V
verdantheart
Guest
“Reprisal” begins with the team collecting photos of the Twelve. Sydney, down under, poses as a waitress and must jump off a roof and take pics mid-flight. Dixon, posing as a taxi driver, chases off a potential fare to take his photo. Marshall, in a Bangkok sauna, takes his photo with a watch camera. In Siberia, Tom scans an ID photo at a border crossing. In London, Vaughn's view is blocked by a van, so he runs around, hiding his large camera under his coat. Jack asks a tourist to take his photo with a monument, taking in a target in the view.
Back at APO, they discuss the global reach of the Twelve and strategize how they might arrest them simultaneously. They assume that Sloane is working for Prophet 5.
Sloane, meanwhile, suggests to Peyton that she can assume that the Twelve will dispose of her when they have concluded their work with her. Peyton is naturally less than fully confident about switching allegiances, but Sark assures her that she would be well-compensated. She asks whether Sark comes with the package.
Vaughn and Sydney stay up late with their Prophet 5 information. Sydney worries over the clues that “the Rose” provided, such as the warning that Rambaldi's gift was “the end of nature.” Vaughn tells her, “Consider the source.” After all, he says, you've done all right combating things so far.
At Marshall's house, Marshall leaves Carrie to check on Mitchell—but doesn't return. Meanwhile, Tom shows up at Rachel's house for a chat, but ends up kissing her. She goes to get coffee, but he makes a quick exit. When Rachel answers a knock at the door, it's Sark.
Sloane tells Marshall that he needs him to access the NOAA system to locate an underground cavern. Sloane tasks Peyton to persuade Marshall to help them. Sark, in another room, tells Rachel in his mind, they would have met again under much different circumstances.
Carrie calls Sydney and Jack for help—upon which they admit that Marshall is, in fact, not the game designer she thought he was. Tom calls in and lets them know that he stopped back by Rachel's and found her missing. Carrie begs to help, seeing that they're short on tech help, and Jack accepts.
Jack and Dixon discuss Sloane's motives in taking Marshall and Rachel. Dixon suggests that he might want to distract or disable APO. Jack thinks that Sloane might want to use them for a specific purpose, after which he might kill them. He muses that even after he knew what Sloane was, he still named Sloane as a potential guardian for Sydney in the belief that some part of him was the friend he once trusted with his daughter. Carrie breaks into Marshall's system using a literary allusion. “He's re-reading all his favorite books” in preparation for reading to Mitchell, she says.
Back in Sloane's dungeon, the torture continues. He tells Marshall not to “be difficult” because he's “not cut out for this.” Marshall tells Sloane that he never liked him and that he'll never help him. Nadia appears to Sloane, saying “They'll never help you” because they have love, family, honor. Sloane decides he needs to find another way to convince Marshall and calls Sydney. She tells Marshall to do what he says, “your life is more important.”
Rachel is dragged in next to Marshall and told he needs her help. Marshall tells her that they are going to “leapfrog.” Carrie is given Marshall's message about “The Littlest Fish,” which includes a character named Noah. This leads her to realize that they must be hacking into NOAA, which is coming alive with security alerts. They track them down to Italy.
Sloane is given the location, to which he says, “I should have known,” and orders the prisoners' elimination. He, Peyton, and Sark leave. Rachel takes an underwire from her bra and removes her handcuffs just in time to handle the goon dispatched to shoot them. She relieves him of his gun and kills him. They enter the hall, shooting at guards, and meet Sydney and Tom—Dixon joining them soon after.
Marshall's program to track the Twelve sends an alarm: they are gathering in Zurich. Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn are heading to the location on Mt Subasio.
Sydney enters an ice cavern at the peak of the mountain and finds Sloane there. He tells her about how she came to stay with him and Emily when she was little and “rescued” the stuffed animals they put in her room. “You can't save everyone,” he tells her.
Sark is setting a charge—they are targeting APO. The team realizes this and sends a team into the subway. Marshall calls a bomb threat in to clear the subway. Tom locates the charge and determines that he can't disarm it; he can only slow it down by freezing the quartz oscillator. They get everyone out, but time has run out for Tom, who sits down, letting the last few seconds run out as he says goodbye to Rachel.
In Zurich, Peyton meets with Prophet 5 in Sloane's place. They ask her if she's brought the amulet and she says, “Of course,” pulls out two machine guns, and mows them down.
Sloane tells Sydney that the only one she can rescue is herself. The sun rises and Sloane raises the amulet. He tells Sydney that she's not allowed to see this and shoots the snow beneath her feet, collapsing it.
