IRINA DEREVKO
Truth Takes Time – Episode 18
Two Bullets Two Earrings

Another episode featuring “Mom” at her best—and worst. The episode begins with a gun battle. Daughter is shooting it out with mother. Do they know they are the adversaries? I wasn’t sure they did until Irina climbs the ladder and Sydney runs up, looks up, and they look at each other. I would like to believe that Irina thought “Oh God, its Sydney.” After all, just days before, she had declared that she loved her. Moreover, Sydney did have second thoughts, but Irina kept climbing. Sydney fired (eyes closed) and the bullet hit Irina in the arm. Crying out, she struggles over the edge of the tunnel exit and falls painfully to the ground. Next, we see Sydney kneeling and crying.

The scene shifts to five days earlier. Jack tells Sydney that her mother betrayed them and the CIA. Sydney finds her way to the cell her mother had occupied and sits on the bunk (with mattress, pillow and blanket). Dixon finds her and tells her she shouldn’t be on the task force. She shows him the earrings. They had found a note from Irina stating she wanted Sydney to have them. Sydney had believed in the first moments of Jack’s tale that her mother had died a hero. Then, I thought thoughtlessly, Sydney tells him she wished her mother had been killed. Then again, Sydney felt betrayed by the trust she had given. I believe we can sense the desolation brought on by the betrayal.

A private plane carries Sloane, Irina and Sark to some unknown destination. Irina states she and Sark will go to Stuttgart for the genetic disk and meet him back in Zurich. Sloane in the meantime is going to Tuscany to be with Emily. (Good thing she left the Philippines. The scenery in Tuscany is much better as is the weather.) Irina asks how she is and Sloane tells her she’s in remission, but that she misses her friends, especially Sydney whom they both loved. The look on Irina’s face was not pleasant as she heard those words. Irina asked Sark to leave, then turned to Sloane.

“I see through you. You must know that.” She is a little angry,
“This is who I am.” Sloane said.
“You may need to think of yourself as an honorable husband, a father figure. But I don’t! I will never see that man in you, which frankly is why we have this agreement.”
Sloane says, “You need to get some rest.”
“Never talk to me about your love for Sydney again.”
“Get some rest.” Sloane gets up and moves away.

All right. Here we are at an important point THAT never has been explained YET! What agreement exactly? I can imagine all sorts of reasons. However, what has this being with Sloane, working together, have to do with Sydney? Was an agreement from long ago, or was it something that came up recently?

Now we’re back in L. A. at the briefing. Jack has been put in charge of the task force because of his “intimate knowledge of the fugitive in question.” Sorry readers, but I had to laugh at these words. Then I nearly fell out of my chair when Jack said Derevko had been planted with a passive tracker, Marshall says it wasn’t passive, and Jack tells them he took out the first tracker and injected her with the passive tracker.

“Hey, how’d you plant it without her knowing?” Marshall asks. I think everyone in the room wanted to know the answer to that one. Jack just stares at him coldly.

When the tracker is activated, a strike team led by Sydney goes to Stuttgart. Irina is already inside the biotech company where she has offered a large sum of money for some of the genetic database information. Sark spots the CIA van, enters the biotech lab, and kills the official. He warns Irina that they have been tracked. He’s clean. He takes a sweep and runs it in front of her. He stops at a spot between her breasts.

“Jack!” She says quietly, then backs up against a wall. Unbuttons her jacket and orders him to shock her with the electro medical paddles. I loved this scene. She realizes that she didn’t fool Jack after all…that he knew she was going to betray them. If she hadn’t gone through with the extraction plan, what then? Well, since that didn’t happen, we’ll go on with the analysis.

Now comes one of those idiotic inconsistencies that really bothers me sometimes about the show. Irina tells Sark to “make sure there is no evidence that we were here.” Right! Hello! The CIA knows and if they know, they certainly are going to tell Stuttgart officials. Then Sark goes up some stairs and sets a bomb to explode in six minutes. Nice timing. This gives them time to set up a fight scene between Vaughn and Sark. I’m sure you all saw that Sark had plenty of time to kill Vaughn before Sydney showed up to shoot the gun out of his hand. (Nice shot, Syd! Now why didn’t you kill him? The head was a bigger target than the gun.) Sark escapes, because, of course, Sydney has to kiss Vaughn. Wait! Wait! There are two terrorists on the premises. No time for that stuff.

The building’s windows blow out but Sydney and Vaughn are safe because Irina stopped in the middle of her escape to call Sydney’s name and they chase her out of the building. Mom’s a terrorist with a heart. Marshall notes this at the debriefing.

