Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Reverse Recap

GAWD, season 3 is packed with role reversals. Love it! I sat down and watched the second disc of season 3 last night and sakes alive, there are some wildly fantastic and utterly ironic moments. Here is some of what I adore...

The moment Julia Thorne runs a knife through Michael Vaughn- greatest moment in TV history! She catches him up by his jacket collar, stares him straight in the eyes and says, “You never should have betrayed me.” OUCH! Big ouch! Can you even believe the irony of this situation. He betrays her by marrying Lauren and then "betrays" her as a CIA agent. The moment is so intense I can hardly stand it!

Later, Vaughn wakes, in a dream state, to Sydney at his bed side. They speak about how much they miss each other and then, Sydney pulls back and stabs him again. The dream is very interesting- one, because we are led to believe it is real and two, because Vaughn’s true feelings about Sydney’s return are revealed. Earlier in the season, after Sydney’s return to the CIA, she visits Vaughn in his classroom where he teaches French. He tells her how close to death he came, that he was overwhelmed by grief and his love for her. Then he says, “But I don’t regret moving on with my life.” Um, yeah right! I would say dreaming about Sydney ramming you with a knife is some sort of symbol of regret and guilt.

Simon Walker- Brillantly yummy! That is all I have to say about that.

I know we all break down the moment Sydney runs back to Vaughn’s hospital room for her jacket and she stumbles upon an intimate moment between Vaughn and Lauren. Her eyes well up, the music swells and we remember- Sydney and Vaughn are no longer together. We see Sydney pining for Vaughn- much like how he pined for her in the first two seasons. Vaughn would steal secret glances, watch her play golf with Will and Francie- it’s very much the same as Sydney watching Vaughn and Lauren together.

Another role reversal played out in season 3 is the situation in which Sloane plays double-agent for the CIA and the Covenant. As Sydney says, it’s “classic” that Sloane would be placed in this position and that he would use Sydney’s experience as a double to manipulate in order to have her placed as his handler. I love Sloane in season 3. This cheap shots at Vaughn and Lauren are so inappropriate and totally out of line, but I bloody love it! I love how slimy and calculated he is. Yes, it makes me giddy!

Vaughn recovers and is back on the ice with Weiss in no time. He feels horrible about keeping the Lazarey murder a secret from Lauren, but he knows he has to in order to protect Sydney. Good old Weiss gives him a tip- “That’s why people from the CIA don’t marry people from the NSC. Don’t poop where you sleep.” LOVE IT! Weiss is just full of funny quips this season. I wish there would have been more of him in the end.

Season 3 also houses the return of Alison Doren, aka Evil Francie. Her return sparked many questions for me- such as, why do the bad guys always walk? They have this strut-like walk, even when they are in a hurry. They never run, they just walk, with the look of death on their face. I noticed this as I watched Evil Francie maneuver down the corridor of the abandon hotel, with Sydney and Vaughn after her. Sydney and Vaughn are frantically running to catch up, yet Evil Francie continues to walk. What is that?

Formality aside, Evil Fran and Syd get into a hell of a showdown. I love this fight more than the original. It was very well done, very well shot and very entertaining. Francie is eventually shot by Sydney, only to recover minutes later in order to escape CIA custody. Is this eternal life? What is the serum or medication that the Rambaldi manuscript provided? If Evil Francie was unable to die, how was Will able to kill her? Did he kill her? Why didn't Sloane take the medication? This is one of the reasons I was so upset about the finale- Alias starts to break it's own rules. They give us this set of rules- Rambaldi and his prophecies. They throw Sydney into the mix and we suspend and stretch our disbelief. What I can't believe is that the Covenant would have access to this serum of life and Sloane would have no knowledge of it. Are the mediation in season 3 and the red goo and the Horizon in season 5 the same thing? I am sooo confused!!

So, where are you in season 3? What are your favorite moments in the first half of the season? Any thoughts or ideas?

9 comments:

Girlscout said...

The song was "Oooh Child"

RUDY said...

My all time moments are of Syd when she is with Simon Walker and Vaughn has to listen and tail her. So much tension, as you say GS. This is why season three is my favorite. It makes you cringe, wence, recoil. It makes you REACT!

Girlscout said...

Nice Rudy! As you know, I agree completely. React! Nice!

blah said...

so I finally got my alias book yesterday in the mail, finally after like three weeks of waiting for it. Anyways I just finished it an hour or so ago. I couldnt' put it down. I really liked it. I'll do my own recap later on when i feel like typing a whole lot and then i'll let ya'll know to go read it, if you want to.

Dark

SRM said...

One of my favorite things about season 3 is Syd as Julia Thorne. I love seeing her improv with Simon when she realizes he knows her as "Julia" and she has know idea how, when, or what happened between them, yet she's still able to fool him and steal a diamond necklace (with time for a swim hehe). And honestly, I love that brown wig with the curly extensions, sexy as hell IMO. Bad guys have to strut, it shows how arrogant they are that they're never panicking or worried their plans will fall through. K, time to get ready for beddytime...

Kellie said...

My favorite season three episode is The Two. I have watched it a million times. When Syd tells Vaughn she feels "horrible and ripped apart" I cry every time. It is just awesome television and I love Syd when she is angry. She really kicks butt (can we say a - - here?) like when she stabs Vaughn, when she says she hates Lauren, etc. She is really great angry.

I am totally with you on the confusion over the goo. I just watched the finale again and I just think the finale story and characters are out of sync with the series. Who are those people Sloane and Irina? Sloane would know and have found the elixir and/or goo at some point in his 30 year quest. In S4, he flat out says Rimbaldi is not about immortality in one of the last shows of the season, but that is exactly what it ended up being about - immortality and power.

Girlscout said...

You can say ass here Kellie- we are all grown ups. But that is the extent of the foul language. Hahaha, I just watched the episode when Dixon calls Alison Doran a bitch. Hahahah!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love Remnants, where Syd gets Will out of Witness Protection and they go to get the Rambaldi artifact that "Julia" hid. Will's fake British accent is priceless, and he thinks he does such a great job. Good fight scene with Will and Evil Francie too. And of course, Will finally gets to bed Syd. My Sark is there too, but is foiled by a kick to a door...why is he always taken down so easily?! He is lucky he is hot!

uncle111 said...

I'm stuck watching S1 right now. I started right before you started S3 and I'm taking notes on sometjhings and didn't want to jumble things up by jumping around. I have to agree that the "I'm horrible" speech is one of the best scenes of the series. I cringe and then melt everytime I see it. I think it was an Emmy performance.