V
verdantheart
Guest
“Tuesday” (4.13) begins as a routine assignment, buying some intel from an informant in Havana, but quickly becomes a little more complex—especially for Marshall. Sydney Salsa dances her way to her contact and exchanges diamonds for a disk in LA, which Dixon picks up (locker 471, of course). He has word of a large-scale attack, but he doesn't know where. Details are on the disk.
Meanwhile, Marshall is running late and making excuses to Carrie. Mitchell is ill and Carrie wants help—which isn't forthcoming with “Mr Heatherington” (Mr Sloane) breathing down Marshall's neck.
Sydney and Vaughn exchange a call as she meets her driver. He claims to love dancing and promises to take her out despite her protests, asserting that he's “a mysterious man.” As Sydney heads toward the airport, however, her car is rammed and she is knocked senseless. Meanwhile, Dixon delivers the drive, which blows up as it connects to the system, releasing a pathogen and causing lock-down to initiate. As Dixon assists the technician, he also collapses. As Vaughn, Weiss, and Nadia rush to help Dixon and the technician, they must inject themselves with atropine before they can touch their collapsed colleagues.
In Havana, Sydney and her contact face Ulrich. Her contact attempts to talk Ulrich out of what he's doing, but he is summarily shot in the head. Ulrich explains that this is because the contact was “his friend.” He has something worse in mind for Sydney.
In LA, Jack and Sloane assess the damage. They are under quarantine protocol and must assume that their computer system may be compromised. They call Marshall, who is just screeching to a halt outside. He reports that they haven't been hacked and asks what he can do. They call to confirm whether Sydney made her flight.
Sydney awakes to her ringing phone and finds she has one missed call. Using the light of the phone, she looks around and discovers that she is in a box—a coffin—with her contact. She returns the call and reports in. Marshall asks whether she has been buried alive. Sloane has to confirm that they are in lock-down for about the next 36 hours, so it is up to Marshall to go for Sydney—using what op-tech he can come up with on the fly. Meanwhile, Sydney must stay off the phone to preserve her battery power. Jack reminds Marshall that they have no margin for error.
Sloane reports that the Third Faction has stolen 4 canisters of cyclosarin, one drop of which was used to boobytrap the hard drive. The rest would be enough to destroy a city. Sloane cuts through distraction and rallies his troops.
In a Havana store, Marshall hastily puts together his dectector. The shopkeeper is worried that Marshall's scaring off customers, but the shopkeeper's mother is entertained. When Marshall asks for a radio, the shopkeeper produces an antique.
Sydney sends a picture of her contact for identification, but as she begins to repeat herself, Jack realizes that time is running out. He calls Marshall, who is closing on the cemetery. He is running toward the grave as Sydney's phone finally dies. He has found 7 fresh graves in the area and instructs Vaughn in tasking a satellite to narrow the search. With an infrared view, Vaughn directs Marshall to the correct grave. With everyone watching the satellite view anxiously, Marshall digs Sydney out and performs CPR. At last, Sydney is saved.
Sydney's contact is identified as Alex Rucker, a high-tech specialist for the Third Faction. Ulrich is identified as Ulrich Qator. To get the intel on the target of the next attack, however, they need access to his computer, which would be at (what else) his night club in Berlin. And since they would recognize Sydney, Marshall has to act as the field agent.
In Berlin, Sydney quickly runs through field operations with Marshall, reminding him to make eye contact with the guards, the cell phone-gun is sensitive, and that the cigarette case-flash drive needs to be within 2-3 feet of the hard drive to work. Marshall reflects that he hates lying to Carrie and picks up a call from her and does just that.
Marshall picks up a kiss on his way through the club to Ulrich's office. He bluffs his way into the office by telling the guards, “Tell Ulrich Alex wasn't the only one betraying him.” He poses as Jack Bristow as he bluffs long enough to get data on the flash drive. However, they need to get past a firewall, and to do that, they need to get to the basement—with Ulrich, because they need his retinal scan. Unfortunately, Marshall accidentally shoots him with the cell phone gun. Jack talks him through removing an eye with a letter opener, but the tool is a little too awkward, so Marshall resorts to removing the other eye with a spork.
Meanwhile, Sydney fights her way into the office, Marshall assisting by taking out a last guard. They make their way to the basement and Sydney uses the eye to access the computer terminal. As Marshall accesses the data, Sydney holds the line with her gun and Marshall's cell phone gun. They discover that the target is Hong Kong and notify the local CIA office there.