Jack says, “Irina may have wanted to save Sydney’s life.”
“I doubt that’s the case.” Sydney says.

Of course, she wanted to save Sydney’s life. She has a deep hidden agenda (I think even from Sloane), but she openly does love her daughter and wants to keep her safe at all times. Come on, Sydney, even your father knows that by now. She wanted Sydney out of the CIA and SD-6. She got part of her wish when Sloane put SD-6 and The Alliance out of business with her help.

In the meantime, Sloane is warned by Irina they may have been compromised. He is in Tuscany. Irina tells him to meet her at the plane. Sloane has to persuade Emily to go with him. When they arrive, Emily learns the plane belongs to him. She is shocked when Irina gets up to greet her. Emily identifies her, as Laura who she thought was dead. Aha! So we now know that those twenty years are still a mystery to not only Emily but also Sloane as he tells her he only knew a couple of months.

“What are we doing here with a woman who died twenty years ago?”
“What I’m pursuing, this truth…”
“Truth. Good, well, that explains it all. I guess you and I are looking for the same thing.”
“Emily, what I’m looking for, among other things, will let you live cancer free.”
“I am cancer free.”
“Forever.” Sloane says.

All right, another tip about his agenda, especially in view of all the manuscripts and all the artifacts he was collecting. Something that would let Emily and him be together for an eternity. (You didn’t think he would let her go on without him, did you.)

Emily decides to ask for the CIA’s help. She wants Arvin stopped but not killed. She meets with Sydney who is still stunned by her being alive. Emily equates it with her seeing someone she thought dead also. “My mother” says Sydney. Emily negotiates with Sydney to let Arvin live and not be given the death penalty. The agreement is Okayed by the DOJ and a faxed copy of the agreement is given to her to sign.

At the same time, Sloane is talking with Irina. He offers her everything he has. He is willing to sell all his assets, his contacts, and his Rambaldi artifacts he has acquired over the past thirty years. Irina thinks he’s either going to kill her (Why?) or that she seriously underestimated his love for Emily. He tells her he’s going back to Tuscany to see Emily and that he will have the database for her there.

Here’s something to think about. Irina has to have millions at her disposal somewhere. She was The Man and ran a criminal cartel for at least ten years, making a lot of money in the process. Sloane would know something of this or else he wouldn’t make the offer. I’m sorry but I don’t think she is as destitute as the CIA believes.

The task force, led by Sydney with Vaughn and Dixon joining them, are outside. Emily is waiting. She is wearing a wire. Sloane arrives with Irina. He gives her the combination to the safe where the disk is. He goes to see Emily and tells her he has given up everything for her. She breaks down, shows him the wire, and then pulls it off, breaking the connection. She agrees to go away with him. Sydney hears the connection break. She leads the attack. The force breaks up to find Sloane and Irina. Sloane pulls Emily into the kitchen and to a secret passage that leads out. As they turn the corner toward the passage, Irina stands there. Emily momentarily looks her in surprise, but is pulled away by Arvin. Irina contacts Sark to tell him she has the disk and that they are ready for extraction.

Then she runs into the passage as Sydney, gun drawn, comes slowly into the room. Spotting the passage, she tells Vaughn on the Com link, to go outside to the rear of the building. The passage leads to the east. At the corner of the wall, she paused, but before she can turn, gunfire from the other end of the passage stopped her. Irina has fired, not knowing whom it is. Sydney returns the fire. Irina now guesses whom it is and by the look on her face is frightened. She steps out into the corridor and fires once more, before turning and running. Sydney follows. Irina is almost at the top of the ladder.

Sydney shouts. “Freeze! Don’t move.”

Irina looks at her daughter, drops the disk and goes up, only to be shot by Sydney who does it in desperation. Shot, Irina drags herself painfully up over the edge and drops to the ground, bleeding and in pain. This was done very well. Getting shot hurts and we hear and see how it hurts. Good piece of business here. She gets up and runs for the helicopter. Sydney starts up out of the tunnel, but Sark fires and she ducks back down.

At the same time, Sloane and Emily are running for the landing area. A shot rings out and Emily falls. Sloane rushes to her, Irina runs to him, pulls him away and over to the helicopter, helping him inside. Sark asks about the disk and she says she doesn’t have it. Below Sydney runs to Emily, but it’s too late. She’s dead, shot through the heart by Dixon whose aim had been distracted by the helicopter flying over his head.

