Very nice. Marshall blew me away. It’s not that I was surprised by his courage, but it was unexpected. I didn’t think Marshall was going to fake the whole system and create a game of ping-pong. I didn’t think he would go that far. This episode is introducing a few new interesting storylines. Suit & Glasses got a kick in the stomach (good!) and the CIA stopped SD-6’s plan of getting Echelon. Ariana Kane has Jack in her sight now. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

          The show has made Jack out to be invincible. Although I’m worried about the outcome of Kane’s investigation, I’m glad the writers are making Jack look human. He slipped a bit. He better have an answer though. He is in trouble. He now has to go back in hiding, something that may put Sydney in danger. Kane will, without a doubt, bring Sydney in for questioning. When that happens, Sydney will be on her radar. It will catch her by surprise. Kane is perhaps Jack’s equal. She is even deadlier since she doesn’t need any evidence to bring Jack in. The Alliance trusts her judgment. I thought it was odd that Jack went to visit Sloane. Why would he enlist Sloane’s help? Jack knows Sloane is losing sleep on this. For all the wrong reasons though. Sloane wants the Alliance to forget about the situation with Emily. He might just easily use Jack as a scapegoat. This brings me back to my original question: why did Jack ask for Sloane’s help?

          The fact that something like Echelon might exist scares me. If any criminal was to acquire the technology, the outcome would be a disaster. Like Kendall said, they would have as much intelligence as the CIA. That’s some scary stuff. Suit & Glasses almost had it too. Luckily, Marshall tricked him. Marshall saved the day.

          He really did. He was able to send a message to SD-6 saying he was being held captive in New Mexico. Sydney and Dixon went to take care of business. I can’t believe they put dreadlocks on Carl Lumbly. He should keep them. I’m sure Sydney loved the fact that she got to punch Suit & Glasses. She should try and ripping out his teeth. That would make my day. Marshall is a genius. Although I found it convenient that Marshall had put a parachute in this jacket too, I overlooked it. Marshall is Marshall. He’s paranoid. That’s who he is.

          Irina is doing some very small favors. Problem: these favors are granting her more access to intelligence. Personally, I think it was a bad move to let Irina have control over Echelon. I’m surprised with Jack. Irina saw everything she needed to see. Everything was on there. I’m still not convinced she has an agenda, but the fact she kept mentioning she wanted no restrictions is odd. Let’s excuse Jack. He’s got a lot on his mind. Now, she has won more points with Kendall. She stopped SD-6 from accessing Echelon. That’s really going to piss Sloane off.

          I never thought Sloane could be that cruel, but he was content with leaving Marshall out there with Cuvee. This guy is psycho. He is also blindly following Kane’s orders. He’s even reporting to her now. Is this thing with Emily bothering him that much? He’s obviously worried for his own well-being. I just can’t believe that he would betray Jack. To Sloane, Jack is still a worthy ally…and friend. They have a lot of history together. They might not agree on everything, but Sloane still believes in Jack’s worthiness to the Alliance.

Syd’s (Marshall’s) Tips

-          Make sure to have a parachute in your jacket lining. In need of an escape, jumping out of a window is not a problem.

Mission Files

MAIN OBJECTIVE: Protect the Echelon satellite system.

SD-6 MISSION

ALIAS: Nina Bailes from Tech-Sky Industries

LOCATION: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: None

MARSHALL’S GADGETS:

-          High-Intensity pulsed strobe light: It emits a pulse strobe that flashes at the same intensity as brain waves. The subjects experience a period of three minutes as if they are in a daydream.

OBJECTIVE: Retrieve the data packets needed to access Echelon.

CIA COUNTERMISSION: Download the data packets and swap them with corrupted data.

SD-6 MISSION

ALIAS: Rave girl

LOCATION: Mexico City, Mexico

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: None

MARSHALL’S GADGETS:

-          High-Glide Tactical Parachute: The parachute is compressed into a man’s suit jacket along with a hyperextending tandem sling.

OBJECTIVE: Save Marshall.

Quotable Quotes

-          Sydney (to Francie): “I have a crush on a guy at work…his name is Michael.” We knew it.

-          Kendall: “Second only to Arvin Sloane, Irina Derevko is the last person I want having access to the U.S. government secure network.”

-          Kendall: “I just got off the phone again with the director. He asked again if I knew we were in the intelligence field.”

-          Marshall(to the guards): “You guys like cherry Pez? You know, Pez, the little candy? Comes with the superhero thing? Yeah, I collect them. I thought I had the largest collection. I wrote ‘The Guiness Book of World Records’ about it. They said there was a girl in Australia, 4 years old, that had a larger collection. Which kind of sucked because she’s so much younger than me. And I’m so much older than her.” Where does he come up with this stuff?

-          Sydney (imitating Dixon): “Are we ready to party?”

Dixon: “I speak nine languages. Techno isn’t one of them.” Nicely said.

Some Final Notes

-          Kendall was hysterical. Terry O’Quinn is great at being sarcastic. When Kendall was speaking to Sydney and the agents, he says the director reminded him that they are in the intelligence field. He gave Sydney the most hilarious face after.

-          Sydney finally spoke to Francie. She told her she has a crush on a guy named Michael. Like as if we didn’t know. I did enjoy Sydney opening up to Francie though. Francie is where Will was a year ago. She wants her friend back.

-          I though it was a bit much for Will to confront Vaughn concerning Sydney’s feelings. I understand Will cares for Sydney, but that went too far.

-          On a side note, I’m glad Will was hired as an analyst for the CIA.

-          Marshall was held on the forty-seventh floor. What do you notice?

-          That SIM card swipe was really careless. Jack won’t be happy about that.

-          I hope jack doesn’t get any heat for killing Haladki. That was the only thing he could do at that point and time.

-          I enjoyed watching Irina ask Vaughn for some coffee. That was a nice touch.

-          SD-6 is nothing without Marshall.

-          Suit & Glasses came up with a new torture technique. That quick-solidifying thing scared me.

-          Sloane going to hug Marshall at the end make me want to puke.

Very good. 4 stars

-          Next episode

-          Alias season 2

-          Alias main