V
verdantheart
Guest
We begin at the beginning (what a concept!), in the Bahamas, as Sydney and Marshall break into a bank safe while Vaughn and Dixon (wow) stage a diversion. The manager walks in just as Sydney is closing the safe. She honestly answers that she was breaking into his safe when he asks what she was doing, and they have a good laugh.
Back in LA, Sydney throws a birthday party for Weiss, who seems to be getting along well with Nadia (an invite to the Magic Castle?). Then Jack walks in upon a chilly breeze, saying with typically arid humor that his invitation must have been lost in the mail. His reason for dropping by, however, was to check on Sydney’s status with Nadia--has she told her who killed their mother yet. Sydney admits that she hasn’t, but that she plans to.
At APO, Sloane tells the team that the theft of the Valta computer--an advanced system for gathering information system from satellite networks--coincided with the deposit of three million euros into the account of one Martin Bishop, a noted ladykiller and thief who favors high-risk/high-reward military targets. After the meeting, Sloane thanks Sydney for taking Nadia in. Sydney expresses her regret over giving Sloane “a warm and fuzzy feeling.” Sloane lets Sydney know that Jack will be doing Nadia’s psych evaluation for APO.
Jack pulls Sydney aside and asks her when she plans to tell Nadia the truth and Sydney says that she will do it after the mission. Jack says that he has decided that it’s necessary after all and that he agrees with her plan.
Nadia looks on with Sloane and asks, “Is he always so cold?” Sloane responds, “Jack? I’m afraid so.” At that time, her evaluation begins.
The team brainstorms the approach and work out the details. Sydney suggests that since Bishop is a thief, they must be invited into his house in Spain. Therefore, they stage a traffic accident from which Bishop must rescue the seemingly hapless Sydney. He invites her to his house and snoops through her things as she takes a shower. She has, however, allayed his suspicions enough that he leaves her alone while he attends to business.
Meanwhile, Jack conducts his evaluation of the impatient Nadia. During a break, Sloane asks Jack if he has formed an opinion. Jacks says that he has, but that he needs to be certain.
In Spain, Sydney moves to the basement, transmits the location of the Valta, and heads out, but she is caught at the door by Bishop. Sydney pretends that she saw Bishop driving up and came to meet him.
In LA, Jack continues his questioning. A weary Nadia says, “I don’t mean to seem impatient, but I’ve never done anything that’s lasted as long as this.” Jack responds, “How sad for you.” They are interrupted by news of Sydney’s blown cover, however, and Jack concludes the examination.
Sloane asks whether Jack has learned anything helpful and Jack responds that he’s learned enough “to deal with the problem at hand.” He tells Sloane he wants to go after Sydney and take Nadia with him.
In Spain, Bishop is softly grilling Sydney, telling her that he doesn’t “believe in coincidences.” Meanwhile, the Alameda yards is raided a CIA team led by Weiss. They manage to destroy the Valta, but Weiss is captured. This news is reported to Bishop, who manages to capture Sydney in turn.
As Jack and Nadia fly to Spain, Nadia expresses her worry over possible discomfort that her presence might cause him. But Jack says that he “would never blame [her] for [her] mother’s infidelity.” Then he hands her a folder. He tells her that her “ability to adapt to sudden changes in protocol, to handle adverse situations is exceptional.”
Sydney and Weiss now share captivity. Bishop tells them that he needs something of equal or greater value to the Valta to replace it, or he’s toast. He is called away from his prisoners, however, leaving them with a goon--from whom they escape after a little diversion and struggle. Sydney pursues Bishop, but Nadia shows up in time to pump him full of lead.
She believes him to be the man who killed their mother.
Weiss seems to have joined his friends at APO, having discovered the existence of the black ops project.
Analysis . . .
