V
verdantheart
Guest
"The Shed" opens in Istanbul, with a theft of substance 33 (as Marshall later informs us).
In LA, Sydney goes through Vaughn's mail and cancels a subscription.
Marshall, in an impromptu briefing, tells Jack, Sydney, and Tom how handy penpals can be, as this is how he heard the news about substance 33, a potent nerve agent. He's sure that the thief is connected to Dean because a hacker involved was the same one who hacked into the NSA to blow Vaughn's cover. He suggests that if they go to Prague (the location), they can grab the hacker. However, Sydney worries about spooking Dean. Jack suggests that they locate the hacker but make no move, taking the opportunity to reassess their options.
Sydney is upset with her father for assigning Tom Grace as her partner: she's read his file and he's a loner, not a team player. Jack reminds her that she had no authority to read Tom's file and tells her that Dixon has another assignment anyway—one having to do with Nadia. Sloane has been granted conditional release for 72 hours because he has found a possible cure. Jack didn't want to tell Sydney because he didn't want to raise false hopes. Sydney wants to go solo rather than accept Tom as a partner, but Jack insists.
Dixon talks over the mission with Sloane. He suggests it might be a trap, but Sloane insists that they have no idea of his implication in what transpired. No, he says, his contact Dolzhenko is trading the cure for $300,000. Dixon confirms that it's his show.
In Prague, the team (Marshall, Sydney, and Tom) converge on a WiFi hotspot, where Marshall hands Sydney a box of mints. The box will clone the PC and a mint will track the person who eats it. Tom's ready to go in . . . but to him Czech is, well, “Germanish,” so Sydney goes. Marshall discovers that the PC in question is actually being used by the hacker via a portable device such as a PDA or cell phone . . . and Sydney makes a woman just leaving the shop.
Tom makes her leaving by car and chases—naturally, this gets her attention and he has to head her off and pin her down. They end up taking her in, after all.
Of course, it is Rachel Gibson. Sydney is upset, thinking they have lost their lead to Dean. “Maybe under the circumstance you'd have done something different,” Tom grouses.
Meanwhile, in Omsk, Sloane and Dixon wait for Dolzhenko, who is late. Finally, he calls in, angry that Sloane did not come alone as agreed. He gives a new location to meet in an hour—alone. Sloane wants to go through with it, but Dixon hesitates. Sloane reminds him that they have his daughter, so why would he escape? Dixon says his concern is that this might be a trap. But Sloane appeals to Dixon's commitment to family. Dixon leaves telling Sloane to call for pickup.
Back in Prague, Rachel asserts her rights as a US citizen, then tells the team they're in trouble with the CIA. Well, that's funny, they say, because we are the CIA. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that Rachel believes what she's saying and is in an SD-6 situation. Sydney tells Rachel her own story and asks Rachel to prove that she's working for the CIA to herself—by writing a program to trace her own emergency call back to Langley. She does this and watches a ping reroute from Langley back to their office in Prague.
She's a bit broken up, but as it turns out, she's the only one available to get the dope on the transfer of substance 33—so she needs to go back in, download a decryption key (on a handy-dandy credit card device), pass it to Sydney, re-enter, and open a port for Marshall to download all the files on the server . . . oh, yeah, simple enough. Sydney coaches her on the basics.
Back in Omsk, Sloane finally gets together with Dolzhenko. He takes the money and assures Sloane that although the cure is still experimental, the patients have all recovered so far. However, as Sloane opens an empty trunk, Dolzhenko pulls a gun. Nadia is the only survivor, he confirms, and this is a trap. He means to kill Sloane, and tells him to turn around. Sloane, however, isn't going to make things easy for Dolzhenko and reminds him that he isn't a killer. He takes the gun away.
Rachel re-enters her office in a subdued mood, meeting Peyton (the agent who took substance 33) on the way in. She begins copying the key and chats with Dean half-heartedly. As she goes for the brush-pass, Peyton tags along “for a smoke.” Sydney's worried, but Tom makes himself a distraction, lighting Peyton's cigarette as Sydney brushes by and takes the key. Marshall's ready.
