Wednesday, April 19, 2006

The Return

This article was written in real time, while I watched the show...beware of insane, Alias-obsessed blogger with low blood sugar! Now the green type is my next morning adds.

It's here, it's here!! I am actually watching "Previously on Alias..." (I would love it if ABC would just let me come down to LA and record "Previously on Alias..."). Here is 5.10 “S.O.S.” and 5.11 “Maternal Instinct.”


We left Sydney Bristow on a barge in the middle of God knows where. She, after being taken by Dr. DiSantis, was tortured by her mother in order to retrieve information on the Horizon.

The CIA has been infiltrated by someone in P5. Jack suggests that they break into CIA headquarters in Langley-AWESOME. PS. Can I remind you that Jack is the very person who sent Sydney to visit Renee in the "Horizon" episode. He sent her right in to be kidnapped. Now now he is saying to Sloane that whoever took Sydney must have been tracking her movements. Um, hello Dad, it was you!!
-Is it just me or is it pretty cool that we finally get to see Langley? All I can think of is the commentary from the season 1 finale when Merrin Dungey (Francie) mocks Victor Garber by saying "Have you ever been to Langley?" HAHAHAHA!

Thomas Grace- In Langley, Grace uses the computer to access a secure records room within the CIA for information on his wife. Allen Korman-a man in witness protection, who must know something about Grace’s wife’s death.

Rachel is sent into the transmission archives. The archives have been purged. Go figure.

Weiss on ice BABY!!! Me love me some Greg Grunberg. (We are squealing right now by the way. Little Alias pigs!) Um, pilates? Right! More like paninis.

This episode is moving so fast I forgot all about Syd- Sydney, with the barrel of her gun on sassy Kelly Peyton, stumbles on a make-shift delivery room right before passing out. Hello? Expectant mothers should not be roaming around ships holding guns to people's heads, but then again Sydney is “not like other moms.”

DEVLIN returns! YAHOO. I am a huge fan of Director Devlin. Only a high ranking official inside the CIA has access to the files in which to erase Sydney's distress call. And um, Jack is ballsy to walk into that room accusing all the directors of the CIA of being in cahoots with a dangerous terrorist group. Wait, if Jack is attending this meeting, does that mean he also has "Alpha Black" clearance? Hmmm. That would be handy. OH GAWD, he just shot that GUY! He shot him. Jeffery Davenport, former Director, we’ve seen him a few times in the past.

Grace is one sneaky dude. The last time someone used CIA resources to research the death of a loved one was when Vaughn was sure his father was alive. Hmmm. And perhaps when Grace broke the access code to the Witness Protect files, someone was able to gain access to Will Tippin's file.

SYD’S DOCTOR, what a trader!! What has she been doing to little Bristow-Vaughn? Wait, is that SpyMom in the room?

Sloane is in contact with his connection inside P5. They threaten him, as usual, with the knowledge that they have a cure for his daughter.

Grace is Peter? WHO THE HELL IS PETER? WHO IS THE CARDINAL? What is going on? Okay, remember I said that the writers would throw someone in the mix to make them appear to be the mole.

Okay, the baby is okay, on to hour two…wow, hour number two, I could get used to this.



Oooh, nothing like a car crash to start off hour 2. SPYMOM shot Jeffery Davenport too. Devlin thinks someone inside APO leaked information on where Davenport would be transported. Remember: Sloane was on the phone with his P5 contact and now he is scrambling to cover his tracks.

LEO 47 Norte is the true phrase Sydney saw on the SD-6 map. Dixon says it’s connected to France (Renee is French) and that LEO is referring to a specific mission.

Sydney does sorta of waddle! HAHAHA

Irina is back at it. She is a fabulous storyteller. Truly, Lena Olin never stops. How does this woman step into this role and play it so well? Irina is so fantastically... I don't even know. I am so with Marshall, I love a good secret conspiracy.

I need a breath and a break. Anyone got a cookie? I had brownie instead.

Renee and Dixon sittin’ in a tree…oops I mean Renee, sittin’ on a car. They need information from Berstand, who has information on the LEO mission. The mission was pertaining to a package, stored in Vancouver. The Queens Bank.

