Episode 22: Before The Flood
5/25/2005
Jack, Irina, Nadia, Vaughn and Sydney land in the city of
Sovogda. They walk through a deserted street littered with
corpses and burning cars. As they wait for the Department
of Special Research team, they speak to Marshall and Weiss,
who report that Director Chase is trying to convince the Russians
to call off the air strike.
At APO, Marshall and Weiss use the Blackwell Index to blackmail
a Russian minister into giving them the access code to a Russian
satellite. They soon discover that Elena is uplinking to the
Russian network.
Syd follows a DSR signal, which leads to a severed arm. Suddenly,
a CIA agent named Brodien emerges from the shadows and tells
them that his DSR team was ambushed by the infected mob, which
has left thousands dead. He reminds them that the Rambaldi
device is broadcasting a subaudible frequency that physiologically
alters people who drink the water. The symptoms, he says,
are irreversible.
He also says the epicenter is located over the Oransky building,
and that while he has taken out the city's power grid, the
device is still running. Irina suggests that it has been modified
to run through an internal energy source. They decide to take
the subway as it is the quickest way to the building.
Elena learns of the APO team's arrival. When Sloane volunteers
to lead the assault team, Elena tells him to bring Nadia back
and give her the option to join them.
As the APO team approaches the subway tunnel, an infected
man impales Brodien with a rod. As Jack, Vaughn and Irina
try to start the train's emergency battery system, Syd and
Nadia go inside the train's switching room to force the train
to stop at the Oransky building. Irina urges Vaughn to tell
Syd "the truth." Syd tells Nadia that Vaughn asked
her to marry him. Nadia and Sydney split up to manually adjust
the switches.
Sydney returns to the train first while Nadia, down the tracks,
flips the switch. The train rolls down the tracks as a mob
chases Nadia. Jack refuses to stop the train because if he
does, it won't start again. Sydney stretches to pull Nadia
to the train but she's tackled by a madman. Irina tells Syd
that Nadia is still alive.
Sloane kills Elena's men and waits at the station. He tells
them that Elena has primed the world's drinking water. As
Syd voices her suspicions, Sloane says he allied himself with
Elena to put an end to this himself, but Elena built in a
security device that Sloane couldn't crack. Jack punches Sloane
and takes control of the team.
Marshall reports that Elena is going to use the Russian satellite
to distribute the Rambaldi frequency worldwide. Once it goes
online, the Rambaldi signal will be broadcast and everyone
will be infected. Irina says they need to shut down the device
from the roof of the building.
Jack tells Sloane to take them to Elena. Sloane cautions that
once they disable the device, the toxins will dissipate in the
atmosphere and the person who disarms it will only have a few
seconds to run. When Irina insists that she can cut the wire
and reverse ionization, Sloane reveals that Elena had changed
the wiring scheme as a fail-safe. Irina orders him to take her
to Elena so she can force her to reveal information while Syd
disarms the bomb.
Nadia fends off the mob and wanders the streets. She approaches
a wounded man who surprisingly holds a gun to her head and
takes her to Elena. When she refuses to join Elena, Elena
injects her with the contaminated water.
Before Syd heads out to the rooftop to disarm the bomb, she
turns to Vaughn and says, "Just in case: yes, I'm gonna
marry you." She wears his ring and hops into the elevator.
Marshall tries to connect to the satellite. Weiss says the
President and his Cabinet are being evacuated to secret bunkers.
Sloane arrives with Vaughn, Irina and Jack. Vaughn searches
for the relay room. They strap Elena to a chair.
Sydney reaches the rooftop and opens a hatch that revealed
hundreds of interwoven wires. Nadia, now infected by the device,
walks toward Sydney. Jack and Irina urge a reluctant Syd to
take her out. The sisters battle. Vaughn blows the relay but
nothing happens. Irina tells him to get to the roof. Sydney
knocks Nadia out and chains her up.
Vaughn arrives on the roof and realizes that Sloane is not
there. Meanwhile, Irina guides Sydney in disarming the device.
Irina gives her sister a chance to help them as Jack gets
ready to torture Elena. When Jack pierces her with a syringe,
Elena yells that Sydney should cut the white wire. Irina shoots
Elena in the head and tells Syd to cut the blue wire instead
and run fast -- she only has 15 seconds.
Sydney is about to cut the wire when Nadia strangles her
from behind with the chain. As Sydney starts to suffocate,
Sloane arrives and shoots Nadia. Syd sees Vaughn and tells
him to take the wounded Nadia with them. Syd then cuts the
blue wire and runs away as the device starts to fall apart.
They race inside the quaking building and sprints toward a
shelter -- they have just saved the world.
Jack advises Irina, who is wanted by the CIA, to disappear.
They kiss. Irina tells Syd that she's proud of her. She says
that Syd may not see her on her wedding day, but she'll see
Syd.
Later, Syd visits Sloane in a jail cell, tells him that Nadia
is stable, but they're still trying to find an antidote. The
Russian military executed all survivors to support their claim
that it was a chemical explosion. Sydney has arranged for
Sloane to see Nadia. She believes he was trying to do the
right thing. Sloane thanks her.
Driving in Santa Barbara, Syd suggests to Vaughn that they
blow off the big wedding and elope. After professing their
love, Vaughn reveals that that he was a bad guy before they
met. He continues to say that to begin with, his name is not
Michael Vaughn. Before Sydney can react, a car collides with
theirs.
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