V
verdantheart
Guest
Trust Me (2:02) found Sydney in a similar position to where we found her last season at this time: trying to keep the door closed on a parent she’d shut out of her life. Last season it was Jack, whom she told, “Just because we’re working on the same side . . . doesn’t mean I have to accept you” (1:01 Truth Be Told). This season, it’s her mother, Irina, whom she tells her father she has no intention of seeing.
As we recall, Sydney was estranged from her father because of his inability to reconnect with her after the devastating blow of discovering what his wife was-–and her immediately subsequent “death”--followed by his 6-month incarceration (explained as “business trips” to, one can imagine, a grieving and uncomprehending child). In this case, Sydney was physically abandoned. Further, Irina was working against Sydney’s country and was most recently discovered to be the head of a dangerous rogue intelligence organization whose aims are still not well understood. The blackmail disk that is the subject of the episode speaks to Irina’s methods.
Jack is understandably concerned about the effect of his ex-wife’s sudden “walk-in” on his daughter and drops by to check on her. He asks how she is, but all she will say is that she is fine and has no intention of seeing her mother. Which leads to another one of those awkward silences. He wants to get her to open up about it, but doesn’t know how. If he could open up a little himself, that would help, but as we’ve learned over the previous season, he can’t let himself do that. Sydney tells him that she hopes Irina dies for what she’s done. This statement doesn’t seem to make Jack any happier.
Notice that Sydney really hasn’t opened up to anyone about her mother. Not Jack, not Dr. Barnett, not Will, not Vaughn, and (God, no!) not (“I’m there for you”) Sloane. When Sydney later talks to her mother for the first time under controlled circumstances, it leads to a crying jag. Does she even know how she feels? What must it be like to suddenly have a mother who’s something on the level of a Darth Vader-–the subject of ominous prophecies?
But Irina’s idea of “cooperation” isn’t the same as the FBI’s. She decides she’s going to set the rules and begins by saying she’ll cooperate, but she’ll only talk to Sydney. And the trust game begins. FBI agent Kendall pressures Sydney to work with her mother, but Sydney refuses. However, Vaughn braves Irina’s formidable presence and obtains a piece of intel: pull the fire alarm to disarm the failsafe for the safe containing the blackmail disk.
Vaughn is inclined to trust the intel. However, Jack, when consulted, nearly loses it completely and doesn’t even want Sydney to know about the information. “That woman is not to be trusted!” he exclaims. No doubt. However, in this case Vaughn’s right. Jack can’t look at this dispassionately. If he could step back and run it through his games-theorist mind he would see the following. What does Irina want? To talk to Sydney, for whatever reason. If Sydney were caught or killed, this outcome would be impossible. What would make the desired outcome more likely? Giving Sydney a good piece of intel that would lead her to a desired result. Meanwhile, Irina might consider it “safe” to give Sydney the intel because it was unlikely she’d use it.
When the disk falls into Sloane’s hands, Sydney meets with her father and finds that he was unable to get a look at it before it was shipped to Alliance HQ. Sydney decides that she will, after all, meet with her mother. Jack is extremely worried about this, cautioning that the intelligence that Sydney gets from Irina will be untrustworthy. It might be good once, twice he says, but the moment you depend on it, she’ll gut you (paraphrase).
Look at the lighting of this scene in the car as opposed to the morning scene at Sydney’s house. There, Jack’s face was washed with light; here it’s shadowed, sweaty, his eye catches a gleam of light. The increase in tension is palpable. Jack is giving away more to his daughter than he has in a long time. In fact, the scene vaguely reminds me of the one in “Truth Be Told” (1:01) where he begs his daughter to run to Switzerland. The other car that is waiting to pick her up is starting to pull out and Jack’s voice fails as he tells her it’s her last chance. Jack is similarly desperate here. He doesn’t want her to have anything to do with her mother.
Based on his own experience, Jack believes that Irina plans to use Sydney for her own purposes, betray her and cast her aside, dead or alive (quite possibly dead). But isn’t it possible that Irina’s plan is a different one? Perhaps she wants to turn Sydney into a version of herself, perhaps make Sydney heir to whatever she plans to achieve.
So Sydney meets with her mother, who again sets the rules, dispensing information one piece at a time, at her own priority. Fortunately, Irina’s priorities match those of Sloane, as Sydney steals a high-tech camera out from under his nose.
When Sydney is relayed Irina’s comments of motherly pride, she decides to set some ground rules of her own. She marches down to Irina and tells her to keep it professional. Address me as Agent Bristow, she says. But Irina is more than satisfied. Has the trust train left the station?