What is with all the curious glances between Irina and Jack? Irina looks disappointed that the family will be going on the Canadian trip together. Oh, right, Irina slips intel to Kelly Peyton. Can we please be reminded that it was Irina who shot her own daughter in the shoulder because she had to prove her loyalty to “The Man.” She did it to give Sydney enough time to escape. I think Irina is up to her old tricks… her ambiguous tricks.

Who knew a trip to the bank could be so fun? I heart SpyFamily. What kinda of accent is that? WHAT A SHOW! Call back to the Thanksgiving train ride in Kashmir. Some families play miniature golf, the Bristow’s go to Vancouver to get mysterious packages. ROLE MODELS? HA. Ohh, Kelly is there- Irina is there, what the heck is going…oh, SpyDaddy never trusted SpyMommy, we should have known. I have always thought that Jack and Irina are working together. The scene in the bank vault doesn't really help this theory, but perhaps Jack isn't fully aware of all of Irina's plans. Baby Bristow is on the way!!!!

I think I have low blood sugar, maybe whiplash, this is moving soooo fast. I can’t even comprehend.

Sloane is the mole, he’s the leak, the crack. But maybe not. He could be the person the writers threw in to look guilty. Okay, in the last 5 minutes Syd has gone into labor and Peyton shot down a helicopter. So, am I understanding correctly-Irina was using P5, as I suspected, to get information on Horizon and was going to ditch them after?

The truth takes time my behind! I want the truth NOW! Why is Irina always speaking in riddles? SpyDaddy is kickin’ some mousy Peyton ass. Peyton is so not dead! Call back- Plastic hanging from the ceiling- Syd’s dream in season 3.

A mother-daughter heart to the heart with guns is always fun, especially while the daughter is on her way to being a mother herself. Irina never wanted Sydney? Harsh. So, she decided to be a bad mother in order to be a good agent, and now, at the pinnacle, with Horizon in hand, she decides to be a mother? Um, I think I might be missing? Also, if Irina was working for P5, even if she was just using them, then why not get the cure for Nadia, her other daughter, while she's at it? Poor Nadia!

Gawd, Sydney Bristow is amazing! She is giving birth in a bank!! WHAT? I loved the moment when Irina said something to the affect that Sydney will learned that she can't be good at both being an agent and a mother and Sydney said through contractions "watch me!" YAHOO! What about when she was talking about Vaughn and the beach? SOOO cute!

BABY GIRL!! BABY BRISTOW-VAUGHN!! And then blah blah blah, they need diapers, blah blah blah SYDNEY KNEW VAUGHN WAS ALIVE!! Blah blah, donkeys and monks and VAUGHN!! VAUGHN!! (Jenn and SRG, are you jumping on the couch? Because there is some couch jumping here!!) HOLY TAP DANCING DIXON that was an episode!

They were not kidding when they said that they were going to be packing episodes with tons of information. I can’t decide if I want to cry or scream or rock back in forth. WAS IT NOT FABULOUS? I love love love Lena Olin! What an amazing character! What an amazing actor! Such a presents. Jack was a smiling fool this eppy, he was smiling left and right! Weird! Anyone feel transported back to season 1? I did. I got on the JJ time machine and wow, here I am, back in the Alias of ole. SWEET!

What questions do you have? Here is my list…

Who killed Grace’s wife? Is she really dead?
What is Horizon? We still don’t know. Why does Irina need it?
Who is Peter? Who is the Cardinal? What is the message?
Baby what? No name? (I kinda want Syd Jr.)


All right all. I have to sit and simmer. I am so high on Alias right now, I won’t be down for days. SO, discuss and ponder and get some questions ready for chat. Remember- 8am EST and 6pm PST. MSN Messenger- add girlscout35@hotmail.com.

UM, WAIT- scenes for the next!!! WILL! ANNA!! Sydney back in action- I can’t think right now, my head hurts.

PS. Let's Talk at 1,220 hits yesterday alone! I am thinking we might break that today!

26 comments:

RUDY said...

The only thing that I can process right now is the Thomas Grace thing. Who does he really work for? Is it P5? Is the Cardinal Irina? I'm thinking on these lines because we didn't hear Sloane give up Davenports position, but maybe that was what Thomas did. He broken into witness protection for a former coworker's address for what appears to be revenge but doesn't go through it. And at their meeting they don't seem to be enemies so maybe just maybe Thomas was passing on the Davenport transport to P5. And he has a message for the cardinal, well the next shot (after Jack goes to tell Syd that her baby's fine) is of Davenport's transfer and then wham! Irina's there to cover the tracks. Hmmmm....is the cardinal a code name for Irina. I does appear to go along with the bird code names that Alias has.