However, Peyton is suspicious and is waiting for Dean in his office. He checks Rachel's computer, at first seeing nothing unusual, then noting Marshall's strategy: he's hopping RAM. Marshall, however, has already picked up the info on substance 33. Dean instructs Peyton to execute Plan B, which apparently consists of setting off an EMP burst followed by an explosive blast to take out the floor of the building.
Unable to contact Rachel because of the EMP, Tom legs it over. Fortunately, Rachel, worried that she's lost contact and the lights are out, begins making her way out and avoids the worst of it although she does end up under a door.
Comments . . .
Who wants to bet that, considering that the cure didn't materialize, Sloane takes it on the lam. After all, he's a bit hamstrung in his search cooped up like that . . . plus, it's a lot less fun for us! Will he contact Jack in some back-door manner? Will he return to his evil ways? One can only hope.
Now to the main subject of this episode, and my little discussion here: repetition. Repetition is a technique used in fiction, both to good effect and, well, let's just say not so good effect. It can be as small a thing as the repetition of the same word (usually in prose) to the recurrence of a similar event (or even the same event).
In music, from the familiar verse/refrain form to variations on a theme to even some of the most seemingly formless tone poems, repetition of motifs is extremely important. Similarly, in fiction, the repetition of similar events, themes, ideas, and phrases can be used to create themes and moods, present ideas, and so on. However, this technique must be used skillfully, or else the repetition can become tedious or seemingly point out a lack of creativity on the part of the writers as they fall back on old ideas—whether this is the case or not.
So what makes the difference here? Where do we draw the line between pleasingly déjà vu and oh God, not again? It's the skill—and the point or objective. Alias, for example, contains many allusions to Wonderland. At times, they are very subtly worked in, such as Sydney's dressing as Alice for a costume party. On the other hand, the “Inject Me” drug found in a copy of Carroll's work I found to be a bit jarring. What was Roberts' reason for alluding to Carroll? That was never explained. In fact, since he was offering nothing but nonsense, placing his ultimatum in such a format was, in fact, counterproductive from his point of view—it only served the writer's objective of placing an allusion to Carroll into the story—and an obvious one at that. So unless Roberts was a Carroll freak . . .
We've seen variations of various themes on Alias: wife-spying-on-husband (Irina/Jack, the Caplans, Lauren/Vaughn), unknowingly-spying-for-the-enemy (Sydney, Dixon, Marshall, Rachel) faked deaths (Sloane (twice!)/Emily/Sydney/Irina/Vaughn?). The question is, has the repetition enhanced the effect, or drained the impact out of it?
If skillfully handled, a repetition should add something new; allow you to see the same thing in a new way—or to realize that it isn't the same thing at all, but different in some fundamental way. For example, a very similar experience can be very different because it is experienced by a very different person who reacts in a very different way.
Let's look just briefly at Lost. So far no big ideas have repeated, it's mostly motifs—with a vengeance. Their kiss motto: keep it subtle, stupid. Nadia's message to Sayid, that she hopes to meet him in the “next life,” repeats in Desmond's farewells to Jack, “See you in the next life." The white and black rocks, the polar bears . . . and on, and on . . . mostly subtle (except for centerpieces such as the polar bear attack), but ever-present. If they continue to be consistent, subtle, and skillful—and manage to pull off a satisfying series arc (no small feat)—it will add up to a remarkable journey.
If mishandled, it's just the same thing all over again . . . the story seems to be trying to tell you something, but it's not getting through. It's just . . . muddy.
When it's a big thing that's recurring, like this one—SD-6 all over again—you should get that déjà vu feeling, and it should have a strong kick right away. This is happening all over again! It should bring something with it, some quality—nightmare, or dreamlike, or “not again!” . . . something. If you are thinking, “I need to see what comes next” to know how you feel about it, the technique hasn't done its job. If you felt detached from Rachel as she stood on the roof considering her broken life, well then, Houston, we have a problem. If you were up there with her, then we're on our way. Did they show us enough to make the comparisons we need to make? To weave the engrossing tale?