Sloane reports that they seized the bomb and that everything has worked out. They've discovered that the Third Faction involves 100s of contacts and is much larger than anticipated, so they have their work cut out for them. Dixon rejoins the group from recovery.
Sydney drives Marshall home. He invites her to dinner, but she has a previous engagement at the train station. She waits there on a bench until Vaughn's arrival. They dance.
Analysis . . .
Let's start with our guest agent, Marshall. Throwing op-tech together in the field to locate Sydney is a snap compared to what comes next. But somehow, is any of that less painful than fibbing to Carrie all the time—and palming off sick Mitchell on her? But someone has to save Hong Kong . . .
Stuck as the only available man to go in as a field agent, Marshall boosts his confidence by posing as the coolest cucumber he can think of: Jack Bristow. After all, Jack would know exactly what to do under these circumstances. But, unfortunately, Marshall isn't exactly Jack, so he accidentally shoots Ulrich. But it works out anyway, thanks to Marshall's adaptability, help from an expert (Sydney and Jack's coaching)--and a spork.
Caught in lock-down, the people who love Sydney the most are helpless to race to her rescue. Her father, who is most accustomed to sacrificing everything to save her, must rest all his hopes on Marshall's technical acumen. Nadia, Sydney's sister, is silently drawn to Jack's equally silent vigil by their shared threads of family connections.
Sloane refuses to take this insult lying down. He won't ignore the mission simply because Sydney is temporarily in trouble. There are things that they could be doing while Marshall is on his way. He tells his distracted team, “Look at me. Marshall's on his way. We'll get Sydney out. Make no mistake. The Third Faction wants us on our heels. They think they can bomb our operation. They think they can bury our agents alive. And they think that will stop us. Well, they're wrong. We have a job to do. Get to work.” To Sloane, this is a personal attack and therefore the Third Faction must not succeed in their mission.
Random thoughts . . .
Dancing in the train station . . . This can only be an allusion to the famous scene in The Fisher King wherein Grand Central Station becomes a ballroom and all the travellers dancers. To those who do not recall this movie, I highly recommend it. In fact, I should re-view it myself. My memory of this film is far too dim for my liking. (Thanks to Leslie for confirming my memory.)
Didn't we just know that a spork would someday feature in the solution to a problem facing our heroes? And that Marshall would somehow be involved? Is there any question that someone didn't get wind of fan fascination with the spork?
We're seeing glimpses of things that feel really right—things that were mostly missing last year—such as pleasant Sydney/Vaughn banter (I'm a mysterious man; did we hear any in season 3 after the new peach?), Sloane grit (Well, they're wrong), Nadia gravitating toward Jack (not Vaughn) during the uncertain moments while Marshall saved Sydney's life, and, of course, the awkward relationship Marshall shares with authority figures Jack and Sloane (absent season 3). On the other hand . . . no continuing threads, too bad, but sounds like there will be next week.
Were you a little worried from the preview that they'd spend most of the hour with Sydney stuck in that box? It could have been pretty boring if they'd concentrated on that tiny space.
A thought about this being a “Marshall episode” . . . generally every episode is a “Sydney episode” to a greater or lesser degree, which places a hell of a burden on Ms Garner—her injury and last year's threat of burn-out are evidence of that—but it also places a burden on the writers, who must find more and more interesting things to do with the character. And with such blinding focus on a single character week after week, that can be exhausting—and exhaust the character before its time. When you have an entire slate of potentially fascinating characters before you, isn't it almost a crime to ignore them while you are wearing out your most valuable asset? Let your star have a little rest and let the supporting cast show what they can do every now and then. Besides, there are fans out there who will thank you for it because they love those supporting characters and have been hoping to learn a little more about them—or just see a little more of them. (And, as a fan who is generally drawn to the supporting cast, I'll vouch for that.)
I promised to write a little bit about my thoughts about this season, positive and negative. Those will be coming out shortly, either before or after the next episode.
Discuss . . .
Why do you think Marshall would channel Jack rather than Sloane or someone else to boost his confidence in the field?
Marshall has always been the most forgiving of “Mr Heatherington,” even though Mr Sloane hasn't always been Marshall's biggest supporter. (Heck, he even visited Sark.) Why do you think that is?
Do you prefer to have every episode focus on Sydney, or do you like having an episode with more emphasis on a supporting character every now and then? If so, which supporting character would you most like to see featured? Who do you think has been most neglected?
