ALIAS Love Story: Section Four

Bishop: What's your real name?
Sydney: Ima
Bishop: Ima what?
Sydney: Ima gonna kick your ass.

Authorized Personnel Only (4.01/02) - Again, we have a new season that goes in a completely different direction, and the introduction of APO, the new black ops division run by Arvin Sloane. I like it! Its been a few months, but to us, they didn't waste any time hookin' Vaughn and Syd back up and we get to enjoy some nice spysex right off the bat. We do see that he resolved his issues with Lauren, or his "vicious homicidal double agent" wife, as he put it, by burning his house down. Nice.

We also have the most disappointing cliffhanger answer in the history of television. There were so many places they could have gone with what Lauren said to Sydney during their final fight, and for all to be on those papers was that Jack killed Irina was just utterly anti-climatic. Parts of the papers that we saw said things like "project manager: Jack Bristow", "project subject: Sydney Bristow", and "project initiated: april 1975" which we know is around Sydney's birthday. Both Jack and Senator Reed work in intellegence and she talked about them both being pawns in the same game and people controlling them. Come on guys...its got Project Christmas written all over it. And Lauren finding out and getting pissed off would have been a great explaination for why she went to work for the enemy.

Ice (4.04) - This isn't a pivotal moment, just a point I want to make. In Ice, Vaughn has issues with the fact that he killed Lauren. First of all, Vaughn was a psycho at the end of season three and I didn't much care for him, but he's acting like he went out and shot her in the head. He ended up killing her in self defense, and yet that's not the way they told the story at all. He's has all these supposed feelings of guilt, but really, if he hadn't killed her, she would have killed Sydney and probably him. He kills people in self defense almost everyday, and the fact that one of them got to be the woman that betrayed him and tried to kill him numerous times should just be an added bonus, not something to lose sleep over.

Welcome to Liberty Village (4.05) - Although Jack and Sloane's close relationship has been disturbing all season, we find out that they have an alternate agenda when Sloane talks about moving up their time table and they learn the Russians are searching for Elena Derevko.

Echoes (4.08) - Anna Espinoza returns and the prophecy concerning Sydney and Nadia, or the Passenger and the Chosen One, resurfaces, but its been tweaked. Sydney describes it to Nadia and we find out what the Rambaldi symbol, <0>, means. The outer markings are Sydney and Nadia and the circle is the object over which they will do great battle only this time, only one will survive instead of neither.

The Index (4.10) - We find out that Jack and Sloane do, in fact, have some kind of pact, and that they are pursuing something covertly that requires doing non-sanctioned things like stealing blackmail files. At this point, I'm figuring it has to do with Sydney because, as Jack himself pointed out, every compromising thing he does is to protect her.

The Orphan (4.12) - We see Elena, the third and nastiest of the Derevko women (or so we thought), for the first time. We don't know its actually her though yet, but we do know she's connected to Vaughn's father who's supposedly alive. We also learn that Nadia, just like Sydney, worked for a renegade organization fronting as a legitimate government black ops unit. At this point, the Project Christmas angle, however underplayed, is almost more interesting than the Rambaldi puzzle. I won't criticize too much just yet, but after the finale, if its not tied up...well, just wait.

Marshall: Syd, this guy buried you alive.
Sydney: Yeah but he cheated. He hit me with a car first.

Another Mister Sloane (4.16) - The assumption I'd been operating under just got wiped, because we see the red ball for the third and fourth time here and it gets smaller then bigger at the end, or the same size it was in Almost Thirty Years...we see the mid-sized ball as we see the same exchange that took place between the real Sloane and Neal Caplan years ago when Sloane was searching for Rambaldi and kidnapped him to build the neutron bomb. I think it would have been hilarious to bring back Christian Slater back and have Arvin Clone kidnap him instead of the woman scientist. His reaction would have been priceless.

Roberts: The price just went up.
Carter: Name it.
Roberts: $750, plus a neutral place to meet, plus no more grammar lessons.
Carter: a neutral location?
Roberts: Yeah that's right. Or I disappear again, and I take your slinky with me.

