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Alias 1-5-03 (SPOILERS!!!)
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Posted by: Chandler Mike

Good episode...

Spoiler Alert! (highlight to read)
...although I was sad to see Marshall go back to SD6, I was hoping to see him on the good guys' side.

Anyone else getting tired of ABC's sudden choice to "name" upcoming episodes of Alias?

Next week's is..."The Lover's Mission"....please, that's lame. This week's was something like "A Friend in Need" or something crazy like that.

Not sure why, but it really annoys me...sort of makes the show seem cheesy.

Mike

Posted by: GoodN

I don't care what they call them, just so long as they keep making them. Tonight's episode was great, and the last scene in Mexico City was worth waiting for the last 2 weeks. Good to see Dixon back, even in the cheesy DJ outfit.

Posted by: aciurczak

My name is Marshall J. Flinkman. I'm here to rescue you.

Posted by: LoadStar

Good: the aforementioned quote "My name is Marshall J. Flinkman. I'm here to rescue you." Woo-hoo!
Good: Dixon, getting down with his bad self in Mexico City. Go Dixon, Go Dixon, Go Dixon... :)
Good: FINALLY some recognition that Jack Bristow should NOT be able to just jaunt off on missions for the CIA without SD-6 not noticing.
Bad: No recognition yet that the previous line regarding Jack Bristow also applies to Sidney Bristow.
Bad: Technology use in this episode - I realize that Alias is not designed to be a reality-based show, but the going to Vietnam to "retrieve packets" of a message transmitted over the internet stretched my credibility just a tad.
Bad (sort-of): the prolonging of the "is Irina Derevko good or bad" plotline. Come on - if she's gonna screw the CIA over, just do it already! :)

As for the episode name thing (actually, more like an episode theme than an actual name) - it seems to be echoing what WB is doing with shows like Angel and Charmed - they're also coming up with an episode tagline or theme phrase for new episodes. Apparently, some marketing exec thought that the pablum they produce for commercials was still too complicated, and they thought they needed to boil the episode down to 5 words or less. (Can you tell I'm also getting annoyed by it too? :) )

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by LoadStar
Bad: Technology use in this episode - I realize that Alias is not designed to be a reality-based show, but the going to Vietnam to "retrieve packets" of a message transmitted over the internet stretched my credibility just a tad.

On the one hand, criticizing Alias for illogical technology is like criticizing the sun for being warm. On the other, they did say that Torture Boy had somehow interefered with the transmission of the program...although their description of the interference was gobbledy-gook, I assumed he had managed to intercept a few packets of the transmission, which was being stored in an off-line drive in Saigon. (How they found out about this is another question, and my, isn't the sun warm today?) :D

Posted by: jon777

Fun episode! Dixon spinning the tunes and Marshall's Pong and rescue line were great.

Does anyone know what the song playing through the last couple of scenes (Marshall coming back to SD-6 in particular) was. I recognize the band but can't place it. It's killing me. I probably have 2 or 3 of there CDs as well. Lead singer has a very distinctive voice. Argh!

edit: just checked the Alias web site -- they do have a music listing, but nothing up currently for this ep...

Posted by: jwjody

Two things...Most everyone loved Marshall's line of, "My name is Marshall J. Finkman and I'm here to rescue you." Does that ring a bell with anyone else from Star Wars? Where Luke gets into Leia's cell on the Death Star and she says, "A little short for a storm trooper." He yanks off the helmet and replies, "My name is Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you!"

Second...sorry for being the typical male here but when Syd bust in to rescue Marshall, they step outside the door then have to jump back in because of the guards...did anyone else notice the little red thong she had on?

J

Posted by: grecorj

quote:
Originally posted by jwjody
Second...sorry for being the typical male here but when Syd bust in to rescue Marshall, they step outside the door then have to jump back in because of the guards...did anyone else notice the little red thong she had on?

Me: Oh, sorry, hon, must've hit the replay button by accident again.
She: For the fifth time!?

:D

Posted by: Shawkins

As a matter of fact I did say to my wife "Check out Sydney with the thong"! Saw that little red triangle on her back!

