Review of Episode 17: All the Time in the World
05/22/06
Jack: "You beat death, Arvin. But you couldn't beat
me."
Ending a long-running, complex series can be a losing proposition.
No matter what they did, it was going to make somebody unhappy.
But personally, even though I was mildly disappointed about
a few things, I think they did it right. It was about Sydney,
Jack, Irina, and Sloane. And they have always been the core
of the story.
They began with Irina's fake death when Sydney was a child,
and ended with her real one. Death, as she was reaching for
immortality. (Ironic, huh?) Irina trying to kill Sydney made
sense plot-wise, but I found it disappointing. All the character
development they did with Irina in season two was pretty much
thrown out the window, pun intended. But hey. She was a KGB
assassin and a power junkie, not a college professor.
It was oddly fitting that Jack and Irina died within moments
of each other; Sydney became an orphan in the space of an
onscreen minute. Jack has always been my favorite character,
and I was pretty upset when he died. I've watched that final
Jack and Sydney scene three times, and it makes me cry every
single time. It was satisfying that Jack managed to get down
into the tomb in order to take Sloane with him, taking a huge
threat out of Sydney's life forever. (Not to mention finally,
finally, finally exacting revenge for Danny's cruel and premature
death. Remember Danny?)
I knew when Sloane fell into that big pool of red miracle
crap that he wasn't dead, but burying him alive in that tomb
was outright shuddery. Okay, karmic, very monkey's paw, but
still. I wonder if Sloane will be entombed for eternity? It
doesn't make total sense. Didn't Sydney at least try to recover
Jack's body? And I can easily imagine some Rambaldi fanatic
accidentally digging Sloane up at some point. If he was a
megomaniacal nut before, imagine what he'll be like after
a couple of decades of isolation. Or a century or two.
My major disappointment is that they never clearly explained
Rambaldi's end game, or how Sydney was the Chosen One. On
second viewing, I understood that Sloane had planned a sort
of Halliburton scenario, making billions with reconstruction
after the missiles hit. Since Sark referred to global genocide,
I am also assuming Sloane expected a nuclear exchange to occur.
How could Sloane be certain he would survive a nuclear exchange?
(Well, okay, Mongolia, but still.) Sloane and Irina believed
that they would be filthy rich and powerful and that they
would live forever. I'll have to be happy with that explanation,
I guess, since we're not getting any more.
The flashbacks were so appropriate. We got a new scene with
Francie one last time, and I liked that it was Francie, not
Alison. We saw many big events we'd heard about but had never
seen before: Jack telling little Sydney about her mother's
death; Jack's reaction to Sydney telling him she'd taken a
job with Credit Dauphine, i.e., SD-6; Sydney being approached
by the CIA. They were mostly centered on Jack and Sydney,
too, which was just right. After all, the emotional center
of the pilot episode five years ago was the strained relationship
between Sydney and Jack, and how they finally began to connect
when they had to work together undercover. The corresponding
emotional center of the finale was Jack dying to protect Sydney
from Sloane.
I loved what they did with Sark in both of these final episodes.
Sark is just not as bloodthirsty as he used to be, if he ever
really was. (He's older and wiser. What is he now, 25?) He
was ready to go along with Sloane and Peyton, but his reluctance
was like a goodie payoff for all those years that we enjoyed
that character. I was pleased that Vaughn let him live, even
though he'll cause trouble for future Sydney. And I'm glad
they didn't make him into a good guy, because I never would
have swallowed it.
And finally, the ending. Thank God they didn't go for a Shakespearean
bloodbath. Sydney and Vaughn retired to the beach in Malibu
to raise their kids. It made sense for their characters; we
could tell they'd had enough of the life. I loved them naming
their son Jack. I liked the resolution with Dixon as a deputy
director at Langley, Marshall and Carrie with four boys, and
Rachel as an active undercover agent, too.
And Isabelle with the Indicator puzzle? Had to happen. I
am currently envisioning a future Isabelle battling a freed,
immortal Sloane. Wouldn't that be fun?
Bits and pieces:
-- Was Nadia's ghost real after all? I thought she was Sloane's
guilty conscience. But if she were just that, wouldn't she
have stayed around to torment him? Did his subconscious realize
that total isolation would be a worse punishment?
-- Sloane's evil turn, or return, would have had more umph
if he had done it sooner in the final season. But they did
have to wind up the series sooner than expected, so I understand.
-- Liked the Mexican standoff, with Vaughn, Sark, Jack, and
miscellaneous other bad guys all with guns on each other.
-- It was subtle, but in that final Jack/Sydney scene, I
felt that Jack essentially passed care of Sydney on to Vaughn.
-- Francie mentioned that Charlie was bringing a friend,
Danny something. Sloane mentioned him, too. Danny died in
the first episode of the series. And Jack finally avenged
him.
-- What happened to Peyton? Is she languishing in some federal
prison somewhere?
-- The number 47 had to be in the finale. I saw it twice.
Marshall's computer screen showing the payoffs said, "Transaction
8447 Boris Nemikov." And the code to stop the launch
was "398 alpha 4 tango 647."
-- The card that the CIA agent gave Sydney was blank, with
just a phone number: 1-800-654-2192. Maybe they should have
gotten a third 47 in there, instead.
-- This week's itinerary: Siena, Mongolia, Hong Kong again,
and Sydney's past.
-- No outfits, and no magenta wig. No Eric Weiss or Will
Tippin, either. But there wasn't time for everything and everyone,
and we did get farewell episodes with them, so I'm okay with
that.
-- Vaughn: "Sydney, stop. All right? Let's not overlook
the fact that you basically died today. You and I have gotten
pretty good at impossible."
-- Sark: "Did it have to be so filthy? I mean, really.
If Rambaldi can prophesize the future, he might have advised
me not to wear $500 shoes."
-- Sydney: "This is my purpose. It's in my blood. It's
who I am."
-- Jack: "I never wanted this life for you, you know.
I never wanted you to bear this kind of responsibility. But
you were a very difficult little girl. You were far too driven,
far too strong to let someone like me stop you from becoming
who you are."
I'm going to close with future Sydney and future Dixon:
Dixon: "Low risk insertion. Simple alias. Who knows?
It could be fun."
Sydney: "That's what you say every time you show up on
my doorstop. Next thing you know, I'm jumping over canals
in three-inch heels while napalm explodes around me."
Dixon: "Yes, that's how I define fun."
This final season wasn't all it could be, but they went out
with class. Four out of four spies,
Billie
- Review by Billie Doux
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