Review of Episode 15: Pandora
4/13/2005
Sabina: "So is he any good, or just eye candy?"
Vaughn is good, *and* he's eye candy. I still have trouble
with the idea of
Mr. Cutie-Pie Boy Scout going rogue; thankfully, that part
appears to be
over.
The plot is thickening, and relatives are coming out of the
woodwork. The
dysfunctional spy family, the best part of "Alias,"
now includes Vaughn's
father and someone named A. Sloane, who bears a strong resemblance
to Arvin. To top it off, Auntie Katya is back, and as devious
as ever.
Katya is a puzzle. She is obviously working on Nadia for
some reason of her own, possibly on Irina's behalf. (Note
how she told Nadia that Irina was a thief as a child... just
like Nadia.) But why? And why did she tell
Sydney, "I had no intention of killing you; nor did your
mother." Really?
Where are they going with this? One of the main reasons I
love this show
is, I don't have a freaking clue. It keeps me tuning in.
Bill Vaughn is alive. Bill Vaughn is dead. Chocolate! Peanut
butter!
Which is it? Those photos were convincing; I think Bill Vaughn
is alive,
because what would be the point of all this if he's not? And
of course,
Irina must be alive, too. I noticed that Katya referred to
Irina in the
present tense a couple of times when talking to Nadia. Later,
Arvin did the same thing -- again, with Nadia. From which
I conclude that Arvin and Katya both know Irina is still alive.
I love what they've been doing with Marshall this season;
the Jack and
Marshall show has taken an unexpected and touching turn. Marshall
is the only one who knows what happened to Jack. He was willing
to get in trouble with Sloane to test Jack, and nag him into
seeing a doctor. All I can say is, that large scale genetic
mutation thing? It better be reversable
somehow.
And finally, what a cliffhanger. What's with Sloane Two?
He perpetrated
the Bill Vaughn hoax. He tried to steal the Rambaldi instruction
manual.
He set up the hit on Sydney earlier in the season. Is Sloane
Two another
Rambaldi player who happens to be Arvin's brother? Is he just
impersonating Arvin? Is he deliberately framing him? Whatever
it is, what perfect casting. Ron Rifkin and Joel Grey look
enough alike to be brothers.
Bits and pieces:
-- Sabina, the blonde Russian ex-CIA recruit who came on
to Vaughn, sounded a lot like Lena Olin. I thought Sabina
and Vaughn had some interesting chemistry there.
-- Dixon just keeps getting crunched this season. No good
subplot for Dixon yet. Let's hope they're still planning to
involve him with Angela Bassett in some future episode.
-- How likely is it that Dixon would show up on a Vaughn
rogue mission, even with the Rambaldi connection? Suspension
of belief, anyone?
-- Am I nuts to want Sark to be a member of the extended
family, too?
-- Numbers, numbers, numbers. Katya is prisoner 41958 at
the Quantico
Women's Detention Center; Jack's medical test was labeled
Patient 17; the service ticket for the music box was 112402,
and the account number for "A. Sloane" that Sydney
got from the music box was 001-87456829. My point? Not a single
47 in the bunch.
-- Scarface: "I've been watching you for an hour."
Vaughn: "Yeah? Am I your type?"
-- Sydney: "I like a clean sink." She cleans sinks
when she's worried. And
she runs when she's upset.
-- Vaughn: "Consider this the second time you've been
rejected by the CIA."
-- This week's itinerary: Paris, Bordeaux, Darmstadt, Santiago.
And isn't
Quantico in Virginia?
-- This week's language skills: I love it when Vartan speaks
French.
-- This week's hot look: Not much to choose from this time,
although I loved the coat Sydney was wearing when she picked
up the music box, and Nadia's "Die-Hard Fan" t-shirt.
Lots of fun. Four out of five spies,
Billie
- Review by Billie Doux
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