Posted by: jlb

Great episode, but a few questions:

1) Who was Holotki (sp?), and why does it seem that Vaughn is so pissed or concerned at Jack? Is it that Jack has more "secrets"?

2) Anyone else think that Jack will either be in some deep doo doo soon or will have to be "pulled out" of SD-6 due to the level of doo doo he is in?

Thanks for clarifying.....

Posted by: grecorj

quote:
Originally posted by jlb
Great episode, but a few questions:

1) Who was Holotki (sp?), and why does it seem that Vaughn is so pissed or concerned at Jack? Is it that Jack has more "secrets"?

2) Anyone else think that Jack will either be in some deep doo doo soon or will have to be "pulled out" of SD-6 due to the level of doo doo he is in?

Thanks for clarifying.....

1) The CIA agent Jack killed last season b/c he was a mole working for "The Man" (Alexander Kashinau) and had leaked info putting Will & Sydney in danger. I guess he forgot to tell Vaughn, oops.

2) Nah.

Posted by: jlb

Thanks. That explains it. I only watched S1 in reruns and didn't pick that up.....

It does explain a lot and makes me think that they may run with storylines that make people like Vaugn really question Jack's intentions. Could Jack still be really working both sides? I almost thought so for a minute when he went to visit Sloane at home, but than changed that thought as soon as Sloane made the call to (Dunaway's character).

What a great turn of events it would be if Irina turns out to be true regarding wanting to really help the CIA and if Jack were still working both sides.

Posted by: dengel

Funny how marshal was pinging SD6 to death with a puny PC in Mexico.

d.
ps. The thong thingy ruled!

Posted by: jlb

Anyone have a screen shot of the thong......we didn't notice it and have already deleted the program......

Posted by: cwoody222

Don't get me wrong - I love "Alias" and I don't mind suspending disbelief in the sake of a fun TV show. But lately I seem to have to suspend more and more. Or maybe I'm missing something. Take yesterday's episode:

1) Faye Dunaway suspects Jack's actions "on the day Emily was killed". I assume she doesn't mean the day last season when Arvin poisoned her but instead means the day that she was killed later. Well, have they stopped caring about how she survived Arvin's poisoning and/or who kidnapped her? Shouldn't that also be investigated? Other than Jack, who else knew Arvin had to kill her - the Alliance! Why aren't they looking there? Why aren't they even mentioning how she "survived" the poisoning?

2) When the CIA computers went blank due to "Quicksand" they had to bring in Mommy Dearest because she was the only one who knew her way around this GOVERNMENT program? You're telling me the CIA couldn't borrow a programmer or two from the agency who ran Eschilon? (NSA?) Wouldn't they know how to use/hack a program that they developed and run?

3) Was Arvin trying to get Eschilon up and running in secret to the rest of SD-6? If so, they sort of skipped over that, didn't they? If not - wouldn't the rest of his "CIA" unit wonder why he'd be getting into an NSA-controlled program? Who was the programming guy helping him? Obviously HE knew what Arvin was doing.

Posted by: WinBear

I loved Marshall in this. I even saw the "I'm here to rescue you" thing coming, although not entirely accurately.

Did anyone see him on that VH1 "I Love the 80's" series? He was very Marshall-like with a nice dash of "cool."

Posted by: Otto

cwoody: I knew something was bugging me about that whole plot. The actual CIA (in the show) *has* access to this Eschelon system. If the SD6 ppl think they're in the CIA, then why would they need all this crap to get access themselves? Seems like a plot hole you could drive a truck through.

Posted by: dkroboth

quote:
Originally posted by jwjody
[Second...sorry for being the typical male here but when Syd bust in to rescue Marshall, they step outside the door then have to jump back in because of the guards...did anyone else notice the little red thong she had on?

J

Yeah, my wife did. And then she wouldn't let me rewind to see it :rolleyes: and then deleted the episode as fast as she could.

Posted by: grecorj

quote:
Originally posted by Otto
cwoody: I knew something was bugging me about that whole plot. The actual CIA (in the show) *has* access to this Eschelon system. If the SD6 ppl think they're in the CIA, then why would they need all this crap to get access themselves? Seems like a plot hole you could drive a truck through.

