We are putting together an episode guide. This is season one, and additional seasons are coming.
EPISODE
1.1: “TRUTH BE TOLD”
ORIGINAL
U.S. AIRDATE: Sept. 30, 2001
WRITTEN
BY: J.J. Abrams
DIRECTED
BY: J.J. Abrams
GUEST
STARS: Edward Atterton, Jay Gerber, Angus Scrimm, William Wellman
Jr., Ric Young
SONGS:
“You’re a God” by Vertical Horizon; “Goin’ Our
Way” by Gus; ‘Never Grow Old” by The Cranberries; “Under
the Gun” by Supreme Beings of Leisure
SYNOPSIS:
The
Alias pilot introduces us to Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner),
college student and roommate of lifelong friend Francie Calfo (Merrin
Dungey). Sydney has just received a marriage proposal from her
boyfriend, Danny Hecht (Edward Atterton), and decides to tell him the
truth about her “banking job.” It is actually a cover for her
real job as an operations officer for a covert branch of the
CIA called SD-6. The revelation is costly, however, once SD-6 chief
Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) finds out. SD-6 operatives are not allowed
to disclose the truth to anyone, and Sloane has Danny killed while
Sydney is on a mission to Taipei with her partner Marcus Dixon (Carl
Lumbly). In Taipei, she scouts a lab belonging to FTL, a foreign
terrorist organization, which harbors a strange device. An SD-6
mole with information about the device is missing, but Sydney manages
to take photos of the device. Upon her return, she finds Danny dead,
and when she confronts Sloane, he blames her for revealing the truth.
Danny’s
death causes Sydney to take an extended leave, calling into question
her loyalty to SD-6. An attempt to “retire” Sydney by
assassination is thwarted by Sydney’s estranged father Jack (Victor
Garber), who admits that he too works for SD-6, and that it isn’t a
branch of the CIA, but rather it is part of an international
terrorist network called the Alliance of Twelve, founded by rouge
intelligence agents from around the world. Sydney spurns Jack’s
offer to go into hiding and instead borrows the identity of the
sister of her friend and newspaper reporter Will Tippin (Bradley
Cooper) to flee to Taipei, to recover the strange device scouted in
her previous mission.
Of
course, it isn’t that easy. Sydney is captured and tortured by the
man running the lab (Ric Young). Sydney does manage to escape her
captors, take the device, and flee back to the United States.
Producing the device gets Sydney back in the good graces of SD-6 and
Sloane, but she decides to offer her services to the CIA as a double
agent to bring down SD-6. She meets CIA agents Michael Vaughn
(Michael Vartan) and Eric Weiss (Greg Grunberg), who are tracking the
SD-6 cell. The episode ends with Sydney being accepted in the CIA as
a double agent, and discovering her father is working with the CIA as
a double agent as well.
CLASSIC
SCENES:
In
an episode full of great moments, several stand out. The
introduction of Jack Bristow, in which he faces off with Danny Hecht,
tells you all you need to know about the disposition of everyone’s
favorite “Spy Daddy.”
The
parking garage scene. Mix in Sydney holding her own against Security
Section, Francie talking about her “worst day ever,” and
Jack proving he never sold airplane parts, and you have one of the
show’s all-time classic sequences.
When
Sydney escapes from her Taipei captors, turns the tables on “Suit
and Glasses” and destroys the lab, it set the tone that this would
be anything but a conventional action drama.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Ill
tell you what. I may become your father-in-law, that’s just fine.
But I will not be used as part of a charming little anecdote you tell
your friends at cocktail parties so they can see what a quaint,
old-fashioned guy Danny really is. Are we clear?”
“Yes
Sir.”
“Good.
Then welcome to the family.”
-Jack,
to Danny (and his stunned response), and Jack’s unusual blessing
“If
there’s one rule you don’t break, that’s the rule you don’t break.”
-Dixon,
to Sydney, regarding whether to tell the one they love that they work
for SD-6
“I’ve
got nothing to lose.”
“That’s
not exactly true. You have teeth.”
-Sydney,
to “Suit and Glasses, and his response
“Daddy?”
-Sydney,
to Jack when he rescues her from Security Section
“I
don’t sell airplane pats. I never sold airplane parts.”
-Jack,
to Sydney, explaining who he really is
“Who
do you work for, you pretty little girl?”
-Suit
and Glasses, to Sydney
“I’m
taking the week off….I’ve got midterms.”
-Sydney,
to Sloane
“It’s
like Tolstoy long.”
-Vaughn,
describing Sydney’s statement to the CIA
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
Two
disguises in this episode. First as a brunette businesswoman during
the first mission to Taipei, the second as “Amy Tippin,” a wild
redhead, which has become the most memorable look of Sydney Bristow.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
An
RF scrambler hidden in a lighter and lipstick that actually uses a
laser to map floorplans and create picture blueprints.
NUMBER
47
Marshall
mentions trying to fit 47 pictures in a spy camera.
DID
YOU KNOW:
In
Taipei, Sydney talks her way out of a jam by saying her boss “Ron”
will fire her for drinking at a party. Of course, her on-screen boss
Sloane is played by Ron Rifkin….Ric Young’s character name “Suit
and Glasses” was never said on-air, but when it was mentioned by
producers it stuck with fans…..According to the script, the blue
Land Rover Sydney drives is actually Danny’s, her car is the red
pickup seen in the “garage chase” scene.
EPISODE
1.2 “SO IT BEGINS”
ORIGINAL U.S.
AIRDATE: October 7, 2001
WRITTEN BY:
J.J. Abrams
DIRECTED BY:
Ken Olin
GUEST STARS:
Evan Dexter Parke, Aharon Ipale, Alex Kuz, Ravil Isyanov, Sarah Shahi
SONGS:
“Looking For A Friend” by Roland Gift; “This
Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush
OPENING
MONOLOGUE:
“Seven
years ago, I was recruited to work for SD-6, which I was told was a
covert branch of the CIA. I was trained as a spy, warned not to tell
anyone what I did. I thought I was working for the good guys, until
I told my fiancé’ about SD-6, and they had him killed. That’s
when I learned the truth: that SD-6 is part of the very enemy I
thought I was fighting. Now I’m a double agent, working with the
real CIA to being down SD-6, where my only ally is another double
agent. A man I hardly know. My father.”
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney
begins her double-agent work for the CIA, but quickly becomes
frustrated when she feels Vaughn is not listening to her ideas.
Vaughn shows her that SD-6 is much larger than she thinks, and her
work will be long term. Jack shows up at Credit Dauphine, to tell
Sydney that he too works for SD-6, which of course she already knows.
The move is merely a cover to keep Sloane in the dark.
Sydney
and Dixon are sent to Moscow to intercept the sale of old Soviet
intelligence files. The deal, taking place in a hotel bar, goes bad,
and the two must fight their way out, but do manage to get a computer
disc with the files. While at the airport, Sydney manages to pass
the disc to Vaughn, who makes a copy. It turns out the files had
information about a Soviet nuclear weapon hidden somewhere in
Buckingham, Virgina. SD-6 sends Sydney to find the nuke, but she
plans to give it to the CIA instead. SD-6 has a name tied to the
nuke – Milovich Ivanov – but discover the address tied to the name is
actually a cemetery. Sydney finds a gravesite with Ivanov’s name,
and, upon digging up the coffin, finds the nuke inside, which then
arms itself once the coffin was opened. Marshall helps Sydney disarm
the nuke, but instead of the CIA getting the nuke, SD-6 does, who
then sells it to an arms dealer, Ineni Hassan. Vaughn is pulled as
Sydney’s handler by the CIA. Sydney confronts her father about
Danny’s death, and Jack admits he knew Danny would be killed,
causing Sydney to slap him. She later apologizes to Jack once she
discovers he planned to get Danny out of the country to go into
hiding with her, but was too late to save him. Sydney goes to Cairo
to steal the nuke, but the episode ends with Hassan catching Sydney
and putting a gun to her head.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Sydney
disarms a Soviet nuke with seconds to spare, thanks to Marshall’s
help via cellphone.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Do
I look like I’m in junior high? Do you see a retainer?”
–
Sydney, to Vaughn
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In
a flashback to open the episode, Sydney wears a long back wig and
black outfit. In Moscow, she wears a blond wig and a maid’s outfit
to gain access to a hotel room. She later ditches the maid outfit
for a blue rubber latex dress, a fan favorite of Sydney disguises
that was later immortalized as an action figure. The blue latex
disguise was also featured on promotional posters produced by ABC.
At the end of the episode, Sydney wears a ninja-type of outfit during
the Cairo mission.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
ring which contains a drug that knocks a person out upon contact with
the skin. Marshall accidentally knocked himself out testing it.
LOCATIONS:
The
practice of announcing locations on a black screen in the same style
as Alias’ title began in this episode. This episode
featured the following locations, along with the letter highlighted
in each: Moscow (S is highlighted), Los Angeles (A is highlighted),
Virginia (N is highlighted) and Cairo (I is highlighted).
DID
YOU KNOW:
Carl
Lumbly (Marcus Dixon) is a long-time veteran of film and television.
Among his credits are the 2003 TV version of Sounder, the
voice of “Martian Manhunter” on the cartoon Justice League,
and roles in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Adventures of
Buckaroo Bonzai (as memorable alien John Parker), E.R., and
The X-Files (in which he also played a character named
Marcus). He also played Detective Mark Petrie on the hit series
Cagney and Lacey and had the title role of Dr. Miles Hawkins
on the Fox sci-fi series M.A.N.T.I.S.
EPISODE
1.3 “PARITY”
Original
Airdate: October 14, 2001
Written
by: Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Directed
by: Mikael Salomon
Guest
Stars: Evan Dexter Parke, Gina Torres, Aharon Ipale, Keone Young,
Elaine Kagan, Mark Rolston
Songs:
“The Beginner” by Miranda Lee Richards; “La
Cienega Just Smiled” by Ryan Adams; “Rings A Bell” by
Bill Bonk; “Go Get It” by Spookie Daly Pride
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney,
with a gun to her head, distracts Hassan and manages to escape with
the plutonium core from the nuclear weapon. Back home, her personal
life isn’t getting any better. She’s still having trouble
balancing school and work, and her attempt to ask Jack questions
about the past is met with resistance. Her new handler, who has
replaced Vaughn, is a jerk. She demands Vaughn be reinstated as her
handler. She is also moving, out from the apartment where Danny was
killed into a new home.
At
SD-6, Sloane reveals that the device Sydney retrieved from Taipei in
the first episode was designed by a man named Milo Rambaldi, who died
in 1496. He was the chief architect for Pope Alexander VI who was
eventually excommunicated for heresy and sentenced to death for
saying that someday science would help people know God. Now that it
appears his work was revolutionary, an international race is on to
gather Rambaldi artifacts. Sloane has a Rambaldi manuscript with
what appears to be machine code, but it is incomplete. The rest of
the code is in the possession of a Madrid car enthusiast named
Benegas. Sydney and Dixon go to Madrid to break into Benegas’
vault in his car museum. Anna Espinoza, an agent with K-Directorate,
is at the museum as well to retrieve the code. She and Anna have
some unpleasant history, with Anna having gotten the better of
Sydney.
Anna
gets into the vault first, and takes a case with the code. Sydney
catches up with her, and a fight ensues. Anna escapes, but Sydney
uses a gun to shoot the case off of her shoulder as she climbs a fire
escape. SD-6 now has the case, but Anna has the only key that can
open it.
Back
in Los Angeles, Will discovers that there is a traffic camera just
outside Danny’s apartment, which leads him to search for any pictures
it took that may help find Danny’s killer. Sydney, Will, Charlie,
and Francie get together for dinner and cards at Sydney’s home, and
things seem to be returning to normal. Later, Sydney and Will, who
have been drinking, kiss each other, causing an awkward moment.
