
Jack now has operational control of the task force, and wow,
is Kendall pissed. It's clear that Jack's first priority always
was, and still is, his daughter. I was very relieved that
Jack wasn't fooled by Irina after all; it would have been
out of character for him. I'm also very amused by Jack and
Irina having sex in the last episode, all the while thinking
they were outwitting the other; Jack must have injected Irina
with the passive transmitter somehow when they were in bed.
I'd give money to see that. :)
This episode makes Sloane's character even more interesting.
What a compartmentalized man he is -- able to love Emily to
the point of giving up his quest for immortality for her sake,
but still able to do tremendous evil. I was actually relieved
that Emily couldn't go through with her betrayal, because
I found it difficult to believe that she would do it in the
first place. That last scene with the two of them together
was very powerful; he even forgave her for wearing a wire.
What is he going to be like now that she's gone? And will
Dixon pay a price for killing her, even though it was an accident?
(Poor Dixon!)
Sydney has now had both of her mothers return from the grave,
and she has lost Emily twice. Is she also going to lose Irina
twice?
Bits and pieces:
-- The Morse code through the earrings was exceedingly weird.
I think it would have made more sense for it to say "trust
no one" instead of "truth takes time." (Although
Sloane at one point also says, "What I'm pursuing is
truth." I've been assuming it's immortality, but now
I wonder.)
-- The Sark/Vaughn scene on the stairwell was very well done,
even though we all knew Vaughn had to be wearing a vest. Also,
it looks like Vaughn's problems with "internal affairs"
or whatever last week are now a non-issue, since all that
happened was that his clearance was downgraded.
-- The opening credits, absent for weeks, are back.
-- It was great to see Will at the conference table again.
I like it.
-- Alt-France has bought a present for Vaughn. How weird
is that? If it was a tie, what possible reason could she have?
What's wrong with the tie?
-- Poor Emily. At least they won't have to buy a new burial
plot for her.
-- This week's itinerary: Tuscany, Stuttgart, Florence.
All in all, a standard good Alias episode. Four out of five
stars,
Billie
----------------
2.19 Endgame
Weiss to Vaughn: "If we end up sharing a cell in federal
prison, I'm not giving you a drawer."
Interesting parallel plot line here, with returning character
Neil Caplan (Christian Slater), still a prisoner of Sloane's,
turning out to be NSA -- and his wife Elsa turning out to
be another Irina. Except that Elsa loves Neil, of course.
The Irina parallels were very cool; they even put Elsa in
what looked like Irina's cell, and Sydney communicated with
her in Morse code, which is how Irina communicated with Sydney
in the previous episode. I thought the 48 hour delay in activation
of the cyanide capsule was contrived, though, although it
would have given Elsa an opportunity to get out of town and
not be implicated if they had done it while the two of them
were together... okay, maybe not so contrived.
Speaking of loving one's wife, Sloane was seriously grieving
here. (He's out of control; not that he was Joe Restraint
in the old days.) Diane's death at Francie's hands was one
of those "oh my god" moments, although I should
have seen it coming since Diane had done a 180 in attitude
about Dixon staying on the job -- a big hint that something
would go wrong.
What Sloane did to Dixon was more painful than simply killing
Dixon himself; Dixon is certain to feel incredible guilt.
It will also make Dixon even more determined to get Sloane,
which didn't give Sloane pause for a moment, did it?
Jack having Sydney followed was actually funny. She outwitted
him twice -- once in the very cute drug store scene, and again
by calling Vaughn on Weiss' phone. She put Vaughn in the middle,
though, and Jack and Vaughn are seriously butting horns. Jack
mentioned Vaughn's relationship with Sydney in a way that
made me think that he's uncomfortable with his daughter's
love affair.
And finally, if the genetic database has all of those zillions
of DNA samples and they're looking for one specific person,
could it be Rambaldi himself?
Bits and pieces:
-- "Keep in mind: I should use a slower roll."
I-S-U-A-S-R.
-- Weiss to Vaughn: "Jack is going to shoot you in the
face."
-- Kendall wasn't in this episode; Jack was the boss for
the first time, all by himself.
-- Caplan: "Unless you want to kidnap a smarter genius
than me, it's going to be a little while."
-- We finally got a really good look at Michael Vartan's
tattoo. :) And Sydney gave Vaughn a drawer. Couples have drawers,
as Buffy says.
-- Will is still inadvertently giving information to Francie.
That scene with them kissing absolutely creeped me out.
-- We got a little piece of Sark's past: school in England.
And "What I want is that which I never had." What
could that be?
-- Marshall to Jack: "You can relax. The Death Star
plans are not in the main computer."
-- Caplan was alive at the end of this episode, making it
possible that Christian Slater would return to do more guest
spots.
-- This week's hot look: Syd in a contact paper skirt and
drug store wig using a Valley girl accent. Isn't Jennifer
Garner originally from West Virginia? I also loved the Russian
Cowgirl outfit; very sultry in a way, but where did Sydney
get 50K so quickly?