The Echelon system (in the show) is run by the NSA (or DOD, can't recall what Syd said to Will about it), *not* the CIA. When Syd's mom does her "hacking" thing it is just that: "hacking". The CIA techs had no clue about Echelon, hence why they ran into the Quicksand virus.

As an aside, sometimes I feel bad for Dixon -- when they have "mission" meetings he is the only one (aside from Marshall) there who doesn't know the real deal about the CIA and SD-6. If he weren't around, everyone else could stop pretending.

Posted by: WinBear

Regarding Quicksand: That was a result of trying to poke around the Russian version of Echelon and Mommy knew her way around that. She was trying to find the shared access point between the Russian and American versions.

Posted by: Rogue3

quote:
Originally posted by jwjody
Two things...Most everyone loved Marshall's line of, "My name is Marshall J. Finkman and I'm here to rescue you." Does that ring a bell with anyone else from Star Wars? Where Luke gets into Leia's cell on the Death Star and she says, "A little short for a storm trooper." He yanks off the helmet and replies, "My name is Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you!"

Second...sorry for being the typical male here but when Syd bust in to rescue Marshall, they step outside the door then have to jump back in because of the guards...did anyone else notice the little red thong she had on?

J

That is the exact thing that popped in my mind when he ran that quote. And being the geek he is, I'm sure that is what it was meant to replicate.

Posted by: cwoody222

quote:
Originally posted by WinBear
Regarding Quicksand: That was a result of trying to poke around the Russian version of Echelon and Mommy knew her way around that. She was trying to find the shared access point between the Russian and American versions.

OK. Agreed - That does plug that plot hole.

Posted by: bdowell

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
OK. Agreed - That does plug that plot hole.

Who cares about plot holes when you have red thong-age to look at?!?

:D

Posted by: Dad

One of the best of this season, felt a lot like one of last seasons. A few points for what it's worth:

No Rambaldi = good
I'm glad that they are keeping Syd's mom's loyalties in the dark, makes all her actions suspect and you wondering if she is working the "big setup" with some outside party. I can't decide...
Jack Bristow showing up at Sloan's house and Sloane turning him in. Now I think that Sloan set the whole thing up and he has the money and his wife actually is alive (maybe) and Jack is the fall guy. And how Jack and the CIA planted all that evidence around. Good to be paranoid.
Of course the Marshall rescue.
How Sloane had already written off Marshall once he had what he wanted.
What computer plot holes. My brain now excepts them along with all the other cool gadgets, gotta move things along ya know (although searching for "packets" on a particular HD using some crazy beeping tool stretches things. Why not just hack into it in the first place. Or something).

Posted by: cwoody222

quote:
Originally posted by bdowell
Who cares about plot holes when you have red thong-age to look at?!?

:D

Sorry, I watch more for Will (not Vaughn, suprisingly, according to fan groups) than I watch for Syd ;)

Although I did notice the thong! Nice touch!

Posted by: Mike20878

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
1) Faye Dunaway suspects Jack's actions "on the day Emily was killed". I assume she doesn't mean the day last season when Arvin poisoned her but instead means the day that she was killed later. Well, have they stopped caring about how she survived Arvin's poisoning and/or who kidnapped her? Shouldn't that also be investigated? Other than Jack, who else knew Arvin had to kill her - the Alliance! Why aren't they looking there? Why aren't they even mentioning how she "survived" the poisoning?

I thought I was missing something, but I guess I wasn't alone. Since when do we think Emily is dead again? Did Arvin possibly withhold from Kane the information that he poisoned his wife initially? I don't remember what he said when she was introduced to Jack in the last episode.

Mike

Posted by: markz

quote:
Originally posted by WinBear
I loved Marshall in this. I even saw the "I'm here to rescue you" thing coming, although not entirely accurately.

Did anyone see him on that VH1 "I Love the 80's" series? He was very Marshall-like with a nice dash of "cool."

I was about to ask the same thing! That was a great series of shows and Marshall was very funny! Especially when he talked about being a sex symbol. He says "I am an actor first, and hot second" Too funny!