Back
at SD-6, Jack admits to Sydney that her mother knew he was with the
CIA, but that her death in a car crash was accidental. Later, Jack
tells Sloane he didn’t tell Sydney the whole truth. Jack arranges a
meeting with Sydney and Anna, wherein Anna will use her key to open
Sydney’s case with the code, and they will share whatever information
they get from it. The rendezvous takes place in a stadium in Berlin,
under the watch of both SD-6 and K-Directorate sniper teams. Anna
mocks Sydney for continuing to work for the people that killed her
fiancé. The two open the case, and, while we don’t see what
the case holds, the episode ends with Sydney’s reaction to what she
finds inside: “Oh my God.”
CLASSIC
QUOTE:
“I
have a thousand questions. They’re keeping me awake at night.”
“Then
take something.”
–
Sydney, to Jack, and his response
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
Sydney
wears a red dress with matching red wig to the Benegas car museum in
Madrid.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
necklace that contains a microphone for communication, and a Spanish
pesata that contains a sonic wave emitter (perfect for shattering
windows) with a remote trigger inside a pen.
LOCATIONS:
Madrid
(first D is highlighted), Berlin (R is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
Gina
Torres, who plays Anna Espinoza, is the wife of actor Lawrence
Fishburne, who plays Morpheus in the Matrix trilogy. Gina
also had a small role in the second and third Matrix films.
She has worked with Carl Lumbly (Marcus Dixon) on the television show
M.A.N.T.I.S. and on the cartoon Justice League as the
voice of “Vixen.” Among her other notable TV credits are 24,
Angel, and Firefly….Mark Rolston, who plays CIA agent
Seth Lambert in this episode, is a popular character actor with a
number of television and movie credits, including 1999’s
Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (with Jennifer Garner),
Rush Hour, From the Earth to the Moon (as Gus Grissom),
The Shawshank Redemption, Aliens (as Pvt. Drake), 24,
The X-Files, and both Star Trek: The Next Generation and
Enterprise.
EPISODE
1.4 “A BROKEN HEART”
Original
U.S. Airdate: October 21, 2001
Written
by: Vanessa Taylor
Directed
by: Harry Winer
Guest
Stars: Miguel Sandoval, Gina Torres, Evan Dexter Parke, Faran
Tahir, Maurice Chasse, Bernard White, Angus Scrimm, Sarah Shahi
Songs:
“Halfway Home” by Bill Bonk; “If I Were An
Angel” by Nina Storey; “Angel” by Sarah MacLachlan
SYNOPSIS:
At
the Berlin meeting, Sydney and Anna both find the missing portion of
the Rambaldi code inside the case. The case, however, is rigged with
acid, which begins to eat away the Rambaldi code paper. Sydney and
Anna both memorize the code to give to their superiors. Sydney gives
the code to Vaughn and plans to give the wrong code to SD-6, but
Vaughn orders her to give them the correct code to avoid suspicion.
Sydney is upset over the move, but realizes Vaughn is trying to
protect her.
Using
the code, Sydney goes to a church in Spain to find a Rambaldi
artifact. She finds a golden disc hidden in a stained-glass window.
Anna, also after the artifact, shows up, but Sydney escapes. Back
home, Sydney helps Francie spy on Charlie, whom Francie believes is
cheating on her. During their “stakeout,” Sydney admits to
Francie that she kissed Will. They then see Charlie greet a woman
they do not know with a kiss and leave in her car.
Slone
tells Sydney the disc retrieved in Spain is actually a 500 year old
synthetic polymer that they cannot identify. Jack, while in a
hypnotic debrief at SD-6, has a dream in which he flashes back to an
infant Sydney being held by her mother. The mother then turns into
Sydney, and says she will soon find out the truth, causing Jack to
awaken, very upset.
Sydney
and Dixon go to Morocco to conduct surveillance on Luc Jacqnoud, who
SD-6 suspects will attack a UCO (United Commerce Organization)
meeting. One of the bodyguards at the meeting spots Sydney and
recognizes her from a previous mission. Sydney and Dixon manage to
escape, but their local contact, an old friend, is killed.
Back
home, Will attempts to fix the awkwardness between he and Sydney by
kissing her again, but it makes it worse. Francie confronts Charlie
about seeing another woman, but he offers no explanation. Jack backs
out of his first dinner with Sydney in years, upsetting her.
Frustrated, Sydney calls Vaughn, and the two meet. Sydney breaks
down under the pressures from work and home. Vaughn comforts Sydney,
and the two hold hands for the first time.
Sydney
and Dixon go to Brazil to attend the UCO conference. At a party,
diplomat Dhiren Patel, who is scheduled to speak at the conference,
collapses due to a drugged drink, and men impersonating paramedics
take him away. Sydney follows and sees the men meet with Jacqnoud
and implant a small but highly destructive device in Patel’s chest,
disguised as a pacemaker.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Sydney
and Vaughn’s scene on the pier. For the first time, the two connect
on a personal level, away from the CIA and SD-6.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“It’s
only a matter of time before I find out the truth.”
–
Sydney, in a dream sequence, to Jack
“When
you’re at your absolute lowest, at your most depressed, just remember
that you can always….you know….you’ve got my number.”
–
Vaughn, to Sydney
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In
Morocco, as a tourist with pigtails and rose-colored, wire-rimmed
glasses, and in a gold sequin outfit at a party in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
purse with a laser parabolic microphone, used in Morocco…A
telescope pen.
LOCATIONS:
Los
Angeles (N is highlighted), Malaga, Spain (first A highlighted), Los
Angeles (G highlighted), Morocco (second O highlighted), Los Angeles
(first E highlighted), Sao Paulo (S is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
Bernard
White, who plays Sawari in this episode, had a small role in The
Matrix Revolutions, as a computer program trying to save his
daughter from the Matrix.
EPISODE
1.5 “DOPPELGANGER”
Original
U.S. Airdate: October 28, 2001
Written
by: Daniel Arkin
Directed
by: Ken Olin
Guest
Stars: Tom Everett, Norbert Weisser, Lori Heuring, Maurice Chasse
Songs:
“I’m Wrong About Everything” by John Wesley
Harding, “Get Down Massive” by Freestylers; “Trans Am”
by Leroy
SYNOPSIS:
As
Sydney watches Jacqnoud implant Patel with an explosive, she is
captured by a bodyguard. She manages to escape via a drainage pipe,
but she is knocked out until the next morning. In the meantime,
Patel, who believes he was in a hospital, is released and is about to
address the UCO Conference. Sydney manages to alert Dixon, who
kidnaps Patel and the two smuggle him out of the conference in a
stolen ambulance. As Sydney drives the ambulance with Jacqnoud in
pursuit, Dixon has to personally remove the explosive from Patel’s
chest. Jacqnoud, using a radio remote, activates the bomb just as
Dixon removes it and tosses it out of the back of the ambulance. The
bomb hits Jacqnoud’s car, killing him.
Back
home, Vaughn gives Sydney a copy of her father’s CIA file. Inside is
a mention of FBI Agent Bentley Calder, but additional pages are
missing from the file. Sydney and Francie plan a Halloween party,
with hopes that Charlie will attend. Will, still tracking the “Kate
Jones” who was traveling with Danny, is surprised to get a call
from a girl claiming to be her. Will meets with “Kate,” who
claims to have had an affair with Danny, but bolts when Will
confronts her with the fact that the “real” Kate Jones dies in
1973.
Sloane
sends Sydney and Dixon to Germany, where a company has developed a
vaccine for biological weapons. A scientist, Jeroen Schiller, plans
to turn over all vaccine information to Sloane (thinking he’s CIA)
in return for a new life in America. Vaughn and Sydney plans a
“double switch,” giving the CIA the real Schiller and giving SD-6
a CIA officer, Paul Kelvin, to impersonate Schiller. Sydney manages
to extract Schiller from his heavily-guarded office and make the
double switch. Once back in America, Kelvin plays the part of
Schiller for Sloane, and provides them with access to a dummy website
created by the CIA, which Sloane believes contains information on the
vaccine. Accessing the site then gives the CIA a back door into
SD-6’s network. Sloane becomes suspicious, however, when Kelvin
cannot provide the location of vaccine inhaler prototypes. Sloane
believes something is up, and suspicions are raised about Sydney as
well.
Meanwhile,
the real Schiller, unconvinced that he is in the custody of the real
CIA, demands to see Sloane and refuses to answer questions. Sydney
convinces him of the truth and gets him to provide the location of
the inhalers, which Jack provides to Kelvin during a torture session
so he can “confess.” Dixon and Sydney go to Badenweiler, the
location of the lab that has the inhalers. Dixon plants charges to
destroy the lab, while Sydney retrieves the inhalers. Unbeknownst to
Dixon, Vaughn has arranged for CIA agents to meet Sydney in the lab,
whom she gives the real inhalers to and collects fake ones for SD-6.
With Dixon outside, Sydney disables the detonator on the charges, to
allow the CIA agents time to collect additional evidence. Sydney
exits the lab, only to find Dixon has a backup detonator, setting off
the charges, and killing the agents inside.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Is
that Will?”
“Maybe
he’s here to talk to you about the humiliating kiss.”
“Stop
calling it that.”
“That’s
what it was.”
–
Sydney and Francie
“If
there was a question between this and dirt, I would be all over the
dirt.”
–
Will’s thoughts on candy corn
“I
don’t know how much longer I can do this. Sit in these meetings with
Sloane. Look at him as if I don’t despise him. As if I don’t want
to leap across the table and use the skills I’ve learned at SD-6
against him.”
–
Sydney’s rant about Sloane in a note to Vaughn
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
At
the Hensel Corp. in Berlin, Sydney wears a black leather coat,
glasses, and her hair pulled back into as spiky bun.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
business card with a transmitter that allows someone to remotely take
over any computer it touches….A box that disables alarm systems.
LOCATIONS:
Berlin
(L is highlighted), Badenweiler (W is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
This
episode features a glaring blooper, when Jacqnoud’s car explodes,
it is clearly visible that there is no engine in the “stunt”
car…..It took twelve minutes for the opening credits to finally
appear in this episode.
EPISODE
1.6 “RECKONING”
Original U.S.
Airdate: November 18, 2001
Written by:
Jesse Alexander
Directed by:
Daniel Attias
Guest Stars:
John Hannah, Nancy Dussault, Evan Dexter Parke, Lori Heuring, Sarah
Shahi, Eugene Lazarev, Maurice Godin
Songs:“Going, Going, Gone” by Stairs;
“Tornado” by Garbage; “Be Still My Soul” by
Lisbeth Scott
SYNOPSIS:
As
the lab explodes, Sydney freezes in shock, knowing CIA agents are
inside. Dixon has to drag her away as lab security chases them.
Later, Sydney blames the episode to a flashback of Danny’s murder.
Back
in Los Angeles, Sydney tracks down FBI Agent Calder’s widow to see
if she can shed any light of Calder’s association with Jack.
Sydney and Vaughn believe Agent Calder was investigating Jack as a
double agent for the KGB. Sydney sees a picture of Agent Clader, and
realizes he is the man killed in the same auto wreck that killed her
mother. Sydney wants to turn in Jack, but Vaughn convinces her to
wait.
Francie
finally meets with Charlie, who tells Francie that he isn’t
cheating, but rather is practicing with the woman she saw to become a
singer, a secret dream of his. Will, using the license plate of the
woman claiming to be Kate Jones, gets a name: Eloise Kurtz.
Back
at SD-6, Sloane briefs everyone about a terrorist group – FTL – and
their recent activities. SD-6 has acquired from an FTL location a
birthday card that plays musical notes, which actually has an encoded
message. Sydney and Dixon must now go to London to retreive an FTL
decoder from an FTL operative. They go undercover as French art
buyers in the operative’s gallery, and Sydney breaks into his
office and steals the decoder.
Sydney,
Francie, Will, and his sister Amy go to hear Charlie sing. To
everyone’s surprise, he sings well. Eloise Kurtz calls Will and sets
up a meeting to discuss Danny – she claims someone paid her $2000 to
impersonate “Kate Jones.”
Marshall
discovers that the FTL decoder uses a person’s DNA to create a
unique code. It appears the code was generated from a man named
Gareth Parkishoff. Unfortunately, Parkishoff is dead, assassinated
by a man named Martin Shepard. There’s no way to get a DNA sample
from Parkishoff to break the code, since only Shepard knows where his
body is buried. Sydney is sent undercover to find Shepard, at a
mental hospital in Romania. Sydney, pretending to be a patient, goes
in with Agent Fisher, posing as her doctor.
