Very nice. Marshall was our hero for the day. It was well deserved too. The show revolves around the Bristows, but every so often, it’s nice to see the other characters in action. I couldn’t believe Sloane assigned Marshall a mission. That’s what I want to see from the show. I want unexpected twists. I want great characters. So far, the show has given me everything I want. I love it.

          It was time for Kevin Weisman to shine. We probably all love his hysterical one-liners or his briefing room disasters, but an episode about him was long overdue. There were countless classic scenes starring Marshall: the bad English accent, in the airplane to London and being drugged by the tranquilizer and saying he loves Sydney. There were so many great one-liners I thought I was watching Veronica Mars. It was great to have Sydney kiss Marshall to wake him. That must have been a dream come true for him. I wouldn’t mind a kiss from Jennifer either.

          I was really hoping for Marshall to get extracted. He is just an innocent person who is proud of working for the good guys. The problem: SD-6 is not the good guy. It’s hard for Sydney to keep the truth from everyone for so long. When Marshall called a cab (probably one of the best scenes ever), he says he is proud of what he did in London. Sydney couldn’t keep the truth away from him much longer. She wanted to tell him so bad. She thought it better not too, however. He would soon be debriefed.

          And Suit & Glasses returns. He is such a psycho. He really enjoys torturing people. I am convinced that there are people out there who are freakin’ sadists. How can someone find it in himself to torture Marshall? He might look like a whimp, but he’s such a good guy. I always do enjoy learning what new techniques Suit & Glasses has in store for our characters. I hope Marshall is let off easy with the tooth-ripping technique. That was painful, but at least you can recover.

          Guest-starring in the episode was Faye Dunaway as the head of counterintelligence for the Alliance, Ariana Kane. This girl is hardcore. In a matter of seconds, she deduced that Jack was hiding something. She claims his answers were too “perfect.” Jack did a great job in Sloane’s office. Telling Kane that she should start investigation with him was a smart move. He knows she’s going to investigate him. Why not be casual about it? The scene in the boardroom was scarier. Jack didn’t play this one well. He let Kane get to him. He showed too much anger. He also gave her a new lead. Scary thing about Kane? She doesn’t need evidence to remove someone; she needs a hunch.

          Irina is winning Jack over. That comment about legally still being married was a good move. Jack actually went to check. This shows that Irina’s comments are starting to have an impact on Jack. He is playing into her hands. She definitely won Sydney over. The scene on the rooftop was powerful. I was never rooting for Sydney to get close to her mom, but she really needs a mother. It was incredible watching Irina admit she was wrong about choosing power over her daughter. Sydney couldn’t help but cry. Like I said, powerful scene. 

Syd’s Tips

-          If your partner has been drugged, kiss him (or her).

Mission Files

MAIN OBJECTIVE: Protect the Echelon satellite system.

SD-6 MISSION

ALIAS: Land surveyor

LOCATION: Paris, France

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: None

MARSHALL’S GADGETS:

-          Magnetic Shape Charge: A device that can penetrate two meters of armored steel and fire a secondary tear gas munition for disabling guards inside an armored truck.

OBJECTIVE: Retrieve the Echelon system access terminal stolen from the NSA.

CIA COUNTERMISSION: Install a secure deletion program to wipe the hard drive clean.

SD-6 MISSION

ALIAS: Marie Robinson from Jennings Aerospace

LOCATION: London, England

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: None

MARSHALL’S GADGETS:

-          Scopolamine: A drug whose effects only last a few minutes, giving the impression to the subject that he merely dozed off.

OBJECTIVE: Access the terminal and download the file for SD-6.

CIA COUNTERMISSION: Take Marshall out of SD-6. Marshall has a photographic memory. Sydney would not be able to delete the program in front of him. He would remember the code. Marshall was to be extracted.

Quotable Quotes

-          Will (about Syd and her parents going on mission): “My parents and I sort of went through the same thing.”

-          Irina: “I was a fool to think that any ideology would come before my daughter.”

-          Sark: “It’s a pity we’re traveling separately. We could have used the opportunity to get to know each other.”

Sydney: “Yeah, I’m broken up about that, too.”

-          Irina (to Jack): “You know, technically, we may still be husband and wife.”

-          Jack: “Trust doesn’t come easily to Arvin Sloane.”

-          Marshall: “Hey, you know the best part, I’ve never been prouder of being the good guys.” Amazing.

Some Final Notes

-          It was Francie’s birthday! Happy Birthday Fran! Sydney knew that Francie was starting to be suspicious so she had to throw a party.

-          Will knows how hard it is to keep things from Francie. Sydney and Will are distancing themselves from her.

-          I’m sure Will is going to pass the test. I want him to be a field agent though. That would be fun.

-          Kendall is granting Irina more freedom. She gets to go outside for fifteen minutes twice a week.

-          Where was Dixon?

-          I loved seeing Marshall asked Sydney to take pictures of France so he can show his mom.

-          The bar scene was weird. I always thought Vaughn had broken up with Alice. Whenever I see her, she is depressed. It was weird watching Vaughn call Sydney Rita. Will caught on fast.

-          Cliffhanger: Suit & Glasses has Marshall.

Good. 3 stars

-          Next episode

-          Alias season 2

-          Alias main