Posted by: cwoody222

quote:
Originally posted by Mike20852
I thought I was missing something, but I guess I wasn't alone. Since when do we think Emily is dead again? Did Arvin possibly withhold from Kane the information that he poisoned his wife initially? I don't remember what he said when she was introduced to Jack in the last episode.

Mike

Emily is dead again. Two episodes ago the kidnappers called Arvin and said "We know you verified the finger is hers so we want $5 million or else we tell the Alliance that you didn't kill her like you were suppose to."

So, Arvin goes to his friends at the Alliance and says that there must be a leak in their communications since no one else knows he poisoned her. So, they plan to pay the ransom and put a tracking device on it to track the kidnappers.

Arvin meets an unknown someone and trades the briefcase of cash. He's then directed to a newspaper box or something to get something. It's a photo of a dead Emily.

Marshall then realizes the tracking device has somehow been disabled.

So, the kidnappers got the cash and killed Emily.

This was all during Jack's mission with Sydney and Irina in the middle east.

All that said...I'm still not sure if they're investigating Jack during THAT time or the time at the end of last season?!

I'm sure he killed people during both missions? ;)

Wasn't he supposedly in Turkey - wasn't that the thingy they had to program into his cellphone?

If so, then that was two weeks ago, not last season because last season he was in France when Emily was "killed".

So...that would mean the previous post about who Jack shot was wrong...but Jack did say the name of who he shot last night, right? Does someone still have it on TiVo to verify???

Posted by: bdowell

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
Emily is dead again. Two episodes ago the kidnappers called Arvin and said "We know you verified the finger is hers so we want $5 million or else we tell the Alliance that you didn't kill her like you were suppose to."

So, Arvin goes to his friends at the Alliance and says that there must be a leak in their communications since no one else knows he poisoned her. So, they plan to pay the ransom and put a tracking device on it to track the kidnappers.

Arvin meets an unknown someone and trades the briefcase of cash. He's then directed to a newspaper box or something to get something. It's a photo of a dead Emily.

Marshall then realizes the tracking device has somehow been disabled.

So, the kidnappers got the cash and killed Emily.

<snip>

Um, should that be 'So, the kidnappers {apparently} got the cash and {we believe} killed Emily.'?

Seriously, I don't think we could count on the fact that Emily is really dead. The show has shown several times that nothing is what it seems, and we're left to wonder how someone has escaped from whatever it was that they originally were headed for.

So, I'd say that it "seems" that Emily really is dead, but we don't have concrete proof that is the case.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Emily turn up again as some sort of partner with (or boss to) Sark, or something like that.

Posted by: Chandler Mike

quote:
Originally posted by grecorj
1) The CIA agent Jack killed last season b/c he was a mole working for "The Man" (Alexander Kashinau) and had leaked info putting Will & Sydney in danger. I guess he forgot to tell Vaughn, oops.

Can you refresh my memory about this guy...this wasn't that actor Slotnick, was it? The CIA agent causing Vaughn all those headaches?

Mike

Posted by: tube013

Anyone here besides me notice that Marshall was using Linux (KDE 2.2 desktop) to program when at the bad guys... also looked like gcc compiling the echelon code over at sd6, lots of gnu references flying by.

Posted by: Mike20878

quote:
Originally posted by Chandler Mike
Can you refresh my memory about this guy...this wasn't that actor Slotnick, was it? The CIA agent causing Vaughn all those headaches?

Mike

Yup, that was Joey Slotnick. I think I was the only person who actually liked The Single Guy. :(

Mike

Posted by: Mike20878

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
Arvin meets an unknown someone and trades the briefcase of cash. He's then directed to a newspaper box or something to get something. It's a photo of a dead Emily.

Marshall then realizes the tracking device has somehow been disabled.

Hmmm, I remember everything except the photo. I must have not noticed it... Did the camera zoom in on the photo?

Mike

Posted by: cwoody222

Yep, Marshall was using Linux...I've never even touched it but even I recognized it! Guess that means I'm more of a geek that Marshall, huh? ;)

Posted by: Chandler Mike

Yes, using Linux, but wasn't the screen shot of him "pinging" SD6 from a DOS command prompt?