Will
visits Eloise Kurtz, only to find her apartment empty and repainted.
Vaughn attends the funeral of the CIA officers killed in Badenweiler.
Marshall discovers the CIA’s network breach and shuts it off,
causing Sloane to suspect a mole.
In
the Romanian asylum, Sydney confronts Shepard, who attacks her. The
mission is compromised, as the head doctor is actually with
K-Directorate. Agent Fisher is killed and Sydney is on the run
inside the asylum.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
We
see the personal side of Vaughn as he attends the funeral of one of
the CIA officers, who has a young son. It reminds him of his own
life, having lost his father in the line of duty as a CIA officer
when he was only eight.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“What
is this?”
“A
bug.”
“What
are you, twelve years old?”
-Sydney,
unaware that Vaughn’s “bug” is a spy device, and Vaughn
“Raid
my closet.”
“Thanks,
but I’ve got boobs.”
-Sydney,
to Francie, and her response
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
Sydney
dons a green dress and a black wig while undercover in a London art
gallery.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
Gadgets
used in this episode (although Marshall does not introduce them)
include x-ray glasses and a safe-cracking watch.
LOCATIONS:
London
(D is highlighted), Los Angeles (second S is highlighted), Romania
(second A is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
John
Hannah, who plays Shepard in this episode, is an accomplished British
actor who is best known by American audiences for his role as
Jonathan, Evie’s good-for-nothing brother in The Mummy and
The Mummy Returns.….It took nine and a half minutes for the
opening credits to roll…..A different opening began with this
episode: the words ALIAS were typed across the screen to the sound of
gunshots, and a slightly different monologue was played, along with a
new clips montage from previous episodes.
EPISODE
1.7 “COLOR-BLIND”
Original
U.S. Airdate: November 25, 2001
Written
by: Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Directed
by: Jack Bender
Guest
Stars: John Hannah, Evan Dexter Parke, Elaine Kagan, Eugene
Lazarev, Sarah Shahi
Songs:
“The Wait” by The Pretenders; “Everything’s
All Right (I Think It’s Time)” by Jude; “Not In This Life”
by Natalie Merchant
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney
is captured trying to escape the Romanian asylum, and is subjected to
torture until she confesses that Shepard has told her nothing. She
does, however, strike a deal with the K-Directorate doctor running
the asylum, Dr. Kreshnik: she will get the information from Shepard,
in exchange for her life.
Back
in the states, Vaughn learns that Dr. Kreshnik is actually
K-Directorate, and meets with Jack for the first time to discuss how
to rescue Sydney. Jack, having never met Vaughn before, pulls a gun
on him until he is convinced Vaughn is actually CIA. Jacks tells him
not to attempt anything, and is angered with him for giving Sydney
his CIA file.
In
Romania, Sydney tries to get the information from Shepard. It turns
out Shepard cannot see color, a defense mechanism his mind is using
to combat his assassin programming. He was programmed to see his
murders in black and white as a way to disassociate and forget them.
Shepard doesn’t trust Sydney, convinced he’s seen her before. That
night, as Sydney is being taken to Dr. Kreshnik (and certain death
for not getting the information), Shepard remembers where he’s seen
Sydney. He escapes from his room, and together he and Sydney escape
the institution. At their hideout, Shepard tells Sydney that he
remembers killing Danny. Sydney is upset, but knows Shepard is just
as much a victim. Shepard tells her where Parkishoff is buried,
which she reports to Sloane once she gets back. She tells Sloane
that Shepard committed suicide, but in fact she let him go.
Back
home, Sydney has Thanksgiving dinner with Will, Francie, Charlie, and
Jenny the paper intern (Will’s date). Charlie asks Francie to
marry him, and she accepts. Later, Sydney gets a postcard from
Shepard, indicating he is recovering from his programming. Sydney
gives Jack some Thanksgiving leftovers, which he accepts with a
smile. Sydney also learns that Anna Espinoza is on her trail, having
been spotted at the institution she escaped from.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Not
a good first impression: Vaughn and Jack meet for the first time, and
Jack nearly kills Vaughn when he puts a gun to his head. Jack
expects to see his regular CIA handler, and after some tense moments
of explaining on Vaughn’s part, Jack relents. Things hardly get
much better as Jack is unimpressed with Vaughn, and criticizes him
for being young and too eager to impress Sydney. It pretty much sets
the tone for their relationship in the series.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“I
believe in her as if she were my own daughter.”
“That’s
nice to hear.”
-Sloane,
to Jack about Sydney, and his response
“You’re
my last stop, baby.”
-Charlie,
to Francie as part of his proposal
LOCATIONS:
Romania
(from previous episode) is shown in flashback
DID
YOU KNOW:
Sarah
Shahi, who plays Jenny, grew up in the Dallas, Texas area and served
as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader in 1999….It took eleven minutes for
the credits to begin in this episode.
EPISODE
1.8 “TIME WILL TELL”
Original
U.S. Airdate: December 2, 2001
Written
by: Jeff Pinker
Directed
by: Perry Lang
Guest
Stars: Tobin Bell, Gina Torres, Robert Clendenin, Peter Dennis,
Elaine Kagan, Jack Axelrod, Keone Young
Songs:
“Edge of the Ocean” by Ivy
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney
is sent to Oxford, where a Rambaldi artifact is being analyzed in
their lab. While there, she runs into Anna Espinoza, who is also
after the artifact. Sydney manages to get to the lab first, locking
Anna out, and kissing a glass door that separates them, mocking what
Anna did to her at the Benegas car museum in Madrid. Sydney finds
the artifact, a clock, and takes it back to SD-6.
It
turns out the clock was designed by Giovanni Donato, a clockmaker who
was Rambaldi’s only collaborator. The problem is, the clock
doesn’t work. Sydney is sent to Positano, Italy, to track down a
direct descendant of Donato, also a clockmaker. Meanwhile, Jack
learns that Sloane had Eloise Kurtz “retired” because she botched
her assignment with Will Tippin.
Sydney
visits Donato, who slips that he may actually be Giovanni
Donato, blessed with long life by Rambaldi. Anna Espinoza, using a
sniper, has Donato killed. Sydney, however, manages to escape. Back
in America, Will’s editor pushes him to publish the story about
Danny’s murder, but it is killed when the plane manifest changes, and
Kate Jones’ name no longer shows up. Sydney, knowing SD-6 is on a
mole hunt, practices passing an advanced lie detector test with
Vaughn. Sydney discovers codes used by Russian spies inside books
her father bought for her mother, raising suspicious that Jack worked
for the KGB and may have caused her mother’s death. Will takes a bug
he finds in Eloise Kurtz’s car to a techie friend, who tells him it
is state of the art, probably government issued, and it is currently
working, meaning someone is listening.
Marshall
learns that the Rambaldi clock works when he inserts the “sun
piece” Sydney retrieved from the church in Malaga, Spain. It
creates a star chart, that, coupled with a date on the clock, gives
them a location: the southern slope of Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina.
In Argentina, Sydney and Dixon find a pit covered by a large lid with
the Rambaldi symbol on it. In the pit, Sydney finds Rambaldi’s
journal. She takes pictures of the pages for the CIA, but Anna
Espinoza and K-Directorate ambush Dixon at the opening. Anna
confronts Sydney in the pit, and a fight ensues. Anna takes the
journal, and the episode ends with Sydney being kicked off the ladder
halfway out of the deep pit, falling into shadows.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“That
sound that you’re, you know, that boom? That’s my mind blowing.”
-Marshall,
describing what a Rambaldi discovery did.
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
Undercover
at a reception at Oxford, Sydney dons an Auburn wig and a short black
dress.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
While
Marshall doesn’t introduce any gadgets in this episode, he does spend
a lot of time talking about Rambaldi gadgets.
LOCATIONS:
Oxford
(X is highlighted), Positano (I is highlighted), Los Angeles (O is
highlighted), Argentina (second A is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
It
took eight minutes before the opening credits began to roll.
EPISODE
1.9 “MEA CULPA”
Original
U.S. Airdate: December 9, 2001
Written
by: Debra J. Fisher and Erica Messer
Directed
by: Ken Olin
Guest
Stars: Miguel Sandoval, Tobin Bell, Timothy Landfield,
Christopher Thornton
Songs:
“Out of Order” by Duncan Sheik; “Diggin’ Your
Scene” by Smashmouth; “Sacred Way” by Munkafust
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney
recovers from her fall off of the ladder in the previous episode, and
climbs out of the pit to find Dixon shot. She uses a satellite phone
provided by Vaughn to have the CIA airlift Dixon to Buenos Aires. He
is taken to an SD-6 hospital, Angels of Mercy, in Los Angeles. To
maintain their cover, Sydney tells Dixon’s wife Diane that Dixon
was shot in a robbery attempt.
SD-6
learns that Ineni Hassan has robbed a bank to transfer funds frozen
by the U.S. government back to his accounts. Hassan also recently
ripped off SD-6 over a stinger missile sale, blaming them for the
debacle with the nuclear weapon. Sloane wants Sydney to attend a
party at the house of Hassan’s accountant, Logan Gerace, and
retrieve bank account numbers in order to get back the funds.
Sydney
parachutes in to the party in Tuscany, and uses one of Marshall’s
gadgets to lift Gerace’s fingerprint and create a latex duplicate, in
order to access his office and get to his computer. Using another
gadget, she is able to extract all of the data from his computer. At
the same time, she uses another device to send the CIA the same data.
Back home, she learns the bank accounts are actually being stored in
a bank safety deposit box in Geneva.
Meanwhile,
Will begins talking into the bug he found in Eloise Kurtz’s car and
gives them his number, hoping to find out who is listening in. At
first, no one responds, but later that day, after a few drinks and
some joking around during which Francie talks to the bug as well,
someone calls him and warns him to stop talking into the bug. Later,
Will receives a tape, which he discovers has what appears to be
Eloise Kurtz’s murder on it.
Sloane
has a heartfelt talk with Sydney, causing her to think something else
is going on. In fact, Sloane has ordered a hit on Sydney, and Vaughn
learns of it after Sydney has left for Geneva with a new partner,
Agent Anthony Russek. Posing as a diamond company executive, Sydney
gains access to the bank’s vault area, knocks out her guide, and
finds the deposit box with the bank account numbers. She provides
the accounts to the CIA by radio transmitter while in the vault, who
plans to track where the money goes. That night, she heads for her
dead drop of the account numbers at a local park, unaware that a hit
has been ordered. Vaughn has a CIA team in place to pull Sydney out
of the park safely, but Jack stops him. Jack discovered that the
order was sent to SD-6’s compromised server, so Sloane knew the
mole’s supporters would be listening. Since Marshall took the
server off the SD network, SD-4 in Rome, who was supposed to get the
hit order, never saw it. The drop goes on as planned, no hit takes
place, and Sloane has proof, or so he thinks, that Sydney is not the
mole. However, Marshall informs Sloane that a second unauthorized
transmission took place during the bank operation, and after Sydney
visits a now-awake and improving Dixon in the hospital, she is taken
into custody in the hospital parking garage.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
The
‘dead drop” scene in Geneva is one of the most suspenseful scenes
in the entire Alias series. At such an early point in the
series, it was unclear whether the current storyline would continue,
or if Sydney would be “pulled,” opening up the possibility of
joining CIA and pursuing a relationship with the now-available
Vaughn. Agent Weiss breaks the tension with a great line.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“I
always thought of you as my daughter, even from the beginning.”
–
Sloane, to Sydney
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
After
parachuting into Tuscany, Sydney takes off her jumper suit to reveal
a blunt-cut black wig and a sleeveless, short black dress. In
Geneva, posing as diamond company executive Christiana Stevens, she
wears her hair pulled back with a dark business suit.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
business card-sized device that “sucks” all of the data from a
computer…..A cell phone that contains a biometric sensor that lifts
a fingerprint from a smooth surface and creates a liquid latex
duplicate for use on fingerprint terminals.
