V
verdantheart
Guest
“Prophet 5” begins where we left off, with the car crash—a hit and run. Vaughn, unconscious,is pulled from the vehicle, while another “medic” attends to Sydney. She protests that she doesn't need any treatment, but the medic pulls out a syringe anyway—and Sydney notices gear that convinces her that he's not a medic. She bolts from the car and runs into a cornfield. She fights her way through and doubles back only to see Vaughn taken away in a helicopter.
Back in LA, Dr Park tells her he wants to run a few tests and lets her go. A Gordon Dean introduces himself as being from the Office of Special Investigations and begins asking Sydney questions about Michael Vaughn when Jack walks in and interrupts. He tells Sydney that Dean believes that Vaughn may have been a double agent and the crash could have been cover for an extraction. He cautions Sydney against protecting Vaughn too much, considering Jack's own experience with her mother: one year in prison.
Meanwhile, Vaughn finds himself in a room with a table and an interrogator. They play a tape meant for Vaughn and show him a message. He asks, “Where's Lehman?” while another man applies pressure to Vaughn's dislocated shoulder.
Sydney enters APO, where Weiss tells her about the “crazy” investigation of Vaughn. She asks him why he was originally assigned to her case. Weiss questions that she'd put any credence into their claims, but admits that he asked for the assignment.
Meanwhile, Vaughn's interrogator suggests that they start work on Vaughn's fiancée, suggesting to his accomplice he bring in “just her finger.” He agrees to cooperate, but tells them he'll need a pencil to decode the message.
Back at APO, Dean has Marshall recover Vaughn's personal files. Meanwhile, Sydney is matching faces to her sketch of one of their attackers. Dixon reminds her of the moment that he “knew” that she was a traitor. “You asked me to trust you and I didn't,” he says. Now he would trust her, he affirms.
Vaughn has his captors set his shoulder, which he needs for writing. He then fights the two, discovers Sydney already escaped, and makes his way out an air duct.
Sydney gets a call from Vaughn, which she takes to the ladies room. He tells her to take his father's watch to a certain dead drop. Sydney directs Dean to Mexico City to pick up Vaughn. Vaughn goes to pick up the watch and discovers Sydney waiting for him. She wants answers . . . starting with his real name, Andre Michaux.
Vaughn tells her that his father was originally a mathematician working on a project called Prophet 5—a project originated by a man named Muller, the same man connected with the Muller device. They are riding in an elevator which stops and starts again. When it stops, they meet Lehman. Vaughn shows Lehman the watch.
Dean grills Jack for Sydney's location, but he tells him that he has no idea where she is. Dean reminds Jack that Sydney is now Vaughn's accomplice. Marshall tells Jack that he encrypted all Vaughn's files before turning them over. Jack asks if he has the originals.
It turns out that Lehman is a cryptologist who was recruited along with a number of other scientists to work on Prophet 5 in 1972. Prophet 5 was a project to decrypt a manuscript written in a supposedly unbreakable code. After a number of years they succeeded in decoding it. It turned out to be hundreds of years ahead of its time—about amino acids and such. However, after this, he received a call from Vaughn's father: scientists from the project begun suffering accidental deaths at an alarming rate. He took Michaux Sr's advice to change his name and disappear. However, he has spent the time following to follow up clues as to where the book might be stored, and he now has a lead on it.
Therefore, Sydney and Vaughn go to Cape Town. They invite themselves to a private party, pretending confusion over an invitation. Sydney places a mickey on a tray and they dance as they wait for a guest to collapse. As Sydney gets the dope on the security from Dixon, Vaughn apparently meets “daddy's little girl” as he waits. He thinks he's gotten rid of her, but she makes her reappearance as he's relieving the safe of it's contents and presses the alarm button.
As Sydney's hoofing it to their emergency escape point, Dr Park calls to give her the good news: she's pregnant! She shares this information with Vaughn as they leap from the cliff.