OK, what exactly is it with Sydney? She refuses to take any of Vaughn’s clues to get outta there when chatting with Bishop. She pursues him and hangs onto his car when she could have left him to his employers to deal with. Think about it: he killed his wife. And then there’s Jack, who killed his, well, estranged wife, anyway. Sydney can’t kill Jack, but she might be able to come up with an excuse for blowing away this piece of scum--if she plays along long enough. And that might make her feel a little better. That’s the only excuse for Sydney’s unusual lack of assertiveness. Graceful exit? My eye. I wonder if it’s a conscious or subconscious impulse?
Sloane’s warm, fuzzy feeling. Sydney’s letting Nadia stay with her. Sloane’s happy because this will ease her transition--after all, the two women have so much in common. They share the same mother--with all the baggage that entails--and they both have issues with their respective fathers. They’re both in the espionage business, with the excitement and the pain that comes with it. Sisters share the experience in a different way than lovers do--anyway, this could be interesting.
Which brings us to the matter at hand, which is whether and when to tell Nadia the truth about Irina Derevko’s murder. Sydney wants to tell her as soon as possible because murder will out, after all, and better Nadia hear it from her, after all. Jack is against it--at least, that is, until he finds a way to circumvent Sydney’s action.
Let’s take a look at the ramifications of Sydney’s plan. Nadia doesn’t really know anyone that well yet, and she barely knows Jack at all. She isn’t related to Jack (that we know of), so if she learned that Jack killed her mother, all that there would be to keep her from pulling the trigger would be “he did it to save Sydney.” Would that be enough? Would that even register with “he killed your mother” screaming through her mind? I wonder. After all, Sydney can barely stand Jack, and he was saving her--and he is her father--she knows him and was even, finally, bonding with him.
Say Nadia did go after Jack. Either she would succeed, or he’d defend himself, either killing her or hurting her. Would he defend himself? Hm. At this point, it’s hard to say what his position regarding Nadia is. He knowingly abetted Sloane’s escape with her. It’s hard for me to picture his killing her to save himself, somehow. Perhaps if there were non-lethal means of stopping her . . . And in that case, think of the lingering consequences to their relationships and team. But if Nadia succeeded in killing Jack, consider the next domino--the effect of Jack’s death on Sydney. She might tell herself that she hates him now, perhaps, but do you imagine that she would not grieve for the old SOB who never had a chance to pull much joy out of life? Would she kick herself for not expressing her love for him? What would that do to her? To her relationship with Nadia? What would it do to Nadia? Would both of them survive the fallout?
Do you think that Jack hasn’t considered these possibilities? In more detail than I have?
Jack looks for an answer, in part, in Nadia’s psych profile--and comes up with the gambit of blaming the murder on Bishop, the thief holding Sydney captive. Convenient, eh? But that isn’t what Jack was getting at with his questions. His questions seemed to be probing Nadia for her loyalty and resistance to playing things by the book. And he seemed to come up aces there. Sydney is loyal enough, but she is also eager enough to turn people in--sometimes over-eager (when she tries to do it without sufficient evidence, for example). Nadia, from her answers, seems to put her priority on relationships and seems reluctant to report suspicions. Perhaps she would be more likely to give someone she trusts the benefit of every last doubt until she's absolutely certain.
Nadia notices that Jack's questions make her partner male. Jack says that this is irrelevant, but is it? If he's looking for eventual loyalty and forgiveness, it might not be entirely irrelevant. Nadia switches genders on Jack, and Jack continues in that vein, but this might be an important clue to Jack's thinking.
My feeling is that Jack is looking toward the future here. Jack must realize that he cannot sit on the truth forever--it is too widely known now; Bishop was a stop-gap measure. However, he now has time to work with Nadia to build some sort of relationship with her before this truth comes out. This will allow him to work with her sense of loyalty and protectiveness toward her team. Exactly how he intends to do this remains to be seen.
Random thoughts . . .
Hurrah! Dixon gets to, like, do something, mon!
An episode that begins at the beginning. As my college roomies would say, totally new concept!
“How sad for you.” Jack, you are hilarious.
Weiss gets in instead of a debrief. Is this because he knows everyone?
