Alias: All the Time in the World

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.

Alias: Reprisal

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.

Alias: No Hard Feelings

Vaughn: "You know, it's funny. It's the first time I felt Jack accepted me."
Dixon: "Or else he manufactured a very elaborate scheme to postpone your wedding to his daughter."

This episode just flew by. I thought I was ready for The End, but maybe I'm not. And maybe they should have been doing stuff like this sooner.

Alias: I See Dead People

Vaughn: "Sydney and I never went to Cartagena. And just for the record, you're a terrible kisser."

So I guess Anna Espinosa wasn't the woman on Page 47, after all.

Alias: 30 Seconds

Sloane: "It's not an obsession. It's faith."

We're clearly heading for a Rambaldi end game in the series finale, and hallelujah.

Alias: There's Only One Sydney Bristow

Rachel: "Uh, guys. Who's Rambaldi?"

I am so enjoying the way they are revisiting the old Alias, with the return of my favorite characters as well as some extreme and familiar plot twists.

Alias: Maternal Instinct

Moreau: "I'm sure she'll be a wonderful parent to her own child. She has two such lovely role models."

Spy Mom and Spy Dad, together again. Oh, Irina, how I've missed you. I dare say Jack and Irina together are Alias at its best. It was so much fun to see all three of them undercover together. And Sydney going into labor during a clandestine mission? Had to happen.

Alias: S.O.S.

Weiss: "One more thing. Next time, just call."

It was fast-paced, it was amusing, it had everyone committing treason and Marshall in disguise, so I watched most of this one with a big smile on my face. Well, okay, I wasn't as thrilled when it segued into medical ickiness, but still.

Alias: The Horizon

Vaughn: "I'm back."
Sydney: "What took you so long?"
Vaughn: "Traffic light out on Venice."

That was it? Is that all the Vaughn we're getting? Mutated flashbacks?

Alias: Bob

Jack: "What's a little treason between old friends?"

I love Sark to bits. And yes, I prefer him evil. But let's face it -- they could bring him back and let him read the phone book, and he'd still be fun.

Alias: Fait Accompli

Marshall: "Is anyone else having deja vu here? I mean, first Sloane is good, then he's bad, now he's good again?"

Poor Sloane can't win for losing. He confessed to Jack. He proved that he had truly reformed. He helped take down Dean. And he immediately found himself back in solid with the bad guys. I actually felt sorry for him. At least Nadia is closer to a cure and Dean is certainly no loss to anyone, although it would have been nice if he'd been able to give them more answers before Sloane took him down.

Alias: Solo

Rachel: "I'm gonna put on my strappy shoes and my teeny dress, and I'm gonna try."

This one was fun. I laughed a lot. It had a sort of Buffy-like zing to the dialogue. (Yes, I know it was written by Jeffrey Bell.)

Alias: Out of the Box

Sydney: "This isn't an abduction. It's a rescue."

Usually, I have some glimmer of an idea of what's going on, but this frozen guy thing has me at a complete loss.

Alias: Mockingbird

Rachel: "A week ago, I had a good job working for the CIA. Now I have the truth."

Just another day at the office. But I'm liking Rachel a little more now.

Alias: The Shed

Rachel: "If you're CIA, we're on the same side."

So Rachel was SD-Sixed, just like Sydney. That makes sense. Now we know why she was working for Dean. Unfortunately, unlike Sydney -- who walked right back into SD-6 and made it work -- Rachel blew it. Yes, she's just a technie, not a field agent, but still.

Alias: ...1...

Sydney: "It's a funny thing about pregnancy. Hormones. Whew."

So who's in the cryo freeze? Probably not Walt Disney. And white hair means it probably isn't Vaughn. If Renee stole the body, it must have something to do with Prophet Five. Is it Bill Vaughn? Milo Rambaldi? It could be anyone who's died in the past four years of the series, couldn't it? Oh, my god, please don't let it be Lauren.

Alias: Prophet Five

Marshall: "I mean, we're friends. We do lunch."

I don't like this.

Alias: Before the Flood

Irina: "Consider my life an object lesson. If you don't want to end up like Jack and me, tell Sydney the truth."

Holy cliffhanger, Batman!

Alias: Search and Rescue

Marshall: "So what you're saying is, a large red ball plus contaminated water equals a city full of homicidal maniacs."

The whole "Rescue Irina" sequence and the scenes in the plane were just terrific, as well as touching. I especially loved the parallel of Irina being buried, as Sydney was earlier this season, and Irina realizing with a shock who Nadia was without being told. It sure looked like Jack killed her in that opening scene, which was confusing. I'm not sure why I didn't think of what happened to Francie.

