In the pilot episode of Alias, Sydney losses her fiancé, Danny to the evils of her occupation. She reacts in utter devastation and sadness as she realizes she caused Danny’s death, that she put him in jeopardy. Her innocence as a naïve super agent is shattered.
In the opening episode of season 5, Sydney again losses her fiancé, Vaughn to the evils of his own design. He had been investigating a rogue government program in hopes of learning more about his father and his past. She reacts out of experience. She has lost before.
The difference between these two scenes is how we, the audience, perceived Sydney’s reaction. In the pilot, we hardly knew Danny, so Sydney’s reaction had to convey her relationship with him, her feelings, because we didn’t observe their courtship. In season 5, Sydney’s reaction might have seemed subdued compared. She didn’t react as strongly, or as emotionally outwardly as she had to Danny’s death and that is because we understood her feelings for Vaughn. We watched them fall in love; we watched them struggle with their feelings in hiding and during Vaughn’s marriage to Lauren.
We felt for Sydney in the pilot because she was losing the beginning of her life- a normal life. We felt for her in 5.01 because she was losing the ending of her life- a life with Vaughn and their child. I loved the pilot scene because it was so raw and emotional, almost violent. She reacted emotionally- going after Sloane, learning the truth about SD-6 and becoming a double agent. I loved the 5.01 scene because she let Vaughn go so tenderly. It was such a soft moment as she kissed him goodbye. She reacted rationally- throwing self into the investigation of P5 in order to make sense of Vaughn’s death.
Your thoughts? I know we have talked about Sydney’s reaction to Vaughn’s death before, but I want to hear your take on it compared to Danny’s death. Was her reaction to Vaughn’s death a clue that she may know his whereabouts?
10 comments:
If Syd wer ethe only one whose reaction seemed subdued, I could accept the explanation that she has matured and learned how to deal with loss of this magnitude. It was the fact that no one at the funeral or elsewhere reacted very emotionally at all. It has to be a clue. They were in full-fledged panic-mode trying to make some sort of arrangements for passports, a place in some vilage in Italy, and transportation. Vaughn "dies" and no one even says much about it after?
I know we have done the "clue" thing to death, but when talking about Syd's reaction, I am led to no other conclusions about it.
-R.
I agree Robby!
I thought it very interesting too, that Sydney loses Danny in the pilot and loses Vaughn in the first eppy of the last season. I know that the writers hadn't planned on this season being the last, or maybe they had an idea, but I thought it was interesting, very parallel.
Yep. Her reaction to Vaughn's death is defintely different from Danny's death. For starters, Syd caused Danny's and Vaughn caused his own. Though I don't think that he died. If she had truly lost Vaugh, we'd know it. She'd destroy the world over to get to those who destroyed him, and she'd do it in a blind furry. The same furry that she channeled into fixing her SD-6 position and settle into the sadle to destroy the man who killed Danny. Yes, we could argue that she's doing just that right now. Well, she is. BUT her manner is more soothed like she is on another mission, a mission with Vaughn. And that mission is one to put Vaughn's dad to rest. To create peace for her man, to let him know and accept his father Bill.
Hmm. Dead People being seen. Bill Vaughn's blurry past and involvement with P-5...
Ya gotta wonder if Bill is going to have a coming back from the dead party. Michael Vaughn followed the tricks of Sloane-clone because he has always had an inkling that his Dad might be alive. BV's involvement with Irena, Nadia, and Elena surely leaves a lot of uncovered ground.
Ooops. This belongs on the other blog/ article.
I agree Robby, perhaps it is Bill Vaughn they are talking about. Perhaps he holds all the Rambaldi answers. Ohhhhh!!!
That would bring the show to full circle, now would it not?
ohhh, yes, I didn't even think of Bill Vaughn being the "dead person", good thinking robby!
Ok this is totally OT of this article, but how cute was JG at the Oscars last night?!? It was such a sweet surprise seeing her, I didn't even know she was going to be a presenter. She looked beautiful as always, and after almost tripping on her dress she gets up to the microphone and grins "I do my own stunts" hehe, she's so cute!!
I'm re-watching the 1st season and just saw that episode 'Snowman' where she killed off Noah Hicks. Granted that she was the one who killed this former lover, her reaction to Noah's death was so much more emotional than her reaction to Vaughn's. She must know something is up...
Good point Anon!
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