Jack meets with Sloane, who is still in stir, still trying to discover a way to cure the comatose Nadia. Jack tells him he's still trying to expedite his release. Jack shows Sloane the data on Vaughn: trips to Marseilles, to Serbia. Sloane confirms that Vaughn's movements track with those of an assassin codenamed the Raven—Renee Rienne.
Dean, meanwhile, is looking for information to catch up with Vaughn. His accomplice has broken Marshall's code and turned up one of Vaughn's aliases—and come up with a hit through Italian customs. We see that Dean's accomplice is none other than “daddy's little girl” from Cape Town.
Sydney asks Vaughn how he feels about being a father, and he says given their lives, he'd have preferred to wait, but is happy anyway. But suddenly they're at the meet and Vaughn takes the case to meet with Lehman. As Vaughn reaches Lehman, Dean shows up with an armed squad and guns down both men.
Somehow, however, Vaughn is still alive and makes it into surgery. Jack joins his daughter in the hospital and tells her that she's been shortsighted, considering that Vaughn might indeed be a double agent and has demonstrably had contact with the Raven. Sydney says she knows this and reveals that she's pregnant. Jack backs down, telling her that he'll do everything he can to help both of them. Dixon calls in, telling them that Dean disappeared two years ago, and was presumed dead. Jack begins the investigation.
Sydney goes in to see Vaughn. They discuss names for the baby, settling on Isabel for a girl. Vaughn begins to fall asleep and they exchange “I love you”s—and then there is an alarm as Vaughn's vitals go south. A distraught Sydney watches Vaughn die. We then witness the sad funeral.
Four months later, Sydney walks into a London pub, where she corners the Raven, telling her, “We need to talk.
Comments . . .
Family comes to the fore as Sydney learns she's to become a mother. Vaughn realizes he's not totally against becoming a father after all—before he bows out! Grandfather Jack worries that his daughter is protecting a possible traitor too vigorously—until he realizes he might be the father of a grandchild, but for Jack, family always trumps other concerns.
First impression of Rachel Gibson: positive. We're already seeing a different side to her than we saw on The Inside.
Vaughn's initial interest in Sydney appears to be the Rambaldi connection through Prophet 5.
This could go under “Quibbles,” but it's a large subject, so it should go here. Vaughn's death. Do we really believe that he's dead? In our hearts? This is Alias, people. No, I don't think that anyone doesn't have at least some doubt, somewhere. You might ask yourself what reason he has to keep away from the woman he loves while she's pregnant with his child, but there are many possible reasons—including the very likely “I'd be endangering them if I came near” standard.
In fact, the now cliché refrain, “No one dies on Alias,” is starting to cause a major problem—if not for you, fellow viewer, for me at least. Because no one dies, death is meaningless. Before I get into that, is it true that “no one dies”?
Actually, it's not. Lesser characters die by the boatload; they die every week. But they don't matter to us. Even characters that matter somewhat die now and then. After all, we have reason to believe that Danny, Francie, Emily, and Lauren are dead. But Emily got a second chance after faking her death once, and Francie came back as an evil twin (who is probably? dead). However, given the fact that characters such as Irina came back from the dead not once, but twice, is it any wonder that we continue to see people looking for ways to bring Lauren, Danny, and even Francie back into the story? Even Sydney's death was faked. Jack's been around so long, it's time he joined the club, no? Because the major characters seem to take a lickin' but keep on tickin', is it any wonder our impression is that no one ever dies? Not at all.
So is death meaningless? True, I'm not a huge fan of Vaughn, but I don't hate him, and I like Sydney, so normally, I'd sympathize with her agony in witnessing Vaughn's death. But this time, all I felt was a vague resentment towards the writers for trying to manipulate my emotions when I just knew they were going to pull Vaughn out of a hat somewhere down the line. Not only did I get the feeling that I'd gone through this before, but I had a very strong impression that the writers were attempting to force a specific response in the audience by repeating the very same dance steps they'd put me through a number of times in this series. I've finally become jaded.