Back in LA, Sydney and Vaughn are in bed. Sydney’s eyes are filled with tears. Vaughn tries to comfort her when there is a ringing sound. Both think it’s their cell phones, but then Sydney looks at her bedside table, opens a small box, and takes out her mother’s earrings. They are tinkling in Morse code: TRUTH TAKES TIME.

Well, shades of Barcelona. “Truth takes time,” said Irina after killing Khasinau and taking back her operations manual. It’s taken eighteen episodes and we’re still no closer to knowing what these puzzling three words mean. Why is Irina telling Sydney again? I still believe she’s got a deeper hidden agenda that no one is privy too except the writers.

I want to make a short comment about the bad hair day Irina had in Stuttgart. Lena Olin has a great head of chestnut brown hair (I hope it’s hers). She’s a very sexy lady with her hair down, i.e. during the Panama episode in A Dark Turn. She would have looked great even with horned rim glasses. Why would they put it up so she looked so unkempt? Moreover, this wasn’t the first time that her hair do seemed to change. The woman was a prisoner of the CIA and didn’t have access to a beautician at least I would expect not. Yet, on several occasions her hair seemed different. Maybe the writers thought the storyline needed to have her look different. Anyway, I just wanted to get it off my chest. Its been bugging me all season.

Another note: okay she’s now a terrorist. She ordered Sark to make sure no one knew they had been there and the building blew up, probably injuring and killing people. How many, we have no idea. However, prior to this act, which was stupid, there had not been an incident that she had been connected too, unless the CIA considered her killing their agents a terrorist act. Personally, I think the producers did this because of the times and not because she really did anything to merit the title.

Sure would like to hear from any of you who may have had some of the same thoughts: a terrorist and bad hair day.
B)

Now that is funny! Mom's a terrorist with a heart. How cute is that! :P

I wondered how she kept her hair so nice and tidy when she didn't have a brush? Kendall wouldn't let her have a pillow or blankets for the longest time, when did she get make-up and a hairbrush? :huh:

And that building looked really deserted to me. I didn't really see any ppl to be blown up? :huh:

An eye for an eye...who got shot in the shoulder last time the two were together with guns? :rolleyes:

Another great column, and a very exciting episode, although a little lacking where believabilty would come in. And that was spelled funny, I know. :P

K. Ackles Posted on Aug 5 2003, 03:57 AM

Of course the writers wouldn't want Irina not to look nice. There was that episode in Cipher when Jack visited her for the first time. She was doing push-ups. She did have her hair up then and it looked great. (BTW, that's one of the shots on her calendar page). Let's just say she was given as a prisoner the minmum of personal care items: lipstick, hairbrush or comb, and toothpaste.

It wasn't though, remember Sydney and Vaughn dashed inside with other CIA agents to find Sark and Irina and there were people seen milling or walking about. This was also true when Sark was leaving (only to be stopped by Vaughn and ensuing fight) and when Irina called out to Sydney there were people around.

Yeah I was going to mention that, but it was very obvious.

I almost titled the column A Terrorist with a Heart, but it was funny.

Thanks for the input.
B)

Wow, your analysis is very good. i agree with you for the most part.

i'm sorry but i like when her hair are in bun. i have right to :)

About Tuscany, in the beginning, i really has believed that Sydney killed Irina and i repeated myself : "If Sydney killed Irina, i will hate her... If Sydney...". Ouf, Irina isn't dead (great) but Emily is :( . The Sloane's revenge will terrible...

Stuttgart, i love when mommy save her baby's life :D

???? She killed perhaps hundred (or more) people and you think she has a heart ?

I wonder too. She has felt something, all the same !!!

Sorry, i hope that i make me understand :blush01:

IDB Posted on Aug 5 2003, 01:16 PM

That's what writing a column is about.

Of course,
I liked it when she was in CIA ops the time when she was exercising and Jack appeared. The time in Stuttgart, too many looses hairs.

Absolutely as season 3 starts.

Irina knows Sydney is the key to the Prophecy and she does love her daughter.

It's like the airmen who dropped bombs over cities, think A-bomb. They didn't know them, so it was not personal. Sydney was personal to Irina and she didn't want her daughter killed.

If you want to read what I wrote on the subject go to Allalias and look up in the R section of the fiction forum and find The Seduction of Irina Derevko.

You're doing just fine. I understand everything you wrote.
B)

Exactly. She didn't feel for those people, but she loves her family, so she does have a heart. She isn't all bad!

Read this again, and am going to see the eppy again soon, but I suppose there would have been people. By The way, maybe that was Sark's plan, and not Irina's?