Mike

Posted by: Xaa

quote:
Originally posted by Mike20852
Yup, that was Joey Slotnick. I think I was the only person who actually liked The Single Guy. :(

Mike

Nope, I liked the Single Guy too.

Not as much as I liked Syd's thong though.

Xaa

Posted by: laria

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
Emily is dead again. [...] He's then directed to a newspaper box or something to get something. It's a photo of a dead Emily.

Uh huh...because we've never seen a faked photo of a death on this show. :)

Sydney and Jack fake killed that guy in Cuba (?) last season and took a photo to prove to SD-6 that he was dead, when he was really in CIA custody.

Posted by: Mike20878

quote:
Originally posted by Xaa
Nope, I liked the Single Guy too.

Not as much as I liked Syd's thong though.

Xaa

Screen capture please! I missed it and already deleted the ep...:(

Mike

Posted by: Leo Valiant

quote:
Originally posted by Mike20852
Screen capture please! I missed it and already deleted the ep...:(

Mike

Behold...the power of the Internet...

http://sydneybr.home.attbi.com/sydney2-11-7.jpg

Posted by: cwoody222

Well, a fan site that put up a summary confirms Jack admitting to shooting the Single Guy CIA agent...which means they're investigating his actions at the end of season 1...meaning they think he had foul play when Emily died THEN.

What the heck is Arvin doing? He KNOWS who killed her then...HE DID!

--confused...

Posted by: Xaa

quote:
Originally posted by Leo Valiant
Behold...the power of the Internet...

http://sydneybr.home.attbi.com/sydney2-11-7.jpg

Sweet!!

Xaa

Posted by: jlb

I second that!

Did anyone notice that she was wearing a J Lo outfit? Well, I guess I didn't at first, as it is kind of hard not to look at the Thong.

Here's one image from the J Lo Clothing site. Notice the font is exactly the same as what is on Syd's .....ahem.....backside:

http://www.shopjlo.com/product_images/JL-4470001_221_ex.jpg

Here's the website I found it on:

http://www.shopjlo.com/

Posted by: hughvh

Computer plot holes aside, I thought this was a very good episode. (Yea, all the lost data packets on the Internet end up in Vietnam.) Just one observation I have to make. SD-6's security section must really stink. Jack is a prime suspect in an investigation and he can walk in and out of a CIA office without being under surveillance? Not to mention that they did not stop a full sized van with no windows leaving the restaurant? These must be the same bunch of guys who tried to catch the A-Team in the 80's.

Posted by: Dafaso

I thought the guy that Jack killed that Faye Dunaway was referring to was the the man Jack asked to booby trap that house with explosives a few episodes back. That was when Jack tryed to set-up his ex-wife, making it look like she led sidney into a trap.

Then Jack killed that guy to cover his tracks.

No?

Posted by: Mike20878

quote:
Originally posted by Dafaso
I thought the guy that Jack killed that Faye Dunaway was referring to was the the man Jack asked to booby trap that house with explosives a few episodes back. That was when Jack tryed to set-up his ex-wife, making it look like she led sidney into a trap.

Then Jack killed that guy to cover his tracks.

No?

Nope. She said the brain matter was that of Steven Haladki. If you look at the IMDB listing for Alias you'll see Joey Slotnick played Haladki. You may recognize his photo in his IMDB profile.

Mike

Posted by: grecorj

The Alias section of ABC.com has episode summaries for Seasons 1 & 2. Or you can read episode summaries at epguides.com.

The most obvious "plot hole" of the series is how much time Sydney spends at the CIA or out of the country on CIA business. In Season 1 this was less of a problem, but this season the writers seem to ignore the fact that Sydney could be missed at SD-6 HQ. I guess the audience is supposed to presume that her job at SD-6 is on "flex time" and she can come and go as she pleases w/o making anyone suspicous.

Posted by: mask2343

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Not sure why, but it really annoys me...sort of makes the show seem cheesy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Uh, the show IS cheesy. But I still love it.