LOCATIONS:
Tuscany
(U is highlighted), Geneva (V is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
Miguel
Sandoval (Agent Russek) is a familiar face to regular TV and film
viewers. He’s appeared in films like Jurassic Park, Clear and
Present Danger, and Collateral Damage. He’s also
appeared in a number of television shows, but may best be remembered
from Seinfeld as Marcelleno, the cock-fight organizer who
brings in a killer rooster to fight “Little Jerry Seinfeld” and
held “Big Jerry’s” clown check hostage….The name “Logan
Gerace” is used in this episode. It is probably a nod to Sean
Gerace, an assistant writer for Alias.
EPISODE
1.10 “SPIRIT”
Original
U.S. Airdate:December 16, 2001
Written
by:J.J. Abrams and Vanessa Taylor
Directed
by:Jack Bendis
Guest
Stars:Miguel Sandoval, Scott Paulin, Aharon
Ipale, Christopher Thornton, Scotch Ellis Loring, Sarah Shahi, James
Warwick
Songs:“Love Grows” by Freedy Johnston,
“Domino” by Thunderball, “Santa’s Dilemma” by
Klyph Black
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney wakes up in
an SD-6 holding cell. Sloane tells Russek to pretend SD-6 will
torture and kill him if Sydney doesn’t confess to being the mole.
Sydeny still refuses to say anything. Jack learns of Sydney’s
situation and goes to work on a computer. Just as Sydney is about to
be tortured, Marshall finds evidence that the unauthorized
transmission was made by Russek. Sloane releases Sydney and takes
Russek into custody. Afterwards, Sydney meets with Vaughn, who gives
her a Christmas gift.
Sydney
later learns that Ineni Hassan has gone underground, and is getting
new papers. SD-6 suspects Hassan has gone to Severin Driscoll, a
master forger, to get new papers. He is at a Kenyan resort called
Semba Island, so Sidney goes in undercover as an heiress to find out
from Driscoll where Hassan is headed. Sydney breaks into Driscoll’s
suite, and finds that Hassan has had plastic surgery, and realizes
she ran into the “new” Hassan earlier there at the resort. One
of Driscoll’s men discovers her, but she escapes.
Will
has his tape analyzed and is certain it is of Eloise Kurtz’s
murder; the shots match her wounds. A single phrase is heard on the
tape: “Did you tell him about SD-6?” Sydney later visits Will at
home, only to find Jenny the intern there.
Sloane
orders Jack to Cuba, where Hassan has been tracked to. Sloane orders
Jack to kill him, but Jack, and the CIA, has other plans. Jack plans
to offer a new life for Hassan in the CIA’s witness protection
program, if he gives them his client list. Before he leaves, Vaughn
confronts Jack over the Russek matter, and Jack admits he altered the
transmission to frame Russek. In Cuba, Jack is captured by Hassan’s
men, where he still makes his offer.
Will
tracks down the SD-6 lead, first by talking to the lawyer for David
McNeil, who is in jail for embezzlement but mentioned SD-6 in his
case. The lawyer refuses to talk, and McNeil angrily tells Will to
drop his investigation when Will visits him in jail.
Sydney
goes to Cuba to save Jack, but she too is captured. Taken to Hassan,
he says he will take Jack’s offer if he proves his loyalty by killing
an SD-6 operative, Sydney.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Did
you tell him about SD-6?”
-Unknown
voice on a tape of Eloise Kurtz’s murder
“I
did hear about you, though.”
“About
what?”
“About
you and the little cheerleader.”
“Ok,
first of all, she’s not a cheerleader anymore, and secondly, the
relationship doesn’t mean anything.”
-Francie,
to Will, and his responses, about Jenny the intern
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
As
Victoria King, wearing a white outfit, a black and white hat, and a
blond wig, at the resort. Later, she wears a black bikini.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
“Super
swank” sunglasses that feature a telephoto lens and take
pictures silently, and a cell phone that holds a card that can
unscramble any key card device.
LOCATIONS:
Kenya
(N is highlighted), Havana (V is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
The
character of David McNeil is uncredited, but the role is played by
Ken Olin, who has directed many of the Alias episodes…..It
took nine minutes for the opening credits to roll.
EPISODE
1.11 “THE CONFESSION”
Original
U.S. Airdate: January 6, 2002
Written
by: J.J. Abrams and Daniel Arkin
Directed
by: Harry Winer
Guest
Stars: Aharon Ipale, James Handy, Francesco Quinn
Songs:
“Someone to Watch Over Me” by Sting, “Rave
Alarm” by DJ Teebee
SYNOPSIS:
Using
morse code by blinking his eyelids, Jack tips Sydney to his move, and
rather than shooting Sydney, they overpower their captors. Hassan
has little choice but to accept Jack’s offer, so he gives him his
client list and Jack fakes his death for SD-6. The CIA then takes
him away. Back in the states, Vaughn tells Sydney that the NSA has
deciphered the codes in the books Jack bought for Laura. The code
included a list of 12 CIA officers, all of whom were killed under
mysterious circumstances. Vaughn wants to report Jack to the CIA as
the one who probably murdered them.
SD-6
learns that a man named Minos Sakkoulas is attempting to take over
Hassan’s business by contacting his old clients and offering them a
device called “The Package.” Sloane wants Sydney to go
undercover in Sakkoulas’ club in Athens, Club Panthera, to retrieve
data from his computer about “The Package” and its’ location.
Before she leaves for Greece, Sydney meets with Vaughn and discusses
Jack’s role in the death of the CIA agents. Sydney is reluctant to
turn her father in, but Vaughn records the conversation as possible
evidence.
In
Athens, Sydney goes into the club and gets a scan of Sakkoulas’
retinas with a scanner built into a pair of sunglasses. When Sydney
is locked in a room, Dixon uses the scan to create a pair of contacts
that fools Sakkoulas’ retina scanner and allows him to enter his
office, access his computer, and retrieve the data. Sydney and Dixon
then both escape the club.
Since
Sydney was not able to get the information about “The Package”
for the CIA, Vaughn pushes Hassan for information. He will only talk
if his family enters witness protection, but Vaughn refuses.
Finally, Hassan admits “The Package” is an EM refractor hidden in
a silo on the island of Crete. Jack leaks this info to SD-6, and
Sydney is sent to Crete. In the silo, Sydney retrieves the package,
but is suddenly locked in thanks to a Hassan double-cross. As the
silo fills with gasoline, Hassan refuses to give up the keypad’s
escape code until the CIA agrees to witness protection for his
family. With only seconds to spare before the gas is lit by a
blowtorch and Sydney is killed, Vaughn gets Devlin to sign off on
protection, and Hassan provides the escape code. As Sydney tries to
exit the silo, she runs into Sakkoulas, and a fight ensues. Sydney
ignites the gasoline as she escapes, killing Sakkoulas.
Back
in America, Sydney and Vaughn attend a meeting with the CIA to
present the evidence against Jack. The two are surprised to find
Jack there, where he makes a startling confession: the codes were
orders to kill CIA agents (including Vaughn’s father) but the agent
receiving the orders was not him, but rather Sydney’s mother.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
The
final scene of the episode featuring Jack’s “confession” about
Sydney’s mother not only shocked viewers, but set an Alias
tadition of a mid-season twist that shocks viewers.
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In
Athens, Sydney dons a red dress and auburn wig to get Sakkoulas’
attention.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
pair of sunglasses that scans retinas, and a device that uses those
scans to create contacts with retinal “replicas” that can pass
biometric scanners.
LOCATIONS:
Athens
(E is highlighted), Los Angeles (first S is highlighted), Crete (R is
highlighted), Los Angeles (G is highlighted)
DID
YOU KNOW:
It
took eleven minutes for the opening credits to roll.
EPISODE
1.12 “THE BOX, PART I”
Original
U.S. Airdate: January 20, 2002
Written
by: Jesse Alexander and John Eisendrath
Directed
by: Jack Bender
Special
Guest Star: Quentin Tarantino
Guest
Stars: Joey Slotnik, Agnes Bruckner, Sarah Shahi, Patricia Wettig
Songs:
“How Can I Keep From Singing” by Enya, “Dragula
(Si-Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare Mix)” by Rob Zombie
SYNOPSIS:
Jack
has little success calming Sydney after the revelation that her
mother was a spy who killed CIA agents, including Vaughn’s father.
She burns pictures of her mother, begins to question whether she
wants to be a teacher (as her mother supposedly was), and finally
decides to leave SD-6. She tells Vaughn she wants out, and asks him
out to a hockey game. Vaughn tries to change her mind, to no avail.
A
military group infiltrates the SD-6 offices, led by former SD-6
agent, McKenas Cole. They take everyone in the office captive,
including Sloane, Dixon, and Marshall. Cole is after a Rambaldi
artifact in the SD-6 vault, and wants Sloane to provide the code.
Sloane, however, has activated a fail-safe, and opening the vault
will trigger C-4 placed throughout the building’s substructure.
Sydney and Jack, who had just arrived at SD-6 when the raid took
place, are trapped in an elevator during the lockdown, but manage to
escape through the maintenance hatch and hide in the building’s
substructure.
Will
gets another call from the mysterious voice offering information
about SD-6 and then receives a large envelope. He discards the
envelope, deciding to kill the SD-6 story before someone gets hurt.
He gets a call for a dinner meeting, but finds Kelly McNeil, daughter
of Bill McNeil, waiting for him. She had gotten a call to meet Will,
but he realizes someone else wants them to meet. He refuses to
discuss the subject, but later, after Kelly visits him at his office,
he decides to open the envelope left for him, and finds a locker key
inside.
Sydney
and Jack tap into SD-6’s security cameras to see exactly what is
happening, and decide to “scramble” the vault codes by using a
device sitting on Marshall’s desk. By doing so, they keep Cole from
opening the vault and setting off the C-4. Sydney, using the air
ducts, is able to get Marshall’s scrambler and uses it to scramble
the vault codes. Meanwhile, Vaughn is told to attend counseling, and
is confronted over his close ties to Sydney. He realizes that he was
“turned in” by a jealous agent named Steven Haladki.
Cole
tells Sloane that he works for someone called “The Man.” He then
begins torturing Sloane with what he calls “Needles of Fire.”
Cole’s men attempt to open the vault with a code Sloane provided, but
Sydney has already scrambled the codes. They hear Sydney up in the
air ducts, and begin firing at the ducts, with Sydney trapped inside.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Cole
(played by Quentin Tarantino) has a very Tarantino-esque scene in
this episode, explaining the origins of the “Needles of Fire”
with Sloane.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“You
really want some space, or are you and I gonna get drunk? ‘Cause
there’s this bar, and you won’t even remember it tomorrow.”
-Weiss,
to Vaughn
“I
can’t believe of all things we’re saving SD-6.”
-Sydney,
to Jack
“I
can’t be the first person to have difficulty taking you seriously,
can I?”
“Well,
while that was a moderately clever retort, I’m the man holding the
box.”
-Sloane,
to Cole, and his response
“There’s
this little cajun food place in Abita Springs, Louisiana. It’s
called Rockamore’s. You know what it’s famous for? For making
people cry. You know what makes them cry? The hot sauce, and no one
knows how they get that crap so hot. Legend has it the devil comes
by once a month and spits in their frying pan. Point being – the hot
sauce at Rockamore’s is like a fluffy vanilla ice cream cone when
compared to what’s in these. Each one is like you took a bag of red
jalapenos, threw ‘em in a blender, and used them for an enema. And
Arvin, you’re about to get to know them.”
-Cole,
to Sloane
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
compact designed for Sydney to scramble codes for Taiwanese scud
missiles is used to scramble the SD-6 vault codes.
DID
YOU KNOW:
This
episode, a takeoff/homage to the film Die Hard, features a nod
to the film’s director, John McTiernan. The van Cole’s men use to
infiltrate SD-6 has the name McTiernan Air Conditioning on it.
Parallels to the film abound: terrorists take over an office, wanting
access to the vault; the hero hides atop an elevator; the hero uses
air ducts to get around undetected; the hero runs around in a tank
top, etc….This marks the first of several appearances by Kill
Bill director Quentin Tarantino. Several Kill Bill cast
members will appear in future episodes.
