In the fifteenth episode of the third season of Alias, THIS WAS A LOT, and that’s become the general theme of this show. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Alias.Â
I just… holy shit, WHAT AN EPISODE. There’s not much in terms of characterization until the very end (which PUNCHED ME IN THE FEELINGS), but that’s perfectly fine. I love that the writers gave themselves over so wholly towards building a suspenseful narrative that somehow kept escalating. AND THEN INCLUDED THAT DETAIL ABOUT SYDNEY’S LOYALTY TEST SO THAT EVERYTHING WOULD BE A MILLION TIMES WORSE.
But I think what I love about this is how the Convenant is unmistakably evil within this narrative, and that doesn’t mean that Ryan’s opposition to them is necessarily a good thing. I wouldn’t even go so far as to say that he’s on the same side as anyone else, and that’s ultimately why the CIA fails to convince him to help. (Well, until Jack, but MORE ON THAT IN A SECOND.) For some context, you have to look at what Ryan had done ever since he was dishonorably discharged. Maybe there was an ethical element to his work, but long ago, he decided that he was fine with collateral damage. He was fine murdering people to prove a point. He was fine knowing that his work contributed to the suffering of others.
So how could you ever convince someone like that to spare the lives of “innocent†people? In his mind, it’s an unnecessary value, a word that holds no real meaning, and you can see that in the opening scene and then again in the last third of “Façade.†He’s in this for revenge and nothing else. Which these people understand! Not a single one of them has a desire to see Sark succeed or experience joy, and each of them certainly has their own need for revenge or closure. Yet none of them are willing to do what Ryan does! (Well… more on that in a second.) It means nothing to him that hundreds of people would have died on that flight because he would have killed Sark. Add to that his decision to get revenge against Sydney once she revealed she used to be Julia Thorne. Why not take out the CIA and a plane full of people just for vengeance? JUST A NORMAL DAY IN DANIEL RYAN’S LIFE.
Anyway! I love that this moves from one tense set piece to another. We go from that tragic opening—which has one HELL of a cut scene—to the hotel stage, which was INCREDIBLE. I love that specific sort of suspenseful arrangement, when any single detail can make something fall apart. And given who Daniel Ryan is, HIS ATTENTION TO DETAIL MATTERED. Watching the team scramble to make sure that Ryan believed what he saw was A LOT, but it was also GODDAMN THRILLING. There was improv. There was innovation. THERE WAS A LOT OF ME YELLING.
I expected the whole episode to be in that hotel room, so you can easily imagine why I was overwhelmed when “Façade†turned into another tense, closed-room scenario. (Technically, it’s two at the same time. WHY IS THIS SHOW LIKE THIS.) On a superficial level, it was entertaining, but from a craft perspective, I enjoyed a specific dynamic here: that the CIA brilliantly orchestrated this entire thing, yet couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I don’t think Ryan could have ever been reasoned with. Perhaps the Julia Thorne reveal is what pushed him over, but, again: Ryan’s past matters here, especially since he’s always been willing to do horrendous things to others. They couldn’t see the big picture, that revenge motivated Ryan more than anything else.
I admit that I expected Sark to escape, so I am unsure where the HELL this show is going next, now that he’s been captured. At this point, I think it’s safe to assume he’ll get out of custody once more because that’s what he does. Right? Well, that operates under the assumption that the Covenant will get him, sooooo…. oh shit, maybe not???
I DON’T KNOW. But let’s end this with VAUGHN/SYDNEY FEELINGS, because I need it. I need them to find out the truth about Lauren so they can just GET IT ON AGAIN. It’s too much!
I also just need to definitively state this: Jack Bristow killed someone and brought them back to life immediately afterward to prove that he was not bluffing. What. The. FUCK.
The video for “Façade†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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