Review of Episode 16: Reprisal
05/22/06
Tom: "I wish there were more time. I would have asked
you out."
Rachel: "I would have said yes."
No more Prophet Five. We're down to our core characters again.
And that's as it should be.
The writers did exactly the right thing. I never cared about
Prophet Five, anyway. They were set up as a continuing villain
when the writers had more time to develop them. Once the series
was cancelled, they were just in the way. Having them completely
taken out before the finale by villains we cared about --
Sloane, Sark, and Peyton -- was perfect. And I loved what
they did with Sark. Obviously reluctant to torture Rachel?
When ordered to eliminate the prisoners, Sark argues for mercy?
Perfectly in character, too, because he has gradually changed
over the course of the series. I can feel my Sark spinoff
fantasy taking root again.
Marshall showed us what he was made of. I was so proud of
him, resisting torture for Mitchell's sake. The writers gave
him a terrific dramatic scene -- he got to tell Sloane what
he truly thought of him. Marshall must have fantasized about
telling Sloane off like that for years. I also really liked
Carrie taking Marshall's place at APO and being the one to
figure out what he was doing, because it made perfect sense
and gave us closure with her character.
It's all so immediate when you know it's the end, and any
character could die. I thought Sloane was going to smite Marshall
for mouthing off at him. I even thought for a moment that
we would lose both Marshall *and* Rachel. But it turned out
to be Tom, which was unexpected.
Tom's heroic death was surprisingly moving. They set it up
so well with all those weeks of plotty carrying on; we knew
how unhappy he was, how much he missed his wife. His choice
to stay with the bomb made sense to me. Rachel was right about
him all along, wasn't she? His last words to her made me cry.
Pretty darned good for a character I didn't think I cared
about.
This episode literally ended with a cliffhanger. (Okay, a
cliff dropper.) Just like so many episodes in season one.
Bits and pieces:
-- Wonderful opening scene, with Sydney jumping from the
building and taking photos of her target on the way down.
Very "Alias."
-- That scene where Sloane confronted Sydney was also classic
"Alias." As Sloane was talking about torturing Marshall
and Rachel, he actually went goochy-goochy-goo with baby Isabelle.
That's our extended spy family.
-- Sloane's story about young Sydney rescuing her stuffed
animals was apt. "So one by one, you rescued them. Even
then, I wondered when you would learn you can't rescue everyone."
Sydney needs to at least try to rescue everyone. It's who
she is.
-- Jack finally admitted to Dixon that he hadn't been able
to let go of his friendship with Sloane, and that Dixon had
been right all along. Long time coming.
-- That Sydney/Vaughn scene on Mount Subasio looked weird.
Cold, blue, moody, and fantasy-like. Either that, or bad CGI.
-- Peyton taking out Prophet Five all by herself with two
machine guns was just cool. Except for the fact that she's
evil, it was almost a Buffy moment. (Appropriate, since she's
a Buffyverse alumni.) I just need to think of Prophet Five
as vampires.
-- This week's itinerary: Let's see. We got Sydney, Rome,
Bangkok, Siberia, London, and Washington DC, all in the first
five minutes. Later, we got Ixtapa in Mexico, Zurich, and
the famous Mount Subasio in central Italy. That may be a new
record for the number of fake locations in one episode.
-- One more comment about the massive itinerary. Sydney finally
went on a mission in Sydney, Australia. Very cute.
-- Moonglum of Elwher? I don't know that one. Where is it
from?
-- This week's hot look: Sydney did have one final costume
change: that leopard spot dress and the waitress uniform.
Her final alias was as "Debbie."
-- This week's language skills: Tom did Russian, and Dixon
Italian.
-- Sydney: "I've lived with secrets all my life. And
I'm done."
-- Tom: "Son of a bitch. Why do I always get the assignments
that involve hypothermia?" I thought this was particularly
interesting when you consider the liquid nitrogen aspect of
his death scene.
-- Sark: "Perhaps we should reconsider our plans for
the prisoners." Peyton: "Don't tell me you're getting
sentimental. Or do you just have a thing for blondes?"
-- Rachel: "It's an underwire. Sometimes it pays to
be a girl."
-- Sloane: "There's no shying away from fate."
Sydney: "I don't believe in fate."
I loved it. Four out of four spies, and more in my review
of part two,
Billie
- Review by Billie Doux
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