The viewers have to decide for themselves which category this journey into SD-6-land fits into.
Quibbles . . .
OK, why did the EMP take all the electronics out except the bomb timer (since it only took out the floor, wouldn't it have to be nearby?) . . . and why did Rachel's communicator still make that quirp sound? Hm.
Random thoughts . . .
I just have trouble buying Balthazar Getty as a “loner” . . . it's just that face and demeanor . . . Perhaps it's just me? And if he was Special Forces, just how much solo work could he get away with? (Just how much undercover work does Special Forces do, anyway?) However, just telling me “He's a loner” isn't going to make me believe it; you have to demonstrate it to me somehow.
On another note, it was rather refreshing to have an agent who doesn't know every language on the face of the planet for once. Czech . . . Germanish? :lol: Although . . . if it turns out he doesn't know any, I'll be a little perturbed. After all, he's been hired as an agent. The man needs to brush up his skills. Hopefully he knows the major ones. I assume his comment means he knows German at least? On the other hand, it's rather ridiculous to have the feeling that if Sydney were dropped into the deepest depths of the Congo or Amazon she'd have no trouble conversing with the natives, no matter how potentially obscure and unuseful knowing their language might be from a practical viewpoint.
Fortunately, the promo, as usual, misled. Rachel is not Lauren Jr. From this episode it looks like the original advertising is more likely, that she's Sydney Jr. Which means, more likely than not, there's some weird wrinkle or two hiding in her past . . . and she probably doesn't even know about it.
Questions . . .
What think you? Do you buy Tom Grace as a loner? Now that you've seen more of both Tom and Rachel, what are your more informed initial impressions?
Did the SD-6-repeat-o-rama grab you or leave you cold? Did they weave a skillful, absorbing tale—or not? Explain. What repeated plots/ideas/themes do you think have worked and what haven't on Alias and why? (Yeah, I know, big essay question. So sue me. )
Do you think Sloane will take it on the lam now that he's been left cureless and alone for a few minutes?
Next:
Rachel as Sydney's protégée?
In LA, Sydney goes through Vaughn's mail and cancels a subscription.
Marshall, in an impromptu briefing, tells Jack, Sydney, and Tom how handy penpals can be, as this is how he heard the news about substance 33, a potent nerve agent. He's sure that the thief is connected to Dean because a hacker involved was the same one who hacked into the NSA to blow Vaughn's cover. He suggests that if they go to Prague (the location), they can grab the hacker. However, Sydney worries about spooking Dean. Jack suggests that they locate the hacker but make no move, taking the opportunity to reassess their options.
Sydney is upset with her father for assigning Tom Grace as her partner: she's read his file and he's a loner, not a team player. Jack reminds her that she had no authority to read Tom's file and tells her that Dixon has another assignment anyway—one having to do with Nadia. Sloane has been granted conditional release for 72 hours because he has found a possible cure. Jack didn't want to tell Sydney because he didn't want to raise false hopes. Sydney wants to go solo rather than accept Tom as a partner, but Jack insists.
Dixon talks over the mission with Sloane. He suggests it might be a trap, but Sloane insists that they have no idea of his implication in what transpired. No, he says, his contact Dolzhenko is trading the cure for $300,000. Dixon confirms that it's his show.
In Prague, the team (Marshall, Sydney, and Tom) converge on a WiFi hotspot, where Marshall hands Sydney a box of mints. The box will clone the PC and a mint will track the person who eats it. Tom's ready to go in . . . but to him Czech is, well, “Germanish,” so Sydney goes. Marshall discovers that the PC in question is actually being used by the hacker via a portable device such as a PDA or cell phone . . . and Sydney makes a woman just leaving the shop.
Tom makes her leaving by car and chases—naturally, this gets her attention and he has to head her off and pin her down. They end up taking her in, after all.
Of course, it is Rachel Gibson. Sydney is upset, thinking they have lost their lead to Dean. “Maybe under the circumstance you'd have done something different,” Tom grouses.
