Oldies and Newbies

34 Days until the return of Alias

As the return approaches and wild speculations fly, I can’t help but wonder how Alias writers are going to incorporate the newbies into the series finale. There are seemingly 4 years of Alias mysteries to solve and it seems as if Rachel, Grace, Renee and Kelly Peyton have little to do with what many of us picture for the end Alias. What role will these characters play? How will writers explain their existence in a world that has solely revolved around Sydney Bristow and her life in the CIA? Here are some of my ideas and/or questions.

Rachel Gibson
We understand that Rachel’s character was brought in as a substitute, but not as a replacement, for Sydney. Due to both Jennifer and Sydney's pregnancies, Sydney's physically abilities as a CIA operative have been sidelined, for now and someone has to pick up the slack. We have warmed to Rachel as we watch her struggle; much like Sydney did, to understand the crazy world she is living in. Rachel is our link to The Shed and to Kelly Peyton. We know Kelly has Sydney- how will Rachel’s knowledge of The Shed (which is now in the hands of Kelly) help Sydney in her struggle to bring down this group? If there is a mole inside APO, could Rachel be that mole? Could she have been working with Kelly this entire time- to get rid of Dean and infiltrate another government agency?

Thomas Grace
As we know, Grace was brought in to replace APO’s fallen agent, Michael Vaughn and departing agent, Eric Weiss. His shady past seems to agree with Jack and Grace has an undeterred loyalty and protection for his pregnant partner. It has now been revealed that Agent Grace was in fact married at one point and how that will play into the upcoming episodes is unclear. But, it has been said that Jack specifically asked for Grace because of a dark secret. Could Grace’s wife or past be somehow related to the situation at hand? Could Grace be the mole? Could it have been Kelly Peyton’s hand he took in marriage and now the wedded team is pulling one over on APO?

Renee Rienne
She has been working for seven years, along side Michael Vaughn, to discover the truth behind P5 and what happened to their fathers. When the man in the box turned out to be Dr. DiSantis, Renee seemed to be at the end of her rope. What leads is she following as she hides out as one of the CIA’s most wanted? Dr. DiSantis says to Gordon Dean, after he is extracted, that “the girl is alive; she’s working with the CIA under the name Renee Rienne.” If she is merely using Renee Rienne as an alias (or perhaps it’s the name her father chose for her to evade P5) then what is her real name and who is she?

Kelly Peyton
It was announced this week by Amy Acker, the actress who plays Kelly Peyton, that she will be a season regular after the hiatus. We met Kelly as a gopher for Gordon Dean. She fights Rachel, takes Gordon Dean’s place as the head of The Shed and kills several CIA agents in search of Vaughn’s files. Now, she is working with another CIA killer, Irina Derevko. How did they meet? What are their plans for the information retrieved in Sydney’s memory? What role will Peyton play in retrieving the Horizon (whoever or whatever it is)?

With the return of Will, Evil Francie and Nadia, how will the new characters fit into the close of the show? How will writers tie together the old and the new to give Alias the proper send off? What are your ideas and thoughts on this??

PS. Bradley Cooper (Will Tippin) is confirmed to return for episode 5.11 “Maternal Instinct.” Merrin Dungey (Francie/Evil Francie) is confirmed to return, as is Mia Maestro. As mentioned before, the Alias will return with a 2 hour episode (a combination of 5.10 and 5.11). Two whole hours, what is a girl to do?!!

Ps. Thanks to Addicted to Alias for the cast banner.