Alias: The Descent

Yelena: "I'd heard you reformed."
Sloane: "I suppose I've been born again."

Irina is alive! I knew it even before the Lena Olin casting spoiler hit the net, though. What I'm finding hard to comprehend is Jack's certainty that he killed her. Jack isn't easily fooled. I thought for awhile that we might just get Irina in flashback, but if Dixon saw her, she's really alive. And isn't that grand?

Alias: In Dreams

Sydney: "So he's simply a delusional megalomaniac with benign intentions?"

We've been waiting forever to find out if Arvin is still evil or if he's truly changed, and finally, we know for sure. Sloane is genuinely trying to redeem himself, and no one could be more surprised than I am. I absolutely believe now that Sloane's devotion to Nadia is genuine, and that Jacquelyn is part of the reason why; it was incredibly moving when Nadia finally called him "Dad," and we could tell that she meant it.

Alias: Mirage

Vaughn: "Besides, I've got snipers everywhere if he starts to get inappropriate."

I thought I'd find Sydney masquerading as Irina to be squirmy, creepy-incestuous instead of Back to the Future fun-incestuous, but instead it turned out to be touching.

Alias: A Clean Conscience

Doctor: "Clear your conscience, Jack."
Jack: "That would take another lifetime at least."

I'm in total denial. Jack is not dying, and that's all there is to it.

Alias: Another Mr. Sloane

Roberts: "You ask me, both of them give me the creeps."

I'm not sure what just happened, but I'm fascinated. Has Sloane just been biding his time all along? When has he lied? Or has he been telling the truth? Is he actually blameless? Did proximity to the big red golf ball battery make him nuts, like he was in Siena with Nadia? It was like he was possessed when he was bludgeoning Carter to death; I was completely creeped out when he talked so softly to Nadia with blood running down his face. Oooooh.

Alias: Pandora

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.

Alias: Nightingale

Jack: "Yes, I imagine this must be quite upsetting for you, Arvin, my not anticipating that Sydney and Vaughn's deceit could be greater than your own."

I love all of the regulars on this show. Every single character is well developed, well written, and well acted. But I have a special fondness for Jack. If Jack has just sustained a fatal dose of radiation, I'm going to be seriously, seriously pissed.

Alias: Tuesday

Jack: "Marshall, what's your status?"
Marshall: "Well, it's really hot here and everyone keeps calling me Chango."

See, I knew being late to work wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Alias: The Orphan

Nadia: "If it weren't for him, I don't know who I'd be."

Yes, but who is she?

Alias: The Road Home

Marshall: "What is it with these guys and nightclubs?"

A confusing episode. With a toy helicopter. This can't be good.

Alias: The Index

Dixon: "He's using us. Again."

Spies spying on spies. We're revisiting SD-6 in a big way, and that's just fine with me.

Alias: A Man of His Word

Vaughn: "You have my permission to kill him if you like."

This episode had a definite theme: laying the ghost of Lauren Reed to rest. It even started in a permanent CIA morgue for people whose deaths are kept secret (how creepy), and ended with a fight in a cemetery. Death, death, death. Not subtle at all.

Alias: Echoes

Sydney: "She can have the blouse."

A couple of episodes back, I complained that it felt like the real story hadn't begun yet. I think it just did.

Alias: Detente

Weiss: "Oh, God. This is the greatest girl ever."

A continuing theme this season seems to be telling someone the truth about how you feel, but indirectly. This week, Sydney had to channel Sloane with the bad guy, and she took the opportunity to tell Sloane indirectly exactly how she felt about him.

Alias: Nocturne

Sydney: "The Count. You've got to be kidding me."

The preview did not do this episode justice. It wasn't the silly episode about faux vampires that I was dreading; it was Sydney's deepest fears manifesting as drug-induced hallucinations. Yes, the hallucinations were just a device to tell the story they wanted to tell. But it worked, didn't it?

Alias: Welcome to Liberty Village

Weiss: "You guys are about as spontaneous as my grandparents. And they're dead."

Was this episode fluff? Could be. Did it have the usual Alias angst? Probably not. Did I love it? Absolutely. I'm not saying that I want every episode to be like the Russian Assassins of Stepford, but I thought "Liberty Village" was great fun, especially after last week's amputation-fest.

Alias: Ice

Vaughn: "So the mission was a bust."
Weiss: "So to speak."

Way too gross-out horror movie for me. Limbs breaking off, exploding frozen people, needles in the eyeballs? I think they just hit an all-time low. Although I'll admit it was also edge-of-your-seat, particularly that final fight scene with the needle... but maybe it was just the nausea kicking in. Were they going for black humor, perhaps? Did they not pull it off, perhaps?