RUDY said...

Did the language seem russia? I don't really know...just a guess.

Unknown said...

So I, like many of you I see, and like Girlscout's article, took notes in real time. Here they are... :)

Yay Weiss!!!

What the crap is up with the ultrasound???

Was peyton talking to Irina on the phone on the boat??

Pretty sure Irina had a hand in saving Syd's baby.

Irina wants something from Syd but what and why? She wanted the location of the Horizon. I still
believe she is not a bad guy!!! What is going on! She's obviously not working with Jack here. Hmm..
And now the baby is coming. What is up with Irina!?!?!

Who is the mole inside APO? Sloane? Grace? This is crazy.

What was Grace talking about when he told that guy he needed to get a message to the Cardinal? Who is the Cardinal? His real name is Peter or was that one of his aliases?

Holy blown up helicopter Batman!!!

What what what is Irina up to?!?!?!?!

Call back--Truth takes time

Irina knows Vaughn is alive. She's acting VERY suspicous. And now she delivers Syd's baby. And now she's gone. What the crap.

Vaughn's alive. Syd knew. Jack knew. We all knew, but wow, it's nice to see him.

My head is spinning...

Maybe Irina is trying to force Syd out of APO and
from being an agent. just like she told her, when
she became a mother she knew she'd either fail
at being an agent or being a mother. She doesn't
want Syd to fail as mother like she did.

Daniel said...

Okay, I didn't read everyones post completley, but am I the only one who thought that delivery scene sucked???? There was no baby....and then....5 seconds later.....there was baby! I know in the interest of time, they needed to do it fast, but, huh? That was lame! All in all, awesome episode. Sara and I even got to watch it in somewhat peace. Jack only fussed once or twice! Can't wait till next week!

Unknown said...

I like what one person's comment said about hating Irina only to love her next episode. So true. But I still am holding out that she truly is good. If they make her bad, I will be very upset with the show ending. That's the only thing I would be mad at. It was very frustrating last night after Syd and her mother's heartfelt hug and Syd telling her she wanted her there, only to have her betray them. I kept looking for the good in all that... At one point, in the hallway near the end, after the truth takes time comment, Irina made a comment about Syd understanding someday... Or not understanding it all yet. Something. So... that's my good in the bad. We, like Syd and Jack, are furious with Irina. But hopefully in 5 episodes, we will understand.

And when Jack and Irina were arguing and Syd was like, "Dad... Dad... Baby's comin'." That was classic. Also thought it was funny when Marshall forgot to hit enter and open the door and Rachel slammed into it. :)

Angela said...

My head is spinning, too, and I even DREAMED about Alias last night.

My predominant impression was that the writers have already begun to tie up loose ends. Irinia uncharacteristically began to spill her guts in the bank--"I never wanted a baby, but I was under orders . . ." and I *think* we may have witnessed the beginning of the end of the Irina story lines. She's a spy, first and foremost, but she can't help loving her daughter. And are we really to believe SHE gave the order to kill Vaughn? She didn't deny it last night, but then again, there have been lots of times in Alias when you can't take silence as an admission of anything. In any case, it took me back to season two, when you never knew whether or not to trust Irina.

But I trust Jack. I am puzzled, though, by that eerie nursery we saw in the last episode before the break. What was P5's plan for Syd and her baby? I'm still scratching my head, but I'll get it's Rambaldi-related.

At least we don't have to wait much longer for answers!

Angie

Girlscout said...

Hey Daniel, I just love husband and wife fans out there. So cute.. or uh manly. HAHA.

Great eppy I am still spinnin!

Angela said...

Oh! I forgot my favorite parts!

There was lots of humor, but my favorite line was when Marshall over-acted in alarm after Dixon sprayed the anthrax, then Dixon said, "Take it down a notch, Hamlet." I HOWLED! :-)

Lots of typical droll Alias humor last night . . . I love it. And yes, that baby did pop out awful fast. No cutting the cord? I guess that's a little too much reality for TV, so they cut away to Irina . . .

But where did that baby blanket come from? Was one of the women wearing a shawl? I'll have to watch the eppy again to see.

Angie

Daniel said...

