{"id":6716,"date":"2018-01-15T13:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T21:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6716"},"modified":"2018-01-08T07:04:33","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T15:04:33","slug":"mark-watches-alias-s01e06-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/01\/mark-watches-alias-s01e06-reckoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Alias’: S01E06 – Reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth episode of the first season of Alias<\/i>, Sydney deals with the ramifications of the secrets in her life. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Alias<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

OH, SECRETS ARE TERRIBLE, AND EVERYONE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LIFE IS A MESS BECAUSE OF THEM. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discuss!<\/p>\n

Dixon<\/b><\/p>\n

I know that I addressed this a bit at the end of the last review, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all: they committed to it. Because Vaughn wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let Sydney tell Dixon the truth, he killed four CIA agents, and he DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T EVEN KNOW. Look, at this point, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m theorizing that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna find out the truth, and IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GOING TO BE SO UGLY. This character so clearly thinks he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being moral and good and protecting his country, and he has no clue that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing the exact opposite. So is the cost of keeping this secret worth it? And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the primary struggle at the start of this! Sydney doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so, and look\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I get that this is a long con, and I get that there are a lot<\/i> of moving parts in this horrible machine.<\/p>\n

I suspect, though, that Dixon is not going to be happy that this was kept from him. Given the choice? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be willing to risk his own happiness to be on the right side. Vaughn is too detached from this, so I get why he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as immediately important. So what do the writers do? FORCE HIM TO GO TO THE FUNERALS FOR THESE AGENTS. Holy shit, yes<\/i>. Make him see the ill effects of this decision! Make him confront the awful reality himself! And look, no one could have known what Dixon was going to do with that second detonator, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not blaming Vaughn for that. I do<\/i> find it to be an interesting twist of storytelling to have Vaughn face his own complicity, though. YES. MORE OF THIS.<\/p>\n

Jack<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to take a lot<\/i> for me to like Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 ugh, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a pompous asshole! He can see<\/i> his daughter hurting, and instead of trying to console her over her grief and anger, he treats her like an ignorant child. We are watching the cost of Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s secret-keeping IN REAL TIME. His daughter despises him, first of all. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have all the information she could<\/i> have on the death of her mother, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ALREADY prepared to throw Jack under the bus. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a flawed approach, of course, and the show makes it clear that Sydney is prematurely trying to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153solve\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this issue without knowing what really happened.<\/p>\n

But what was so telling to me was the scene where Sydney confronted Jack with the fact that she knew the FBI agent tracking him was the one who allegedly \u00e2\u20ac\u0153killed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d her mother. Yes, she still has no clue what really happened. But what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response? To condescend down to her. To pretty much tease her that she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing. TO MAKE THINGS WORSE. Oh my god, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an awful father, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he? It feels like he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ACTIVELY pushing problems into EVEN BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN THEY WERE BEFORE.<\/p>\n

Will<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a parallel between Will\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pursuit of the truth and Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, both in that they are so, so, so far from the truth, and yet! AND YET! They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop. At all<\/i>. What matters to them is integrity. What really happened? Who was involved? Why was this information kept from others? The means by which these characters pursue this truth is different, but I do adore that Will and Sydney are reckless at times. Here, will tracks down the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fake\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kate Jones and is promptly pepper-sprayed. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of funny in hindsight because Will can be kind of bumbling at times. But he overextends himself here, at least in the sense that he makes bad decisions to get to the truth. Did he really<\/i> think that the Fake Kate was going to give him information? DID HE REALLY JUST WALK INTO THAT WOMAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S APARTMENT WHEN HE KNOCKED AND THE DOOR WAS AJAR? Oh my god, why didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he take someone with him???<\/p>\n

Will, stop making bad decisions!!!<\/p>\n

Sydney<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so fascinated by the story structures in this show, especially since it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that a plot is resolved early in an episode, and a new one is introduced much later than I expect. Despite that, this episode still has a strong thematic link in regards to secrets. Francie finally confronts Charlie, who reveals that his secretive behavior was due to shame over what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d really<\/i> like to do with his life.<\/p>\n

But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a logistical, practical application of secrets within Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life. Alias<\/i> deals with complex heists and operations that deal in the act of keeping EVERYTHING a secret. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why the entire sequence at the art show is monstrously clever and tense. (THE SCENE WITH THE STEAM PIPES HURT ME PERSONALLY BECAUSE DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE BURNT MYSELF ON OUR RADIATOR PIPES SINCE I MOVED TO NEW YORK? I HAVE NEVER LIVED IN A PLACE WITH THEM BEFORE, DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T JUDGE, I AM TRYING TO ADJUST.) Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s literal<\/i> job is to assume identities and BE a secret.<\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this whole industry! She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s involved in a complex and global<\/i> nightmare here, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s readily apparent from her disastrous mission in Bucharest. There are plenty of people devoted to the same obfuscation and subterfuge as she is, and she discovers this the hard way, after her handler is murdered and the man she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s after violently attacks her once he realizes what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to do. Which makes me realize that the K-Directorate agent must not have tried to access the assassin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153powers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so to speak. HOW IS SHE GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS, HOW MANY MORE CLIFFHANGERS WILL I HAVE TO DO DEAL WITH.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Reckoning\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"