Posted by: grecorj

Ok, lots of confusion about who Jack killed and why. Here's the cheeky recap from Television Without Pity, taken from 2 episodes from last season (including the finale):

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Devlin wants to know who the source is. Spy Daddy's best guess is Steven Haladki, a.k.a. "The Weasel." How appropriate that nickname seems now...Devlin questions Spy Daddy's supposition that The Weasel is responsible. Spy Daddy serves up a shopping list of reasons why The Weasel is the squealer. Devlin brings up something about The Weasel filing a report on The Prophecy and how there was mention of Spy Daddy threatening him at gunpoint in order to get Sydney's whereabouts during her questioning. God, this scene is useless. If it weren't for Victor Garber...

Spy Daddy's all, dude, I used that info to free my kid from a veritable witch hunt, okay? You need to get surveillance on The Weasel like NOW. Devlin's all, bring it down a notch, Geronimo. I hear what yer sayin' and I'll respond accordingly, 'kay? In the meantime, STOP TELLING ME HOW TO DO MY BLOODY JOB. Devlin goes on to say that Spy Daddy's a good agent, but lately he's been acting a bit, well, tweaky. He threatens that, if he hears of one more instance of Spy Daddy acting off book, he's done. Finished. Kaput. He shuts the door in Spy Daddy's face and Spy Daddy just looks at the pavement in search of a good reason for this entire scene being included in this episode.

------------------

Spy Daddy starts to walk off and Syd's all, dude? Where ya goin'? We gotta be in Taipei in sixteen hours. Spy Daddy's all, mind yer business. Keep your phone handy and I'll be in touch, 'kay? He bolts, and Syd just watches him go.

Hey, look! It's Haladki! Walking across a dark parking lot! Alone! Gee, that's not very smart. Why, someone could just come up from behind him and -- nope. That didn't happen. He made it into his car safely. Huh. Well, I guess -- d'oh! Spy Daddy puts a stranglehold on The Weasel and pulls him, kicking and screaming, into the back seat. Spy Daddy wants to know how Haladki knew about "The Circumference." The Weasel's all, dude, you are OUTTA YOUR MIND. Spy Daddy's not fond of this answer, so he clocks The Weasel with the butt of his gun.

Later, in an abandoned mechanics warehouse or something, The Weasel's laid out on a table with his hands in vises. Spy Daddy storms up, grabs a squirt bottle full of fluid, and starts spraying The Weasel's face. It appears that it ain't just water in that bottle, because The Weasel starts moaning and whinging about his eyes. Spy Daddy's all, how long have you worked for Khasinau, huh? The Weasel's all, you sick *******! Spy Daddy's all, HOW LONG! Oh, and while we're waiting for your answer, how's about I give the vise a little twisty twisty, okay? Again, sound guys -- nice goin' with the bone crunching and the metal twisting. Remind me to look you up the next time I'm in Hollywood. Seriously. We'll do lunch. If by "lunch" you mean "tossing your asses into an unmarked van and driving you to Encino, where I'll strip you naked, coat you in flan, and leave your sadistic hides on Highway 32 during rush hour."

The Weasel finally spills it. He works for Khasinau. He's worked for him for two years. The Circumference? Well, it's just a key to something Khasinau had built. What's the something? It's a battery. Where's the battery? It's in Taipei, don't ya know. Where in Taipei? I don't care. The Weasel knows the answer and tells it, but does it matter? The only pertinent dot of information here is that the device itself is held in Room 47. Do you get it? Do ya? Like "Page 47"? See, there's something significant about the number 47. What, you ask? I don't know. I'm too busy looking for Blood Omen: 2 cheats to pay attention to this wordy crap.

The Weasel goes all Jonestown on Spy Daddy's ass and starts blithering on about how Khasinau can save Spy Daddy and how Khasinau is the future and blah blah blah kill the sniveling little prat already, will ya? Oops. Wow. One second The Weasel's slobbering on and on about how he can save Jack and Jack's all, dude? You exposed my daughter. Prepare to die. And the next second, there's a gunshot, a flash of fire, and an expression on Victor Garber's face that manages to suggest both immense relief and total pain.

Posted by: Mike20878

Heh...that synopsis reminds me of the tongue in cheek Melrose Place recaps from way back when. I forget the name of the site now...

Mike