I am going to ignore the numerous theories that Irina isn’t really dead for these reasons: It seems very certain that Ms Olin is not returning and fans will not accept anyone else in the role; Jack has admitted that he killed Irina to his daughter (I don’t think he would do that for jollies); if she were only in hiding, there is no reason why Sydney could not be trusted with the secret any more than Jack (again with the jollies of the death cover story). I believe that the grave story that everyone pointed to as evidence of a cover-up on Sydney’s part was actually put in by the producers to prevent just the kind of denial that is occurring. Oh well, this is Alias, after all! lol . . . If she turns up someday, fine. Until then, may she rest in the peace she was named for.
Discuss . . .
So, do you think that Sydney’s staying with Bishop and going after him was an effort to take Jack out in effigy? Do you think this was conscious or not?
Why do you think Sydney’s in such a hurry to tell Nadia the truth? Is it spite or respect? Is it that Sydney can’t exact retribution, but Nadia can? (Consider the above question.) Or is it that the truth will come out eventually and “the earlier, the better.” Why? Do you think she has fully considered the consequences of her decision?
What do you think would have happened if Nadia had learned the truth at this juncture? Would she try to kill Jack?
If Nadia had learned the truth and decided to kill Jack, do you think that he would defend himself? Do you think he would kill Nadia if he had to in order to protect himself?
Let’s say Nadia did kill Jack. What do you think would happen between Sydney and Nadia? Between Sloane and Nadia?
What do you think Jack was trying to discover during his psychological examination of Nadia? He and Sloane seem to be very buddy-buddy in their plans for the girls so far. What do you think of that?
Nadia’s first impression of Jack--“Is he always so cold?” How do you see their relationship developing?
Sydney is working hard at keeping her attitude towards Sloane cold and angry. Do you see this continuing indefinitely? Or do you think Sloane will wear her down? Do you think Sydney puts too much energy into maintaining this attitude?
OK, a question I missed last week. Do you think Jack really doesn't know why Irina wanted to put a hit out on Sydney or do you think he's still withholding? If so, why? The jig is already up for him, after all. (If you're in denial, you might want to skip this one. )
Next:
Vaughn sees something he doesn’t want to; Nadia tries to penetrate the iceberg.
Back in LA, Sydney throws a birthday party for Weiss, who seems to be getting along well with Nadia (an invite to the Magic Castle?). Then Jack walks in upon a chilly breeze, saying with typically arid humor that his invitation must have been lost in the mail. His reason for dropping by, however, was to check on Sydney’s status with Nadia--has she told her who killed their mother yet. Sydney admits that she hasn’t, but that she plans to.
At APO, Sloane tells the team that the theft of the Valta computer--an advanced system for gathering information system from satellite networks--coincided with the deposit of three million euros into the account of one Martin Bishop, a noted ladykiller and thief who favors high-risk/high-reward military targets. After the meeting, Sloane thanks Sydney for taking Nadia in. Sydney expresses her regret over giving Sloane “a warm and fuzzy feeling.” Sloane lets Sydney know that Jack will be doing Nadia’s psych evaluation for APO.
Jack pulls Sydney aside and asks her when she plans to tell Nadia the truth and Sydney says that she will do it after the mission. Jack says that he has decided that it’s necessary after all and that he agrees with her plan.
Nadia looks on with Sloane and asks, “Is he always so cold?” Sloane responds, “Jack? I’m afraid so.” At that time, her evaluation begins.
The team brainstorms the approach and work out the details. Sydney suggests that since Bishop is a thief, they must be invited into his house in Spain. Therefore, they stage a traffic accident from which Bishop must rescue the seemingly hapless Sydney. He invites her to his house and snoops through her things as she takes a shower. She has, however, allayed his suspicions enough that he leaves her alone while he attends to business.
Meanwhile, Jack conducts his evaluation of the impatient Nadia. During a break, Sloane asks Jack if he has formed an opinion. Jacks says that he has, but that he needs to be certain.
