After a series of clues that Irina provides turn out to be correct and helpful, Sydney begins to feel somewhat closer to her. Afraid that Irina is only trying to manipulate Sydney to serve her own hidden agenda, Jack devises a plan to actually make that happen and convince the CIA to transfer Irina to another facility. This is one of the most psychologically and morally complex episodes of the series so far: Sydney for the first time feels drawn to her mother and is torn between her logic and her emotions; Jack is prepared to even work against the CIA if it means taking Irina away from Sydney - but is he doing it out of concern for his daughter, or as an act of revenge against the woman who fooled him? Can Vaughn say "thank you" to the woman who killed his father when she gets Sydney out of a very tight spot? And does Irina really want a chance at redemption, or does she have hidden motives? The scene where Sydney smiles, for a second and almost in spite of herself, to Irina is perhaps Jennifer Garner's finest acting in the series so far. I'm also interested in where they're going with the subplot of Sloane being "haunted" by his wife. *** out of 4.
3 Reviews
Jack plays dirty
Tweekums20 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
When Sydney goes to Moscow to retrieve a map which is vital to aid in the recovery of a book of her mothers detailing all of her activities she runs into Sark; to get away from him with the map she sets off the alarms but needs help to get out of the building; this her mother provides. Jack is getting more and more concerned about Sydney's reliance on her mother's information so plans to destroy that trust forever when Sydney gets her to decode the map. While this is going on Sloane has asked Jack to find out about the mysterious calls he has been receiving; Jack sends Dixon to investigate and he discovers a very surprising name in the hotel registration book... Sloane's late wife! In a third plot strand Will is continuing his drug counselling and is approached by a woman who believed his story about SD-6 despite him denying it; clearly he will have to persuade her that if it was a work of fiction if he is to remain safe.
This episode started well with Sydney's exciting escape from the freezing water in Siberia and continued in similar fashion with a thrilling escape in Moscow and a spectacular explosion in Madagascar. Away from the action Lena Olin continues to impress as Irina Derevko; I just hope Jack's actions don't mean we'll see less of her. Talking of Jack; he was at his most devious in this episode; he could almost tip into a caricature of himself if Victor Garber didn't do such a good job in the role. The background story concerning Sloane and the mysterious calls suddenly got a lot more interesting when his wife's name came up... she is meant to be dead! Having watched this episode I look forward to finding out what will happen to Sydney's mother and learning who is messing with Arvin Sloane.
This episode started well with Sydney's exciting escape from the freezing water in Siberia and continued in similar fashion with a thrilling escape in Moscow and a spectacular explosion in Madagascar. Away from the action Lena Olin continues to impress as Irina Derevko; I just hope Jack's actions don't mean we'll see less of her. Talking of Jack; he was at his most devious in this episode; he could almost tip into a caricature of himself if Victor Garber didn't do such a good job in the role. The background story concerning Sloane and the mysterious calls suddenly got a lot more interesting when his wife's name came up... she is meant to be dead! Having watched this episode I look forward to finding out what will happen to Sydney's mother and learning who is messing with Arvin Sloane.
the new improved buffed and polished ALIAS
A_Different_Drummer2 April 2015
This review written from the far future (2015 to be precise).
Looking back on this ground-breaking series, we now know that one of the trademarks for which JJ Abrams is known is his willingness to burn a formula to the ground if he thinks he can rebuild it and make it better. And by better I mean more interesting to the audience.
Season 1 was fun but (no hate mail) flawed. It was sort of a Mission Impossible riff and most of the tension therefore was leveraged off the same characters and the same situations from week to week.
What I like about Season 2 is that even this early in the season JJ and his team have clearly identified the weak spots and have raised the bar.
Much of this new suspense (the second arc) comes from a stunning portrayal by Lena Olin. Olin was almost 50 when this was filmed yet somehow manages to hold the camera and the viewer entirely with facial expressions (headshots) filmed in a dark prison cell. That, my friend, is acting. The real McCoy.
Looking back on this ground-breaking series, we now know that one of the trademarks for which JJ Abrams is known is his willingness to burn a formula to the ground if he thinks he can rebuild it and make it better. And by better I mean more interesting to the audience.
Season 1 was fun but (no hate mail) flawed. It was sort of a Mission Impossible riff and most of the tension therefore was leveraged off the same characters and the same situations from week to week.
What I like about Season 2 is that even this early in the season JJ and his team have clearly identified the weak spots and have raised the bar.
Much of this new suspense (the second arc) comes from a stunning portrayal by Lena Olin. Olin was almost 50 when this was filmed yet somehow manages to hold the camera and the viewer entirely with facial expressions (headshots) filmed in a dark prison cell. That, my friend, is acting. The real McCoy.
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