I have to analyze this because the reappearance of dead characters on, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer didn't bother me so much. The difference here, I think, is that on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, those character actually died. They made the ultimate sacrifice, so any tears that I shed on their behalf were not in vain—it wasn't a cheat because the death was real, not a bait-and-switch. So I could be moved by Spike's sacrifice at the close of Buffy even when I already knew that I would see him show up on Angel a few months later. And when a major character died and was brought back . . . man, they made us pay for it.
The thing is, Vaughn might actually be dead, right? There is that one per cent chance, right? But I can't put any faith in it (not that I'm glad he's dead, but then I didn't kill him). On Alias, death is just part of the game, part of the whole “you can't trust anything or anyone” scheme . . . But—originally, anyway—the thing about Alias was that while the world was supposed to be uncertain, the emotions were supposed to be real. Emotions and reality cross at death, baby. If I can't be certain of death, I'm not going to invest my precious emotions in it . . . I feel myself pulling my emotions out, and if I do that what do I have left? All I have is the plot. I hope it's a good one.
Quibbles . . .
As to Dean . . . I wonder, do they just take the credentials of a guy who waltzes into APO—a super-secret organization—at face value? They don't bother to check with his agency, for example, or do a cursory background check to make sure that he is who he says he is? Dixon seemed to find out who he was quickly enough once Vaughn was reduced to a piece of Swiss cheese. Moreover, the CIA isn't supposed to know that APO exists . . . how does Dean know it exists? Just askin'.
Forget the “Jack wasn't really in prison” insinuations; we now have it from the horse's mouth.
Random thoughts . . .
Is Isabel the new trendy name? Isabel was the name of the superbaby on The 4400. (Maybe it's the name for superbabies?)
Sydney says, “I know everything.” Now that's unusual!
Questions . . .
Do you think death has become meaningless on Alias? If a characters returns from “death,” do you think it's more meaningful if he or she actually died, or does that matter?
Do you believe that Vaughn is dead? Why or why not?
Do you think things have become more or less uncertain as Alias has gone along? Which way do you think it should go and why?
Do you think Rachel Gibson's character is good or bad? Why? (No spoilers, please.)
Next:
Sydney meets an old friend of Vaughn's.
Back in LA, Dr Park tells her he wants to run a few tests and lets her go. A Gordon Dean introduces himself as being from the Office of Special Investigations and begins asking Sydney questions about Michael Vaughn when Jack walks in and interrupts. He tells Sydney that Dean believes that Vaughn may have been a double agent and the crash could have been cover for an extraction. He cautions Sydney against protecting Vaughn too much, considering Jack's own experience with her mother: one year in prison.
Meanwhile, Vaughn finds himself in a room with a table and an interrogator. They play a tape meant for Vaughn and show him a message. He asks, “Where's Lehman?” while another man applies pressure to Vaughn's dislocated shoulder.
Sydney enters APO, where Weiss tells her about the “crazy” investigation of Vaughn. She asks him why he was originally assigned to her case. Weiss questions that she'd put any credence into their claims, but admits that he asked for the assignment.
Meanwhile, Vaughn's interrogator suggests that they start work on Vaughn's fiancée, suggesting to his accomplice he bring in “just her finger.” He agrees to cooperate, but tells them he'll need a pencil to decode the message.
Back at APO, Dean has Marshall recover Vaughn's personal files. Meanwhile, Sydney is matching faces to her sketch of one of their attackers. Dixon reminds her of the moment that he “knew” that she was a traitor. “You asked me to trust you and I didn't,” he says. Now he would trust her, he affirms.
Vaughn has his captors set his shoulder, which he needs for writing. He then fights the two, discovers Sydney already escaped, and makes his way out an air duct.
Sydney gets a call from Vaughn, which she takes to the ladies room. He tells her to take his father's watch to a certain dead drop. Sydney directs Dean to Mexico City to pick up Vaughn. Vaughn goes to pick up the watch and discovers Sydney waiting for him. She wants answers . . . starting with his real name, Andre Michaux.