Next:
Sydney is in danger of compromising Jack and Sloane's cabal? Jack must betray her trust to prevent this? Or did we mishear?
Meanwhile, Marshall is running late and making excuses to Carrie. Mitchell is ill and Carrie wants help—which isn't forthcoming with “Mr Heatherington” (Mr Sloane) breathing down Marshall's neck.
Sydney and Vaughn exchange a call as she meets her driver. He claims to love dancing and promises to take her out despite her protests, asserting that he's “a mysterious man.” As Sydney heads toward the airport, however, her car is rammed and she is knocked senseless. Meanwhile, Dixon delivers the drive, which blows up as it connects to the system, releasing a pathogen and causing lock-down to initiate. As Dixon assists the technician, he also collapses. As Vaughn, Weiss, and Nadia rush to help Dixon and the technician, they must inject themselves with atropine before they can touch their collapsed colleagues.
In Havana, Sydney and her contact face Ulrich. Her contact attempts to talk Ulrich out of what he's doing, but he is summarily shot in the head. Ulrich explains that this is because the contact was “his friend.” He has something worse in mind for Sydney.
In LA, Jack and Sloane assess the damage. They are under quarantine protocol and must assume that their computer system may be compromised. They call Marshall, who is just screeching to a halt outside. He reports that they haven't been hacked and asks what he can do. They call to confirm whether Sydney made her flight.
Sydney awakes to her ringing phone and finds she has one missed call. Using the light of the phone, she looks around and discovers that she is in a box—a coffin—with her contact. She returns the call and reports in. Marshall asks whether she has been buried alive. Sloane has to confirm that they are in lock-down for about the next 36 hours, so it is up to Marshall to go for Sydney—using what op-tech he can come up with on the fly. Meanwhile, Sydney must stay off the phone to preserve her battery power. Jack reminds Marshall that they have no margin for error.
Sloane reports that the Third Faction has stolen 4 canisters of cyclosarin, one drop of which was used to boobytrap the hard drive. The rest would be enough to destroy a city. Sloane cuts through distraction and rallies his troops.
In a Havana store, Marshall hastily puts together his dectector. The shopkeeper is worried that Marshall's scaring off customers, but the shopkeeper's mother is entertained. When Marshall asks for a radio, the shopkeeper produces an antique.
Sydney sends a picture of her contact for identification, but as she begins to repeat herself, Jack realizes that time is running out. He calls Marshall, who is closing on the cemetery. He is running toward the grave as Sydney's phone finally dies. He has found 7 fresh graves in the area and instructs Vaughn in tasking a satellite to narrow the search. With an infrared view, Vaughn directs Marshall to the correct grave. With everyone watching the satellite view anxiously, Marshall digs Sydney out and performs CPR. At last, Sydney is saved.
Sydney's contact is identified as Alex Rucker, a high-tech specialist for the Third Faction. Ulrich is identified as Ulrich Qator. To get the intel on the target of the next attack, however, they need access to his computer, which would be at (what else) his night club in Berlin. And since they would recognize Sydney, Marshall has to act as the field agent.
In Berlin, Sydney quickly runs through field operations with Marshall, reminding him to make eye contact with the guards, the cell phone-gun is sensitive, and that the cigarette case-flash drive needs to be within 2-3 feet of the hard drive to work. Marshall reflects that he hates lying to Carrie and picks up a call from her and does just that.
Marshall picks up a kiss on his way through the club to Ulrich's office. He bluffs his way into the office by telling the guards, “Tell Ulrich Alex wasn't the only one betraying him.” He poses as Jack Bristow as he bluffs long enough to get data on the flash drive. However, they need to get past a firewall, and to do that, they need to get to the basement—with Ulrich, because they need his retinal scan. Unfortunately, Marshall accidentally shoots him with the cell phone gun. Jack talks him through removing an eye with a letter opener, but the tool is a little too awkward, so Marshall resorts to removing the other eye with a spork.
Meanwhile, Sydney fights her way into the office, Marshall assisting by taking out a last guard. They make their way to the basement and Sydney uses the eye to access the computer terminal. As Marshall accesses the data, Sydney holds the line with her gun and Marshall's cell phone gun. They discover that the target is Hong Kong and notify the local CIA office there.
Sloane reports that they seized the bomb and that everything has worked out. They've discovered that the Third Faction involves 100s of contacts and is much larger than anticipated, so they have their work cut out for them. Dixon rejoins the group from recovery.