EPISODE
1.13 “THE BOX, PART II”
Original
U.S. Airdate: February 10, 2002
Written
by: Jesse Alexander and John Eisendrath
Directed
by: Jack Bender
Songs:
“Rockaway” by Jessie Harris & The Ferdinandos;
“Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac
SYNOPSIS:
Jack,
also hiding in the air ducts of SD-6, gives up to Cole to keep Sydney
hidden. Sydney now knows what she must do: locate the three
locations of C-4 in the substructure and disarm them before the vault
is opened. Over Jack’s objections, Dixon emails the CIA for help,
and Vaughn is notified. Haladki convinces Devlin not to move until
they have more information. Vaughn goes by himself to SD-6 to get
confirmation of what is going on. Meanwhile, Cole is close to
opening the vault, with a device that deciphers codes.
Vaughn
gets inside SD-6 and finds Sydney. The two begin defusing the C-4
locations around SD-6. Toni, a woman serving with Cole, comes upon
Sydney and Vaughn and captures them, but they overpower her. She
then admits that she is an undercover British SIS agent trying to
find out the identity of Cole’s boss, known only as “The Man.”
Sydney and Vaughn don’t trust her, and tie her up anyway, and she
promises to tell Cole there was only one agent. Once Toni is
discovered, Cole threatens to start killing agents, starting with
Jack. Sydney gives up, leaving Vaughn to disable one C-4 package and
wonder if she disabled the others. Vaughn contacts the CIA, but
Haladki brushes his call off.
Will
heads to a local pier, where he finds the locker the key fits.
Inside he finds a file about the suicide of McNeil’s wife, including
her autopsy. He gives this information to Kelly McNeil, who in turn
gives it to her father. Kelly then goes into hiding for her
protection.
Sydney
is interrogated by Cole, and later uses another of Marshall’s
gadgets, an exploding earring, to disorient Cole’s men and overpower
them. Sydney goes after Cole, who is heading down to the vault to
open it. Jack tries to free Sloane from the chair he is being
tortured in, but he is held down by steel bonds. In order to stop
the fail-safe, Sloane tells Jack to take his right index finger
which, when placed on a biometric scanner, will deactivate the
auto-destruct. Jack cuts off Sloane’s finger and uses it to stop the
auto-destruct just before Cole can access the vault. Sydney
confronts Cole at the vault, and a fight ensues. Cole bests Sydney,
knocking her out. He opens the vault, and finds the item he came
for: a small box with the Rambaldi symbol on it.
Cole
escapes to the parking garage and nearly makes it out, but the CIA is
waiting at the entrance for him. Weiss learned of Vaughn’s call and
sent in a team. Cole tries to get away from the CIA, but runs into
Sydney, who knocks him out. She gives the Rambaldi box to Vaughn,
who finds a small bottle of liquid inside. The CIA takes Cole into
custody and leaves without anyone from SD-6 aware of what happened.
As far as SD-6 knows, Cole got away with the Rambaldi box. Sydney
reconsiders her decision to leave SD-6.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
McKenas
Cole and Sydney meet, for the second time (they met years ago
as SD-6 agents), with Sydney’s disdain still apparent. We get
another signature Tarantino monologue.
CLASSIC
SCENE #2:
Viewers
finally got to see Sloane get a little comeuppance for making
Sydney’s life miserable when Jack cuts off his finger.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Hi,
and what have we been drinking?”
“Um,
I don’t know. It was something with a little horse on the label, a
dog, I don’t know, it was like a dog horse. Some kind of mythical
creature comdemned to live in a bottle for eternity. It’s a dog
horse. It’s like a dog horse.”
-Francie,
to a drunken Will, and his response
“Did
you study bomb defusion at Langley?”
“Just
seminars. Nothing field specific.”
“Does
anyone ever learn anything in seminars?”
Sydney,
to Vaughn, and his response
“I
know you didn’t want to kiss me, but when I was taking a hit off
that bottle before, I backwashed in it. I mean like, really big
time. See ya.”
-McKenas
Cole, to Sydney
“I
love me kickboxers.”
-McKenas
Cole, while fighting Sydney
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
An
exploding earring Marshall designed comes in handy this episode.
EPISODE
1.14 “THE COUP”
Original
U.S. Airdate: February 24, 2002
Written
by: Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Directed
by: Tom Wright
Guest
Stars: Evan Dexter Parke, David Anders, Allison Dean, Keone Young
Songs:
“Shoot the Moon” by Norah Jones; “Green Apples”
by Chantal Kreviazuk;
SYNOPSIS:
SD-6
learns that associates for “The Man” have assassinated
Quan Li, head of rival group FTL, and compromised its list of agents,
causing the group to fall apart. Associates for “The Man,”
contact K-Directorate, asking to meet. Sloane plans to send Sydney
and Dixon to Las Vegas to plant a bug on a K-Directorate operative to
learn specifics of the planned meeting..
Sydney
considers leaving her graduate teaching program, disenchanted that
her mother was not the teacher she thought she was. She goes to Jack
for advice, but he has none to offer. Will meets with David McNeil,
who is willing to cooperate now that his daughter has gone into
hiding. He tells Will to go to a computer company under the guise of
doing a story. While there, Will breaks into the company’s computer
room and finds a computer file on the server that has secretly
tracked who has been using McNeil’s encryption software. McNeil
refused to sell his software, so SD-6 framed him for embezzlement,
killed his wife and made it look like a suicide to force McNeil to
plead guilty. He has served eight years of a sixteen year term.
McNeil tells Will this computer list should point him to SD-6.
Sydney discovers through an acquaintance at school that Charlie has
been cheating on Francie. Will suggests to Sydney that she get
Francie very drunk before she breaks the news.
Sydney
and Dixon go to Las Vegas, where Dixon poses as a Jamaican diplomat
to gain access to the high rollers room, where the K-Directorate
agent, Brandon Dahlgren, is playing. Meanwhile, Sydney goes
undercover as a serving girl to hack into the casino’s security
system. She discovers Charlie and Francie are there as well,
inspired by her earlier mention of her upcoming trip to Vegas. Using
a razor prism, Sydney accesses the casino security cameras, in order
to prompt Dixon to Dahlgren’s hand. Dixon plans to switch Dahlgren’s
fraternity ring with a duplicate that Marshall has placed a bug in.
Sydney
sees Charlie and Francie head for the casino wedding chapel. She
leaves her post to talk to the pair, and she quietly tells Charlie to
come clean with Francie on his cheating. She gets back to her post
in time to prompt Dixon on Dahlgren’s final hand. Dixon gets
Dahlgren to bet his ring, and makes the switch just before Dahlgren
shows he has a better hand. Dixon is called out of the room, where
he is confronted by security, who knows he is an impostor. Sydney
shows up and helps Dixon escape.
Back
in Los Angeles, Sydney learns that Charlie has not told Francie about
his cheating, so she tells her. Francie doesn’t believe her,
accusing Sydney of being jealous. Later, Jack asks Sydney to meet
him at a local carousel, which Jack says was her favorite place to
visit. There, Jack gives Sydney some encouraging, fatherly advice
about what to do with her life now that she has learned the truth
about her mother. Sydney meets with Vaughn,, who tells her it would
be nice to go out with her as she suggested before she decided to
stay with SD-6. Francie apologizes to Sydney, telling her that
Charlie admitted to cheating. Sydney decides not to drop out of
school, and try to find her own identity..
SD-6
learns through the Dahlgren bug that a meeting between K-Directorate
and representatives for “The Man” is set for Moscow. Sydney and
Dixon go to find out who “The Man” is. He doesn’t show, but his
director of operations, a man named Mr. Sark (who is also the one who
killed the head of FTL) attends. Ilyich Ivankov, the head of
K-Directorate, is angered over Mr. Sark’s proposition to buy their
Rambaldi artifact. Ivankov is double crossed and killed, leaving his
second in command to consider the offer. Sydney, suspended outside a
window, knocks a brick loose, blowing her cover and causing guards to
shoot at her.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Vaughn
meets with Sydney at Griffith Observatory, and admits he would have
liked to have gone out on a date. It also marks the first time we
hear a music theme often played during scenes between the two,
composed by Michael Giacchino. Call it the “Sydney and Vaughn Love
Theme.”
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Casino
security is like an onion, it’s layer after layer after layer, and
the more you peel back the more you want to cry.”
-Marshall
“It
would be nice to be in public with you, to actually get to look at
you. Grab a pizza or go to a hockey game. I just wasn’t clear that
I would really like that too.”
-Vaughn,
to Sydney
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In
Vegas, Sydney wears a short sequin outfit with matching hat. In
Russia, she wears a traditional Russian parka and “ushanka” style
fur hat.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A
razor prism that allows Sydney to tap into a datastream without
interrupting it, and a ring with an audio bug in it.
LOCATIONS:
Hong
Kong (first G is highlighted), Las Vegas (E is highlighted), Los
Angeles (first E highlighted), and Moscow (W is highlighted).
NUMBER
47:
Will
uses “47” as part of a code to break into the server room
DID
YOU KNOW:
This
is the first appearance of Mr. Sark, played by David Anders. Anders
is a relative newcomer, with only one previous professional TV acting
credit, as a high-strung high school student in one episode of the
Olsen Twins series So Little Time. Despite his lack of
experience, Anders excels in the role, and most casual watchers have
no idea that Anders has no accent, and hails from Oregon. The
character of Sark was originally intended to only appear for a few
episodes, but producers liked Anders so much they expanded his role,
to the point that he became a series regular in season two.
EPISODE
1.15 “PAGE 47”
Original
U.S. Airdate: March 3, 2002
Written
by: J.J. Abrams and Jeff Pinker
Directed
by: Ken Olin
Guest
Stars: Sarah Shahi, Amy Irving
Songs:
“No Such Thing” by John Mayer; “Landslide”
by The Smashing Pumpkins; “Home” by Abra Moore; “Feelin’
the Same Way” by Norah Jones
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney
escapes from the shootout in Moscow, with Dixon’s help. She takes
her surveillance video back to SD-6, but the identity of “The Man,”
and his agenda, remains a mystery. At SD-6, Sloane confronts Jack
about Will Tippin, after he learns Will is visiting with David
McNeil. Jack promises to take care of it.
On
the home front, Will wins the Kaplan Award for an inspirational story
he wrote. He makes plans to celebrate with Sydney, rather than with
Jenny. Francie, still upset over her breakup with Charlie, breaks
down with Sydney. The two both still wear their engagement rings,
and in an effort to get past things, take them off together.
Vaughn
tells Sydney the CIA recovered her camera from the Rambaldi cave in
Argentina, and while while her pictures are good, she didn’t get
the whole book. Her new countermission is to take pictures of
everything whenever SD-6 gets the book. Vaughn is skeptical of the
entire Rambaldi story, saying it is the kind of thing his crazy aunt
would believe in.
SD-6
learns the Rambaldi manuscript is on a boat in Tunisia for a
rendezvous with Sark, who will take it with him. Sydney and Dixon
are sent to get the book before Sark does. Sydney is able to get on
the yacht by pretending to be a tourist needing gas. She knocks out
the guards and retrieves the book, but not before taking pictures of
the pages for the CIA.
Will
learns that forty-two companies have used David McNeil’s software,
and six of them have a connection: Alain Christophe, a former CIA
operative, serves on their boards. McNeil feels he finally may get
the upper hand on SD-6. SD-6, however, is monitoring their
conversations, and Jack has Will kidnapped. Disguising himself, Jack
threatens to kill Will’s family and friends (Sydney in particular)
unless he drops the story. Jack releases Will, and he calls Jenny to
pick him up in a remote warehouse. Will, afraid for Jenny, tries to
break up with her, and in anger she leaves him on the side of the
road.
Sydney
mentions to Vaughn that Emily, Sloane’s wife, is sick and she
should visit her, and he suggests she plant a bug in Sloane’s office
while there. Sydney is upset that Vaughn would ask her to violate
her trust with Emily, but she agrees to plant the bug after making
dinner plans with Emily. Jack gets invited to dinner as well and
learns Sloane has the Rambaldi Journal in his office safe. Vaughn
gives Sydney a duplicate of a blank page in the manuscript, page 47,
so she can switch them. The number 47 is significant to Rambaldi, so
they suspect there is more to the page than meets the eye.