Meanwhile, in Omsk, Sloane and Dixon wait for Dolzhenko, who is late. Finally, he calls in, angry that Sloane did not come alone as agreed. He gives a new location to meet in an hour—alone. Sloane wants to go through with it, but Dixon hesitates. Sloane reminds him that they have his daughter, so why would he escape? Dixon says his concern is that this might be a trap. But Sloane appeals to Dixon's commitment to family. Dixon leaves telling Sloane to call for pickup.
Back in Prague, Rachel asserts her rights as a US citizen, then tells the team they're in trouble with the CIA. Well, that's funny, they say, because we are the CIA. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that Rachel believes what she's saying and is in an SD-6 situation. Sydney tells Rachel her own story and asks Rachel to prove that she's working for the CIA to herself—by writing a program to trace her own emergency call back to Langley. She does this and watches a ping reroute from Langley back to their office in Prague.
She's a bit broken up, but as it turns out, she's the only one available to get the dope on the transfer of substance 33—so she needs to go back in, download a decryption key (on a handy-dandy credit card device), pass it to Sydney, re-enter, and open a port for Marshall to download all the files on the server . . . oh, yeah, simple enough. Sydney coaches her on the basics.
Back in Omsk, Sloane finally gets together with Dolzhenko. He takes the money and assures Sloane that although the cure is still experimental, the patients have all recovered so far. However, as Sloane opens an empty trunk, Dolzhenko pulls a gun. Nadia is the only survivor, he confirms, and this is a trap. He means to kill Sloane, and tells him to turn around. Sloane, however, isn't going to make things easy for Dolzhenko and reminds him that he isn't a killer. He takes the gun away.
Rachel re-enters her office in a subdued mood, meeting Peyton (the agent who took substance 33) on the way in. She begins copying the key and chats with Dean half-heartedly. As she goes for the brush-pass, Peyton tags along “for a smoke.” Sydney's worried, but Tom makes himself a distraction, lighting Peyton's cigarette as Sydney brushes by and takes the key. Marshall's ready.
However, Peyton is suspicious and is waiting for Dean in his office. He checks Rachel's computer, at first seeing nothing unusual, then noting Marshall's strategy: he's hopping RAM. Marshall, however, has already picked up the info on substance 33. Dean instructs Peyton to execute Plan B, which apparently consists of setting off an EMP burst followed by an explosive blast to take out the floor of the building.
Unable to contact Rachel because of the EMP, Tom legs it over. Fortunately, Rachel, worried that she's lost contact and the lights are out, begins making her way out and avoids the worst of it although she does end up under a door.
Comments . . .
Who wants to bet that, considering that the cure didn't materialize, Sloane takes it on the lam. After all, he's a bit hamstrung in his search cooped up like that . . . plus, it's a lot less fun for us! Will he contact Jack in some back-door manner? Will he return to his evil ways? One can only hope.
Now to the main subject of this episode, and my little discussion here: repetition. Repetition is a technique used in fiction, both to good effect and, well, let's just say not so good effect. It can be as small a thing as the repetition of the same word (usually in prose) to the recurrence of a similar event (or even the same event).
In music, from the familiar verse/refrain form to variations on a theme to even some of the most seemingly formless tone poems, repetition of motifs is extremely important. Similarly, in fiction, the repetition of similar events, themes, ideas, and phrases can be used to create themes and moods, present ideas, and so on. However, this technique must be used skillfully, or else the repetition can become tedious or seemingly point out a lack of creativity on the part of the writers as they fall back on old ideas—whether this is the case or not.
So what makes the difference here? Where do we draw the line between pleasingly déjà vu and oh God, not again? It's the skill—and the point or objective. Alias, for example, contains many allusions to Wonderland. At times, they are very subtly worked in, such as Sydney's dressing as Alice for a costume party. On the other hand, the “Inject Me” drug found in a copy of Carroll's work I found to be a bit jarring. What was Roberts' reason for alluding to Carroll? That was never explained. In fact, since he was offering nothing but nonsense, placing his ultimatum in such a format was, in fact, counterproductive from his point of view—it only served the writer's objective of placing an allusion to Carroll into the story—and an obvious one at that. So unless Roberts was a Carroll freak . . .