We move into “All the Time in the World” with a memory. Sydney is in school, and the kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up. Sydney's unsure what she wants to be, and the teacher asks, “Are you having trouble getting started?” She wakes up in the snow of Mount Subasio. As Vaughn administers CPR and Sydney remembers the news of her mother's death and awakens, Rachel is told she must mourn later because they must get going.
Sloane commends Sark on his good job (I'm not sure “good” is the word for it). Meanwhile, Peyton has made arrangements with their connection in Hong Kong. The deal is set. Sloane asks Sark whether he is having second thoughts. Sark says no, but he's not involved in global genocide every day.
News comes in of stolen ICBMs as Sydney and Vaughn call in. Jack passes along the news that their home base has been compromised. Sydney flashes back to the time after her mother's “death,” when she put together her father's puzzle and her father was impressed—it made her special. As Vaughn sews up Sydney's would they puzzle over why he would steal the missiles.
Meanwhile, Marshall traces the payoffs to phone records, which Dixon follows to . . . Peyton, whom Vaughn and Dixon capture. She's resistant to torture, but her former best friend Rachel knows one or two things about her . . . like she's deathly afraid of snakes.
Sydney flashes back to college, where she is looking forward to a job fair. Francie says, why not be a teacher, but that's Sydney's idea of a safety net.
Peyton's information leads to Sloane's location at a tomb in Mongolia. Sark gripes, “If Rambaldi could prophesy the future, he could advise me not to wear $500 shoes.” As Sloane descends into the lower chamber, Nadia appears and asks him, “Is it everything you imagined?” Sloane places an orb (I'm guessing, the Horizon) into a space between familiar Rambaldi angle brackets, upon which, it begins to spin and glow. Gunfire is heard above as Sydney and her team arrive. Sydney rushes into the tomb as guns are pulled all around and Sark observes, “It appears we have a predicament.” As Sydney joins Sloane, a red ball has appeared suspended over the orb. She grabs the orb and the red ball drops, splashing red liquid below. Sloane gives Sydney two good reasons why she should return the orb—Vaughn and Jack, who have been brought below.
Marshall, Rachel, and Dixon note that the defense satellites have been taken out—the virus has been uploaded from Hong Kong. They go back to Peyton to get information about Sloane's partner upon threat of snake.
Sloane demands the sphere from Sydney, and when he does not get it, shoots Jack twice. Sydney goes ballistic, shooting Sloane numerous times, including in the head.
Sydney recalls proudly handing her father a check to help pay for college. But when she tells him that she has started working for a bank, Credit Dauphin, the mood changes and her father tells her “it's not too late to quit.” Things go from bad to worse when what would happen “if [her] mother was here” is brought up.
They carry Jack out and Vaughn goes for help. Jack tells her that he never wanted this life for her, but that she was “a very difficult little girl.” He stands to see them off . . . then collapses.
In Hong Kong, Sark delivers the news that the tomb is lost, but he has the orb. He's ordered to launch the missiles. Targets: London, Washington. Meanwhile, Marshall detects that the satellites have begun hitting the atmosphere . . . and that they've started the launch sequence.
Sydney arrives in Hong Kong for the face-off with her mother. Irina tells her that she's learned that the only currency worth anything is power. Sydney's dismissed Rambaldi as a madman, but he is life. With his invention, you can live forever. As if to illustrate Irina's point, Sloane, who has fallen into a pool that the red liquid has drained into, rises. “I am through being disappointed by you,” she says.
Sydney flashes back to a time when Sloane challenges her to take the next step as an agent: moving from dead-drops to dangerous assignments. Sydney is ready, thinking that she's been searching for what she's supposed to be, and this is it.
Sydney fights her mother.
In Mongolia, Sloane assures Jack, “We have all the time in the world.”
Back in Hong Kong, Vaughn gets the drop on Sark, bashing him against a table and pulling a gun on him. Sark assures Vaughn that he just wanted to be on the winning end . . . and gives up the launch codes. Marshall aborts the launch just in time.
In Mongolia, Jack apologizes to Sloane; he really didn't think he'd take it that far. Sloane reminds Jack that he's dying, but says he can help. Plus, he says, “You can't hurt me any more, Jack.” “But I can keep you down here with me,” says Jack, producing an impressive belt of explosives, which he sets off.
The fight in Hong Kong winds up with Irina thrown onto a skylight alongside the Horizon. “You can make it,” Sydney prompts. “Give me your hand.” But the Horizon is on the other side. The glass cracks and Irina falls through.
