Wednesday, April 26, 2006

The Return of the Arch-nemesis

Ana Espinoza- born in Cuba, the last of the Cold War babies, has been giving our gal Sydney grief since season 1. A former K-Directorate assassin, turned freelance terrorist, Espinoza has either been one step ahead, or one step behind. We know little of her history with Sydney before season 1, but she was introduced as Sydney’s top rival- equally clever, equally strong and equally kick-ass.

The last we saw, Ana had just helped Sark escape CIA custody and they were on their way to trade a Ramaldi artifact. She and Sydney battle it out, and finally- our girl wins! Ana has been lurking for years; she kidnapped Nadia and now it looks like she has fancy for kidnapping. She is after Will and only Sydney (the one and only) can save the day.

Tonight- while you bask in the glory that is old-school Alias, let’s see if we can’t find the answers for…

-How Ana was able to escape CIA custody.
-How Ana was able to gain access to the Witness Protection files in order to track Will down.
-How did Ana even know about Will?
-Is it possible that Ana is the Cardinal? Was Tom able to access Will’s Witness files while in Langley and pass it on to Ana?
-Is it possible that Ana has been working for P5 all along under the cover of freelancer? Perhaps that is how she was able to escape the CIA, with contacts inside the CIA.

I will be posting my episode recap tonight at 9:30pm PST. Tonight’s recap will be slightly different than last week’s. Though I plan to write as I watch, the article will be less of a play by and play and more of a complete synopsis of the episode- including call backs, references and any and all ideas I may have about where the story is taking us.

I am so thrilled that Will is back! Ecstatic! But, first and foremost- our gal Syd is back in action!! No more preggo! Just a sweet baby and a mom on a mission. YAHOO!

PS. Yahoo TV has 3 clips of tonight's episode. Looks A-MAZ-ING!

21 comments:

SRM said...

ooo, I like the theory of Anna being the Cardinal. I also can't wait to see how she gets out of custody!

Girlscout said...

I have decided that Sydney Bristow is Chuck Norris without a beard. 10 years from now there will be Sydney Bristow jokes- "Helen Keller's favorite color is Sydney Bristow." HAHA

SRM said...

"Probably she just roundhouse kicked someone in the face and ran out the door. You know how it goes."
LOL :)

Unknown said...

Syd is Chuck Norris without a beard... that's too funny. When Starbucks Mom said the phrase "roundhouse kicked someone in the face" I immediately thought of Chuck Norris. Anyway, now a comment on the post.

I always hated Ana. Ugh. I hope Syd just rids Alias world of her once and for all. I read something (I thought it was from Kristin from E!Online) about probable deaths and, without giving anything away, it was mentioned that one person would be someone who Syd is not close to at all. Maybe it's Ana. Kick her butt, Syd, for kidnapping Will! Or should I say, roundhouse kicks her butt!

Girlscout said...

My roomie and I love Chuck Norris jokes. My new fav "Chuck Norris drives an icecream truck covered in human skulls." I mean, who comes up with these. I got one for Syd. "Sydney Bristow has 2 speeds, walk and kill." Hahaha. "The boogie man checks under his bed for Sydney Bristow."

I love Ana's character. I love what she brings out in Sydney. I love how they spar and fight and snear at each other. Sydney always needed to have a rival like that.

Unknown said...

Oh yeah, and my great theory that I thought was so great... Holes. Of course. I think there is still something to it, but I decided it's too stressful for my pregnant mind to think too much on it. I will just watch until the end and see if things get cleared up.

But let me ask this question-- At the end of the episode where we see Irina behind the glass, Syd makes her way up to the deck of the ship and a chopper takes off, right? Did everyone else assume Irina was on that chopper? I did. And maybe she was. But however long after that, when Syd is strapped to the table and she wakes and is groggy, we hear faint voices and are shown blurry figures talking some distance away, and then the female doctor comes over to Syd. Now, I assumed that the person the doc was talking to was Peyton, but when I paused it and slowed it down, I'm 99% sure it's Irina. Which means that she either never got off the ship, or came back. And then a couple scenes later, we see Peyton walking down the hall talking to someone on the phone about the fact that the rescue team will be there soon. I also assumed this is Irina, but if Irina is on the boat, why would she be talking to her on the phone? Any thoughts?

Girlscout said...

Birdie- I did think it was Irina talking to the doctor, but the blur we see is someone wearing red. Peyton was wearing a red leather coat, so I think it was Peyton. I do think Irina left in the chopper.

You stay de-stressed mama!

Unknown said...

Yeah, see... I looked for that red jacket and didn't see it. Also, the blurry person seemed to have long hair and Irina's faint accent. I'll have to go back and watch it again. My pause and slow down isn't the clearest though, so I could just be way off. :)

Girlscout said...

Yeah, I could be wrong too, but the doctor was asking the person questions about Syd's condition and Peyton was really the only one there to see what happened before Sydney fell down.

SRM said...

man I really need to rewatch those eppies...

SKlaft said...

There's no reason that Irena could not have brought the doctor, looked in on Syd, and took off again, only to phone Payton to say, "Git out-a-there!" It's all plausable.