K. Ackles Posted on Aug 9 2003, 06:50 AM

No, she gave him the order. But like I said, why did they have to do it? THey knew the CIA was outside, so covering their tracks wasn't necessary unless they didn't think the CIA knew what they were up too and that's an assumed possibility. B)

There could be more...Dum Dum Dum...alterior motives we don't know about...maybe there was another reason to blow up the building...

K. Ackles Posted on Aug 10 2003, 06:46 AM

The reason to blow up the building was to stop anyone from knowing they had copied the genetic listings on a disk thereby not giving the CIA the information about Mr. Di Regno in Panama. (Countdown)). They lost that secret when Irina dropped the disk as she went up the ladder after Sydney shot her. :ph43r:
B)

Ooooh...so they just blew up the building for that reason? I think that would have given them away. I didn't think Irina had a fault-bone in her body. She usually thinks all aspects of everything through?

K. Ackles Posted on Aug 23 2003, 08:47 AM

Well, lets look at it from the perspective of the writers. :huh: First of all, it gave them the opportunity to save Syd by Irina, leading to Jack's saying she wanted to save her daughter AND it gave them a reason to call her a terrorist when she hadn't really been terrorizing anyone but the CIA - Howzat? You say! :( By alledgedly killing all those agents while married to Jack and raising Sydney. :unsure:
Ahhhh welllll the writers will be writers. :blink:
We're a peculiar bunch. :wacko:

B)

Bah. I still don't think she's a terrorsist. A cold-blooded killer, but not a terrorist.

BTW, did Sark or Irina actually blow up the building? I don't have it on tape like I'm sure you do :rolleyes:

And are you alluding to the fact that you are a writer for the show, or just a writer in general? Hmmm...I wonder...

#1 Fan :wacko:

When Irina worked for the KGB, she did what she was told.
When she became obssessed with Rambaldi, chasing down the manuscripts to find out what happened to her (my storyline), she was heading toward the answer and she would use any means to make sure she got there first.
In the, ERM, real world of the Alias :ph43r: , she has an obssession that really hasn't been fully explained. We know Arvin wanted to find out about immortality or long life; is it the same with Irina? I'm not sure especially in view of her last words to Sydney in the Telling. :huh:
I think it's politically convenient to call her a terrorist, but she did order Sark to make sure no one knew they had been there (the names on the disk). And the building sustained major interior damage with the windows shattering.

Hells bells, do you think I'd be writing fan fiction? I'd be collecting a pay check with the stories I write. Of course, I could be a writer who is using this as an alternative way to place my fiction to the masses, especially since JJ is the boss. :rolleyes:
B)

Well that was an extremely mean way of saying maybe. You could have just said maybe, and left it at that. But nooooo...you had to go and make me curious...well, if you are a writer, can you please tell JJ to keep Will on until Alias is over. I'm really attached to the guy. I know he doesn't have the swooning fanbase MV has, but his is a loyal one, and we won't abondon him or anything! We ask JJ to do the same.

Secondly, if you really are venting alternate plot lines, we can read your fics and, with process of elimination, determine exactly what isn't going to happen next season, therefore bringing us closer to what will.

Thirdly, if you aren't a script writer, you should be!

And finally to get back on topic ( ^_^ ):
You make a good point with Irina. I think they need to explore her character more next season.

I also don't think Irina is a terrorist, even though it makes 'political' sense. Political being the operative word there.

And thank you for clearing that up. I think Sark has a sadistic streak (even though I pictured him as more of a massochist, but anyways) and thats why he wanted to blow up the building. Irina didn't say"put this C-4 in the building and blow it up while I save my daughter from making like the building." Now did she?

K. Ackles Posted on Sep 1 2003, 05:03 AM

You know I'm not sure about that...In Firebomb, he did as he was told, but he didn't look particularly happy about setting off the machine. And he did leave Caplan alive after taking the disk. He didn't shoot him as Caplan thought he would. :huh:
The relationship between himself and Irina really isn't quite as clear as I would hope. Maybe this season. ^_^

I'll clear it up. NO, not a writer on the show although I know there have been some women writing the story and scripts. So don't go checking my plot lines. I'm a I/J fan as they are the most complex and interesting characters that inhabit the world of Alias. :wub: That's why I like writing about them. I think Sydney is going to be a better drawn character this season as she tries to find "her way back." :redhair:

B)

Okay then...I see what you are saying about Sark...maybe he is a masochist then ^_^

And I guess you aren't a script writer...oh well...for a minue there, I thought it would have been cool to know someone who writes Alias scripts...but I'm going to read all of your stories again eventually!