I have to say my absolute favorite part in the whole episode was simply Marshall's expersion on his face while in the tour group, when the tour guide said something like, "Looks like regular pocket change, right? (as she flips our a secret compartment of the coin) But Spies used devices like these during the cold war....."
Marshall simply knods with a look of, "that is a fabulously interesting device"
Priceless.

SRM said...

I'm so with you GS, loved the episodes and was seriously on the edge of my couch at the end of Maternal Instinct, wide-eyed, knowing that in just seconds we would see VAUGHN ALIVE! WE SO KNEW IT! AND WE SO KNEW THAT SYD AND JACK KNEW IT! Ok, enough of my bragging about being right haha. :) Actually I was starting to doubt Syd knew when she was talking to Irena about P5 killing Vaughn, then she said it again when Jack was there. Finally it ocurred to me that duh, she's playing it safe because she doesn't know what side Irena's on and they need to think Vaughn's dead. Do you really think Irena placed the hit on him?

I think Irena was the most outstanding character of the night, she just blew me away. All her deceitfulness, betrayal, it just never ends! But I too believe that she has some good agenda at the end of all this, I won't believe spymommy is evil! Jack too was freaking awesome, cutest spygrandpa ever.

Daniel, I know what you mean about the birthing scene. I thought all the way up until the baby came it was done well and then it was like boom, baby, done, the baby really didn't even cry, a little anticlimactic. BUT I thought everything else about the eppies was stellar, extremely well done. I laughed out loud when Dixon told Syd she waddles, best line of the night, so perfect to break up the tension. Same w/ Marshall, who doesn't love a good secret conspiracy??

I'm really intrigued by Grace now, who is the Cardinal and what message did he need to give him/her? I too thought he was ignorant about foreign languages but he seemed to speak whatever it was pretty well. Is Tom his alias or is Peter? Can't wait to rewatch the eppies over the weekend, I'm sure I'll come up w/ more questions!

p.s. you guys should watch the preview for next week at www.aol.com/alias , looks great!!

SKlaft said...

See, this is why I wait. Everyone has addressed most everything I might have said. Now I can be as brief as I like.

Like most of you, I loved the opening scenes, especially as they pertained to Marshall. Angela is right... the "Take it down a notch, Hamlet" comment had me laughing for the rest of the hour. Watching Rachel smack into the locked door was so totally in keeping with her slightly awkward character - she's always trying to be so serious and keep up with Syd, and this is the sort of thing that happens.

Syd's freeness with extreemly sensitve information in front of her mother is aggrivating. Didn't she find Irena's unexpected appearance a little convenient? Jack doesn't even warn her to be careful. What happened to natural suspicion? The events in Svogda could not have erased the years of deception and betrayal in thier minds. Now, thanks to Syd's and Jack's naivete, Irena has the Horizon (whatever that is - looked like a book) and is gone off the radar again.

Regarding the seeming quickness of birth, we can use our ability to immagine a plausable explanation and let that suffice. A.) Jack had taken out the enemies, so there was no rush as far as needing to get everything on screen. B.) There was a cut-away to another scene elsewhere, so we have no idea how much time elapsed between segments. We may suppose hours passed between. Time is flexible on TV (consider how fast Jack Bower on 24 is able to criss-cross the country). C.) Syd may have been having contractions before she revealed them. D.) They traveled several flights of stairs before settling in where they did. The exertion would certainly stimulate swift delivery. E.) Syd's tremendous physical health and athleticism would promote especially good conditions for it also.

Still no mention of the name Rambaldi. I still don't think we will have any more satisfaction regarding any questions we have about him. I'll be glad if I am wrong.

I feel a little brushed-off, if we are suposed to have had some sort of explanation to "truth takes time." Time has proven Irena to be much short of truthful, kind, or careing. Sure, she has moments of compassion for her child, usually in situations in which she has placed her children in awful situations. Bleh... I wish Jack would have shot her right there in the bank.

Ahh me... what shall I do for the next 6 days?! I suppose, I'll have to watch the tape several more times.

-R.

Girlscout said...

I agree StarbuxMom, Spybaby could take down that hawk!

Anonymous said...

Yay, Vaughn's alive! I totally agree with lhaaheim, I already knew he's alive, and even peeked at the postings of some east coasters last night about the episode (I'm bad, I can't help it!), but actually seeing it on my tv still left me open mouthed for a second or two. Then my sister and I started gushing and smiling like idiots till the clip for the next episode started rolling.