I hate to keep hitting the same drum over and over, but this will nto be the first time someone in CIA custody has reappeared. A certain smooth-criminal claimed to be "the man in front of The Man" in S-3. At first, in S-2 his loyalty was to "The Man" whom we know to have been Irena. In S-3, he was the highest level of the Covenant to which Lauren and Sark were able to access. Elena, supposedly ran the Covenant as a Straw-man for the CIA while she was getting other secret things accomplished. She managed to get Jack to murder Irena's double. I think the Covenant used to be Irena's organization and Elena usurped it from her (remember she captured Irena and tortured her for information).

Stay with me now... I have not deviated from your Blog article.

Recall, for the moment, a little McKinas Cole-history. Where was he when betrayed by Arvin Sloane and was captured? That's right: Russia. He learned a lot of new tricks in Russia, didn't he? From whom do you suppose he learned them? Let me continue: What nationality were the Derevco sisters? That's right: Russian. Did they have any ties to the Russian government? Yes, indeed!

Now, a little reminder of our infamous "Cold-war baby." Born in (Communist) Cuba, and raised... where? That's right: Russia. She became a part of K-Directorate. What happened to them? they were taken over, and consumed by "The Man."

Did old Russia have any interest in the occult (15th century prophets, and the like)? Yes! Joseph Stalin had been in search of the third lens of the Rambaldi-scope thing that show a map of the under-sea-floor cave (where the keys were hidden). Clearly he passed on his interests to the next generation (which would be the Derevco sister's generation).

How about a summary. Irena has been involved with P5 since it's founding. She held influence over certain members of the highest level of CIA officials (Davenport and maybe others). She discovered that her trusted luetenant, McKinas Cole was stil alive and had him secretly released. Now, thanks to Thomas Grace looking into Witness protection files, Irena is having her favorite former K-Directorate assassin go after Sydney's closest friend, Will.

Boy, o boy, is Syd going to be mad at Grace!

What do you think of this reasoning?

SKlaft said...

It seems so clear in my head, but I just read that post, and it seems like a mess... I hope you all could follow it.

Sorry!
-R.

Girlscout said...

ROBBY- I remembered why I love you!! I think you found the link I have been searching for. Honestly, I used to get pretty bored with your McKenas this and McKenas that, but that ALL MAKES SENSE!! You've tied everything through Russian, like I have been trying so desperately to find. I am copying and pasting your comments in a blog. YAHOO!!

SKlaft said...

I can't honestly say I know who the Cardinal is. My guess is as good as anyone's at this point. Maybe we'll find out tonight.

Sorry to have bored you with that linguring curiosity of mine, GS. I think this releaves it though.

-R.

Unknown said...

OK, so I just rewatched that one part in question--where the doctor is talking to someone we can't quite see. There is red there, so it must be Peyton. But then, just for fun and because it's probably going to end up being one of my favorite Alias moments ever, I rewatched the Syd/Irina reunion part. Now here's a question for ya'll... When Jack arrives, Irina says to him, "I got your messages and wanted to reply, but I sensed it might be a CIA trap." That was followed by one of those infamous Jack/Irina mysterious glances. So Jack sent a message or messages to Irina about... what? Also, you would think that if Jack were really concerned about not letting Irina have "the horizon" he wouldn't have left it alone with them there in the bank, knowing his daughter, who uh, by the way was in labor, was pretty much helpless. I still think they're working together. Thoughts?

Girlscout said...

ANOTHER AWESOME CONNECTION BIRDIE!!

You are right, Jack wouldn't have left the Horizon with Syd, as she is in labor and expect that Irina wouldn't somehow get it.

And I did catch the "messages" part. Hmmm.

uncle111 said...

My comments on tonight's episode- real time.

WARNING!!!!!!











Just waiting for it to begin. Been a very busy week, so I haven't boarded or blogged much this week.

It's begun and oh what a beginning. Inside P5.
I like Jack's concern about edged weapons

Anna and Will back again. Off to another fast one!
Is Will a tracking device or a bomb?
What great baby sitters???

Room 147. Interesting. And what's with the heat sensing on Syd? Go Will!
I bet Anna is going to become Syd's Helix clone!

Unknown said...

Holy crap. This really IS classic Alias. Anna as Syd???? Man. This adds a whole new twist now, doesn't it folks!!! And go Will!!! He kicked some Anna butt!!!

Unknown said...

I forgot it was the 100th episode and you know what, if I had remembered, I wouldn't have watched it with anymore expectations than if it were 99 or 101. I thought it was great. Not like last week, but I think this set up some amazing things for the final episodes. Nadias return. TWO Sydneys?!? Hello! And Rambaldi returns! Just setting us up for even bigger things. That's why I love this blog-- no negativity!

uncle111 said...

Anybody here think that Anna as Syd's clone could be the Chosen One? Same DNA means same heart size, etc.

SKlaft said...

Provacillium was the same medicine that the other doubles used with the Helix protocol. Knowing P5, they probably perfected the process and made many improvments.

There is nothing wrong with having a lot of throw-back/ call-back's to old episodes. Especially considering the circumstances. They needed to tie it all together, which requires a lot of old information. How dumb and disappointing would the last 5 episodes be if they completely ignored the past. Not to mention: how cool it was to see so many, many allusions to other mysteries and favorite scenes worked into the current show?