In Mongolia, Sloane is trapped. Nadia appears and reminds him that he has all the time in the world before she departs.
We fast-forward to a remote beach where Sydney and Vaughn are raising Isabelle and Jack, their son. Dixon joins them. He is now Deputy Director at Langley. Marshall is awaiting the birth of his fourth son, and Rachel is deep undercover. Sark, of course, is on the loose . . . that's why Dixon is here. He wants Sydney's help.
Comments . . .
Heh, I thought they'd wimp out, especially after last season. Maybe they want to forget that too. Irina is this season . . . so who was that last season? . . . OK. Letting last season go . . . I promise!
I'm going to mention Sark in passing, since I have a comment. Again, with the softer side. I can see him not being pro-apocalypse; after all, there isn't any up-side to it. Not good for business. But what's this with the ladies? What happened to cold-hearted assassin Sark we knew of old?
As we come full circle, Sydney is taken down memory lane. What did she want to be when she grew up? She didn't know, but she was special. After her mother “died,” she put together a puzzle even her father couldn't solve. She is still looking for her path in college, when something unusual comes her way. Her father tries to dissuade her, but they are, by now, estranged. She cannot know that he speaks from a position of knowledge: he knows that she is working under false assumptions—and that he cannot set her straight. This allows Arvin Sloane (apparently now forgotten as the friend who took her in for that year) to step in as a second father and show her the encouragement and guidance that she missed from her father. We know what came after: along with the confidence, Sydney found disillusionment, disappointment, and a growing desire to cast all the secrets and responsibilities aside and become a mother.
Sloane strips himself of all concerns but his desire to achieve his ultimate Rambaldi dream: immortality. Per the usual Rambaldi protocol, putting the gizmo together is basically a world-wide scavenger hunt. Find something that takes you to the next location, collect pieces, put them all together, and—voila!—you're immortal. No easy fountain of youth for Milo, though there is the dunk in the water o' life, although it is rather, uh, bloody-looking. Can we say “Yuck”? However, doing this required Sloane to go back to basics—that is, he's back to his ruthless self. At last! Too long he's been pretending—to himself as well as the world—that he's a nice guy. The real Sloane has his “helpers” eliminated and then lies to his beloved wife that he's a sweetie . . . and probably thinks that because his wife thinks he's a sweetie, he still is—somehow. (Maybe this is the problem, not enough of this Sloane . . . too much of him lying to himself and/or Nadia seeing right through him.)
So . . . eventually, Arvin squares off with Jack and Irina squares off with Sydney . . . the two old friends and the mother and daughter, as if it was meant to be. Sloane and Jack have been at it, friends and enemies, from the early days . . . it makes sense. Even as enemies . . . in SD-6, when Jack would visit Sloane at Omnifam . . . they kept very close. Jack, always tough on his enemies, is brutal on Sloane in the end. Sydney, not so much. She would forgive her mother anything. The truth, apparently, that has waited so long is that, for Irina, love has always taken second place to power. She realizes that if she has all the time in the world, she can gather the power that she needs—then she can worry about love or family or all those other pesky little things that get in the way . . . if they're still around, that is. Maybe not, since Sydney's increasingly becoming “an inconvenience.” Looks like the “one thing” that Irina finally convinced Jack that he could supposedly count on—that she would never kill Sydney—well, that flew out the window . . . if Sydney gets between Irina and the Horizon, anyway. That's the choice that is her undoing, too. Irina can save herself by reaching for Sydney's hand, but she wants to save Rambaldi's prize . . . and so falls with it.
Rambaldi's page 47 prophecy is a total non-starter. After all, Sydney has seen the sky over Mt Subasio . . . so, no rage. Well, there was her anger against Sloane, but since she's seen the Subasio sky, it doesn't count.
As people have periodically pointed out over the years, Rambaldi granted immortality—or, at least, extremely long life—to a number of people over the years, yet he seems to have died himself. It seems to have been his tomb, anyway, that Sloane winds up at. He was able to prophesy all these things, yet he wasn't able to get out of the way of the inquisition? But perhaps, unlike Arvin and Irina, he realized that immortality ain't quite all it's cracked up to be. But if so—why did he put so much effort into creating the machinery for it . . . and all the other doom & gloom gizmos . . . and hiding them away . . . so that all these crackpots could find them and wreak havoc with them? Guy musta had a real sense o' humor, that one.