In Spain, Sydney moves to the basement, transmits the location of the Valta, and heads out, but she is caught at the door by Bishop. Sydney pretends that she saw Bishop driving up and came to meet him.
In LA, Jack continues his questioning. A weary Nadia says, “I don’t mean to seem impatient, but I’ve never done anything that’s lasted as long as this.” Jack responds, “How sad for you.” They are interrupted by news of Sydney’s blown cover, however, and Jack concludes the examination.
Sloane asks whether Jack has learned anything helpful and Jack responds that he’s learned enough “to deal with the problem at hand.” He tells Sloane he wants to go after Sydney and take Nadia with him.
In Spain, Bishop is softly grilling Sydney, telling her that he doesn’t “believe in coincidences.” Meanwhile, the Alameda yards is raided a CIA team led by Weiss. They manage to destroy the Valta, but Weiss is captured. This news is reported to Bishop, who manages to capture Sydney in turn.
As Jack and Nadia fly to Spain, Nadia expresses her worry over possible discomfort that her presence might cause him. But Jack says that he “would never blame [her] for [her] mother’s infidelity.” Then he hands her a folder. He tells her that her “ability to adapt to sudden changes in protocol, to handle adverse situations is exceptional.”
Sydney and Weiss now share captivity. Bishop tells them that he needs something of equal or greater value to the Valta to replace it, or he’s toast. He is called away from his prisoners, however, leaving them with a goon--from whom they escape after a little diversion and struggle. Sydney pursues Bishop, but Nadia shows up in time to pump him full of lead.
She believes him to be the man who killed their mother.
Weiss seems to have joined his friends at APO, having discovered the existence of the black ops project.
Analysis . . .
OK, what exactly is it with Sydney? She refuses to take any of Vaughn’s clues to get outta there when chatting with Bishop. She pursues him and hangs onto his car when she could have left him to his employers to deal with. Think about it: he killed his wife. And then there’s Jack, who killed his, well, estranged wife, anyway. Sydney can’t kill Jack, but she might be able to come up with an excuse for blowing away this piece of scum--if she plays along long enough. And that might make her feel a little better. That’s the only excuse for Sydney’s unusual lack of assertiveness. Graceful exit? My eye. I wonder if it’s a conscious or subconscious impulse?
Sloane’s warm, fuzzy feeling. Sydney’s letting Nadia stay with her. Sloane’s happy because this will ease her transition--after all, the two women have so much in common. They share the same mother--with all the baggage that entails--and they both have issues with their respective fathers. They’re both in the espionage business, with the excitement and the pain that comes with it. Sisters share the experience in a different way than lovers do--anyway, this could be interesting.
Which brings us to the matter at hand, which is whether and when to tell Nadia the truth about Irina Derevko’s murder. Sydney wants to tell her as soon as possible because murder will out, after all, and better Nadia hear it from her, after all. Jack is against it--at least, that is, until he finds a way to circumvent Sydney’s action.
Let’s take a look at the ramifications of Sydney’s plan. Nadia doesn’t really know anyone that well yet, and she barely knows Jack at all. She isn’t related to Jack (that we know of), so if she learned that Jack killed her mother, all that there would be to keep her from pulling the trigger would be “he did it to save Sydney.” Would that be enough? Would that even register with “he killed your mother” screaming through her mind? I wonder. After all, Sydney can barely stand Jack, and he was saving her--and he is her father--she knows him and was even, finally, bonding with him.
Say Nadia did go after Jack. Either she would succeed, or he’d defend himself, either killing her or hurting her. Would he defend himself? Hm. At this point, it’s hard to say what his position regarding Nadia is. He knowingly abetted Sloane’s escape with her. It’s hard for me to picture his killing her to save himself, somehow. Perhaps if there were non-lethal means of stopping her . . . And in that case, think of the lingering consequences to their relationships and team. But if Nadia succeeded in killing Jack, consider the next domino--the effect of Jack’s death on Sydney. She might tell herself that she hates him now, perhaps, but do you imagine that she would not grieve for the old SOB who never had a chance to pull much joy out of life? Would she kick herself for not expressing her love for him? What would that do to her? To her relationship with Nadia? What would it do to Nadia? Would both of them survive the fallout?