One of my favorite moments was the whole fam in the bank. It was really funny, especially when Irina plants a kiss on Jack and he got this shocked/confused look on his face. It totally caught him off guard, we were cracking up! And when Rachel slammed full force into the door, I could just hear Alias' fan's collective "oh!" while flinching.

Unknown said...

Ha ha! I believe I said, "Oooh! No Rachel, you don't have time to fall down!!" when she ran into the door.

And yeah, when Irina kissed Jack, it reminded me of when they were on their previous mission together in S2 and she kissed him in when they were waiting in line at customs. :)

RUDY said...

With the spyfam together on a mission, I'm too reminded of S2's spyfam mission. And we all know how that turned out. She played nice then ran from custody...which is bad if you are in the CIA. And well in this episode she ran...considering it something not good.

And let me just say that it was so disappointing to see VM at the last possible sec. During the whole episode I was waiting for him to come in. I'd be like: he'll pop up when Syd's in labor....WRONG. Then I thought he'd show up on the plane...NOPE. And then he shows up for like two second. WHAT? Are you kidding me? But he did look good. And if that whole horse rider and monk wasn't visible, I'd think that he was in some quite bar or something...or at least that was what I was thinking from the preview clips.

Sarafu said...

WOw! This is alot of info to process!!! My numder one qquestion is "WHat the heck do they want with Syds baby....why did no one ever say anything about the nursery they found in Hungery" My favorite parts were Marshall touring Langley and When Dixon told Syd that she waddled!! How funny was that! Owait, and it was bretty dang funny when Marshall didnt get the door open on time for Rachel!!!! That was definitly a laugh out loud moment!!! I CANT WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK!!!!

uncle111 said...

What we can safely assume from what we saw of Tom/Peter and "Alan Korman?"

Tom had known Alan before coming to APO. They both speak German as if they are German. German was the language they spoke to each other when no one else was around. Alan was afraid that Tom was mad about him killing Tom's wife, something his superiors told him to do. But the reason Tom risked everything in finding Alan was to have Alan get a message to the Cardinal.
Alan is in US Witness Protection. That means he has defected to the US or was a US agent and it is no longer safe for him to be out. If it is the latter, how and why would he be the channel to the Cardinal? Contacting the Cardinal is something that Tom (who knows that the Cardinal exists and knows what he does or the position he holds) doesn't know how to do. I think he must be from some foreign group and has defected to the US.
So, Tom knew this guy from the past, maybe worked with him. Were they really on the same side? Is Tom really foreign or was he a double.

What was the message Tom wanted to get to the Cardinal? It had to be big. He risked his freedom to find a way to have the message delivered. Is the Cardinal P5, and foreign agent, a US agent, or is he an official in the Catholic church. Could Rambaldi, or his Pope, have faked his death and could Rambaldi have been hiding out within the structure of the church all this time?

I assume we will find out with a few weeks:)

uncle111 said...

I forgot- We have Syd's DOB documented now. It was on her medical folder on the tanker- 4/17/75. (Happy birthday Syd!)
That's the same date S.A.B. 47 Project began under Jack's supervision, and the year P5 began searching for Horizon.

Girlscout said...

Jennifer Garner's b-day is also 4/17. Hehehe!

Daniel said...

Hey Starbucks Mom, get it straight, it was not an UZI, it was an RPG!!! Sheesh, you women just can't get your guns straight!
(jk)

uncle111 said...

daniel,
Sorry to correct you. It was a U.S. M-72 Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW). The RPG is a Soviet weapon used mostly by forces that use other Soviet weapons like AK-47's, AK-74's and Dragunov's.

Daniel said...

Yeah, shouldn't have corrected me. It was funnier before you did.

Girlscout said...

Let's be nice boys

Daniel said...

I was just being funny.

SRM said...

I agree Mike, Maternal Instinct was absolutely awesome, had everything I love about Alias. A ton of action, some drama, some comedy, anticipation, all in all a fantastic episode! :)

Anonymous said...

What if Sloane was not erasing contacts with P5? What if Sloane was erasing contact with Vaughn? Just another wrench to throw in.

My vote for the "cardinal" is....... Danny! that's right, danny is the ultimate bad guy. that was not his body Syd found but a clone of sorts. Danny wanted her to work with Sloane and the CIA. It's all Danny.