This was great. The core of this episode was the Sydney/Mom relationship and it was well done. Lena Olin could not be any better as Irina Derevko. She’s a duplicitous bitch who deserves no compassion or sympathy of any kind. Personally, I’m glad Sydney laid some ground rules. How long those rules will remain in effect is a different question. What is Irina’s true motive? On another note, can this family be any more dysfunctional? I think not.

          The Sydney/Irina scenes were excellent. I felt my heart beating faster when Sydney walked in for the first time into the prison to converse with her mother. I wonder what she was feeling. The same way I was feeling, I’m sure. Irina couldn’t have been any more cold-hearted. She’s a snake, the devil herself. She’s deceptive and plain scary. It was great watching Sydney keep her composure during the first visit and it was even greater watching her fall apart. Jennifer Garner is great at showing emotion and anguish. She just fell apart, just like any person in that situation would. She came face to face, in a neutral situation, for the first time. There’s one great detail that I thought made the difference. Dixon, early on in the episode, explains that Sydney has a “thing” she does with her hair. He says that her “thing” is pushing her hair behind her ear. In the prison cell, Irina did the same thing with her hair. They are alike. Sydney hasn’t realized that yet. I don’t have a “thing”. I think I need a “thing”. What seems questionable is Irina’s devotion to her daughter’s safety. Does she care for Sydney? If she really cared, why did she wait so long to tell her about the vault’s failsafe?

          Then of course we had the mother/daughter talk after Sydney got back from Helsinki. It wasn’t mom who was setting the ground rules though, it was Sydney:

Sydney: “We will interact only when necessary. You will address me as Agent Bristow and answer only to questions I ask. There will be no personal anecdotes, no comments on my job performance, no condolences or congratulations. Do you understand me? (A long pause) Do you understand?

          Irina: “Yes, Agent Bristow.”

I thought this part to be brilliant. Sydney finally put her foot down and refused to give in. I think that somehow though, Irina wanted all of this. This way, Irina knows her daughter will see her more often. Did you see her smile in the end? Was she just proud of her daughter? Is Sydney playing into her hands? I’m worried.

          Vaughn also stepped up to the plate to confront Irina. He was so scared of her that he couldn’t look her in the eyes. I realized that Irina is perceptive. She notices everything. When Vaughn addressed Sydney with her first name, Irina felt amused. She senses more than a handler/spy relationship. She knows there’s mixed feelings involved. Then, she immediately noticed that he was Bill Vaughn’s child. Then I told myself, ‘This girl is good.’

          Can I just say that Sloane has officially become pure evil? I always thought there was a good guy in there somewhere but that’s all gone. He’s just evil. He’s a full partner of The Alliance and he will no doubt gain infinite power. I tend to think that there will somehow be no end to this story. Sydney has to take him down now and hard.

          Will has been sentenced to probation and 100 hours of community service. Personally, the guy got off lucky. He owes his life to Jack. I thought his sentencing would go much worse. He should be happy with what he got. 

Syd’s Tips

-          When needing a few extra seconds to escape, ask your handler to buy you some time. The best way is to arouse attention. For example, if you’re handler is in a restaurant, trip a waiter and attention will be focused on the accident.

Alias Missions

SD-6 MISSION

ALIAS: Beatrice Cunelli, rich tourist

LOCATION: Rabat, Morocco

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: Italian

MARSHALL’S GADGETS:

-          Cell phone safecracker: The numbers scroll on the cell phone’s screen until it finds a match.

OBJECTIVE: Retrieve a disk containing blackmail material.

CIA COUNTERMISSION: Do a brush pass with a CIA agent.

CIA MISSION

ALIAS: Restaurant patron

LOCATION: Helsinki, Finland

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: None

MARSHALL’S GADGETS:

-          Friction decelerator: A braking system when descending at a fast rate or speed.

OBJECTIVE: Obtain Fordson’s camera.

Quotable Quotes

-          Francie: “You know what I want to do to the guy who introduced Will to heroin? I want to kill him. With my hands, I just want to kill him.” Francie, relax.

-          Sydney: “I don’t support the death penalty, but I hope she dies for all that she’s done. I really do.”

-          Vaughn: “Killing his wife doesn’t surprise me; eating her wouldn’t surprise me.”

-          Irina: “You look just like him.” Vaughn hates her.

-          Sydney: “I wanted to cut my hand off.” She’s right. I would want to too.

-          Jack: “But the minute you start depending on her, she will gut you.” I loved this one.

-          Irina: “You didn’t pull the alarm. I wouldn’t pulled it either.”

-          Irina: “Trust me.”

Sydney: “Why should I do that?”

Irina: “Because I’m your mother?”

-          Sydney (to Kendall): “We’re on the same side. It’s time you start acting like it.” Loved this one too.

Some Final Notes

-          Kendall is just mean. Wasn’t he FBI? Why is he assistant director now?

-          It’s weird. I haven’t spoken about Jack at all. There should have been more Jack in the episode.

-          I like how Jack suggested to Francie red as the color of her restaurant’s walls.

-          Will is going to be working with Francie at the restaurant. These two are really getting close.

-          The mission in Rabat was excellent. Jen speaking Italian was hysterical. She looked stunning as well.

-          I liked Marshall’s code-cracking machine. Very smart.

-          I feel bad for Peter Fordson. Did Sloane kill him?

Good episode. 4 stars

-          Next episode

-          Alias season 2

-          Alias main