Mark Watches ‘Alias’: S04E10 – The Index

In the tenth episode of the fourth season of Alias, this show has to leave me alone, WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Alias. 

I should have known.

At around this point in each season—somewhere about halfway through—Alias does this thing where they escalate a plot at lightspeed and I am left feeling as if my soul was ripped from my body. So here we are, ten episodes into season four, and “The Index” has just… it’s just done too much. 

Here was fucking go.

Vaughn

You know, I get why Vaughn is not a part of the main plot of this episode, since his story is not as tied to Arvin Sloane as is the case for everyone else. Plus, it’s time for this show to go with a dependable trope once more: Dads Are Actually The Worst! Because what the fuck, IS VAUGHN’S DAD STILL ALIVE??? I don’t even know how to cope with this because Vaughn’s father’s death—at the hands of Irina, no less!!!—is INTEGRAL to who he is as a character. And yet, Vaughn gets his hands on a journal of his father’s that appears to be evidence that he was still alive in the years after his “death.” Now, it’s possible that doesn’t belong to his father, and perhaps Vaughn’s uncle kept it? For what reason, I’m unsure, and I don’t even have a theory here. This is so upsetting!!! What actually happened all those years ago, and what does it have to do with those notes?

Suspicions

I now see how the writers of this show manipulated me. LOOK. IT IS VERY EASY TO BELIEVE THAT ARVIN SLOANE IS A LIAR. I believe it on a constant, 24/7 basis! I trust not a word out of his mouth! Neither does Dixon, and Sydney is quick to ally with him when he uncovers a suspicious phone call. That leads these two on one WILD journey, and I am fully requesting that this show bring down the dread factor for me, PLEASE. I feel like every single episode this week passed at breakneck speed and was jam-packed with enough tension to my heart feel like it was about to burst. Y’all, I had flashbacks to when Sydney had to infiltrate Sloane’s house early on in this show, and that is precisely what the writers used against me. Just like before, I worried about Arvin discovering that Sydney was suspicious of him.

It’s important to note the value of my videos here, though, because guess what I actually fucking said during this episode? I noted that Sydney was a little sloppy and that Nadia might actually figure out what she was doing. And yet! AND YET! I braced myself for what I thought was inevitable, AND THEN NADIA WALKED IN ON SYDNEY AND EVERYTHING WAS AWFUL. From a story perspective, though, I found this twist to be immediately intriguing because it pits these characters against one another without cruelty in mind. Instead, we understand why Nadia wants to get to know her father; we know why Sydney is as suspicious as she is. Yet Sydney makes an important point here, both to Dixon and to Nadia: in this case, she would prefer if Sloane wasn’t using the CIA to re-start the Alliance. She doesn’t want her sister to go through the same pain she did years earlier. 

Thus, the path these characters walk is precarious as HELL. I expected the worst, and when Dixon gave that recording of Sloane to Director Chase, I felt weirdly vindicated. I knew it! He had been lying about his redemption! So as this episode escalated towards that awful confrontation with Sloane, I braced myself ONCE AGAIN for what I thought was inevitable: Nadia would have her heart broken by her father, the same man who ruined so many lives while head of SD-6. Y’all, i didn’t even notice that the camera work was a fucking trick. I THOUGHT THEY WERE BOTH OF ARVIN SLOANE, I NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED THERE WAS A SECOND PERSON THERE.

The Truth

And in typical Alias fashion, when a truly good plot twist works, it rips the air out of my lungs. This is seriously one of the best twists I’ve fallen for in this show, and I still can’t get over how INSTANTLY UPSETTING IT WAS. One thing I enjoy about it is that it’s all dependent on good people trying to do their absolute best and still fucking up. I’m reminded of Dixon’s conversation with Sydney about transmuting Sloane’s depravity, and my heart breaks a little more. He really was trying to set up these people for the CIA, and THEY NEARLY GOT JACK KILLED BECAUSE THEY SWAPPED OUT THE CODE DISK. Of course, I don’t want to ignore that Jack and Vaughn are planning something else, but I honestly don’t think it’s negative. Jack is killer at long cons, so whatever he’s plotting with Sloane must be serious enough to warrant all the secrecy. 

I HOPE, THAT IS. This was a devastating blow to experience, especially since I worried that it would destroy Nadia’s relationship with Sydney. I get the sense that they understand one another still, but goddamn, y’all, this might be the first time they’ve gone through a genuine event that could’ve split them apart. I DON’T WANT THAT, PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS.

The video for “The Index” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

Mark Links Stuff

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now available for pre-order! If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter! DO IT.