V
verdantheart
Guest
“Mockingbird” opens in Monte Carlo with very pregnant Sydney throwing dice as Tom breaks and enters elsewhere in the casino. Dixon, also at the dice table, objects. When suspicion falls on Sydney, she leaves in a huff, but is called into a back room. She tells them she's “not like other moms” and promptly tranqs them. She makes for a safe, calling Tom for a key code and picks up the package, which turns out to be an archive of some type. Tom delivers the getaway car, posing as a valet, but when they reach the ferry, the car is lifted by magnetic crane and Sydney receives a call from Gordon Dean. He says he wants Mockingbird or he will drop her. Sydney tells him he doesn't know what Mockingbird is.
Shift 72 hours earlier to Los Angeles. Rachel is continuing her brain dump, telling Sydney she can't rest until she gets it all out. After all, all her co-workers died because she had to return to work that day. Sydney asks about a code word that pops up continuously in her debriefing—Mockingbird. Rachel's callsign is Mockingbird.
Back at Dean's Ranch, Dean assigns new guy Keach to a mysterious target. Meanwhile, Peyton reminds Dean that she needs money to keep things running.
In LA, Marshall has been watching Dean's accounts and strikes pay dirt: Dean has consolidated the accounts to a master account in the Cayman Islands. If they can crack the account and steal the money, they can cripple Dean's organization. Rachel, however isn't so sure that's possible because of account 1017's restrictions. To get to the money, you must be present and follow a strict protocol—one which was outlined on the destroyed server in Prague. No problem, Marshall says, he can reconstruct the data from the fried disk. However, Rachel must take them through the blasted remains of the office to the correct computer.
While Sydney and a reluctant Rachel head to Prague while Dixon and Tom head to the Cayman Islands, Sloane heads to a hearing regarding his pardon agreement . . . and the board seems none to friendly about it.
Dixon and Tom settle on the beach to await the bank official, while in Prague Sydney coaches Rachel in how to handle carnage. She tells Rachel to play the part. You're this person on the name tag, she says. You see this every day. As Rachel enters the office, she envisions what it used to look like as she leads Sydney to the computer. In the Cayman Islands, Pierpoint from the bank arrives early to meet Dixon and Tom and leads them to a satellite office set up . . . on the beach. Dixon calls with a coded message, signalling Sydney and Rachel to hurry. They hook up the drive just in time for the two to begin answering the questions of the protocol. One question, “If there was never a one there was ever . . .” resulted in no result from the disk, but Rachel recalls Dean mentioning this aphorism and finishes “. . . the twelve.”
Back on Dean's ranch, Peyton notices the transfer of funds. Dean realizes that Rachel Gibson is alive and the two resolve to get her back.
Meanwhile, Sloane's hearing is not going so well. He is forced to admit that for years did many misdeeds in a “misguided attempt to pursue a higher power,” but insists that he is “a changed man” thanks to the influence of his daughter, whom he only recently learned existed. Unfortunately for Sloane, however, the board believes that Sloane betrayed the agency, in part causing thousands of deaths in Sovogda rather than going undercover to avert world disaster as his colleagues believe. In fact, Hardin, the chairman, asserts, “these procedures are merely a formality” and Sloane can expect his pardon agreement to be revoked. Jack tells Sloane that it is unlikely that he will be given any time to put his affairs in order. Sloane tells Jack to thank Sydney and Dixon for their help.
Now that APO is in full control of Dean's finances, they've intercepted a call from Dean to one of his henchmen in Monte Carlo. Apparently he has an archive of the organization's computer records that they want to pick up. The team rushes to beat them to it.
Meanwhile, Keach pays Sloane a visit, telling him that he has powerful friends who can sway the board's decision. Sloane says, “I assume these benefactors of yours want something in return for their help?”
As the APO team rushes to pull the op together, they realize that it will be difficult to get the key code for the safe—it needs to be done on-site. Rachel offers her help.
We return to the opening scenes, filling in the missing piece: Mockingbird, who is stashed in the trunk of the car. She gives the key code to Tom, who relays it to Sydney. And as Sydney hangs from the crane, she is still there. Dean tells Sydney the archive is a fake: bait for this trap. Sydney stalls,claiming that Rachel is in a safehouse in Philadelphia. Dixon and Tom arrive, finding video monitoring—at which point the car is dropped some distance in warning and the two are warned off. Dean insists on talking to Rachel and eventually he realizes that she is in the car—at which point he cuts bait and drops the car—but Sydney has solved the problem and hangs from the crane holding on to Rachel.
Sloane returns for the ruling on his pardon agreement. Stating their “extreme disapproval” with his conduct, they state that his results “fall within the guidelines of [his] agreement,” and Sloane is free to go. A very suspicious Jack looks on.
As they return from Monte Carlo, Rachel wonders how the others can sleep and sadly realizes that “it doesn't end with Dean.”
Comments . . .
Kill her, get her back, kill her . . . um, make up your mind already! Seriously, folks, why's Rachel so important . . . yet somehow dispensable?
