ALIAS – SEASON 5 – EPISODE 7 – SYDNEY
FAIT ACCOMPLI
“Someone from another life.”

I believe this episode was the best so far. It had a lot going for it that was so Alias. Other than missing Vaughn, it was filled with so much that my pencil was hard pressed to keep up. The writer of the episode was Andi Bushell.

The show opens in Rome. It looks like Sydney in a blond wig is talking to the Chancellor of a University. They are talking about artwork that is in its private collection. It’s obvious Sydney is after something. The museum man leads her along a hall. Sydney suddenly feels faint and asks him to get her some water. He leaves. Sydney has picked his pocket for his keys. She presses the key to the archives into what looks like a key box. Instead, it sends a signal to another box, which is in Renee Renien’s hands. She makes the copy and enters the archives room.

However, just then Sydney hears her name called, “Sydney Bristow!” Holy smokes, it is one of her professors from UCLA – Professor Choy. Sydney, of course, is stunned. In her ear, she can hear Renee ask her for the lot number as she tries to make conversation with Choy. Finally, she is able to get Renee to understand her code…lot 1222.

Renee finds the shipment. As she does, a man enters the room demanding who she is. Renee draws her gun, demanding to know who he is. He draws close enough to knock her down and get the statue.. They fight and the statue crashes to the floor, breaking open and revealing something akin to a credit card that falls to the floor. They continue to fight, but Renee wins and leaves with the card.

Meanwhile Sydney tells Choy that she and her husband will meet him for dinner. As Choy fumbles for his card, she disappears. The Chancellor returns also at that moment and is equally disturbed by her disappearance. Outside, Renee wants to know from Sydney who she was talking to…and Sydney, with a look of longing, responds it was someone from another life.

Sloane goes to visit Nadia. There is no change in spite of the new medicine. Sloane says that expense is not an issue. The doctor tells Sloane that he should consider alternative care…in other words, some place besides the hospital.

Dean contacts Sloane and tells him that he wants what Sydney Bristow took from him. It’s an access card and he has just 48 hours to deliver. He tells Kelly that he’s going to use it to find out who his real employers are. He doesn’t like operating in the dark. As he drives off, Kelly Peyton wonders what will happen if Dean fails and stares speculatively after him. She does not want to be destroyed with him if everything fails. Me thinks there is a double cross in the making.

Jack tells Sloane that Sydney was successful in her mission. Sloane quips that he already knew that.

“Did you? How?” asks Jack.
“Gordon Dean told me.” Jack stares at him.

Meanwhile the crib Sydney ordered is delivered. Rachel tries to get Sydney to stay and put it together, but Syd is reluctant. She goes to work instead.

At APO, Sydney and Jack listen to what Sloane has to say. Sloane tells them about Dean’s orders. He offers to help them get Dean and the organization behind him. He says that the doctor said Nadia wouldn’t get any better.

“I will have to live with myself.” He is trying to be good, although that’s hard to believe. “I may have lost the chance to save my own child,” he tells Sydney, “but I only hope by taking out Dean, I will help save yours.”

Jack and Sydney agree and Sloane calls Dean to tell him he has the card. Dean tells him where to meet…it’s at the race-track in Dubai, but safe. (Hell of a long way to go)

The APO group makes a plan to catch Dean. Jack and Marshall will be monitoring via satellite the action. Tom says that Dean has never seen him, so he can help without being spotted. Rachel tells the group that Dean never travels without a heavily armed security detail.

At the track, Sydney, dressed as a southern belle and an accent so thick you’d cook hush puppies on it, makes her way to her seat in the stands. She knows where Sloane and Dean are to meet. Her job is to locate the bodyguard Rachel said are always around him.

When Dean arrives, Tom Grace guided by Sydney takes down one of the guards. He tells her the man has an earpiece. Dean is too busy getting to Sloane to realize his bodyguard isn’t near. Sloane gives him the access card. At the same time, Sydney locates the other guard. Suspecting something Dean leaves gun drawn and pointed at Sloane. Sloane tries to stop him, but Dean puts him down. However, he meets into Rachel, who says she has changed since he knew her—someone who was afraid of her own shadow. He tries to overcome her, but she falls and finds a shovel. Jumping up, she swings it against his head and knocks him down.

Sydney asks, “Is he conscious?”
“I think so,” answers Rachel.
“Then hit him again.” snaps Sydney and Rachel whacks him again.