Vaughn tells her that his father was originally a mathematician working on a project called Prophet 5—a project originated by a man named Muller, the same man connected with the Muller device. They are riding in an elevator which stops and starts again. When it stops, they meet Lehman. Vaughn shows Lehman the watch.
Dean grills Jack for Sydney's location, but he tells him that he has no idea where she is. Dean reminds Jack that Sydney is now Vaughn's accomplice. Marshall tells Jack that he encrypted all Vaughn's files before turning them over. Jack asks if he has the originals.
It turns out that Lehman is a cryptologist who was recruited along with a number of other scientists to work on Prophet 5 in 1972. Prophet 5 was a project to decrypt a manuscript written in a supposedly unbreakable code. After a number of years they succeeded in decoding it. It turned out to be hundreds of years ahead of its time—about amino acids and such. However, after this, he received a call from Vaughn's father: scientists from the project begun suffering accidental deaths at an alarming rate. He took Michaux Sr's advice to change his name and disappear. However, he has spent the time following to follow up clues as to where the book might be stored, and he now has a lead on it.
Therefore, Sydney and Vaughn go to Cape Town. They invite themselves to a private party, pretending confusion over an invitation. Sydney places a mickey on a tray and they dance as they wait for a guest to collapse. As Sydney gets the dope on the security from Dixon, Vaughn apparently meets “daddy's little girl” as he waits. He thinks he's gotten rid of her, but she makes her reappearance as he's relieving the safe of it's contents and presses the alarm button.
As Sydney's hoofing it to their emergency escape point, Dr Park calls to give her the good news: she's pregnant! She shares this information with Vaughn as they leap from the cliff.
Jack meets with Sloane, who is still in stir, still trying to discover a way to cure the comatose Nadia. Jack tells him he's still trying to expedite his release. Jack shows Sloane the data on Vaughn: trips to Marseilles, to Serbia. Sloane confirms that Vaughn's movements track with those of an assassin codenamed the Raven—Renee Rienne.
Dean, meanwhile, is looking for information to catch up with Vaughn. His accomplice has broken Marshall's code and turned up one of Vaughn's aliases—and come up with a hit through Italian customs. We see that Dean's accomplice is none other than “daddy's little girl” from Cape Town.
Sydney asks Vaughn how he feels about being a father, and he says given their lives, he'd have preferred to wait, but is happy anyway. But suddenly they're at the meet and Vaughn takes the case to meet with Lehman. As Vaughn reaches Lehman, Dean shows up with an armed squad and guns down both men.
Somehow, however, Vaughn is still alive and makes it into surgery. Jack joins his daughter in the hospital and tells her that she's been shortsighted, considering that Vaughn might indeed be a double agent and has demonstrably had contact with the Raven. Sydney says she knows this and reveals that she's pregnant. Jack backs down, telling her that he'll do everything he can to help both of them. Dixon calls in, telling them that Dean disappeared two years ago, and was presumed dead. Jack begins the investigation.
Sydney goes in to see Vaughn. They discuss names for the baby, settling on Isabel for a girl. Vaughn begins to fall asleep and they exchange “I love you”s—and then there is an alarm as Vaughn's vitals go south. A distraught Sydney watches Vaughn die. We then witness the sad funeral.
Four months later, Sydney walks into a London pub, where she corners the Raven, telling her, “We need to talk.
Comments . . .
Family comes to the fore as Sydney learns she's to become a mother. Vaughn realizes he's not totally against becoming a father after all—before he bows out! Grandfather Jack worries that his daughter is protecting a possible traitor too vigorously—until he realizes he might be the father of a grandchild, but for Jack, family always trumps other concerns.
First impression of Rachel Gibson: positive. We're already seeing a different side to her than we saw on The Inside.
Vaughn's initial interest in Sydney appears to be the Rambaldi connection through Prophet 5.