At
dinner in Sloane’s house, Sydney takes Will along as a date, not
knowing that Sloane wants him dead. Emily, as it turns out, is a fan
of Will’s. His award-winning story about a migrant farm worker was
one of Emily’s favorites. Sydney makes the switch of the pages.
Will
goes to meet David McNeil in prison, and tells him that he cannot
pursue the story any more. This angers McNeil but Will refuses to
continue on it. Unbeknownst to the both of them, SD-6 has a man
waiting outside the prison for Will, who will kill him if Will says
he is continuing with the story. Will’s decision unknowingly saves
his own life.
Vaughn
calls Sydney for a meeting after the CIA deciphers what is on the
page. He tells her that the solution McKenas Cole tried to steal
from SD-6 revealed the hidden message on the page. Sydney is shocked
when she sees the revealed message on the page. Included on the page
is a drawing of her.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
The
dinner scene with Arvin is ripe with irony: Emily relates Will’s
award-winning story from the paper. In it, a person fights against
an evil boss who will kill those who go against him. Some
uncomfortable glances are exchanged, and Sloane is perfectly
photographed, draped in shadow.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“There
are some truths Sydney must never learn.”
-Sloane,
to Jack
“Dear
Aunt Stephanie, unfortunately, as my mom has informed you, the
wedding is off. So, I am returning your kind gift of a coffemaker,
because, as it turns out, the man to whom I was engaged is a
deceitful, two-faced, sex-crazed jackass. All my love, Francie.”
“That’s
not too harsh.”
-Francie’s
letter to Aunt Stephanie as she reads it to Sydney, and her response
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In
Tunisia, Sydney goes undercover as a tourist in a blond wig, red
bikini top, and blue jean cut-off shorts.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
No
Marshall gadgets, but Vaughn does give Sydney a super small CIA paper
clip bug
LOCATIONS:
Tunisia
(T is highlighted), Los Angeles (E is highlighted)
EPISODE
1.16 “THE PROPHECY”
Original
U.S. Airdate: March 10, 2002
Written
by:John Eisendrath
Directed
by:Davis Guggenheim
Special
Guest Star:Roger Moore
Guest
Stars: Lindsay Crouse, James Handy, Derrick O’Connor, Joey
Slotnick, Castulo Guerra, Wolf Muser, and Amy Irving
Songs:
“Hate To Say I Told You So” by The Hives; “World
Gone Mad” by Bill Bonk; “Feels Like Home” by Hathaway;
“From Rusholme With Love” by Mint Royale
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney
is sent on a mission to Brazil to take surveillance photos of someone
they believe to be “The Man.” Meanwhile, officers from the
Department of Special Research, a division of the NSA, raid Vaughn’s
office to take all of his files on Sydney. In order to help their
investigation, Sydney goes in to answer the DSR’s questions. They
won’t tell her what the prophecy says, and when they ask to take
physical tests, she protests and leaves.
SD-6
confirms the identity of the person in Sydney’s photos: Alexander
Khasinau, a former lietenant colonel in the KGB who now runs a large,
well-funded organization. Sloane wants the Alliance to go to war
over Khasinau’s attack on SD-6, but he tells Jack that only four
Alliance members will vote to go to war; he needs seven votes. He
contacts one of the Alliance heads, Edward Poole of SD-9, to try to
“swing” his vote. He tells Sloane he has some intel he wants him
to see, and that he will meet him in Los Angeles to present it.
At
Sloane’s request, Sydney visits Emily again, who states she doesn’t
expect to live much longer. She says if she had tried to find the
answer to her pain they might have caught the cancer long before.
Her words move Sydney to agree to the DSR’s physical tests to see
if she is the one spoken of on page 47, in what is being referred to
as “The Prophecy.”
Poole
gives Sloane evidence that Alliance member Jean Briault has received
$45 million in secret payments from Khasinau. Sloane refuses to
believe his friend would betray the Alliance and dismisses Poole’s
suggestion to kill him, but he agrees to meet with Briault.
The
CIA and DSR are butting heads over the treatment of Sydney Bristow,
and Haladki takes the DSR’s side by suggesting Sydney may be up to
something. Jack suggests the reverse-engineered code the CIA is
using to decipher the prophecy may be wrong, but the real one is
locked away in the Vatican. The CIA would not go after it, so Sydney
and Vaughn do. With only an inventory lot number to go on, the break
into the Vatican and find the item: a painting of Pope Alexander VI,
for whom Rambaldi was the chief architect. They find the code in the
frame of the painting. Although Vatican security discovers them,
they both manage to escape.
Sloane
discovers that there is a counterfeit Rambaldi page, just before he
leaves for his meeting with Jean Briault in Montreal. In Montreal,
Sloane kills Briault. With Poole’s assurances that the vote will
now go in favor of war, Sloane heads to London for the Alliance
meeting. The vote is 6 to 5 in favor of negotiations, and Sloane
confronts Poole with his suspicion that he framed Briault to have him
killed and sway the vote. Poole feigns ignorance with Sloane, but in
reality he later meets with Alexander Khasinau.
Sydney
returns from Rome, and briefly goes out to a club with Francie and
Will. She realizes she is being watched, and excuses herself.
Outside the club, she is placed under arrest by the DSR. Vaughn is
with them, and explains that the code from the Rambaldi painting was
the same code the CIA was using. The prophecy is correct, and Sydney
matches three physical abnormalities shared by the woman mentioned in
the prophecy: DNA sequencing, blood platelet levels, and the size of
her heart. Dr. Evans recites a portion of the prophecy, which says
the woman on page 47 will bring forth a great evil, causing great
destruction.
THE
RAMBALDI PROPHECY (PARTIAL)
This
woman, here depicted, will posses unseen marks, signs that she will
be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury. A burning
anger, unless prevented, at vulgar cost, this woman will render the
greatest power unto utter desolation.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
The
break in at the Vatican, showcasing the chemistry between Vartan and
Garner.
CLASSIC
SCENE #2:
The
episode’s final scene, in which Sydney is revealed as Rambaldi’s
“Chosen One.”
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“I’ll
break into the Vatican with you.”
-Vaughn,
to Sydney
“So
I was thinking, later tonight, when we get the code key, maybe we can
check it out.” “What, the restaurant?” “It’s almost too
good not to.” “Unless SD-6 spots us there and has us killed.”
“Well, the food’s so good, it’s almost worth the risk.”
-Vaughn,
asking Sydney out to dinner, during their mission in Rome
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In
Rome, Sydney and Vaughn go undercover as repairmen to break into the
Vatican.
LOCATIONS:
Los
Angeles (O is highlighted), Rome (O is highlighted), Los Angeles (G
is highlighted), Montreal (R is highlighted), London (L is
highlighted), Los Angeles (second E is highlighted).
EPISODE
1.17 “Q & A”
Original
U.S. Airdate: March 17, 2002
Written
by: J.J. Abrams
Directed
by: Ken Olin
Special
Guest Star: Terry O’ Quinn
Guest
Star: Joey Slotnik
Songs:
“Diggin’ Your Scene” by Smashmouth
SYNOPSIS:
Known
as the “flashback episode,” viewers were treated to a recap of
the Alias storyline so far, and also served to “catch up”
those viewers who had not watched the early episodes. By this point
in time, Alias was a bona-fide hit, but was criticized as
being too difficult to follow. This episode hoped to change that, as
well as provide a critical arc to the storyline.
The
episode opens with Sydney, in a disguise and driving a car, being
chased by the LA police and driving her car off a pier into the
ocean. It then flashes back to the general point where we left off
of the previous episode: with Sydney in CIA custody, and time running
out before her cover with SD-6 is blown. Special Officer Kendall of
the FBI leads in inquiry into Sydney and the Rambaldi prophecy. The
questioning thens leads to flashbacks (and sometimes new scenes) of
major points in the series: Sydney’s recruitment, Danny’s
proposal and murder, Jack’s revelation, Sydney going to the CIA,
and the search for Rambaldi artifacts.
Vaughn
learns that Haladki was once an FBI officer, and doesn’t trust his
motives. Vaughn studies the Rambaldi prophecy and finds a possible
solution to Sydney’s problem. According to the prophecy, the woman
on page 47 has never seen the sky behind Mt. Subasio. If Sydney can
be taken there, and see it, she couldn’t be the woman described.
Jack agrees with the plan, but they have to break Sydney out of
federal custody to put it into action. Jack confronts Haladki at
gunpoint, and he tells Jack Sydney’s location and transfer time to
a safehouse. Jack, Vaughn, and Weiss break Sydney out of custody,
and plan to get her to a plane to Italy. They split up, with Sydney
taking a car to the airport. She is spotted by local authorities as
a federal fugitive and a chase ensues. As Will and Francie happen to
watch the chase on TV, Sydney is cornered on a pier. She drives off
of the pier, escapes from her car, and stays underwater by getting
air from her tire, long enough to convince police she drowned.
Later, she meets with Jack and tells him that she suspects her
mother, who supposedly died when her car went off of a bridge into
water, probably did the same thing to stage her death. Sydney is
certain the woman on page 47 is her mother, not her.
THE
RAMBALDI PROPHECY (Additional portion added)
This
woman, here depicted, will posses unseen marks, signs that she will
be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury. A burning
anger, unless prevented, at vulgar cost, this woman will render the
greatest power unto utter desolation.
This
woman, without pretense, will have had her effect, never having seen
the beauty of my sky behind Mt. Subasio. Perhaps a single glance
would have quelled her fire.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
The
car chase (with Will and Francie’s running commentary), a portion of
which is briefly shown at the beginning, is shown in its entirety
near the end of the episode.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Dad?’
“Hey,
honey.”
-Sydney,
to a masked Jack, and his uncharacteristically fatherly response
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
While
a number are featured in flashback, Sydney wears one disguise in the
current episode while evading the police: a sweatsuit, a short-cut,
dark brown wig, and large sunglasses.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
While
Marshall does have a memorable montage of many of his gadgets this
episode, no new ones are shown.
DID
YOU KNOW:
The
familiar monologue opening used in season one was dropped for this
episode, mainly because the episode itself caught you up on the
show’s premise…..The opening credits rolled ten minutes and forty
five seconds into the episode.
EPISODE
1.18 “MASQUERADE”
Original
U.S. Airdate: April 7, 2002
Written
by: Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Directed
by: Craig Zisk
Guest
Stars: Peter Berg, Angus Scrimm, Patricia
Wettig
Songs:
“Plus Bele Que Flor…” by
Anonymous 4; “Lay Your Weary Body Down” by Gigolo Aunts;
“Break Me Gently” by Doves; “Dream On” by Depeche
Mode
SYNOPSIS:
The episode opens with
Sydney climbing Mt. Subasio to see the sky. Once she does, it proves
she is not the woman depicted on page 47, and she contacts the CIA to
tell them the situation. The CIA allows her to return to duty as a
double agent, and admits they should have been looking for Sydney’s
mother as the one Rambaldi predicted.
Jack confronts Sloane
about Irina, and he admits that he was aware that Laura survived the
accident, but was ordered by the CIA not to tell him. Sloane had
helped investigate the damage she did to the intelligence community,
which Jack did not know. Sydney goes to Sloane to ask his help in
finding her mother, and wants to go off-duty to begin her search.
Sloane refuses, and tells Sydney that Jack spent six months in
solitary after Laura disappeared, suspected of helping Laura spy for
the KGB. Sloane agrees to help Sydney, but within her duties at
SD-6. Sloane then sends Sydney to Vienna to get intel on Khasinau,
who was her mother’s superior in the KGB. Khasinau may provide
answers to the whereabouts of her mother. Jack is upset that Sydney
asked Sloane for help, and that he agreed.
