Episode 20: Countdown
4/27/2003
At Diane's funeral, Vaughn observes a grieving Dixon secretly
pop pills. Later, he tells Sydney that Dixon is self-medicating
and should take time off before going back to work.
Sark suggests that Sloane go to Panama City. Sloane seems
distracted and declines, but gives him a number to call to
get what he needs while Irina lays low in Cypress. Sloane
admits that killing Diane was a mistake. He's going on leave,
he says, and hands Sark the reins.
At the CIA, Marshall gives a presentation on Rambaldi for
the benefit of NSA task force leader Frederick Brendan and
Rambaldi expert Kerry Bowman. In his 15th century drawings,
Marshall explains, Rambaldi drew a DNA profile of Panamanian
named Proteo Di Regno. His DNA is the code key to decrypt
page 94 of the Rambaldi manuscript, which foretells certain
apocalyptic events. One of them is to happen in 48 hours and
may involve Di Regno. Syd and Dixon are dispatched to find
him and bring him back.
But Syd and Dixon arrive in Panama City too late. Not only
is Di Regno dead, his heart has been ripped out. They find
that he has a Rambaldi tattoo. Syd also finds a latex glove,
which yields a fingerprint of an assassin named Emilio Vargas.
Back home, Vaughn requests that Dixon be taken out of the
field. When Jack refuses, Vaughn does an end-around and calls
Dr. Barnett. Marshall, meanwhile, makes a love connection
when he offers a Kleenex to Bowman, who's been moved to tears
by a Joni Mitchell song. They discuss Rambaldi and find they
share common interests. She asks him out for sushi. Va-va-voom.
Dixon and Syd find Vargas and defeat him in a swordfight.
Dixon exhibits exceptional brutality during the interrogation,
but he gets info about Di Regno and Sloane. Later, Dixon is
called in to see Barnett at Vaughn's prompting. Dixon says
he used necessary force and that he needs to be involved in
the hunt for Sloane. She's not so sure, however. When Dixon
confronts Syd later, she denies reporting him. Dixon reveals
he's been taking Vicoden and that he must take a drug test
. Sydney is furious at Vaughn, but he stands by his actions.
Sloane appears in the Himalayas, trekking to a monastery
on a remote mountaintop. He finds the monk who sent him on
the Rambaldi quest 30 years ago and vents his anger. The monk
responds without fear.
Vaughn later apologizes to Syd; Dixon's drug test is negative.
Syd tells Dixon he passed the test, but Dixon reveals he switched
the results and begs her not to tell Barnett. He's lost without
Diane, he says. Syd covers for him when Barnett calls her
in. Meanwhile, Dixon contemplates suicide on a bridge.
The CIA tracks the heart to a truck delivering to a ship docked
in Cartegena. When Dixon and Syd are sent on the mission, Dixon
promises that he can handle the stress. At the dock, Syd and
Dixon find the truck, but the heart has been moved. Dixon brutally
beats a dockworker who he thinks is hiding info. He reveals
a bomb and threatens to blow them all up unless he gets answers.
Neither Syd nor Vaughn can do anything for fear of setting the
bomb off. As the timer winds down, the man tells Dixon that
the heart is on the boat. The timer goes to zero, but Dixon
was bluffing — he had cut the timer cord. It's 10 minutes
to midnight, the prophecy has been thwarted … or has it?
The monk knows that Emily died; it was necessary, he says.
He presents Sloane with a scroll. Sloane learns that his journey
has just begun.
The CIA team opens the box and finds the "heart."
Dixon apologizes to Syd for putting her in a tough position.
He says that he came to terms Diane's death while on the bridge.
Vaughn and Syd relax in a park. Vaughn says Dixon admitted
he switched the tests, and for that he'll get leniency. Syd
reveals she knew what Dixon had done and apologizes. They
walk off, arm in arm.
- description
from ABC.com
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