-- This week's itinerary: was it just Russia, or did I miss
something?
A standard excellent Alias episode. Four out of five stars,
Billie
---------------
2.20 Countdown
Carrie: "The last thing I need is some fifteenth century
dork telling me I got a day and a half to live."
The title of this episode should probably be, "Dixon
loses it."
Dixon was understandably upset about his wife's brutal murder;
out of control, self-medicating, rigging a required drug test,
and refusing to talk to Dr. Barnett. Except it seems that
Dixon really *was* in control, since he made things work out
in Cartagena. He's on the edge, but still functioning. I think.
Jack and Sydney were ready to bend over backward to keep
Dixon on duty, while Vaughn pushed hard to make Dixon to stay
home. And herein lies the conflict in our little episode.
Sydney now has a tragic life experience (Danny) in common
with Dixon, which will only bring them closer, and she barely
hesitated to lie for Dixon. (How could she not stand up for
Dixon, after all the time that she hated lying to him about
SD-6?) Interestingly, she lied *to* Vaughn. This does not
bode well for the Sydney/Vaughn relationship.
Okay, so let me get this straight. Rambaldi drew pictures
of DNA strands on his documents; they point toward one specific
guy, an art restorer in Panama City named Proteo di Regno,
who had a machine in place of his heart. That heart is now
in a briefcase, and it looks like an alien artifact.
Di Regno's DNA fingerprint also allowed the decryption of
page 94 of the Rambaldi manuscript that gives the dates of
past apocalypses, along with a final apocalyptic date that
actually occurs in this episode. Does the apocalyptic date
refer to the removal of the machine heart thing, or to Sloane's
strange pilgrimage into an episode of "Kung Fu"?
We learned that David Carradine's character, Conrad, is the
one who set Sloane on this pilgrimage thirty years ago. And
Sloane's journey has just begun? Does he have to lift a large
brazier with dragons on it to leave Nepal?
Bits and pieces:
-- Will, Francie, and Irina did not appear in this episode.
Kendall appears to be gone, and now we have Jonathan Banks
("Wiseguy") as NSA Deputy Director Frederick Brandon,
who is the head of the interagency Rambaldi task force.
-- New character Carrie Bowman seems to be warm for Marshall's
form. She's very cute, with the nose stud, and crying over
Joni Mitchell ("I shouldn't bring her to work; it just
makes me fatalistic.") We even got a small glimpse into
Marshall's logical, agnostic childhood.
-- Sydney to Vaughn: "It makes me insane when you patronize
me."
-- Sloane said, "I killed the wrong person." Somehow,
I don't think he meant killing Dixon instead of Diane.
-- In this week's hair report, Dr. Barnett lost about a foot
of it. The shorter do looks good on her.
-- This week's itinerary: Panama City, Guadalajara, Cartagena,
and Nepal.
-- This week's hot look: Sydney dressed as a flamenco dancer,
although it seemed like a caricature costume to me.
Good Dixon episode, but the whole Nepal thing just seemed
weird. Three out of five stars. And we're getting a two-hour
finale next week. I'm not ready for this season to be over,
Billie
-------------
2.21 Second Double
Kendall: "Now you're just mocking me."
Jack: "Yes."
Shuddery episode. The Sydney/Francie scenes were totally
creepy, and Francie setting Will up to take the fall for her
was inspired.
I was bummed at the beginning when I thought Will was going
to be tortured again, and glad it didn't happen that way.
I was also waiting for the obvious during the ambush on the
road -- for Will to be captured by Sark's guys, or for Will
to prove his innocence by helping Dixon. Instead Will defended
himself and got away. Go, Will.
Will said: "Syd, I love you, but I can't trust you any
more. Meeting you destroyed my life." He has a point;
poor Will has been victimized two years in a row. If there
are innocent bystanders suffering in this story, it's Will
and Francie. Will has been through so much terrible stuff,
extreme torture, arrest, losing his career, and all he ever
did to deserve it was become Sydney's friend. The real Francie
was murdered for the same reason.
Kendall showed some very interesting hostility toward Sydney
throughout. He said to her at first, "I'm getting bored
with your hunches." Later, he said to Jack, "We
can't keep letting your daughter's personal relationships
take precedence." What's going on there? Is he just pissed
at Jack for "taking his parking space" or is there
more going on?
The Sloane/Jack scene at the outdoor cafe was delightful.
("I've missed your poker face.") Sloane seemed different,
much calmer, not visibly grief-stricken any more. Whatever
he learned in Nepal must have changed him. Irina said that
Sloane believed he was "chosen." But we didn't get
an explanation.
The Vaughn moments were even better, if that's possible,
and Vartan got to do some fun stuff. I got a kick out of Sydney
spraying Vaughn with champagne for his "cover,"
and the way he smirked at her when they decided to go get
Dr. Jurgens at the leather club. I also thought the "Hello,
honey." "Hello, dear," when they had Dr. Jurgens
tied up was very cute.