In Vienna, Sydney is
supposed to receive a microchip from an SD-6 operative named Wexler
in the Russian embassy during a masquerade ball. The microchip
details Khasinau’s business transactions. At the ball, another
contact shows, and tells Sydney Wexler is dead. The contact is Noah
Hicks, an old flame of Sydney’s from early in her SD-6 career. The
two find Wexler’s body in the basement, and Hicks, suspecting that
Wexler swallowed the chip, finds it by cutting open his throat.
Outside, Dixon drives a handsome cab so they can escape.
With information obtained
from the chip, Sloane sends Sydney and Hicks to Russia, to take
Khasinau’s data core from an underground facility in Arkhangelsk.
Pretending to be American hikers lost in the forest, they are quickly
captured and taken to the facility where the data core is held. They
overpower the guards and gain access to the underground levels.
Jack, who has been
depressed since learning Laura was alive, is ordered to meet with CIA
counselor Dr. Judy Barnett. The session doesn’t go well, as Barnett
doesn’t buy the front Jack puts up. She orders him to attend weekly
sessions. Meanwhile, Will and Francie find a ticket stub in Sydney’s
coat, an overseas plane ticket, not a ticket to Seattle as she said.
They begin to wonder if she has been lying to them.
In the underground Russian
facility, Sydney and Hicks access the cold-storage room where
Khasinau’s data core is stored. Sydney must go in with a cold suit,
as the core must be kept at a temperature halfway to absolute zero,
and skin exposure can be fatal. While in the core room, the alarm is
triggered by a guard, and lockdown procedures begin. During the
melee, Sydney is knocked down, and her helmet visor begin to crack.
The cold begins to knock her out, but Hicks manages to shoot out a
glass door and pull Sydney to safety. They manage to escape the
facility and make it to a safe house. While there, Sydney and Hicks
pick up their interrupted relationship right where they left off.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Jack tries to
talk his way out of counseling. Victor Garber’s “I doesn’t need
counseling” discourse, is classic Jack Bristow.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“What
could she ever say that could satisfy you?”
-Jack, to
Sydney, about her mother
“You
haven’t got a clue what’s required to lead the kind of life I lead.
To maintain a balance between two lives and protect my daughter in
the process. The kind of person who does that, the kind of person I
have to be, is not the kind of person who would come in here and talk
to you.”
– Jack, to
Dr. Judy Barnett
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
In Vienna,
Sydney wears a blond wig, a mask, and a ball gown to a masquerade
ball.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
Earrings that
blink an infrared signature, so that an SD-6 operative can identify
her.
LOCATIONS:
Los Angeles
(N is highlighted), Vienna (A is highlighted), Los Angeles (O is
highlighted), Arkhangelsk (G is highlighted)
EPISODE
1.19 “SNOWMAN”
Original
U.S. Airdate: April 14, 2002
Written
by:Jesse Alexander and Jeff Pinker
Directed
by:Barnet Kellman
Guest
Stars: Peter Berg, Natasha Pavlovich,
Stephen Spinella, Boris Lee Krutonog, Angus Scrimm, Paul Lieber, and
Patricia Wettig
Songs:
“From the Summer” by Matt
Beckler; “Lover, You Should Have Come Over” by Jeff
Buckley; “Ready, Steady, Go” by Paul Oakenfold; “There’s
Something Better” by Hathaway; “My Favorite Regret” by
Gigolo Aunts
SYNOPSIS:
Khasinau’s men find the
safe house where Sydney and Hicks are hiding, but they manage to
escape on a motorcycle, then are picked up on a rappel line by an
SD-6 C-130 cargo plane. Back in the States, Vaughn informs Sydney
that they are tracking a hitman called “The Snowman,” who has a
contract to find and dismember Khasinau.
At SD-6, Noah tells Sydney
that he has quite a bit of money stored away in bank accounts that he
skimmed from the Russian mob. He tells her it is enough for the two
of them to run away together. Sydney is reluctant to take Noah’s
offer. Jack tells Sydney that there was no useable information on
Khasinau’s whereabouts on the data core, but there are several
video files of her mother, after her disappearance. Jack does not
want to see them, but Sydney does look at them. She recognizes one
of the men debriefing her mother, whose real name was Irina Derevko,
as the man she knew as Bentley Calder, the FBI spy hunter who was
supposedly killed in a car wreck chasing her mother. It turns out
Calder is actually Igor Sergei Valenko, a KGB agent.
Vaughn travels to Bogota,
where he meets an informant named Kishell. Kishell was horribly
disfigured by the “Snowman” years ago and Vaughn hoepd he may be
able to provide information on his whereabouts. Kishell agrees to
use his contacts to find the “Snowman,” but asks Vaughn in return
to make sure he suffers.
Hicks is interrogated
about some questionable financial matters, but at Sydney’s urging,
Jack helps to have him released. Sydney learns a man matching
Calder’s description was spotted entering a facility in Cape Town,
South Africa. Sydney and Hicks break into the facility, and using a
gadget provided by Marshall, manage to access the data from the
facility’s computer mainframe, by dangling Sydney over a computer
station from a line, much like Tom Cruise inMission
Impossible. Hicks is injured when Sydney’s
line loosens and she nearly hits the sensor-sensitive floor, and he
has to wrap the line around his arm. Later, they learn nothing was
on the laptop, and an internal EMP may have erased their drive as
they left.
Jack finally views the
video of Irina Derevko, and he watches her call him a fool for
falling for her. Afterwards, Jack asks Dr. Barnett for time for
counseling. When Sydney returns from Africa, Will and Francie
confront her about the overseas ticket. She tells them that her job
changed recently, and she is often asked to go on international trips
for overseas clients on confidential matters, so she couldn’t tell
them about it. They accept her explanation.
At SD-6, Sydney learns
that Noah Hicks has volunteered for a long term assignment. He plans
to use the mission to escape and go into hiding with a reluctant
Sydney. After Hicks leaves, Marshall is able to retrieve erased data
from the computer used in Cape Town, and finds Calder’s location.
Sydney and Dixon go to Calder’s home in Australia, about the same
time Vaughn learns that the “Snowman” is in Australia as well,
presumably on Calder’s trail. Sydney infiltrates the house, only to
find dead guards and a masked man in the process of killing Calder.
Sydney begins fighting the man, and Sydney pulls a knife. In the
struggle, the man falls on the knife, and Sydney takes off the man’s
mask to learn the identity of the “Snowman.” It is Noah Hicks.
As Dixon enters the room, Sydney sobs over Hicks’ body.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Marshall
demonstrates his “noise control” device. In a rare comedic
moment, Sydney, Hicks, and Marshall make comments and speak to each
other with no sound being heard.
CLASSIC
SCENE #2:
Sydney breaks
into the Cape Town facility to steal data from their computer. While
reminiscent of a scene fromMission
Impossible, the scene succeeds in creating
suspense as Sydney struggles to get Hicks’ attention, who cannot
hear due to the noise control device.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“You
must promise me one thing: that when you find him, he will suffer
too.”
– Kishell, to
Vaughn, about the “Snowman”
“I tried
to keep you from this. I want you to know that.”
-Noah Hicks’
dying words to Sydney
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
For the Cape
Town mission, Marshall creates an active noise control device, which
emits an out-of-phase signal to “cancel out” any noise up to 200
dbs.
LOCATIONS:
Los Angeles
(G is highlighted), Bogota (G is highlighted), Cape Town (C is
highlighted), and Mackay (C is highlighted).
DID YOU
KNOW:
Patricia
Wettig, who plays Dr. Barnett, is married to Ken Olin, who has
directed many classic episodes and also had the uncredited role of
David McNeil.
EPISODE
1.20 “THE SOLUTION”
Original
U.S. Airdate: April 21, 2002
Written
by: John Eisendrath
Directed
by: Daniel Attias
Guest
Stars: James Handy, David Anders, Tony
Amendola, Kirk B.R. Woller, and Amy Irving
Songs:
“Coming Down” by Trickside; “I’m
Gone” by Alison Krauss & Union Station
SYNOPSIS:
Sydney tells Vaughn about
Noah Hicks, and admits she feels lost in what she must do.
Vaughn shows Sydney the same structure chart
he showed her at their first field briefing, only this time, it shows
all of the people Sydney has taken out of the structure. He tries to
encourage her to stay the course.
Will, while at Sydney and
Francie’s house looking for a rat, gets a call from the mysterious
voice, telling him that Jack Bristow was the one who kidnapped him.
At first, Will doesn’t believe it, but later, after studying a
picture of Jack, he realizes the voice was right.
At SD-6, Sydney suggests a
plan to “bait” Khasinau by breaking into an art museum rumored to
have Rambaldi artifacts, and claiming to steal a vial of Rambaldi
solution. The hope is that Khasinau will believe there is a second
vial of solution (the CIA has the original, and SD-6 believes
Khasinau has the original from the McKenas Cole break-in). The CIA
will then pose as the thieves and offer to sell the solution to
Khasinau in an effort to track him down. Sydney later visits Emily,
and during the conversation Emily admits to know about SD-6 and
Arvin’s involvement. Security section is monitoring Emily’s
conversations and hears her admission.
Sydney and Vaughn head for
the museum in Algeria, posing as insurance executives wanting to
ensure the museum, and Sydney is able to get to an airshaft and use a
winch line to move down it to the museum vault. Meanwhile, Vaughn
stages a museum security test, during which the power is shut off,
giving Sydney a small window during which her actions will be
undetected. She accesses the vault and begins taking items (they
will be returned later) as a cover for “taking” the Rambaldi
solution. When the museum curator demands the power be turned back
on, Sydney’s line gets entangled in a shaft fan, and Sydney (who is
still attached) is quickly pulled up the shaft. She manages to free
herself and exit the shaft, but she drops an explosive charge she is
carrying, which goes off in the bottom of the shaft.
Back in L.A., Will
confronts Jack in a bar. He tells him he knows what he did, and that
a source seems to know all about him. Jack denies the accusations,
and later tells Devlin that there is a mole in the CIA, and suspects
Haladki. Devlin is not happy with Jack’s recent actions and tells
him he will handle it his way. When Sydney arrives back in Los
Angeles, she admits to Francie in a quiet moment about her affair
with Noah Hicks, but doesn’t tell her he’s dead. Francie knew of
Sydney’s first romance with Hicks, and doesn’t care for him. She
tells her that she was too good for Noah anyway.
Will and Jack meet again,
and this time, Jack admits he works in intelligence, but Sydney is
unaware of his work. He tells Will that he isn’t the one who
killed Danny or Eloise Kurtz, but he holds some responsibility for
their deaths. He admits to trying to get Will to drop the story for
his sake and Sydney’s. He begins to work with Will to attempt to
find out who the mysterious voice on the phone is. He starts by
telling the voice (through the bug) that he is back on the story.
Meanwhile, the Alliance tells Sloane that he must kill Emily now that
she knows the truth, and doing so would enhance his standing in the
Alliance.
SD-6 learns that Khasinau
is planning to buy a second ampule of the Rambaldi liquid from a
group called Raslak Jihad (actually Sydney and the CIA) and send
Dixon to intercept the exchnage the get the ampule. Sydney is
unaware that Dixon is coming. In order to prove to Sark she is who
she says she is, she has to spar with him using a latajang. After
besting Sark, they begin the exchange. She gives Sark the real
solution, but before she can switch it with a fake, Dixon storms in.
The episode ends with Dixon holding Sydney and Sark at gunpoint, and
even though Sydney is covering most of her face, Dixon seems to
recognize her.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“We need
a professional. We need a hit man.”
-Francie,
trying to solve their rat problem.
“There
are a few things we need to talk about, and uh, quite frankly, you
scare me.”
-Will, to
Jack
“Focus,
Mr. Tippin!”
-Jack, to
Will
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
While not
much of a disguise, Sydney goes undercover as an insurance
investigator in a business suit at the museum in Algeria. In
Denpasar, Sydney wears a traditional female Indonesian robe,
headdress and veil when she impersonates a member of Raslak Jihad.
She also darkened her skin with makeup
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
While not a
gadget per se, Marshall takes Edward Poole’s body scan when he
visited SD-6 and finds he carried a second phone. He taps into the
phone’s line, gets Khasinau’s number when Poole calls him, and taps
the line. He then learns of Khasinau’s plan to buy the second
ampule.