Do you think that Jack hasn’t considered these possibilities? In more detail than I have?
Jack looks for an answer, in part, in Nadia’s psych profile--and comes up with the gambit of blaming the murder on Bishop, the thief holding Sydney captive. Convenient, eh? But that isn’t what Jack was getting at with his questions. His questions seemed to be probing Nadia for her loyalty and resistance to playing things by the book. And he seemed to come up aces there. Sydney is loyal enough, but she is also eager enough to turn people in--sometimes over-eager (when she tries to do it without sufficient evidence, for example). Nadia, from her answers, seems to put her priority on relationships and seems reluctant to report suspicions. Perhaps she would be more likely to give someone she trusts the benefit of every last doubt until she's absolutely certain.
Nadia notices that Jack's questions make her partner male. Jack says that this is irrelevant, but is it? If he's looking for eventual loyalty and forgiveness, it might not be entirely irrelevant. Nadia switches genders on Jack, and Jack continues in that vein, but this might be an important clue to Jack's thinking.
My feeling is that Jack is looking toward the future here. Jack must realize that he cannot sit on the truth forever--it is too widely known now; Bishop was a stop-gap measure. However, he now has time to work with Nadia to build some sort of relationship with her before this truth comes out. This will allow him to work with her sense of loyalty and protectiveness toward her team. Exactly how he intends to do this remains to be seen.
Random thoughts . . .
Hurrah! Dixon gets to, like, do something, mon!
An episode that begins at the beginning. As my college roomies would say, totally new concept!
“How sad for you.” Jack, you are hilarious.
Weiss gets in instead of a debrief. Is this because he knows everyone?
I am going to ignore the numerous theories that Irina isn’t really dead for these reasons: It seems very certain that Ms Olin is not returning and fans will not accept anyone else in the role; Jack has admitted that he killed Irina to his daughter (I don’t think he would do that for jollies); if she were only in hiding, there is no reason why Sydney could not be trusted with the secret any more than Jack (again with the jollies of the death cover story). I believe that the grave story that everyone pointed to as evidence of a cover-up on Sydney’s part was actually put in by the producers to prevent just the kind of denial that is occurring. Oh well, this is Alias, after all! lol . . . If she turns up someday, fine. Until then, may she rest in the peace she was named for.
Discuss . . .
So, do you think that Sydney’s staying with Bishop and going after him was an effort to take Jack out in effigy? Do you think this was conscious or not?
Why do you think Sydney’s in such a hurry to tell Nadia the truth? Is it spite or respect? Is it that Sydney can’t exact retribution, but Nadia can? (Consider the above question.) Or is it that the truth will come out eventually and “the earlier, the better.” Why? Do you think she has fully considered the consequences of her decision?
What do you think would have happened if Nadia had learned the truth at this juncture? Would she try to kill Jack?
If Nadia had learned the truth and decided to kill Jack, do you think that he would defend himself? Do you think he would kill Nadia if he had to in order to protect himself?
Let’s say Nadia did kill Jack. What do you think would happen between Sydney and Nadia? Between Sloane and Nadia?
What do you think Jack was trying to discover during his psychological examination of Nadia? He and Sloane seem to be very buddy-buddy in their plans for the girls so far. What do you think of that?
Nadia’s first impression of Jack--“Is he always so cold?” How do you see their relationship developing?
Sydney is working hard at keeping her attitude towards Sloane cold and angry. Do you see this continuing indefinitely? Or do you think Sloane will wear her down? Do you think Sydney puts too much energy into maintaining this attitude?
OK, a question I missed last week. Do you think Jack really doesn't know why Irina wanted to put a hit out on Sydney or do you think he's still withholding? If so, why? The jig is already up for him, after all. (If you're in denial, you might want to skip this one. )
Next:
Vaughn sees something he doesn’t want to; Nadia tries to penetrate the iceberg.