In the eighteenth episode of the third season of Alias, I should really stop trying to analyze and predict the story or the characters for this show because every time I do, I become a hot fucking mess. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Alias.
I can’t. I CAN’T DO THIS.
Arvin
I sort of hate that the show has put me in the position of, even for a tiny moment, DEFENDING ARVIN SLOANE. Of course, it’s all contextual. In any other situation, I wouldn’t even dream of it, and I’d be fine with letting him suffer forever. Well… I’m still fine with that. JUST SAYIN’.
But he’s part of the machinations of the Covenant, and I want Arvin taken down for the right reasons. “Unveiled†toys with the audience, though. There’s so much we know that various characters don’t, and thus, we are watching Arvin be the most truthful he’s ever been in Alias. I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I JUST TYPED THAT SENTENCE. But that’s what I’m dealing with while watching this show. Good gods, this show is a lot, y’all.
Lauren
Again: I tried. I really did. I admit that it’s been fun trying to decipher Lauren’s motivations and her part in the bigger picture, so it’s not like I regret talking about her in-depth. Her arc has taken up a large part of season three, and it’s been one hell of a ride, so… I was gonna make an attempt.
I still don’t how this all started for her and her mother, but “Unveiled†reveals in more detail how Lauren consistently manipulates the people and situations around her. This time, though, she’s under immense pressure to do so because of Bomani’s watchful eye, and that pressure forces her to be more risky than she’s been. And for the audience, that means EVERYTHING HURTS WAY MORE. Oh my god, we got teased with Sydney and Vaughn learning the truth MULTIPLE TIMES. In that Berlin club. At the CIA safe house. In Marshall’s office. IN THE MALL. And what’s fascinating is how so much of this is framed within Vaughn’s story. This isn’t just about Lauren’s duplicity, you know? That is certainly a big part, but how that duplicity affects Vaughn is just as important.
And as if we needed this show to drive the stake in just a little deeper, we got that unbearable scene in which Vaughn swore he knew his wife, that he was nothing like Jack, that there was no way his wife had betrayed them all. If it seemed like overkill, I found it perfectly in character, particularly since Jack probably hit a nerve. Vaughn lashed out because HE KNEW DEEP-DOWN THAT IT WAS ALL TRUE. I mean, I’m just guessing here because so much of what goes down in this scene and some of the following ones is all internal. Perhaps Vaughn’s denial really was buried deep within him. Or perhaps it wasn’t even there to begin with! It would explain his declaration, and then you could easily read his behavior afterwards as the beginning of his doubt. Once Jack put that thought in his head—that Lauren wasn’t who she said she was—he couldn’t escape it.
Thus, we get him following her on her errands, having Weiss listen in on her phone conversations, and then there’s that big reveal at the end of the episode. Every time, Lauren manages to evade suspicion. Every time, the people around her might suspect her more, but with Vaughn on her side, she’s got a huge advantage.
No more, y’all. I don’t see how she explains that suitcase. AT ALL. The house of cards has fallen, and it’s over. THIS NEXT EPISODE IS GONNA DESTROY ME. Not just because Vaughn must know the truth of Lauren, but because of THE PASSENGER. It seems like Irina fits as the possible identity of that person, plus she would have tons of aliases. But what can the Passenger DO? What is their importance in the grand scheme of Rambaldi? Why did the Telling give Bomani and Sark so much more information than it did Sloane???
The video for “Unveiled†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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