Am I surprised by how Alias wrapped? Yes, a little. Alias has listened to its fans well over the years—sometimes too well—and I thought the “good-Irina” contingent was strong enough that the producers would listen to them in the end. Unfortunately, this story has been made much less compelling by a series of less-than-convincing plot and character developments starting with (and partially made necessary by) Irina's absence in season 3. I will have to check the reaction to see whether fans are happy with it or not.
Quibbles . . .
Hm,would Irina really trust Sloane with the Horizon and all the Rambaldi goods in Mongolia by himself? I mean, his track record in reliability isn't exactly pristine. I mean, Sark's going to help the person who pays him.
Marshall claims that he never liked Sloane. Well, yeah, he was always afraid of the guy, but even when Sloane was the betrayer on the run, Marshall was the only guy who seemed to miss the evil little runt. Heck, he had breakfast with Sark. Does Marshall really dislike anyone? I'm sure the torture puts a pall on their friendship, but . . . it is Marshall after all.
Speaking of people's goofy tendency to forgive Sloane . . . Jack's by far the worst offender. After Irina, he of all people should know better (but, then, they had him forgive her as well in the “lost” seasons of Alias . . .). His belief that he could have changed—why? Just because he has a daughter?—makes very little sense.
Mortally injured, Jack manages to stand to see Sydney off, then collapses! Oh, and then manages to get explosives and walk back down and confront Sloane. Not bad! OK, not complaining, but still! (The collapse was overkill, though . . .)
Tom zeroed in and located the Cardinal . . . who turned out to be—ta da!—no one of any importance whatsoever. What a tremendous waste of time that was. At least Tom got to go out in a blaze of glory. Better luck with your next show.
That puzzle can't be solved by anyone but geniuses. Uh, right. My question? How'd they say that with a straight face?
Random Thoughts . . .
If I were Jack, I wouldn't have just set off the explosives. I would have given Sloane a good ol' hug to boot. Y'know, this immortality thing? Let's test that theory. Does it work when you're a bunch of little bitty scraps of flesh, bone, and blood? Heh heh heh . . . . Yeah, yeah, I finally watched Saw recently. Damn, that was good.
Hm, why did the sight of Irina on the glass with the immortality gizmo bring to mind Cronos?
Perhaps it's the daughter factor.
Peyton does have a weakness after all. Show her a snake and she coughs up all the answers you want. I'm going to invite her to see Snakes on a Plane.
Sark . . . not really into the genocide business. Well, it is sort of bad for business, after all. There's less money to go around, fewer employers, and fewer high-end goods to buy in a post-apocalyptic world. Yay for the winning side? Sort of a hollow victory, but if that's the only winning side there is, best to be on it. Sark is, after all, a realist. Gotta love him.
“Jumping over canals in 6-inch heels while napalm explodes around me” is “how [you] define fun”—if you're Dixon, anyway. Sadly, Sydney hasn't exactly defined this as fun often enough . . . You know, for once, I'd like one of these heroes to enjoy his or her work instead of grousing about it all the time. Hell, if you can do fantastic things, can't you just revel in it—just once? Maybe that's why I like Sark so much. He, at least, is a terrific agent, knows it, and doesn't mind having fun while he's at it. In the beginning Sydney seemed to like her job—but recently it's been, well, a job. And she's groused about it. A lot. I'm tired of saving the world! Do I have to?! Not no more, Syd. Take a well-earned vacation. But I'm beginning to wonder if heroes can't have a little fun every now and then. (Well, I can't blame Jack Bauer, we only catch him on his worst days, like, ever! And his bad days really suck.) Will had the right idea and slapped Sydney right down when she got on her apologetic, self-castigating jag. Like Dixon says, this is fun, so have some, darn it.
Discuss . . .
So . . . mercurial Sloane got his Rambaldi reward. Does he deserve his fate? (Do I need to ask?)
Rambaldi. Satisfied with all the Rambaldi gizmos over the years? What is his deal anyway? Explain.
Sydney transformed from young girl with no idea what she should be, to idealistic young agent, to jaded but capable super-spy . . . to semi-retired mother/spy. Tell me what you think of Sydney's transformation. Do you approve of how things turned out for her? Explain.
Marshall never liked Sloane? Agree or disagree?
Does it make sense to you that Jack would be so willing to trust Sloane at this point? Why or why not? On a related subject, do you believe that Jack ever came back around to trusting Irina (or should have been allowed to, storywise)? Explain.
Have you found the fluctuations of Sloane over the years hard to follow? That is, I'm bad; I'm good; I'm bad, but I'm pretending to be good; I think I'm good, but I'm just fooling myself--is this confusing? Do you think it makes sense for this character? Explain.
Did the right people sacrifice all and the right people survive to fight on? Explain.