Alias: The Awful Truth

Nadia: "Is he always so cold?"

The emotional center of Alias has always been Spy Family, the familial relationships. The show may have changed, but the relationship angst is as strong as ever. Jack may have successfully pinned Irina's execution on Bishop, but I'm certain that that whole subplot is far from over.

Alias: Authorized Personnel Only (2)

Marshall: "You are hot, and I mean that in many ways."

Part one Hitchcock, part two Mission Impossible. There was even a flavor of Mission Impossible in the music.

Alias: Authorized Personnel Only (1)

Sydney: "You're transferring me to the mailroom?"

Alias is so good at remaking itself. They just did it again.

Alias: Resurrection

Vaughn: "You like the electric batons and the injections. I'm not into accessories."

It would be impossible to top last season's cliffhanger, but still -- what the hell happened to Alias this season? There were interesting story lines, but they either didn't gell or something else was lacking. And there was too much vitriol in this episode, with Katya trying to kill Vaughn and Sydney, everyone trying to kill Lauren, and Vaughn uncharacteristically beating the crap out of Sark.

Alias: Legacy

Katya: "I find you sexy, Jack. Deal with it."

My favorite part of this episode was Katya's fling with Jack. As much as I miss Lena Olin, Isabella Rossellini's Katya is a lot of fun; she's so forthright and direct, with that sexy, throaty Ingrid Bergman voice. I don't know what she's really up to, but there's a possibility that she's sincere, that she really loves Sydney and Nadia. And she has a thing for Jack, so she has taste. I like her.

Alias: Blood Ties

Sloane: "All I want to do is protect my child."

Liar, liar, pants on fire. You just want a conduit to Rambaldi, you lying, spying turkey.

Alias: Hourglass

Sydney: "She could be an innocent victim."
Jack: "With Irina Derevko and Arvin Sloane as her parents? I don't think so."

Wow, it was fun watching the entire cast manipulate Lauren for a change.

Alias: Unveiled

Weiss to Sydney: "Do you think she's the mole, or do you just want her to be the mole?"

Lauren has absolutely incredible nerve. Telling Vaughn that he has no idea what it's like to be betrayed by someone he loves? And why did she look back at Sydney in the club? Dan thought that Lauren actually wanted Sydney to see her and blow her cover.

Alias: The Frame

Sloane: "You have such a beautiful smile, Sydney. I miss it."
Sydney: "If you're executed, I'll be a witness. I'll smile then."

So we have yet another duplicitous, enemy spy wife. That makes at least four (Irina, Elsa Kaplan, and of course, Lauren). Are the Alias writers running out of ideas? And, hey, Lauren's parents were together for thirty-five years, still spent all their free time together, and she walked in and plugged him -- just like that? Hard to believe. (One thing about Lauren's mother makes sense, though; someone other than Senator Reed gave Lauren her belief system.)

Alias: Taken

Sark: "Not if I see you first, love."

I didn't think I would like this one, because usually when a major character's family is in danger, everything turns out okay. Except that Diane was killed, and it's totally possible that they'd do in one of Dixon's kids... never mind. Anyway, I liked this one. It was great to see Sydney and Dixon working together again, and Carl Lumbly gets the gold acting stars this week. Give him anything, and he'll hit it out of the ball park every single time.

Alias: Facade

Jack: "There is no white light. Not for people like you."

Very Mission Impossible, with just a touch of Speed. (Come on. If the plane goes below 18,000 feet, it blows up? And the hotel room? The faked newscast? I swear they even did Mission Impossible-esque music.)

Alias: Blowback

Sark: "Sweetheart, this should be fun."

Spy dad, Spy mom, and now... dueling spy couples! This episode was so much fun, very twisted and Tarantino. I even laughed out loud several times, and Alias doesn't usually make me laugh.

Alias: After Six

Sydney: "Have you ever felt that someone's your soul mate?"

This one was so much fun: lots of plot development, and a decidedly romantic theme, with couples all over the place. Let's see -- we had Sydney and Vaughn with the romantic confusion and Jack's attempts to keep them apart; Marshall and Carrie's comic relief wedding; Sloane with, of all people, the shrink Dr. Barnett; and finally, Lauren and her obvious soul mate, Sark.

Alias: Crossings

Dixon: "Their official position on Sydney and Vaughn is to disavow. Unofficially, I say screw them."

This was a Sydney/Vaughn relationship tease episode. I usually don't like tease episodes. Except this one actually started out with their pre-death smooch, instead of making us wait for it, which was different. And the two of them looking into each other's eyes as they're about to die in front of that creepy bloodstained wall was pretty darned romantic.