Next:
Jack murmurs sweet nothings into his ex’s ear, like “I will kill you.”
As we recall, Sydney was estranged from her father because of his inability to reconnect with her after the devastating blow of discovering what his wife was-–and her immediately subsequent “death”--followed by his 6-month incarceration (explained as “business trips” to, one can imagine, a grieving and uncomprehending child). In this case, Sydney was physically abandoned. Further, Irina was working against Sydney’s country and was most recently discovered to be the head of a dangerous rogue intelligence organization whose aims are still not well understood. The blackmail disk that is the subject of the episode speaks to Irina’s methods.
Jack is understandably concerned about the effect of his ex-wife’s sudden “walk-in” on his daughter and drops by to check on her. He asks how she is, but all she will say is that she is fine and has no intention of seeing her mother. Which leads to another one of those awkward silences. He wants to get her to open up about it, but doesn’t know how. If he could open up a little himself, that would help, but as we’ve learned over the previous season, he can’t let himself do that. Sydney tells him that she hopes Irina dies for what she’s done. This statement doesn’t seem to make Jack any happier.
Notice that Sydney really hasn’t opened up to anyone about her mother. Not Jack, not Dr. Barnett, not Will, not Vaughn, and (God, no!) not (“I’m there for you”) Sloane. When Sydney later talks to her mother for the first time under controlled circumstances, it leads to a crying jag. Does she even know how she feels? What must it be like to suddenly have a mother who’s something on the level of a Darth Vader-–the subject of ominous prophecies?
But Irina’s idea of “cooperation” isn’t the same as the FBI’s. She decides she’s going to set the rules and begins by saying she’ll cooperate, but she’ll only talk to Sydney. And the trust game begins. FBI agent Kendall pressures Sydney to work with her mother, but Sydney refuses. However, Vaughn braves Irina’s formidable presence and obtains a piece of intel: pull the fire alarm to disarm the failsafe for the safe containing the blackmail disk.
Vaughn is inclined to trust the intel. However, Jack, when consulted, nearly loses it completely and doesn’t even want Sydney to know about the information. “That woman is not to be trusted!” he exclaims. No doubt. However, in this case Vaughn’s right. Jack can’t look at this dispassionately. If he could step back and run it through his games-theorist mind he would see the following. What does Irina want? To talk to Sydney, for whatever reason. If Sydney were caught or killed, this outcome would be impossible. What would make the desired outcome more likely? Giving Sydney a good piece of intel that would lead her to a desired result. Meanwhile, Irina might consider it “safe” to give Sydney the intel because it was unlikely she’d use it.
When the disk falls into Sloane’s hands, Sydney meets with her father and finds that he was unable to get a look at it before it was shipped to Alliance HQ. Sydney decides that she will, after all, meet with her mother. Jack is extremely worried about this, cautioning that the intelligence that Sydney gets from Irina will be untrustworthy. It might be good once, twice he says, but the moment you depend on it, she’ll gut you (paraphrase).
Look at the lighting of this scene in the car as opposed to the morning scene at Sydney’s house. There, Jack’s face was washed with light; here it’s shadowed, sweaty, his eye catches a gleam of light. The increase in tension is palpable. Jack is giving away more to his daughter than he has in a long time. In fact, the scene vaguely reminds me of the one in “Truth Be Told” (1:01) where he begs his daughter to run to Switzerland. The other car that is waiting to pick her up is starting to pull out and Jack’s voice fails as he tells her it’s her last chance. Jack is similarly desperate here. He doesn’t want her to have anything to do with her mother.
Based on his own experience, Jack believes that Irina plans to use Sydney for her own purposes, betray her and cast her aside, dead or alive (quite possibly dead). But isn’t it possible that Irina’s plan is a different one? Perhaps she wants to turn Sydney into a version of herself, perhaps make Sydney heir to whatever she plans to achieve.
So Sydney meets with her mother, who again sets the rules, dispensing information one piece at a time, at her own priority. Fortunately, Irina’s priorities match those of Sloane, as Sydney steals a high-tech camera out from under his nose.
When Sydney is relayed Irina’s comments of motherly pride, she decides to set some ground rules of her own. She marches down to Irina and tells her to keep it professional. Address me as Agent Bristow, she says. But Irina is more than satisfied. Has the trust train left the station?
Next:
Jack murmurs sweet nothings into his ex’s ear, like “I will kill you.”
I wonder what she's up to...