Michael Vaughn is an exceptional CIA operative. Falling in the footsteps of his seemingly decorated CIA father, Vaughn has been working along side Syd in the battle against evil since the moment she walked into his office- the toothless crazy person with the bozo hair. Vaughn is Mr. By-the-Books, or was, until Jack needed his help extracting Sydney from Fort Williams and his secret off-book revenge against Lauren. But one by-the-books move we can always count on from Michael Vaughn is the fact that he never goes into mission without…his bullet-proof vest.As Ivan Curtis fired his weapon and Vaughn fell back against the train, did we not all assume that Vaughn was wearing his vest? Did Sydney not assume he was wearing his vest as she approached him? Vaughn has been shot at before. He was shot by Sark in the stairwell, as Vaughn and Sydney were after Irina. He was wearing his vest then. He was wearing it on the docked ship in Vancouver when Sark and Lauren went after the plasma charge. We have grown accustom to Vaughn wearing his vest, in fact, we trust that he is protected each and every time he and Sydney go out in the field. Dixon could learn a thing or two from Vaughn. But, I was thinking about the scene at the train tracks, I was thinking about James Lehman standing there, and Vaughn handing him the book. Gordon Dean pulled in a car and Ivan Curtis after him. Vaughn stood there. He didn’t say a word; he did try to protect himself. He stood there and took the heat. This action or non-action is so out of character for Vaughn that we can assume that it was intended to be a huge flashing red sign “I AM NOT DEAD.”
If Ivan Curtis was working under Irina- we can assume that he too was in the plot to “extract” Vaughn, to make it appear to Gordon Dean, that Vaughn was in fact dead.
So, we know it was important for Gordon Dean to believe that Vaughn was dead. Related, it is important for Kelly Peyton to believe Vaughn is dead as well. Can we presume that Vaughn has been working with Irina, inside P5? He must have been in the plot to fake his death. And if Vaughn was saved by Irina and he is working with her, why wouldn’t Irina merely ask Vaughn for the name or code on the SD-6 map?
Jeff Pinkner, Alias producer, indicated in an interview that by the end of the 99th episode, the audience will know where Vaughn is and what he has been doing. Where do you think Vaughn is? What do you think he is doing? And who is he working with?
12 comments:
I don't know the answer to the most interesting questions. But, it's possible that Vaughn doesn't know that the clue to Horizon is on the map and may not know about Horizon at all.
About the vest- I wear one occassionally. I used to sell them to law enforcement. They all have a point at which they will fail. The more concealable a vest is, the thinner it is and the less protection is will provide. One way of gauging how protective a vest is is how much submachine gun fire can it withstand. If Vaughn was wearing a concealable, besides the normal less than lethal pounding he took, some of the 30+ rounds I counted that he got hit with would have penetrated. If he had not be wearing a vest, he would have died at the scene- absolutely no doubt about that.
Now, whether he was wearing a vest out of habit or did he know this was going to happen...?
Thanks for the info. Uncle. That helps. So, perhaps he was wearing a lesser-proof vest and was was seriously injured- then maybe it was Jack that faked his death- as we had all assumed, with whatever was in the that glass of water with the straw.
BoomBoom, hello!! Nice to have you! I noticed the same thing!! If Ivan and Dean were working together, then why would Dean need Sydney to tell him where Vaughn was? Remember, before Dean was killed by Sloane, he told Sydney that he didn't know who he was working for. Obviously Ivan did know or he wouldn't have jumped out of the plane. Perhaps Ivan is was working with Irina and he initially had to shoot Vaughn, perhaps with blanks, in order to make Dean believe he was dead, or so that Dean wouldn't shoot Vaughn. Hmmm.
great point boomboom. Also, if Vaughn had been wearing a vest, I'm assuming there wouldn't have been any, or at least minimal, blood. As you can see from the picture along with this article, Vaughn was bleeding from every shot he took. I'm one to believe that he's still alive and in hiding, which would mean that if the shooting was a setup, he would have had to been wearing those blood packets under his shirt to fake the blood and Curtis did fire blanks and was in on it. I like the idea of Vaughn continuing his P5 research in hiding and Weisse joining him in secret.
Excellent observation, Boomboom. The only plausable explanations I can think of regarding Dean's appearance at APO is that it was a diversion. he wasn't really looking for Vaughn, he just wanted to keep tabs on what APO knew, especially since Sydney escaped the abduction/ car crash. He may also have been after her as well.
How they knew where the meeting would take place is another matter.
RE: The shooting - as many of us know, 9mm submachine guns are incredably difficult to aim when shooting in extended bursts (such as we saw directed at Vaughn). The shooter, if I remember correctly, did not even try to aim, but took the "look how cool I am spraying lead" stance. This is why the 30+ rounds had much less effect and many few hits, and this is also why it took a second burst of fire. This also explains why it is possible for Vaughn to have survived.
RE: Where Vaughn is/ has been - Based on Jack's instructions to the guys back at APO, I believe he has been recovering in an Italian village under an assumed name, and has possibly been providing intel. for the CIA.
Jenn- Kelly Peyton stole Vaughn's files from teh CIA remember, and on one of the tapes Vaughn tells Devlin that he briefed Sydney about SD-6 and how far it reaches. So, Kelly knew that Vaughn had possibly shown Sydney the map.
Vaughn is alive Jenn. I promise!!
The vest and blood- if it was a "lower threat level" vest (the best ones are too bulky to wear under a shirt, but they have a new technology which is unbelievably incredible which will end up changing the whole dynamic), then submachine gun fire could cause failure of the vest where multiple hits occurred, thus you would have penetration in areas where several bullets hit repeatedly. Many hits, a few places bleeding. The Beretta "subgun" Curtis was using could, at that range, have kept the majority of the hits within Vaughn's torso area, especially since Vaughn wasn't moving around much.
Curits fired over 30 rounds. It's been a while since I counted, but it may have been as high as 45.
Curtis and Dean- Curtis does seem to know at least who ordered the hit on Vaughn. Whether he knew more specifiics about who he was working for than Dean, I don't think we know. Curits had Vaughn at the beginning of the episode, but didn't Dean come on the scene only after Vaughn escaped? I need to rewatch that to be certain.
Look closely at the picture.
There is clearly something under Vaughn's shirt - it's a giant square.
Most likely a vest.
Bristow,
Though I too believe he had on a vest, the tricky part about basing that on what it looks like on the screen is that the special effects gadgets they use to make it look like someone is getting shot can look like a vest also.
Yea, thats true.
Another possibility could simply be that he actually was seriously injured in the shooting, but was saved by the surgery. It's a bit far-fetched, but we've seen a lot crazier on this show.
I also don't think that Sydney is aware that he is alive. To many signes point to her believing that he is dead. I'm pretty sure it's a Jack/Weiss/Dixon plan.
Definitely a Jack plan for sure. He's always got some secret that trips her up...Your mother is k-directorate....or I killed your mother.
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