Interesting parallel plot line here, with returning character Neil Caplan (Christian Slater), still a prisoner of Sloane's, turning out to be NSA – and his wife Elsa turning out to be another Irina. Except that Elsa loves Neil, of course.
The Irina parallels were very cool; they even put Elsa in what looked like Irina's cell, and Sydney communicated with her in Morse code, which is how Irina communicated with Sydney in the previous episode. I thought the 48 hour delay in activation of the cyanide capsule was contrived, though, although it would have given Elsa an opportunity to get out of town and not be implicated if they had done it while the two of them were together... okay, maybe not so contrived.
Speaking of loving one's wife, Sloane was seriously grieving here. (He's out of control; not that he was Joe Restraint in the old days.) Diane's death at Francie's hands was one of those "oh my god" moments, although I should have seen it coming since Diane had done a 180 in attitude about Dixon staying on the job – a big hint that something would go wrong.
What Sloane did to Dixon was more painful than simply killing Dixon himself. Dixon is certain to feel incredible guilt. It will also make Dixon even more determined to get Sloane, which didn't give Sloane pause for a moment, did it?
Jack having Sydney followed was actually funny. She outwitted him twice – once in the very cute drug store scene, and again by calling Vaughn on Weiss' phone. She put Vaughn in the middle, though, and Jack and Vaughn are seriously butting horns. Jack mentioned Vaughn's relationship with Sydney in a way that made me think that he's uncomfortable with his daughter's love affair.
And finally, if the genetic database has all of those zillions of DNA samples and they're looking for one specific person, could it be Rambaldi himself?
Bits and pieces:
— Kendall wasn't in this episode. Jack was the boss for the first time, all by himself.
— We finally got a really good look at Michael Vartan's tattoo. And Sydney gave Vaughn a drawer. Couples have drawers, as Buffy says.
— Will is still inadvertently giving information to Francie. That scene with them kissing absolutely creeped me out.
— We got a little piece of Sark's past: school in England. And "What I want is that which I never had." What could that be?
— Caplan was alive at the end of this episode, making it possible that Christian Slater would return to do more guest spots.
Quotes:
"Keep in mind: I should use a slower roll." I-S-U-A-S-R.
Weiss: (to Vaughn) "Jack is going to shoot you in the face."
Caplan: "Unless you want to kidnap a smarter genius than me, it's going to be a little while."
Marshall: "You can relax. The Death Star plans are not in the main computer."
This week's...
... itinerary: was it just Russia, or did I miss something?
... hot look: Syd in a contact paper skirt and drug store wig using a Valley girl accent. Isn't Jennifer Garner originally from West Virginia? I also loved the Russian Cowgirl outfit; very sultry in a way, but where did Sydney get 50K so quickly?
A standard excellent Alias episode. Three out of four spies,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Very good episode, although I've always been bothered by the idea that Sydney has never been to Vaughn's house. And that contact-paper skirt.
ReplyDelete(Okay, I'm just jealous. The few times I've tried to use contact paper I've wound up mummified, sticky, screaming for help, and with the kitchen drawers completely unlined.)
Poor Dixon. Poor Dixon's kids.
Love this episode, oh how I miss Alias!
ReplyDeleteThis is certainly one of my favorite episodes of season two, if not the whole series. I love Sydney with the southern accent (Garner is originally from West Virginia, Billie) and the tacky wig with the sorority sisters, not to mention the 8 Second table.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the Neil/Elsa story and the obvious parallels. Marshall’s look when Jack doesn’t respond to his Death Star comment always makes me laugh out loud. But the highlight for me is, and always has been, Jack to Vaughn: “Just because you’ve gotten comfortable with my daughter doesn’t mean you should be comfortable with me.” Scariest girlfriend’s father ever. :-)
Great episode!!! I love that Sydney defies her father to help Caplan. Vaughn backs her up, despite pissing off his "boss." I love the testosterone between Vaughn and Jack - who is willing to go further for Sydney? Is Jack feeling threatened by Vaughn?
ReplyDeleteOf course, Marshall was adorable and I loved the "drawer" scene. It's nice to seem Vaughn and Syd acting like a normal couple every once in a while!
Oops... forgot to comment on Dixon. Watching the four of them in the restaurant, I was thinking that Dixon and Diane are the role models that Sydney needs. Unfortunately, the "normal" couple cannot be. Apparently normalcy and the spy life are nearly impossible to meld.
ReplyDelete