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Alias: Succession

Jack: "Personally, I would have found it anti-climactic that after expecting to assemble a weapon of ultimate power, you ended up with a revelation you could have acquired from a fortune cookie."

Wonderful. This one should have been the second half of the season opener, with Vaughn coming back to the agency just in time to save Sydney, and Sydney starting to move on with her life, to some extent.

We got more on Sydney's disappearance. It's absolutely wild that Sydney was the one to kill Sark's father. Not that there's any love lost between them. Well, actually, now that I think about it, Sark has always come on to Sydney, and maybe now he'll be more interested in killing her. Sark being descended from the Romanovs suits him; I'm assuming that's where the "Succession" in the title comes from.

It was definitely the Covenant that took Sydney; the torturer/brainwasher confirmed it by saying that she never broke, and that she kept her word that she would kill him. But if she never broke, why did she kill Lazarey? The CIA's Lost Time Anonymous group is bizarre, too. Why is the Covenant taking agents for a period of time, using them, wiping their memories, and then letting them go? It doesn't make sense.

Along with all of this great plot stuff, there were several very cool scenes: (1) Vaughn telling Sydney that he didn't regret moving on; (2) Jack's confrontation with Sloane in Zurich; (3) Sydney confronting and intimidating the backstabbing Lindsey in the men's room (Lindsey: "This is the men's room!" Sydney: "Who let you in?") And what was probably my favorite: (4) Jack contacting Irina clandestinely. Those two have such a fascinating relationship, and it keeps changing in such delightful ways.

The scene between Jack and Sloane was just delicious, and Jack's lines were very quotable. "A world relief organization. The sheer audacity of your alleged turnaround would be laughable, if you weren't so dangerous." He also told Sloane, "You've just made the worst mistake of your life, because I'm going to bury you." Go out and buy a casket, Sloane. I wonder why Sloane gave Jack the file on Sydney's disappearance? He can't possibly be sincere about wanting to help.

The grossout decapitation scenes in this week's episode were just a bit intense, even if we didn't actually see it happen. Ick. Guess those undercover CIA agents have more to worry about than someone in the White House outing them to Bob Novak.



The last few moments introduced us to Lauren Reed, new liaison to the National Security Council, Vaughn's wife, and the person who will be investigating Lazarey's murder. Which was committed unknowingly by Sydney. The plot thickens. And the Covenant has now acquired Sark and eight hundred million bucks. This can't be good for our heroes.

Bits and pieces:

— So Will is in the witness protection program, huh?

— Sydney just moved into a big, roomy apartment two blocks from the beach, near Weiss. It must cost a fortune.

— Just like Sydney and Jack, Dixon doesn't believe that Sloane has changed. Dixon is no fool.

— "Penal code, part deux." :)

— Vaughn was teaching French in a college. (I noticed adult students.) Is Vartan French? His accent seemed pretty darned good to me.

— Cool photography in the Mexico desert sequence. Surreal, harsh colors and a green tint to the sky made it look alien.

This week's...

... itinerary: A flying elevator in Berlin, a porn theater in Munich, threats thrown in Zurich, screwed up prisoner exchange in Mexico, and a drug den in Frankfurt.

... hot looks: Short black hair, glasses, a tie, and a jacket over that black outfit. And I think Sark's new, stark haircut is flattering; it shows how good he looks without the curls.



Three out of four spies,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

7 comments:

  1. This was a great chapter in the on-going saga, but I'm not sure how effective it is as an episode. I think you're right, Billie, that it would have made a great second half to the season opener. That would have made the tension at the beginning of 3.1 resolve neatly when Sydney meets Lauren.

    Once again, you chose the perfect lead quote. Victor Garber does quiet, snarky anger better than anyone. I hope someday I can be that cool and witty. (I also hope someday to be taller.)

    Sydney's conversation with Sark was great, although I missed his spiky hair. I also loved the "previously on," which showed Vaughn beating up Sark in the season two finale. (I'd forgotten to mention how much I loved that the first time around.)

    As incredible as that apartment is (Sydney must have inherited some secret $800 million in gold bullion, too), how sad is it that Weiss is all she has to help her move in? And--wait--what objects was she moving? Her previous home burned in a fire.

    I also loved the rules for the meeting in Sonora. Two groups meet in the desert and feel the need to shoot flare guns to prove they are who they're supposed to be? Just in case there were some other top-secret meetings going on in northern Mexico that day?

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  2. -- Vaughn was teaching French in a college. (I noticed adult students.) Is Vartan French? His accent seemed pretty darned good to me.

    Vartan's father is French and he spent a lot of childhood in France. He speaks French fluently (thus, the comment from the waiter in 'The Getaway', "You speak French almost as well as I do.") and holds dual citizenship.

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  3. Love the Lauren.character, she's my favorite next to Sydney and Sark.

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  4. I agree completely about this being, in effect, the second half of the opener.

    I've always been intrigued by the fact that after months of trying to get him back to the agency, Weiss only succeeds with Vaughn when Sydney comes back. Also, didn't Vaughn look just a little too relieved when he saved her life? He can't really be glad he moved on now that he knows she's alive, can he?

    Jack is awesome, as always. If I were Sloane, I would not be resting easy in my fancy Swiss office!

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  5. Wow I love Jack!!! He's just so calm and cool.

    I'm still miffed about the timeline regarding Vaughn's apparent breakdown after Sydney's "death" and his eventual relationship with and marriage to Lauren. I don't begrudge his moving on, but it just seems awfully quick. Oh well.

    And, I also still adore Sark. It's fun to really like one of the bad guys. He's adorable and he's vulnerable - he was afraid for his life when they were about to make the prisoner exchange. I really don't think he knew about the Covenant's plans for Sydney. He has a lot of respect for her, and I think he'll have a lot of trouble avenging his father's death when he finds out it was her.

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  6. Is there a better plot twist in all of TV history than having Sydney disappear for 2 years and then having to find her way again in bizarro Alias-land? I think not. I loved it and hated it at the same time. I hated the new Mrs. Vaughn with a passion, and felt so bad for Sydney, her whole life was taken away from her. All she has left is her dad and a few friends like Weiss and Marshall. Love Carrie and Marshall, they are very funny together. I get sad when I think of all the torture that Sydney endured during her missing time.

    I try to cut Vaughn some slack,he did think that Syd was dead and that sneaky Lauren did everything she could to make him feel happy again. I don't blame Sydney for being snarky with Lauren or Vaughn, she is traumatized and hurting. That poor girl.

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  7. After losing Sydney the way he did and it nearly killing him, leaving the agency as a result, it puzzled me that Vaughn would get involved (married even) with anyone who has anything to do with national security again.

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