Sloane, who ignored an open door last episode, discovers that no good deed goes unpunished. Now he must pay—probably dearly—for his freedom. But, as we know, dealing with Sloane is not something one should do lightly. If I were Dean, I would keep Sloane very close indeed. It's obvious, though, that Jack smelled a rat . . . Sloane has to know that was an unavoidable consequence of this machination.
Meanwhile, our little Mockingbird's education continues. She gets through the ugly scene of death and destruction by pretending to be someone inured to such things. Some things, like going back to Prague and talking to Dean, Sydney gives her a push and coaches her through; other things, like going to Monte Carlo, she volunteers for. She's comfortable with tech things, not so comfortable with people or gore.
Quibbles . . .
Again with the back-up structure. The main reason for doing this seems to be to allow the show to start with an exciting action scene. This particular one left out Rachel so that they could replay it later on, showing her parts (oh, we'll show Tom opening the trunk, but we won't show what's inside!). Now, really, what reason do they have for this little preview? To leave us wondering how she got in this predicament? No, they showed us that. To leave us wondering what the heck Mockingbird is? No, wait, they answered that question almost immediately. I guess it could be a little intro to the Mockingbird theme, but that's a pretty feeble reason to repeat an entire sequence. Which leaves us with—to give us an exciting scene to start the show with. If you really want to start the show with an exciting scene, can't you write the story that way? Meanwhile, we've only got a 40-minute show. Do we really need to pad it?
This little “pull an action scene out and play up to it” structure has been repeated so frequently on Alias that it's become quite the cliché. Perhaps the producers consider it the Alias trademark or hallmark, but for me it's simply “what, again?” I've seen it used many times on many series, sometimes effectively, sometimes not so effectively. However, the more it's used, the less effective it is, in my opinion. (Your opinion may vary.)
Random thoughts . . .
Tom's codename is Sidewinder. Not bad—and not a bird! Or is it Tom's? It could be Rachel's . . . but if it is, why did Sydney speak to Tom as if she was speaking directly to Sidewinder, then Tom reply in third person? Just being tricky for the back-up gimmick?
Ah, the twelve . . . shades of the Alliance of Twelve? If so, I've kind of missed them, so I wouldn't mind if they've somehow managed to limp back into existence . . . and, if so . . . hm, Sloane might have some 'splainin' to do . . .
Sloane coming back after finding no cure last week. Hm. Is that really what he'd do, or was he really thinking that they'd let him out? I'm not so sure I think he'd take that gamble, but what the hey.
Questions . . .
What do you make of Dean's eagerness to get Rachel back considering she flew the coop? In light of his willingness to cut her loose (that is, kill her)?
Any ideas about Dean's interest in Sloane? Do you think Jack has any concrete ideas, or just general suspicions that something's going on?
Are you liking the way Sydney and Rachel's mentoring relationship is developing?
Next:
Who's in the box?
Modifications:
1) (2005/10/27) Sidewinder - Could be Rachel's callsign?
Shift 72 hours earlier to Los Angeles. Rachel is continuing her brain dump, telling Sydney she can't rest until she gets it all out. After all, all her co-workers died because she had to return to work that day. Sydney asks about a code word that pops up continuously in her debriefing—Mockingbird. Rachel's callsign is Mockingbird.
Back at Dean's Ranch, Dean assigns new guy Keach to a mysterious target. Meanwhile, Peyton reminds Dean that she needs money to keep things running.
In LA, Marshall has been watching Dean's accounts and strikes pay dirt: Dean has consolidated the accounts to a master account in the Cayman Islands. If they can crack the account and steal the money, they can cripple Dean's organization. Rachel, however isn't so sure that's possible because of account 1017's restrictions. To get to the money, you must be present and follow a strict protocol—one which was outlined on the destroyed server in Prague. No problem, Marshall says, he can reconstruct the data from the fried disk. However, Rachel must take them through the blasted remains of the office to the correct computer.
While Sydney and a reluctant Rachel head to Prague while Dixon and Tom head to the Cayman Islands, Sloane heads to a hearing regarding his pardon agreement . . . and the board seems none to friendly about it.
Dixon and Tom settle on the beach to await the bank official, while in Prague Sydney coaches Rachel in how to handle carnage. She tells Rachel to play the part. You're this person on the name tag, she says. You see this every day. As Rachel enters the office, she envisions what it used to look like as she leads Sydney to the computer. In the Cayman Islands, Pierpoint from the bank arrives early to meet Dixon and Tom and leads them to a satellite office set up . . . on the beach. Dixon calls with a coded message, signalling Sydney and Rachel to hurry. They hook up the drive just in time for the two to begin answering the questions of the protocol. One question, “If there was never a one there was ever . . .” resulted in no result from the disk, but Rachel recalls Dean mentioning this aphorism and finishes “. . . the twelve.”
Back on Dean's ranch, Peyton notices the transfer of funds. Dean realizes that Rachel Gibson is alive and the two resolve to get her back.