How do you feel about how the story with Irina turned out and why?
Do you have a favorite character? If so, who would it be and why?
Any last thoughts about Alias in general?
Final thought:
Guys, it's been great. Thanks for all your support.
Back at APO, they discuss the global reach of the Twelve and strategize how they might arrest them simultaneously. They assume that Sloane is working for Prophet 5.
Sloane, meanwhile, suggests to Peyton that she can assume that the Twelve will dispose of her when they have concluded their work with her. Peyton is naturally less than fully confident about switching allegiances, but Sark assures her that she would be well-compensated. She asks whether Sark comes with the package.
Vaughn and Sydney stay up late with their Prophet 5 information. Sydney worries over the clues that “the Rose” provided, such as the warning that Rambaldi's gift was “the end of nature.” Vaughn tells her, “Consider the source.” After all, he says, you've done all right combating things so far.
At Marshall's house, Marshall leaves Carrie to check on Mitchell—but doesn't return. Meanwhile, Tom shows up at Rachel's house for a chat, but ends up kissing her. She goes to get coffee, but he makes a quick exit. When Rachel answers a knock at the door, it's Sark.
Sloane tells Marshall that he needs him to access the NOAA system to locate an underground cavern. Sloane tasks Peyton to persuade Marshall to help them. Sark, in another room, tells Rachel in his mind, they would have met again under much different circumstances.
Carrie calls Sydney and Jack for help—upon which they admit that Marshall is, in fact, not the game designer she thought he was. Tom calls in and lets them know that he stopped back by Rachel's and found her missing. Carrie begs to help, seeing that they're short on tech help, and Jack accepts.
Jack and Dixon discuss Sloane's motives in taking Marshall and Rachel. Dixon suggests that he might want to distract or disable APO. Jack thinks that Sloane might want to use them for a specific purpose, after which he might kill them. He muses that even after he knew what Sloane was, he still named Sloane as a potential guardian for Sydney in the belief that some part of him was the friend he once trusted with his daughter. Carrie breaks into Marshall's system using a literary allusion. “He's re-reading all his favorite books” in preparation for reading to Mitchell, she says.
Back in Sloane's dungeon, the torture continues. He tells Marshall not to “be difficult” because he's “not cut out for this.” Marshall tells Sloane that he never liked him and that he'll never help him. Nadia appears to Sloane, saying “They'll never help you” because they have love, family, honor. Sloane decides he needs to find another way to convince Marshall and calls Sydney. She tells Marshall to do what he says, “your life is more important.”
Rachel is dragged in next to Marshall and told he needs her help. Marshall tells her that they are going to “leapfrog.” Carrie is given Marshall's message about “The Littlest Fish,” which includes a character named Noah. This leads her to realize that they must be hacking into NOAA, which is coming alive with security alerts. They track them down to Italy.
Sloane is given the location, to which he says, “I should have known,” and orders the prisoners' elimination. He, Peyton, and Sark leave. Rachel takes an underwire from her bra and removes her handcuffs just in time to handle the goon dispatched to shoot them. She relieves him of his gun and kills him. They enter the hall, shooting at guards, and meet Sydney and Tom—Dixon joining them soon after.
Marshall's program to track the Twelve sends an alarm: they are gathering in Zurich. Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn are heading to the location on Mt Subasio.
Sydney enters an ice cavern at the peak of the mountain and finds Sloane there. He tells her about how she came to stay with him and Emily when she was little and “rescued” the stuffed animals they put in her room. “You can't save everyone,” he tells her.
Sark is setting a charge—they are targeting APO. The team realizes this and sends a team into the subway. Marshall calls a bomb threat in to clear the subway. Tom locates the charge and determines that he can't disarm it; he can only slow it down by freezing the quartz oscillator. They get everyone out, but time has run out for Tom, who sits down, letting the last few seconds run out as he says goodbye to Rachel.
In Zurich, Peyton meets with Prophet 5 in Sloane's place. They ask her if she's brought the amulet and she says, “Of course,” pulls out two machine guns, and mows them down.
Sloane tells Sydney that the only one she can rescue is herself. The sun rises and Sloane raises the amulet. He tells Sydney that she's not allowed to see this and shoots the snow beneath her feet, collapsing it.
We move into “All the Time in the World” with a memory. Sydney is in school, and the kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up. Sydney's unsure what she wants to be, and the teacher asks, “Are you having trouble getting started?” She wakes up in the snow of Mount Subasio. As Vaughn administers CPR and Sydney remembers the news of her mother's death and awakens, Rachel is told she must mourn later because they must get going.