Dean is brought into APO in a dark prisoner uniform. Sydney goes to interview him. He tells her he’ll give her the access code numbers for ten million dollars, twelve passports and transportation out of the country. He wants to disappear. It’s worth it to find out who his boss is. Sydney refuses and instead gives him a syringe of a drug that ‘is like LSD’ says Marshall, “sorta.” He explains what is does contain and its purpose. He says he can enhance it so Dean will talk sooner.

“I see you’ve done this before.” Jack says.

Meanwhile Sloane is on a pier staring over the water when a nice looking man joins him saying, “Peaceful.” He wants Sloane to eliminate Dean. Sloane is declining when he gets a phone call. The man tells him to answer it. It’s the hospital, Nadia is awake. Sloane hurries off. Hummm, sounds like Sloane is being set up.

At the hospital, Sloane runs into the room. Nadia is stirring and her eyes open. She says, “Dad,” where am I?” The conversation doesn’t last long as Sloane tries to talk to her. He tries to tell her she will be all right. However, she becomes agitated and has to be put under once again.

Under the drugs, which have been whipped up by loud throbbing music under Marshall’s control, Dean is losing it. Marshall tells Sydney that he’s going to be fine if she will just make him feel safe. She calms Dean down.

“The access card was designed to patch into a specific network, tell me which one?” He’s agitated but gives her the information. It is on the roof of Glenheim Towers. Marshall begins to work on it. Rachel is sent to order a plane to fly to Seattle.

At the same time Dean who is still agitated and in his delirium tells Sydney that he was ordered to kill Michael. He says he didn’t want to do it. She must be careful also. “They have plans for you.” (OH oh…)

Sydney gets a phone call from the hospital and it’s about Nadia. Suddenly Nadia goes in reverse and back into a coma as Sydney arrives, her face a mask of sadness. The doctor talks to Sloane and Sydney about Nadia. It was odd that it happened and chances are, it could happen again. They will continue to monitor her.

Dixon and Tom are instructed to get to the Glenheim Towers and help Marshall track down the people accessing the server. They are successful and Marshall is astonished to learn that government and intelligence agencies, twelve of them, including the CIA, SVR and French Suerte are behind Dean. Furthermore, the server moves on every twelve hours.

Some place, which is unknown, two men work on setting up the moving of the server to a new site. One looks like the man who fought Renee in Rome.

Sloane enters APO and finds Dean. He kills him by jamming a cyanide pill into his mouth and then explodes it. Sydney finds Dean dead in the chair. Later Jack tells Sydney that Dean took his own life. He tells her about the information they took from the server. She is astounded and reminds him that 12 seems to be a key number…that there were 12 in the Alliance and now they have twelve again. Jack tells her to go home.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?” She asks.
“What do you have in mind?”

Kelly Peyton has covered herself. She betrayed Dean and given his job to do. However, her new employer warns her that she can be killed as easily as Dean was if she doesn’t do the right thing.

The same man talks to Sloane later. He tells him he has something he didn’t have that morning. Sloane wants to know what.
“You have hope.”

Sydney asked Jack to build the crib for the baby. Jack goes home with her and does it. Sydney is surprised that he can.

“Have you ever built anything before,” she asks, watching him put it together.
“Yes, in fact I built your crib.”
”Really?”
“Did you have any help?”
“Well, your mother and I did it together.”

Finished, he throws the mattress onto it and pulls it toward the baby’s room. However, it won’t go through the doorway. He looks at Sydney and she looks back at him.

“Get me the screwdriver.”

REMARKS:

It was the best episode so far. There was so much going for it. Andi Bushell, I believe, is a new writer for the show and, as with Jeffrey Bell last year, has made an impact.

Several things stood out. Loved Marshall’s hilarious attempt to not admit that he’d ever done drugs before. Jack’s response was delivered with such deadpan ease; it was funny.

Okay, so Sark is back. Does that mean Mom might not be far behind?

Jack and Sydney putting together the crib was touching and funny. When Jack said he and Laura (Irina) built her own crib years ago, I could imagine who might be giving directions.


DISCUSS:

So, if APO is a secret government agency, what do you think will happen if it goes after the other 12 worldwide agencies, including the CIA. Why are they banded together?

Do you think there’s a Derevko involved? Irina or Katya? If so, explain.

Prophet 5 wants Sydney? Why?

It looks like Sloane will DO anything to save his daughter. Will he betray Sydney in order to get his daughter back? Explain.


Next episode: Sark is back.