In the sixth episode of the second season of Alias, Jack and Sydney clash over what’s best. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Alias.
EVERYONE IS MESSED UP.
Will
Okay, actually… not Will! Even though he’s not in “Salvation†all that much, his story ISN’T super sad and horrifying. Granted, it could have gone that way, given that we see just how challenging his life has become since his kidnapping. He can’t get hired because of his criminal record—which is fake!!!—so he turns to Vaughn… who can’t hire him at the CIA because he has a criminal record. Which the CIA conspired to get him to have in the first place. Thus, I appreciated that Will took it upon himself to twist the rules a bit in order to help Will. Not only that, but he let Sydney decide how much she wanted to tell Will about the job he was doing. IT IS THE FIRST GENUINELY NICE THING WITHOUT STRINGS ATTACHED THAT WE’VE GOTTEN IN A LONG TIME.
There’s probably strings attached. SIGH. I’ll enjoy this nice thing while it lasts.
Emily
I like that I wrote down all the possibilities for this plot line, and yet here I am, with more facts at hand, and I still don’t know where this is going. We know definitively that Emily’s body was not in her coffin, but does that really narrow things down? She could still be dead. Arvin could have been faking his reaction to everything in this episode, though… I don’t really believe that theory. I think what we saw here was genuine. He’s being tormented by someone who knows exactly what Arvin did. Does that mean that he’s actually seeing his wife, or are they guilt-induced hallucinations? I suspect it’s closer to the latter, that someone is deliberately triggering these episodes in Arvin Sloane as a form of retaliation. Is that someone Emily? Probably not, but oh LORD, would that be a satisfying twist. It’s gotta be one of his enemies, and the most likely culprit has got to be the person whose seat he took on the Alliance.
I’m typing that, and I already know I’m wrong because this show is determined to embarrass me at every turn.
Best For You
If it is indeed true that Irina is somehow manipulating everyone from behind bars, then holy shit, she is truly in control. Irina does not speak a line of dialogue in this entire episode, so much of what Sydney and Jack say about her is speculation. It’s all they have! But that speculation is marred by the biases and paranoia that has ruled both of their lives. Jack is convinced—stubbornly so—that every single act that Irina commits is part of a master plan to deceive and exploit everyone. He twists those acts to fit this theory, and then he acts on it! Which is what we saw a couple episodes ago, back when he framed Irina to “protect†Sydney.
But what if he’s protecting Sydney for nothing? What if Irina is giving up and conceding defeat?
I still don’t believe that, and so there’s always going to be a part of me that will interpret Irina’s actions with my own cynicism and suspicion in mind. Yet while I understand Jack’s stance, his paternal control over Sydney is FUCKED UP. That’s why the journey they both take over the course of this episode is so important. Jack can’t claim to trust Sydney and then undermine all her decision-making. It’s hypocritical, not to mention incredibly fucked up. It takes Jack nearly losing his daughter again for him to realize that he’s doing the exact same thing he did to her when she was a child: making her decisions for her out of a misguided sense of responsibility.
KNOCK IT OFF, JACK. But also: I’m with you, I don’t trust Irina at all.
Infection
AHHHHHH THERE IS SO MUCH ANGST AND LONGING HERE BETWEEN VAUGHN AND SYDNEY. And it’s SUCH a romance trope, one that’s a lot of fun to watch unfold. Oh, no! A quarantine! We might be sick, but ALSO: We have never spent time in a room with only just one another, and now we have to sleep next to one another. WHATEVER WILL WE DO.
Bravo to Alias for all that tension. BUT BOO FOR ACTUALLY MAKING VAUGHN SICK?!?!?!? I WASN’T EXPECTING THAT AT ALL, AND I HATE HOW MANY TWISTS THERE ARE IN THIS SHOW. Please, give me a nap or something, Alias. PLEASE, I’M BEGGING YOU.
The video for “Salvation†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
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