A Clean Conscience (4.17) - We learn that Sophia Vargas is really Elena Derevko, who I think looks the scariest when her hair is all the way down, and we find out that Jack and Sloane's mysterious pact is about tracking her down because there is evidence that she's after the Rambaldi sisters. Again, its not clear why at this juncture. I see big...red...balls...

Cloane: Jack are you really wasting are time with this? After all, it was you who taught me to endure torture...
Jack: Listen to me you pathetic freak; even if what you were saying was true, you can be sure I've kept a few things to myself.

In Dreams (4.19) - Crap! I was wrong again...we see the red ball again...and its smaller again...this is the fifth time. My original count of four was way off.

Marshall: Congratulations, man. I'm sure Mr. Bristow's gonna be thrilled.
Michael: Really? I'm just hoping he doesn't shoot me on the spot.

The Descent (4.20) - We get the first glimpse of the ring and learn that Vaughn plans to propose to Sydney, and he and Jack have a lovely exchange.

Katya: Is that look on your face supposed to be intimidating? You forget Jack...I've seen your tender side. ...Do you plan on torturing me?
Jack: If I have to.
Katya: While I know that would be enjoyable for both of us, I should warn you I have quite a bit of stamina, but you already know that about me.

The obvious is stated here...that the Vaughn's father charade, Sloane Clone, etc, etc, etc, is all part of Elena's game, or endgame, and APO figures out that Sophia is Elena. We also find out that Irina's endgame was stopping Elena.

Search and Rescue (4.21) - We find out for sure that Irina Derevko is, in fact still alive and being held by her crazy ass sister Elena Derevko.

Irina: I'm not going to torture you...I'm gonna let him do it, and he really doesn't care for you.
Jack: I'm actually hoping you don't tell us. There's a 50/50 chance Sydney'll cut the right wire.
Elena: You're not a gambling man Jack.
Jack: I didn't used to be, but it's been a rather interesting year for me. It's made me re-evaluate certain parts of my life. I'm trying to have more fun...

Before the Flood (4.22) - Up to this point, this is without a doubt, the best season finale of Alias...so much to talk about. I say up to this point, because I have great expectations for the series finale. They actually could have tweaked this a little...have Nadia live or die, have Syd and Vaughn actually make it to Santa Barbara for once (for the LOVE), etc...and it could have been the series finale. Anyway. First and foremost, Sydney and Vaughn get engaged. I have to applaud the writers for this, because the build up to this moment was 4, and if you really think about it 6, years in the making...the bar was high, but it turned out alright. Then again, we find out that Michael isn't Michael...greaaaat. Speaking of which...you thought we were gonna have a whole season sans our favorite series didn't you? Close, but not quite. "I Almost Died: Part Six" comes at the very end of the season as a jeep broadsides Vaughn and Sydney...although I guess we don't really know yet if its an installment in this series, or a more final, one parter, just called, "yeah I died and that's it."

Then we have the Rambaldi Prophecy coming to a head with the big red ball of all big red balls...I thought this was Rambaldi's endgame...but their hyping that up for the series finale like its tied to Prophet Five, so I guess not. Anyway, we go on a mission with the Bristows to save the world and ultimately succeed, although not without Nadia as a semi-casualty, as the prophecy regarding Sydney and Nadia partly comes true. I think at this point its worth mentioning that the big red ball that I'm so fond of was first designed by Oscar Mueller who is or was involved with Prophet Five.

Also, Irina knows what Vaughn is up to...and although we don't know what Vaughn is up to at this point, it made it a hell of a lot easier to guess who was behind that glass.

Sydney: You wanna be rough or you want me to be rough?
Michael: You're always rough.
Sydney: No I'm not.
Michael: Yes you are.
Sydney: That's not true.
Michael: Yes it is.
Sydney: Are you talking about at home or on ops?
Michael: Both...hey I'm not complaining.
Sydney: Well if I'm rough its because you like it when I'm- Are we on comms?
Jack: Yes...you are BOTH on comms.