LOCATIONS:
Algeria (G is
highlighted), Denpasar (P is highlighted)
EPISODE
1.21 “RENDEZVOUS”
Original
U.S. Airdate:May 5, 2002
Written
by:Erica Messer and Debra J. Fisher
Directed
by:Ken Olin
Guest
Stars:David Anders, Derrick O’ Connor,
Jospeh Ruskin, Wolf Muser, Kamala Lopez Dawson and Amy Irving
Songs:“Autumn Leaves” by Jacintha; “Since
I Fell For You” by Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner); “Just
Like You” by Maren Ord
SYNOPSIS:
In the standoff with
Sydney, Dixon, and Sark, Vaughn tosses a smoke grenade, and in the
confusion, Sark takes off. Vaughn captures him, but has to leave him
handcuffed to a gate to help Sydney, who is cornered by Dixon. Dixon
cuts Sydney with a knife in a fight, but Vaughn helps her escape.
Will talks to the
mysterious voice on his cell phone, and tells him that he knows about
“The Circumference” and wants to meet. He later meets with Jack,
and tells him that a meeting is scheduled – in Paris. Jack gives him
a bug that will pass inspections but will hopefully record the voice
of the mole or his associates.
At SD-6, Sloane meets with
Alliance partner Ramon, to ask the Alliance to spare Emily’s life
for now and allow her to die naturally. Ramon tells Sloane not to
kill Khasinau, but rather gather intelligence from him, and in return
the Alliance will consider his request. Sloane then goes in to talk
to Sark, whom they captured in Denpasar. Sark is willing to change
alliances. He makes plans to make his scheduled meet with Khasinau
in a Paris nightclub he owns, but will inform Sloane of any
intelligence he learns. Sydney will go undercover as a singer at the
club during the meet, and Dixon will break into Khasinau’s office
to retrieve a Rambaldi page there.
In the Paris club, Sydney
uses one of Marshall’s gadgets to get Khasinau’s biometric
signature, which is downloaded to Dixon’s phone. Dixon in turn
uses it to break into Khasinau’s vault and get the page. Sydney is
about to leave when she sees Will being brought in for his meeting.
She is unaware of Will and Jack’s plan, so she assumes he is in big
trouble. With Dixon on his way to their meeting place, Sydney goes
into the room where Will is being held, and frees him. Will, of
course, is shocked to see Sydney, and when they try to leave the
club, they are spotted by Khasinau’s men and a gunfight breaks out.
Sydney uses a couple of signature moves to kill the shooters and
escape from the club. Jack is waiting outside to drive them away and
isn’t happy that Sydney has not only blown her cover with Will, but
they didn’t find out who the mole is. Sydney tells Jack that there
were no CIA agents there, only Khasinau’s men, causing Jack to
wonder who at the CIA has been bought by Khasinau.
Sydney and Jack take Will
to a CIA safehouse where he is given a new identity in order to leave
the country. Once back in the states, the CIA plans to put him into
protective custody. Jack believes Khasinau knows Sydney and Jack are
CIA and is trying to expose them.
After hearing about the
success in Paris, the Alliance agrees to spare Emily. However, Emily
later discovers that she isn’t about to die, and in fact her cancer
is going into remission. While Sloane is relieved, he also knows
what this will mean once the Alliance finds out.
At SD-6, Sloane reveals
that he gave Sark wine laced with a radioactive isotope that can be
traced. Sark believes once SD-6 released him to meet with Khasinau,
they would not be able to find him. An SD-6 team tracks Sark to a
warehouse in Geneva, but instead find he has received a blood
transfusion, and has escaped. In Los Angeles, Sark finds the safe
house where Will is being held. The episode ends with Will opening
his door and being shot by Sark.
CLASSIC
SCENE:
Will’s rescue
from the club. Will’s reaction to Sydney, a major turning point in
the series, is one of his character’s best moments. The gunfight
that follows is a great mix of stunts and Will’s astonished reaction
to them.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“Why
does that guy have such a guilty look on his face?”
“Yesterday,
Ginger told Rod that Gavin was Ruby’s pimp, but Rod didn’t even
know that Ruby was a prostitute.”
“Who’s
Gavin?”
“Ruby’s
father.”
“Ew.”
“Right?”
– Sydney,
catching up on a soap plot, and Francie, filling her in
“There
is a line that we have been sworn not to cross. We’re about a mile
past that.”
“I don’t
know how to be Sydney’s handler without making it personal.”
“Figure
out a way.”
– Weiss,
upset over Vaughn’s actions, and Vaughn’s response
“WOAH!
Oh my God, what the hell is going on?”
– Will’s yell
in response to seeing Sydney
“Syd, I
don’t love you because of what you do or what you don’t do. I
just love you.”
-Will, to
Sydney
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
Sydney goes
undercover as a singer in Khasinau’s nightclub wearing a bright red
wig and a strapless top and black slacks, which come in handy when
she has to do some high leg kicks later in the club’s bar.
MARSHALL’S
GADGETS:
A ring with a
cardiac event recorder, which sends the bio-data to a cell phone
Dixon carries, which can replicate it. The ring is used on Khasinau,
who has a heart condition, and his bio-signature opens his vault.
LOCATIONS:
Denpasar (A
is highlighted), Los Angeles (O is highlighted), London (D is
highlighted), Paris (A is highlighted).
DID YOU
KNOW:
It took ten
minutes and thirty seconds for the credits to appear.
EPISODE
1.22 “ALMOST THIRTY YEARS”
Original
U.S. Airdate:May 12, 2002
Written
by:J.J. Abrams
Directed
by:J.J. Abrams
Songs:
“My Skin” by Natalie Merchant;
“Music
Response” by The Chemical Brothers;
“Supermoves”
by Overseer; “Canzone Del Salce” (Verdi’s Othello) by
Miriam Gauci
SYNOPSIS:
The episode opens with
Will being dragged into a dark room and being handcuffed to a chair.
As it turns out, Sark only shot him with a tranquilizer dart. Sark
and the Taiwanese torturer known as “Suit and Glasses”
begin questioning Will to find out what he knows about the
circumference. Unfortunately, Will can’t tell them anything, since
Jack only gave him the word, not what it means.
Back in Los Angeles, as
she talk with Francie about her restaurant, Sydney gets a call from
Sark, telling her that they have Will and want the Rambaldi page and
the ampule of Rambaldi solution in return. The page is in an SD-6
lab on an island off the coast of Santa Barbara, and the CIA has the
ampule. Jack and Sydney begin to plan on getting both to exchange
for Will. She speaks to Vaughn, and while she doesn’t admit she is
planning something, he senses something is up. Meanwhile, Sloane
takes Emily to a beachside bed and breakfast, and while there, he
tells her the whole truth about SD-6.
To get the page from an
SD-6 lab, Sydney gets Sloane’s fingerprints and records his voice to
create a voiceprint that will open the doors to the Santa Barbara
lab. Dixon finds out Sydney’s call sign on the mission in which he
was shot was actually “Bluebird,” not “Freelancer,” as he
remembers her saying. Dixon’s suspicions with Sydney continue to
grow.
Weiss tells Vaughn he
needs to report his suspicions about Sydney to Devlin, but he
refuses. At SD-6, the Alliance offers Sloane a full partnership, if
he agrees to kill Emily and “contain the leak.” In Taipei, “Suit
and Glasses” begins to torture Will.
Sydney, using Sloane’s
fingerprints and voiceprints, breaks into the Santa Barbara lab via
an underwater pipe and steals the Rambaldi page. When she comes
ashore, Dixon is waiting for her. He wants an explanation or he will
turn her in. While she refuses to say exactly what she is doing, she
tells him she is not a traitor. At the CIA, Devlin confronts Vaughn
after Weiss tells hm about his suspicions. Vaughn admits Sydney may
be hiding something. His confession comes too late: Jack has already
taken the ampule from the CIA. Jack calls Devlin to tell him what he
is doing. Back in Taipei, “Suit and Glasses” gives Will a shot
of a liquid to get him to talk, which he says paralyzes one in five
as a side effect. He continues to grill Will about the
“circumference.”
Sydney and Jack put the
Rambaldi solution on the page Sydney stole, and find it has the
illustration of the device Sydney stole from Taipei in the first
episode. Jack theorizes that the device is the “circumference,”
and the page has instructions on how to use it. Jack realizes that
Haladki mentioned the “circumference” to Devlin, but doesn’t have
the clearance to know about it, thus someone else told him about it.
Jack then kidnaps Haladki and begins to torture him, during which he
admits he works for Khasinau. He tells Jack where the
“circumference” is, and after Jack tells him he nearly had Sydney
killed by trying to expose her, he kills him.
Vaughn finds Sydney and
tells her he is willing to help her get Will. Sydney, Vaughn, and
Jack go to Taipei. “Suit and Glasses” realizes Will doesn’t know
about the “circumference” or he would have said already. They
prepare him for the trade with Sydney, but Will grabs the needle with
the fluid he was injected with, and manages to stab “Suit and
Glasses” with it, after which, he is dragged away.
Sydney and Vaughn enter a
club and use it to gain access to the pharmaceutical warehouse next
door. Meanwhile, Jack makes the exchange for Will with Sark. Will,
badly beaten, gives Jack a hug. Sydney enters room 47 in the
warehouse, and finds the circumference device, only this time it is
not a foot long, but rather over twenty feet long, with a large ball
suspended over it, as before. She knows the ball is filled with
water, but she destroys the device with explosives once guards find
her. Vaughn enters the warehouse to back Sydney up, only to find
Sydney running down a hallway trying to get out, with a flood of
water rushing behind her. Sydney manages to get out of the hallway
as a safety door shuts, but Vaughn doesn’t get out in time. Unable
to open the door, Sydney can only watch through a small window as the
water hits Vaughn, and he is submerged. Sydney tries to break the
window, to no avail. As Vaughn disappears in the murky water, Sydney
is knocked out by a guard who comes upon her.
Later, Sydney wakes up,
handcuffed to a chair. Khasinau comes in, and Sydney wants answers.
He says she should talk to his boss. Sydney then learns the true
identity of “The Man.” A woman, draped in shadow, enters and
tells Sydney that she’s waited almost thirty years for this moment.
Sydney can only utter one word: “Mom?”
CLASSIC
SCENES:
Of course,
the final three minutes of the episode are some of the best ever in
theAliasseries.
While viewers contemplated whether or not Vaughn is dead, they
received a second shock: the introduction of Sydney’s mother.
Emily’s final
scene. Faced with the truth, and unaware Sloane has to kill her, she
tells him she loves him and forgives him.
There are
plenty of smaller scenes and character exchanges that make this a
classic episode: Haladki’s torture and death; Will giving “Suit and
Glasses” a taste of his own medicine, literally; and Vaughn pushing
off a guy trying to put the moves on Sydney in the Taipei club as she
smiles over his act of gallantry.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
“I don’t
need rhetoric, Sydney. Right now, I need a reason not to report you
to Security Section.”
-Dixon, to
Sydney
“If
you’re doing what I think you’re doing, I’m in, if you need me.”
– Vaughn, to
Sydney
“What
I’m trying to say is, I forgive you.”
– Emily, to
Sloane
“You
should read Tippin’s stuff, it’s not so bad.”
– Jack, to
Sark, when asked why he bothered to save Will’s life
“Please
pass along to your daughter how much I enjoyed the stage show in
Paris. She has her mother’s singing voice.”
– Sark, to
Jack
“I have
waited almost thirty years for this.”
“Mom?”
-Irina, to
Sydney, and her response
CLASSIC
DISGUISES:
To go
undercover in the Taipei club, Sydney wears a blue wig, black leather
pants, and a fish-net leather top.
LOCATIONS:
Los Angeles
(A is highlighted), Taipei (T is highlighted)
NUMBER 47:
The room
number at the Taipei lab where the Rambaldi device is stored is 47.
DID YOU
KNOW:
Speculation
over whether Vaughn had died continued that summer, and Michael
Vartan was not allowed to discuss the matter to reporters. It was
announced during the summer that Lena Olin had been cast as Sydney’s
mother for season two.