Sydney drives Marshall home. He invites her to dinner, but she has a previous engagement at the train station. She waits there on a bench until Vaughn's arrival. They dance.
Analysis . . .
Let's start with our guest agent, Marshall. Throwing op-tech together in the field to locate Sydney is a snap compared to what comes next. But somehow, is any of that less painful than fibbing to Carrie all the time—and palming off sick Mitchell on her? But someone has to save Hong Kong . . .
Stuck as the only available man to go in as a field agent, Marshall boosts his confidence by posing as the coolest cucumber he can think of: Jack Bristow. After all, Jack would know exactly what to do under these circumstances. But, unfortunately, Marshall isn't exactly Jack, so he accidentally shoots Ulrich. But it works out anyway, thanks to Marshall's adaptability, help from an expert (Sydney and Jack's coaching)--and a spork.
Caught in lock-down, the people who love Sydney the most are helpless to race to her rescue. Her father, who is most accustomed to sacrificing everything to save her, must rest all his hopes on Marshall's technical acumen. Nadia, Sydney's sister, is silently drawn to Jack's equally silent vigil by their shared threads of family connections.
Sloane refuses to take this insult lying down. He won't ignore the mission simply because Sydney is temporarily in trouble. There are things that they could be doing while Marshall is on his way. He tells his distracted team, “Look at me. Marshall's on his way. We'll get Sydney out. Make no mistake. The Third Faction wants us on our heels. They think they can bomb our operation. They think they can bury our agents alive. And they think that will stop us. Well, they're wrong. We have a job to do. Get to work.” To Sloane, this is a personal attack and therefore the Third Faction must not succeed in their mission.
Random thoughts . . .
Dancing in the train station . . . This can only be an allusion to the famous scene in The Fisher King wherein Grand Central Station becomes a ballroom and all the travellers dancers. To those who do not recall this movie, I highly recommend it. In fact, I should re-view it myself. My memory of this film is far too dim for my liking. (Thanks to Leslie for confirming my memory.)
Didn't we just know that a spork would someday feature in the solution to a problem facing our heroes? And that Marshall would somehow be involved? Is there any question that someone didn't get wind of fan fascination with the spork?
We're seeing glimpses of things that feel really right—things that were mostly missing last year—such as pleasant Sydney/Vaughn banter (I'm a mysterious man; did we hear any in season 3 after the new peach?), Sloane grit (Well, they're wrong), Nadia gravitating toward Jack (not Vaughn) during the uncertain moments while Marshall saved Sydney's life, and, of course, the awkward relationship Marshall shares with authority figures Jack and Sloane (absent season 3). On the other hand . . . no continuing threads, too bad, but sounds like there will be next week.
Were you a little worried from the preview that they'd spend most of the hour with Sydney stuck in that box? It could have been pretty boring if they'd concentrated on that tiny space.
A thought about this being a “Marshall episode” . . . generally every episode is a “Sydney episode” to a greater or lesser degree, which places a hell of a burden on Ms Garner—her injury and last year's threat of burn-out are evidence of that—but it also places a burden on the writers, who must find more and more interesting things to do with the character. And with such blinding focus on a single character week after week, that can be exhausting—and exhaust the character before its time. When you have an entire slate of potentially fascinating characters before you, isn't it almost a crime to ignore them while you are wearing out your most valuable asset? Let your star have a little rest and let the supporting cast show what they can do every now and then. Besides, there are fans out there who will thank you for it because they love those supporting characters and have been hoping to learn a little more about them—or just see a little more of them. (And, as a fan who is generally drawn to the supporting cast, I'll vouch for that.)
I promised to write a little bit about my thoughts about this season, positive and negative. Those will be coming out shortly, either before or after the next episode.
Discuss . . .
Why do you think Marshall would channel Jack rather than Sloane or someone else to boost his confidence in the field?
Marshall has always been the most forgiving of “Mr Heatherington,” even though Mr Sloane hasn't always been Marshall's biggest supporter. (Heck, he even visited Sark.) Why do you think that is?
Do you prefer to have every episode focus on Sydney, or do you like having an episode with more emphasis on a supporting character every now and then? If so, which supporting character would you most like to see featured? Who do you think has been most neglected?
Next:
Sydney is in danger of compromising Jack and Sloane's cabal? Jack must betray her trust to prevent this? Or did we mishear?