Meanwhile, Sloane's hearing is not going so well. He is forced to admit that for years did many misdeeds in a “misguided attempt to pursue a higher power,” but insists that he is “a changed man” thanks to the influence of his daughter, whom he only recently learned existed. Unfortunately for Sloane, however, the board believes that Sloane betrayed the agency, in part causing thousands of deaths in Sovogda rather than going undercover to avert world disaster as his colleagues believe. In fact, Hardin, the chairman, asserts, “these procedures are merely a formality” and Sloane can expect his pardon agreement to be revoked. Jack tells Sloane that it is unlikely that he will be given any time to put his affairs in order. Sloane tells Jack to thank Sydney and Dixon for their help.
Now that APO is in full control of Dean's finances, they've intercepted a call from Dean to one of his henchmen in Monte Carlo. Apparently he has an archive of the organization's computer records that they want to pick up. The team rushes to beat them to it.
Meanwhile, Keach pays Sloane a visit, telling him that he has powerful friends who can sway the board's decision. Sloane says, “I assume these benefactors of yours want something in return for their help?”
As the APO team rushes to pull the op together, they realize that it will be difficult to get the key code for the safe—it needs to be done on-site. Rachel offers her help.
We return to the opening scenes, filling in the missing piece: Mockingbird, who is stashed in the trunk of the car. She gives the key code to Tom, who relays it to Sydney. And as Sydney hangs from the crane, she is still there. Dean tells Sydney the archive is a fake: bait for this trap. Sydney stalls,claiming that Rachel is in a safehouse in Philadelphia. Dixon and Tom arrive, finding video monitoring—at which point the car is dropped some distance in warning and the two are warned off. Dean insists on talking to Rachel and eventually he realizes that she is in the car—at which point he cuts bait and drops the car—but Sydney has solved the problem and hangs from the crane holding on to Rachel.
Sloane returns for the ruling on his pardon agreement. Stating their “extreme disapproval” with his conduct, they state that his results “fall within the guidelines of [his] agreement,” and Sloane is free to go. A very suspicious Jack looks on.
As they return from Monte Carlo, Rachel wonders how the others can sleep and sadly realizes that “it doesn't end with Dean.”
Comments . . .
Kill her, get her back, kill her . . . um, make up your mind already! Seriously, folks, why's Rachel so important . . . yet somehow dispensable?
Sloane, who ignored an open door last episode, discovers that no good deed goes unpunished. Now he must pay—probably dearly—for his freedom. But, as we know, dealing with Sloane is not something one should do lightly. If I were Dean, I would keep Sloane very close indeed. It's obvious, though, that Jack smelled a rat . . . Sloane has to know that was an unavoidable consequence of this machination.
Meanwhile, our little Mockingbird's education continues. She gets through the ugly scene of death and destruction by pretending to be someone inured to such things. Some things, like going back to Prague and talking to Dean, Sydney gives her a push and coaches her through; other things, like going to Monte Carlo, she volunteers for. She's comfortable with tech things, not so comfortable with people or gore.
Quibbles . . .
Again with the back-up structure. The main reason for doing this seems to be to allow the show to start with an exciting action scene. This particular one left out Rachel so that they could replay it later on, showing her parts (oh, we'll show Tom opening the trunk, but we won't show what's inside!). Now, really, what reason do they have for this little preview? To leave us wondering how she got in this predicament? No, they showed us that. To leave us wondering what the heck Mockingbird is? No, wait, they answered that question almost immediately. I guess it could be a little intro to the Mockingbird theme, but that's a pretty feeble reason to repeat an entire sequence. Which leaves us with—to give us an exciting scene to start the show with. If you really want to start the show with an exciting scene, can't you write the story that way? Meanwhile, we've only got a 40-minute show. Do we really need to pad it?
This little “pull an action scene out and play up to it” structure has been repeated so frequently on Alias that it's become quite the cliché. Perhaps the producers consider it the Alias trademark or hallmark, but for me it's simply “what, again?” I've seen it used many times on many series, sometimes effectively, sometimes not so effectively. However, the more it's used, the less effective it is, in my opinion. (Your opinion may vary.)
Random thoughts . . .
Tom's codename is Sidewinder. Not bad—and not a bird! Or is it Tom's? It could be Rachel's . . . but if it is, why did Sydney speak to Tom as if she was speaking directly to Sidewinder, then Tom reply in third person? Just being tricky for the back-up gimmick?
Ah, the twelve . . . shades of the Alliance of Twelve? If so, I've kind of missed them, so I wouldn't mind if they've somehow managed to limp back into existence . . . and, if so . . . hm, Sloane might have some 'splainin' to do . . .
Sloane coming back after finding no cure last week. Hm. Is that really what he'd do, or was he really thinking that they'd let him out? I'm not so sure I think he'd take that gamble, but what the hey.
Questions . . .
What do you make of Dean's eagerness to get Rachel back considering she flew the coop? In light of his willingness to cut her loose (that is, kill her)?
Any ideas about Dean's interest in Sloane? Do you think Jack has any concrete ideas, or just general suspicions that something's going on?
Are you liking the way Sydney and Rachel's mentoring relationship is developing?
Next:
Who's in the box?
Modifications:
1) (2005/10/27) Sidewinder - Could be Rachel's callsign?
