Mark Watches ‘Alias’: S05E02 – …1…

In the second episode of the fifth season of Alias, wow, this got real sad real fast. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Alias. 

Trigger Warning: For discussion of grief.

This is hard to watch, y’all. And maybe that’s actually a compliment to the writing. I believe the sadness that I see onscreen, and I believe that this cast of characters is in mourning. How could they not be? Vaughn’s absence is a terrible vacancy on the show, and I cannot get over how strange it all feels. It doesn’t help that three new recurring characters have no popped in the cast, either. Granted, that’s a difficult thing to deal with regardless, but with the loss of Vaughn, Nadia’s coma, Arvin’s imprisonment, and Weiss’s new job opportunity, season five is practically unrecognizable when compared to past seasons. 

It’s a lot to ask the audience to deal with spread over a season, but in just two episodes? Y’all, this is A Lot. Thankfully, because of my Trash love of conspiracy theories, I find myself engaged in this season’s arc. It’s not perfect—again, the show really is doing the most right now—but y’all, I can’t help it. I NEED TO KNOW. What the fuck is Prophet Five?

There are a few more clues given to us in “…1…,” though there are a lot of frustrating red herrings or last-second fake-outs that prevent the audience from truly knowing what’s going on. Renee only gives us a hint of her history with Vaughn, though I understand why she’s portrayed as being so reluctant and hesitant to get involved. Despite that Vaughn has spoken of her for years, Sydney is still a stranger to Renee. Weeeelllllll, and there’s that inconvenient fact that Sydney works for the CIA, and Renee is #8 on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. WHOOPS! I do like the idea of these two working together; Renee seems like such a wild card. (ESPECIALLY BECAUSE SHE STOLE THAT WEIRD BODY, WHAT THE FUCK.) 

As for Thomas Grace… yeah, I don’t have it in me to care for him yet. His introduction doesn’t exactly make it easy for the audience to like him. He’s a mess, and when we meet him, he’s losing a bar fight. This is the guy who is supposed to replace Vaughn? No one could have done that easily, but this dude comes off as an uninterested jerk. So… not gonna pay him much mind until he becomes more interesting. 

LOOK, THERE’S JUST SO MUCH ELSE TO OCCUPY MY ATTENTION, OKAY??? And I admit that I’m most invested in Sydney herself. And her journey in this episode alone is so heavy that it was hard for me to give my emotional energy elsewhere. The tragedy is… well, it’s so pervasive. Vaughn isn’t on missions. He doesn’t go with Sydney when she gets her first ultrasound to see her baby. And it’s impossible not to think of him for the majority of this episode because it’s all about Sydney toying with the notion of getting revenge on Curtis, the man who killed Vaughn. WHICH IS A VERY FAIR THING FOR HER TO WANT. I gotta admit, though, that it’s pretty rare for a man to be killed off so a woman can get a revenge arc. Still: I’d rather have Vaughn back. I’d rather that Sydney didn’t have to suffer. Like, can the finale just be one 45-minute vacation or something??? I’m so stressed for Sydney and everything that she is going through!!!

So, I liked “…1…” and this whole Nuridium preservation shit is very interesting. Is that what Prophet Five is obsessed with? Keeping people preserved? Do they have a means of healing people who have died? I could see that being something that rich elites would want to viciously hide from the general public. Maybe???

Basically, the main thing I want to impart is that I think there’s some compelling stuff happening here. I am eager to see where this Prophet Five stuff is going, but I’m also going to need some things to happen soon because this shit is dire. I don’t know how much more I can take of people leaving, things changing, and Sydney being utterly sad about her predicament. I ONLY WANT THE BEST FOR HER AND EVERYTHING HURTS.

The video for “…1…” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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