This could go under “Quibbles,” but it's a large subject, so it should go here. Vaughn's death. Do we really believe that he's dead? In our hearts? This is Alias, people. No, I don't think that anyone doesn't have at least some doubt, somewhere. You might ask yourself what reason he has to keep away from the woman he loves while she's pregnant with his child, but there are many possible reasons—including the very likely “I'd be endangering them if I came near” standard.
In fact, the now cliché refrain, “No one dies on Alias,” is starting to cause a major problem—if not for you, fellow viewer, for me at least. Because no one dies, death is meaningless. Before I get into that, is it true that “no one dies”?
Actually, it's not. Lesser characters die by the boatload; they die every week. But they don't matter to us. Even characters that matter somewhat die now and then. After all, we have reason to believe that Danny, Francie, Emily, and Lauren are dead. But Emily got a second chance after faking her death once, and Francie came back as an evil twin (who is probably? dead). However, given the fact that characters such as Irina came back from the dead not once, but twice, is it any wonder that we continue to see people looking for ways to bring Lauren, Danny, and even Francie back into the story? Even Sydney's death was faked. Jack's been around so long, it's time he joined the club, no? Because the major characters seem to take a lickin' but keep on tickin', is it any wonder our impression is that no one ever dies? Not at all.
So is death meaningless? True, I'm not a huge fan of Vaughn, but I don't hate him, and I like Sydney, so normally, I'd sympathize with her agony in witnessing Vaughn's death. But this time, all I felt was a vague resentment towards the writers for trying to manipulate my emotions when I just knew they were going to pull Vaughn out of a hat somewhere down the line. Not only did I get the feeling that I'd gone through this before, but I had a very strong impression that the writers were attempting to force a specific response in the audience by repeating the very same dance steps they'd put me through a number of times in this series. I've finally become jaded.
I have to analyze this because the reappearance of dead characters on, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer didn't bother me so much. The difference here, I think, is that on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, those character actually died. They made the ultimate sacrifice, so any tears that I shed on their behalf were not in vain—it wasn't a cheat because the death was real, not a bait-and-switch. So I could be moved by Spike's sacrifice at the close of Buffy even when I already knew that I would see him show up on Angel a few months later. And when a major character died and was brought back . . . man, they made us pay for it.
The thing is, Vaughn might actually be dead, right? There is that one per cent chance, right? But I can't put any faith in it (not that I'm glad he's dead, but then I didn't kill him). On Alias, death is just part of the game, part of the whole “you can't trust anything or anyone” scheme . . . But—originally, anyway—the thing about Alias was that while the world was supposed to be uncertain, the emotions were supposed to be real. Emotions and reality cross at death, baby. If I can't be certain of death, I'm not going to invest my precious emotions in it . . . I feel myself pulling my emotions out, and if I do that what do I have left? All I have is the plot. I hope it's a good one.
Quibbles . . .
As to Dean . . . I wonder, do they just take the credentials of a guy who waltzes into APO—a super-secret organization—at face value? They don't bother to check with his agency, for example, or do a cursory background check to make sure that he is who he says he is? Dixon seemed to find out who he was quickly enough once Vaughn was reduced to a piece of Swiss cheese. Moreover, the CIA isn't supposed to know that APO exists . . . how does Dean know it exists? Just askin'.
Forget the “Jack wasn't really in prison” insinuations; we now have it from the horse's mouth.
Random thoughts . . .
Is Isabel the new trendy name? Isabel was the name of the superbaby on The 4400. (Maybe it's the name for superbabies?)
Sydney says, “I know everything.” Now that's unusual!
Questions . . .
Do you think death has become meaningless on Alias? If a characters returns from “death,” do you think it's more meaningful if he or she actually died, or does that matter?
Do you believe that Vaughn is dead? Why or why not?
Do you think things have become more or less uncertain as Alias has gone along? Which way do you think it should go and why?
Do you think Rachel Gibson's character is good or bad? Why? (No spoilers, please.)
Next:
Sydney meets an old friend of Vaughn's.