Bits and pieces:
-- There was an interesting parallel here. Last season, Jack
didn't want Will killed, for Sydney's sake. This season, Irina
did the same thing.
-- Nothing quite like having hyour employer find tapes of
you having sex.
-- Looks like Will was in the same cell as Irina and Elsa.
I guess that makes sense. How many cells are they going to
have?
-- When Sydney kissed Jack, he almost smiled. I saw it.
-- Jack: "I'm not cut out for management, anyway."
-- Another Ford Focus ad. Sorry, I love "Alias,"
but I have no desire to own a Ford Focus.
-- This week's itinerary: Berlin and Marseilles.
-- This week's hot look: The dominatrix outfit was pretty
far out there (Vaughn: "I'm glad I'm not the one in leather."
Syd: "You'd look cute in a teddy").
I have to give this episode five stars just for the scene
in the leather club. (The rest of the episode was excellent,
too.)
Billie
------------
2.22 The Telling
Irina to Sydney: "Stop being as stubborn as I am."
They went and changed the whole series again. How about that?
The season finale was basically the resolution of both the
Will/Francie plotline and the uncertainty about Irina. The
last two minutes were an absolute knock-out; I don't think
I've ever seen a show do something like that. I give Abrams
a great deal of credit for taking such extreme dramatic chances;
it certainly keeps the show exciting.
I kept feeling throughout that Will was the only one who
had enough data to figure out that it was Francie; I was mildly
disappointed that he found out by stumbling over her medication
instead of through research and deduction, although the cell
phone message and the scene with Syd, Francie, and the ice
cream was just excellent. The Will/Francie scene with the
knife had me on the edge of my seat.
Merrin Dungey did her best "Alias" work in these
last two episodes, without a doubt; she kept scaring me because
I never knew what she would do. Her expressions changed constantly.
And that final scene with Will was stunning; Allison/Francie
had developed feelings for Will. Didn't stop her, though.
Sark was just delightful. My favorite line in this episode
was, "Not a problem. My loyalties are flexible."
He's such an interesting character, loyal only to himself,
ready to change sides at a moment's notice. And how interesting
that he was romantically involved with Allison, and jealous
of her relationship with Will ("You don't fancy him,
do you?"). Come to think of it, Will and Sark are much
the same physical type, so it sort of makes sense.
One major issue has finally been resolved. Sydney's parents
may be twisted individuals, but they both love her. I'm glad
that Irina has been sincere about her love for Sydney all
along. The way she showed up at the ice rink was a shock;
and when she jumped off the building, I thought she was going
to kill herself. I still don't understand why Irina didn't
just tell Sydney outright who the double was. "Alias"
plots are so convoluted, though, that I'm sure there was a
reason.
What is sad is that Sydney has clearly become close to Jack,
finally, or again, and I bet that's going to be an issue when
the series returns next fall -- if, as I'm theorizing, Jack
has changed sides.
Of course, the big unanswered question is what happened to
Sydney. Where has she been? Did someone take her and keep
her in a coma for two years? Did the shock of losing both
of her best friends cause a traumatic memory loss? Or did
the Rambaldi device "Il Dire" cause it, perhaps?
And what exactly is "Il Dire?" What does it do?
Dan thinks it might be a time travel device, but that may
be too sci-fi for "Alias."
Finally, was it the end of the Vaughn/Sydney relationship?
Vaughn was wearing a wedding ring in the final scene; the
character of Alice was probably set up earlier this season
for just this moment. He also said, "They asked me to
come back." Did Vaughn leave the CIA after Sydney disappeared?
Bits and pieces:
-- Alt-Francie's real name is Allison G. Doren, and she was
one of the children from Project Christmas who was presumed
killed long ago.
-- In the final scene at the Hong Kong safe house, Vaughn
said Will was okay. But Vaughn didn't say anything about Allison/Francie.
-- Jonathan Banks' character was shot. Is he dead?
-- Sydney found Will in the tub, just like she found Danny.
-- There is mention of a U.S. Government Rambaldi stash in
Nevada. 23 pieces plus 24 pieces equals 47 pieces.
-- Now we know: Sydney is the one in the prophecy, according
to Irina.
-- Marshall and Carrie went out for sushi and a mission in
Zurich. Looks like Marshall has a honey now.
-- Will's file password is "Sydney."
-- Eric Weiss has the same name as Houdini. Also, it looks
like Will and Eric are sympatico. I like Weiss. I hope he
returns next season.
-- This week's itinerary: Zurich, Stockholm, Mexico City,
and Hong Kong.
-- This week's hot look: The blond wig and black dress in
the club in Stockholm.
What a stunner. Definitely a water cooler discussion episode.
Five out of five stars; I was impressed, and very entertained,
Billie
- Reviews by Billie Doux
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