Sloane commends Sark on his good job (I'm not sure “good” is the word for it). Meanwhile, Peyton has made arrangements with their connection in Hong Kong. The deal is set. Sloane asks Sark whether he is having second thoughts. Sark says no, but he's not involved in global genocide every day.
News comes in of stolen ICBMs as Sydney and Vaughn call in. Jack passes along the news that their home base has been compromised. Sydney flashes back to the time after her mother's “death,” when she put together her father's puzzle and her father was impressed—it made her special. As Vaughn sews up Sydney's would they puzzle over why he would steal the missiles.
Meanwhile, Marshall traces the payoffs to phone records, which Dixon follows to . . . Peyton, whom Vaughn and Dixon capture. She's resistant to torture, but her former best friend Rachel knows one or two things about her . . . like she's deathly afraid of snakes.
Sydney flashes back to college, where she is looking forward to a job fair. Francie says, why not be a teacher, but that's Sydney's idea of a safety net.
Peyton's information leads to Sloane's location at a tomb in Mongolia. Sark gripes, “If Rambaldi could prophesy the future, he could advise me not to wear $500 shoes.” As Sloane descends into the lower chamber, Nadia appears and asks him, “Is it everything you imagined?” Sloane places an orb (I'm guessing, the Horizon) into a space between familiar Rambaldi angle brackets, upon which, it begins to spin and glow. Gunfire is heard above as Sydney and her team arrive. Sydney rushes into the tomb as guns are pulled all around and Sark observes, “It appears we have a predicament.” As Sydney joins Sloane, a red ball has appeared suspended over the orb. She grabs the orb and the red ball drops, splashing red liquid below. Sloane gives Sydney two good reasons why she should return the orb—Vaughn and Jack, who have been brought below.
Marshall, Rachel, and Dixon note that the defense satellites have been taken out—the virus has been uploaded from Hong Kong. They go back to Peyton to get information about Sloane's partner upon threat of snake.
Sloane demands the sphere from Sydney, and when he does not get it, shoots Jack twice. Sydney goes ballistic, shooting Sloane numerous times, including in the head.
Sydney recalls proudly handing her father a check to help pay for college. But when she tells him that she has started working for a bank, Credit Dauphin, the mood changes and her father tells her “it's not too late to quit.” Things go from bad to worse when what would happen “if [her] mother was here” is brought up.
They carry Jack out and Vaughn goes for help. Jack tells her that he never wanted this life for her, but that she was “a very difficult little girl.” He stands to see them off . . . then collapses.
In Hong Kong, Sark delivers the news that the tomb is lost, but he has the orb. He's ordered to launch the missiles. Targets: London, Washington. Meanwhile, Marshall detects that the satellites have begun hitting the atmosphere . . . and that they've started the launch sequence.
Sydney arrives in Hong Kong for the face-off with her mother. Irina tells her that she's learned that the only currency worth anything is power. Sydney's dismissed Rambaldi as a madman, but he is life. With his invention, you can live forever. As if to illustrate Irina's point, Sloane, who has fallen into a pool that the red liquid has drained into, rises. “I am through being disappointed by you,” she says.
Sydney flashes back to a time when Sloane challenges her to take the next step as an agent: moving from dead-drops to dangerous assignments. Sydney is ready, thinking that she's been searching for what she's supposed to be, and this is it.
Sydney fights her mother.
In Mongolia, Sloane assures Jack, “We have all the time in the world.”
Back in Hong Kong, Vaughn gets the drop on Sark, bashing him against a table and pulling a gun on him. Sark assures Vaughn that he just wanted to be on the winning end . . . and gives up the launch codes. Marshall aborts the launch just in time.
In Mongolia, Jack apologizes to Sloane; he really didn't think he'd take it that far. Sloane reminds Jack that he's dying, but says he can help. Plus, he says, “You can't hurt me any more, Jack.” “But I can keep you down here with me,” says Jack, producing an impressive belt of explosives, which he sets off.
The fight in Hong Kong winds up with Irina thrown onto a skylight alongside the Horizon. “You can make it,” Sydney prompts. “Give me your hand.” But the Horizon is on the other side. The glass cracks and Irina falls through.
In Mongolia, Sloane is trapped. Nadia appears and reminds him that he has all the time in the world before she departs.
We fast-forward to a remote beach where Sydney and Vaughn are raising Isabelle and Jack, their son. Dixon joins them. He is now Deputy Director at Langley. Marshall is awaiting the birth of his fourth son, and Rachel is deep undercover. Sark, of course, is on the loose . . . that's why Dixon is here. He wants Sydney's help.