We've seen variations of various themes on Alias: wife-spying-on-husband (Irina/Jack, the Caplans, Lauren/Vaughn), unknowingly-spying-for-the-enemy (Sydney, Dixon, Marshall, Rachel) faked deaths (Sloane (twice!)/Emily/Sydney/Irina/Vaughn?). The question is, has the repetition enhanced the effect, or drained the impact out of it?
If skillfully handled, a repetition should add something new; allow you to see the same thing in a new way—or to realize that it isn't the same thing at all, but different in some fundamental way. For example, a very similar experience can be very different because it is experienced by a very different person who reacts in a very different way.
Let's look just briefly at Lost. So far no big ideas have repeated, it's mostly motifs—with a vengeance. Their kiss motto: keep it subtle, stupid. Nadia's message to Sayid, that she hopes to meet him in the “next life,” repeats in Desmond's farewells to Jack, “See you in the next life." The white and black rocks, the polar bears . . . and on, and on . . . mostly subtle (except for centerpieces such as the polar bear attack), but ever-present. If they continue to be consistent, subtle, and skillful—and manage to pull off a satisfying series arc (no small feat)—it will add up to a remarkable journey.
If mishandled, it's just the same thing all over again . . . the story seems to be trying to tell you something, but it's not getting through. It's just . . . muddy.
When it's a big thing that's recurring, like this one—SD-6 all over again—you should get that déjà vu feeling, and it should have a strong kick right away. This is happening all over again! It should bring something with it, some quality—nightmare, or dreamlike, or “not again!” . . . something. If you are thinking, “I need to see what comes next” to know how you feel about it, the technique hasn't done its job. If you felt detached from Rachel as she stood on the roof considering her broken life, well then, Houston, we have a problem. If you were up there with her, then we're on our way. Did they show us enough to make the comparisons we need to make? To weave the engrossing tale?
The viewers have to decide for themselves which category this journey into SD-6-land fits into.
Quibbles . . .
OK, why did the EMP take all the electronics out except the bomb timer (since it only took out the floor, wouldn't it have to be nearby?) . . . and why did Rachel's communicator still make that quirp sound? Hm.
Random thoughts . . .
I just have trouble buying Balthazar Getty as a “loner” . . . it's just that face and demeanor . . . Perhaps it's just me? And if he was Special Forces, just how much solo work could he get away with? (Just how much undercover work does Special Forces do, anyway?) However, just telling me “He's a loner” isn't going to make me believe it; you have to demonstrate it to me somehow.
On another note, it was rather refreshing to have an agent who doesn't know every language on the face of the planet for once. Czech . . . Germanish? :lol: Although . . . if it turns out he doesn't know any, I'll be a little perturbed. After all, he's been hired as an agent. The man needs to brush up his skills. Hopefully he knows the major ones. I assume his comment means he knows German at least? On the other hand, it's rather ridiculous to have the feeling that if Sydney were dropped into the deepest depths of the Congo or Amazon she'd have no trouble conversing with the natives, no matter how potentially obscure and unuseful knowing their language might be from a practical viewpoint.
Fortunately, the promo, as usual, misled. Rachel is not Lauren Jr. From this episode it looks like the original advertising is more likely, that she's Sydney Jr. Which means, more likely than not, there's some weird wrinkle or two hiding in her past . . . and she probably doesn't even know about it.
Questions . . .
What think you? Do you buy Tom Grace as a loner? Now that you've seen more of both Tom and Rachel, what are your more informed initial impressions?
Did the SD-6-repeat-o-rama grab you or leave you cold? Did they weave a skillful, absorbing tale—or not? Explain. What repeated plots/ideas/themes do you think have worked and what haven't on Alias and why? (Yeah, I know, big essay question. So sue me. )
Do you think Sloane will take it on the lam now that he's been left cureless and alone for a few minutes?
Next:
Rachel as Sydney's protégée?