V
verdantheart
Guest
Well, it’s the 10th episode, and I find myself writing the only the second Spy Dad column of the season. Either I’ve been feeling really lazy this season or we haven’t seen a whole lot of Mr Bristow this season so far. And although laziness is hardly an unusual condition for me--I have a great deal in common with my cat (although she can hold one position a great deal longer than I can!)--I have noticed that Mr Bristow has kept himself markedly in the background.
Could it be that he doesn’t want Sydney to know what he is up to?
Noooooooooooo! Never! I’m sure they have a complete open door policy with one another.
Um, you did notice my <sarcasm> tags, right?
Anyway, this is why Sydney pretty much nearly gets her father killed, right? Because Jack feels that he has to keep things from her and work closely with Sloane. Sydney doesn’t trust Sloane, so she corrupts the decoder disk. Jack gets caught at a crucial moment with said corrupted decoder disk and--ergo--is a spit second from being wiped off the face of the planet when Nadia swoops in and blows the bad guys away--um, Jack-style, if I may say so.
Simple enough. And when Jack says of Sloane, “He knew the decoder disk was a fake; he sold me out,” he knows it isn’t true. He’s already realized what has happened--that Dixon and/or Sydney--probably both--smelled that something was up and switched disks on them. There’s a note of lack of conviction in this speech that isn’t usually present in Jack’s performances. I sense a slight note of tiredness or sadness in it--or perhaps I’m imagining it. But my feeling is a sense of regret that he can’t be united with his daughter in this journey.
It’s Sydney who is chagrined for setting him up and nearly getting her father killed, but Jack merely says, “I’m OK, really. I’ll wait in the car.” She feels guilty for setting him up, endangering his life, for suspecting Sloane when she apparently shouldn’t have . . .
But the fact is that all of this could have been prevented by communication between father and daughter. The fact is that the fathers here are working on some side project that they have cut everyone else out of. Jack feels guilty about this and doesn’t want Sydney to feel guilt--because he believes that she is right to feel suspicious. He doesn’t want to hear her apologies because he believes she has nothing to apologize for.
Leaving Sydney with Nadia also gave the two sisters a chance to work out their disagreements and make their own sort of parallel pact. If the fathers’ pact provides, in part, for the safety of the daughters, perhaps the daughters can work something out for the sake of their fathers. It’s a logical agreement that can work to ensure Jack’s safety as well as Sloane’s. And while Jack might not put a high premium on his life for its own sake, he values it as protection for Sydney’s.
I suspect that it bothers him to work so closely with Sloane and I hope that we will begin to see more of these two and their inner workings. What is it that they are going through, anyway? What would drive Jack to make this bargain? And what the heck are they after? He swore that he would never work with Sloane again, yet here he is. Ah, the $64,000 question (oh, sorry, these days it’s probably the $1 M question--inflation, you know). But, as someone once said . . . “Truth takes time.”
Discuss . . .
Why do you think Jack spent so little time with Sydney after Nadia saved his life, leaving the Sisters to talk it over? Was it mostly about guilt? Or was it more calculated, to give the girls the opportunity to work something out that would benefit his operation with Sloane? Do you think he should have lingered longer?
Do you agree that Jack must have realized what happened when the decoder turned out to be fake? How do you think he felt about that?
What do you think he felt when he saw it was Nadia come to save him instead of Sydney? His expression was a bit blank (I felt “guarded”), not really changed from the reaction to the previous violence. Did he sense an opportunity--or was it something else?
Do you think Jack feels bad about keeping so many secrets from Sydney? How do you think he feels about working with Sloane? Do you think he feels compelled to do so? What sort of thing do you think would motivate him to do this?
Could it be that he doesn’t want Sydney to know what he is up to?
Noooooooooooo! Never! I’m sure they have a complete open door policy with one another.
Um, you did notice my <sarcasm> tags, right?
Anyway, this is why Sydney pretty much nearly gets her father killed, right? Because Jack feels that he has to keep things from her and work closely with Sloane. Sydney doesn’t trust Sloane, so she corrupts the decoder disk. Jack gets caught at a crucial moment with said corrupted decoder disk and--ergo--is a spit second from being wiped off the face of the planet when Nadia swoops in and blows the bad guys away--um, Jack-style, if I may say so.
Simple enough. And when Jack says of Sloane, “He knew the decoder disk was a fake; he sold me out,” he knows it isn’t true. He’s already realized what has happened--that Dixon and/or Sydney--probably both--smelled that something was up and switched disks on them. There’s a note of lack of conviction in this speech that isn’t usually present in Jack’s performances. I sense a slight note of tiredness or sadness in it--or perhaps I’m imagining it. But my feeling is a sense of regret that he can’t be united with his daughter in this journey.
It’s Sydney who is chagrined for setting him up and nearly getting her father killed, but Jack merely says, “I’m OK, really. I’ll wait in the car.” She feels guilty for setting him up, endangering his life, for suspecting Sloane when she apparently shouldn’t have . . .
But the fact is that all of this could have been prevented by communication between father and daughter. The fact is that the fathers here are working on some side project that they have cut everyone else out of. Jack feels guilty about this and doesn’t want Sydney to feel guilt--because he believes that she is right to feel suspicious. He doesn’t want to hear her apologies because he believes she has nothing to apologize for.
Leaving Sydney with Nadia also gave the two sisters a chance to work out their disagreements and make their own sort of parallel pact. If the fathers’ pact provides, in part, for the safety of the daughters, perhaps the daughters can work something out for the sake of their fathers. It’s a logical agreement that can work to ensure Jack’s safety as well as Sloane’s. And while Jack might not put a high premium on his life for its own sake, he values it as protection for Sydney’s.
I suspect that it bothers him to work so closely with Sloane and I hope that we will begin to see more of these two and their inner workings. What is it that they are going through, anyway? What would drive Jack to make this bargain? And what the heck are they after? He swore that he would never work with Sloane again, yet here he is. Ah, the $64,000 question (oh, sorry, these days it’s probably the $1 M question--inflation, you know). But, as someone once said . . . “Truth takes time.”
Discuss . . .
Why do you think Jack spent so little time with Sydney after Nadia saved his life, leaving the Sisters to talk it over? Was it mostly about guilt? Or was it more calculated, to give the girls the opportunity to work something out that would benefit his operation with Sloane? Do you think he should have lingered longer?
Do you agree that Jack must have realized what happened when the decoder turned out to be fake? How do you think he felt about that?
What do you think he felt when he saw it was Nadia come to save him instead of Sydney? His expression was a bit blank (I felt “guarded”), not really changed from the reaction to the previous violence. Did he sense an opportunity--or was it something else?
Do you think Jack feels bad about keeping so many secrets from Sydney? How do you think he feels about working with Sloane? Do you think he feels compelled to do so? What sort of thing do you think would motivate him to do this?