Comments . . .
Heh, I thought they'd wimp out, especially after last season. Maybe they want to forget that too. Irina is this season . . . so who was that last season? . . . OK. Letting last season go . . . I promise!
I'm going to mention Sark in passing, since I have a comment. Again, with the softer side. I can see him not being pro-apocalypse; after all, there isn't any up-side to it. Not good for business. But what's this with the ladies? What happened to cold-hearted assassin Sark we knew of old?
As we come full circle, Sydney is taken down memory lane. What did she want to be when she grew up? She didn't know, but she was special. After her mother “died,” she put together a puzzle even her father couldn't solve. She is still looking for her path in college, when something unusual comes her way. Her father tries to dissuade her, but they are, by now, estranged. She cannot know that he speaks from a position of knowledge: he knows that she is working under false assumptions—and that he cannot set her straight. This allows Arvin Sloane (apparently now forgotten as the friend who took her in for that year) to step in as a second father and show her the encouragement and guidance that she missed from her father. We know what came after: along with the confidence, Sydney found disillusionment, disappointment, and a growing desire to cast all the secrets and responsibilities aside and become a mother.
Sloane strips himself of all concerns but his desire to achieve his ultimate Rambaldi dream: immortality. Per the usual Rambaldi protocol, putting the gizmo together is basically a world-wide scavenger hunt. Find something that takes you to the next location, collect pieces, put them all together, and—voila!—you're immortal. No easy fountain of youth for Milo, though there is the dunk in the water o' life, although it is rather, uh, bloody-looking. Can we say “Yuck”? However, doing this required Sloane to go back to basics—that is, he's back to his ruthless self. At last! Too long he's been pretending—to himself as well as the world—that he's a nice guy. The real Sloane has his “helpers” eliminated and then lies to his beloved wife that he's a sweetie . . . and probably thinks that because his wife thinks he's a sweetie, he still is—somehow. (Maybe this is the problem, not enough of this Sloane . . . too much of him lying to himself and/or Nadia seeing right through him.)
So . . . eventually, Arvin squares off with Jack and Irina squares off with Sydney . . . the two old friends and the mother and daughter, as if it was meant to be. Sloane and Jack have been at it, friends and enemies, from the early days . . . it makes sense. Even as enemies . . . in SD-6, when Jack would visit Sloane at Omnifam . . . they kept very close. Jack, always tough on his enemies, is brutal on Sloane in the end. Sydney, not so much. She would forgive her mother anything. The truth, apparently, that has waited so long is that, for Irina, love has always taken second place to power. She realizes that if she has all the time in the world, she can gather the power that she needs—then she can worry about love or family or all those other pesky little things that get in the way . . . if they're still around, that is. Maybe not, since Sydney's increasingly becoming “an inconvenience.” Looks like the “one thing” that Irina finally convinced Jack that he could supposedly count on—that she would never kill Sydney—well, that flew out the window . . . if Sydney gets between Irina and the Horizon, anyway. That's the choice that is her undoing, too. Irina can save herself by reaching for Sydney's hand, but she wants to save Rambaldi's prize . . . and so falls with it.
Rambaldi's page 47 prophecy is a total non-starter. After all, Sydney has seen the sky over Mt Subasio . . . so, no rage. Well, there was her anger against Sloane, but since she's seen the Subasio sky, it doesn't count.
As people have periodically pointed out over the years, Rambaldi granted immortality—or, at least, extremely long life—to a number of people over the years, yet he seems to have died himself. It seems to have been his tomb, anyway, that Sloane winds up at. He was able to prophesy all these things, yet he wasn't able to get out of the way of the inquisition? But perhaps, unlike Arvin and Irina, he realized that immortality ain't quite all it's cracked up to be. But if so—why did he put so much effort into creating the machinery for it . . . and all the other doom & gloom gizmos . . . and hiding them away . . . so that all these crackpots could find them and wreak havoc with them? Guy musta had a real sense o' humor, that one.
Am I surprised by how Alias wrapped? Yes, a little. Alias has listened to its fans well over the years—sometimes too well—and I thought the “good-Irina” contingent was strong enough that the producers would listen to them in the end. Unfortunately, this story has been made much less compelling by a series of less-than-convincing plot and character developments starting with (and partially made necessary by) Irina's absence in season 3. I will have to check the reaction to see whether fans are happy with it or not.
Quibbles . . .
Hm,would Irina really trust Sloane with the Horizon and all the Rambaldi goods in Mongolia by himself? I mean, his track record in reliability isn't exactly pristine. I mean, Sark's going to help the person who pays him.
Marshall claims that he never liked Sloane. Well, yeah, he was always afraid of the guy, but even when Sloane was the betrayer on the run, Marshall was the only guy who seemed to miss the evil little runt. Heck, he had breakfast with Sark. Does Marshall really dislike anyone? I'm sure the torture puts a pall on their friendship, but . . . it is Marshall after all.
Speaking of people's goofy tendency to forgive Sloane . . . Jack's by far the worst offender. After Irina, he of all people should know better (but, then, they had him forgive her as well in the “lost” seasons of Alias . . .). His belief that he could have changed—why? Just because he has a daughter?—makes very little sense.
Mortally injured, Jack manages to stand to see Sydney off, then collapses! Oh, and then manages to get explosives and walk back down and confront Sloane. Not bad! OK, not complaining, but still! (The collapse was overkill, though . . .)
Tom zeroed in and located the Cardinal . . . who turned out to be—ta da!—no one of any importance whatsoever. What a tremendous waste of time that was. At least Tom got to go out in a blaze of glory. Better luck with your next show.
That puzzle can't be solved by anyone but geniuses. Uh, right. My question? How'd they say that with a straight face?
Random Thoughts . . .
If I were Jack, I wouldn't have just set off the explosives. I would have given Sloane a good ol' hug to boot. Y'know, this immortality thing? Let's test that theory. Does it work when you're a bunch of little bitty scraps of flesh, bone, and blood? Heh heh heh . . . . Yeah, yeah, I finally watched Saw recently. Damn, that was good.
Hm, why did the sight of Irina on the glass with the immortality gizmo bring to mind Cronos?
Yes, both have an immortality gizmo, but in Cronos it worked quite differently, and it was destroyed by one who was using it.
Peyton does have a weakness after all. Show her a snake and she coughs up all the answers you want. I'm going to invite her to see Snakes on a Plane.
Sark . . . not really into the genocide business. Well, it is sort of bad for business, after all. There's less money to go around, fewer employers, and fewer high-end goods to buy in a post-apocalyptic world. Yay for the winning side? Sort of a hollow victory, but if that's the only winning side there is, best to be on it. Sark is, after all, a realist. Gotta love him.
“Jumping over canals in 6-inch heels while napalm explodes around me” is “how [you] define fun”—if you're Dixon, anyway. Sadly, Sydney hasn't exactly defined this as fun often enough . . . You know, for once, I'd like one of these heroes to enjoy his or her work instead of grousing about it all the time. Hell, if you can do fantastic things, can't you just revel in it—just once? Maybe that's why I like Sark so much. He, at least, is a terrific agent, knows it, and doesn't mind having fun while he's at it. In the beginning Sydney seemed to like her job—but recently it's been, well, a job. And she's groused about it. A lot. I'm tired of saving the world! Do I have to?! Not no more, Syd. Take a well-earned vacation. But I'm beginning to wonder if heroes can't have a little fun every now and then. (Well, I can't blame Jack Bauer, we only catch him on his worst days, like, ever! And his bad days really suck.) Will had the right idea and slapped Sydney right down when she got on her apologetic, self-castigating jag. Like Dixon says, this is fun, so have some, darn it.
Discuss . . .
So . . . mercurial Sloane got his Rambaldi reward. Does he deserve his fate? (Do I need to ask?)
Rambaldi. Satisfied with all the Rambaldi gizmos over the years? What is his deal anyway? Explain.
Sydney transformed from young girl with no idea what she should be, to idealistic young agent, to jaded but capable super-spy . . . to semi-retired mother/spy. Tell me what you think of Sydney's transformation. Do you approve of how things turned out for her? Explain.
Marshall never liked Sloane? Agree or disagree?
Does it make sense to you that Jack would be so willing to trust Sloane at this point? Why or why not? On a related subject, do you believe that Jack ever came back around to trusting Irina (or should have been allowed to, storywise)? Explain.
Have you found the fluctuations of Sloane over the years hard to follow? That is, I'm bad; I'm good; I'm bad, but I'm pretending to be good; I think I'm good, but I'm just fooling myself--is this confusing? Do you think it makes sense for this character? Explain.
Did the right people sacrifice all and the right people survive to fight on? Explain.
How do you feel about how the story with Irina turned out and why?
Do you have a favorite character? If so, who would it be and why?
Any last thoughts about Alias in general?
Final thought:
Guys, it's been great. Thanks for all your support.