{"id":6740,"date":"2018-02-06T13:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T21:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6740"},"modified":"2018-01-30T15:23:52","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T23:23:52","slug":"mark-watches-alias-s01e22-almost-thirty-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/02\/mark-watches-alias-s01e22-almost-thirty-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Alias’: S01E22 – Almost Thirty Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-second and final episode of the first season of Alias<\/i>, I barely believe this show is happening to me. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Alias<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For torture<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Why is this show doing this to me??? I AM A GOOD PERSON.<\/p>\n

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

This finale is dense, complicated, scary, and then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just COMPLETELY UNFAIR, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start with the tragedy of Will. Will, who wanted to do right by Sydney and find out who killed her fianc\u00c3\u00a9. Will, who pursued the truth even though it was confusing and bewildering. Will, who abandoned his story once he finally realized that it would have hurt the people he cared for. Will, who risked his own life to provide Sydney with closure.<\/p>\n

And Will, who was a pawn for Jack, who got tortured all because he knew a phrase<\/i>. It tears me up just to think about it, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. He got tortured for nothing<\/i>. Jack gave him a means to bring his whistleblower out in the open, but he never thought through the ramifications of that. And what does that mean for Will? He has no idea that Haladki was exposed as the mole in the CIA (and executed by Jack for it, which I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT EXPECT). He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tortured, and in the end, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jack, who made the trade for his life. When Will stood there, blood running down his face, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell what his reaction was going to be? Was he furious<\/i> at Jack for putting him through this? No. He was grateful<\/i> that someone came to rescue him. WHICH KIND OF BROKE MY HEART. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a theme across this episode that deals with the concept of friendship and professionalism, namely in that Jack doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to understand why Sydney was so devoted to saving Will. Does<\/i> Jack have any friends? Or does he view people as a means to an end? In this episode, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Will feels like to me: a means to an end for Jack.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an interesting place to leave Will\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character, too. He knows a lot of the truth, but not nearly enough of it. So does that mean they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re gonna read Will in? Or just hide him? I could see either option unfolding. Oh god, what about Francie???<\/p>\n

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

YEP, IT WAS PRECISELY AS HEARTBREAKING AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. Just… oh, Dixon<\/i>. I understood why Sydney didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reveal everything. She used her friendship with Dixon to get him to back off for the moment, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inevitable now. How long can Dixon just accept the excuse that what Sydney is working on is classified? After catching Sydney in multiple lies, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he has a whole lot of trust in her, you know? He has some because they have history, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Sydney is banking on.<\/p>\n

But that well is gonna run dry, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. OH GOD. I have a prediction for season 2. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SAVING IT FOR TOMORROW.<\/p>\n

Emily<\/b><\/p>\n

WELL, I DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T EXPECT THAT<\/i>. Of course, as soon as Sloane told his wife about SD-6, I should have realized that was the beginning of the end. He wanted her to know the truth before<\/i> she died. I admit that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite understand her reaction, though… well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated. I found the scene where Sloane came clean to be powerful because we heard none of the words; all we saw was Emily\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a masterfully crafted sequence, and both actors knocked it out of the park.<\/p>\n

But without knowing what Arvin Sloane said, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand why Emily made reference to her husband having to make a difficult choice. Now, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know the full story of how SD-6 came to be, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153choice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is. However, is it really out of the realm of possibility that Sloane lied to his wife again<\/i>? Is it possible he crafted a story that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite the truth? WILL WE EVER KNOW??? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t watch Emily die, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dead, right?<\/p>\n

The Circumference<\/b><\/p>\n

The science fiction elements of Alias<\/i> are a welcome surprise, and while I want to know what the fuck the Circumference actually is\u00e2\u20ac\u201da battery???\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI found \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Almost Thirty Years\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to be as compelling as it was because it was grounded in such intense emotions. This script examines one of the key internal conflicts we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen over the span of season one. How important is one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job? Is it more important than maintaining friendships? Relationships? Partnerships? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the cost of being a spy? We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already seen that in all of these characters to varying degrees, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that it plays a huge part in the characterization of Sydney in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rendezvous.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Here, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Vaughn<\/i> who makes a choice based heavily on his emotional response to the situation. His father was a company man, loyal to the CIA to a fault. So much so that Vaughn argues that his father died<\/i> because of that devotion.<\/p>\n

I love it, then, that this is about defying orders and questioning authority in order to do what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. Here, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s saving Will from Khasinau\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s men. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about Vaughn going above the CIA to place a human life above an order. Vaughn is long past the point where he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not attached to Sydney. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS. But his deliberate betrayal of Devlin felt like a moment where he was prepared to jump in the deep end. And now I feel slight evil for typing that, but HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FINE, RIGHT? He has<\/i> to be okay, right???<\/p>\n

No one is okay, though, because this is FUCKED UP. Dixon is distrustful; Will has been traumatized; Vaughn may have DROWNED after Sydney destroyed that giant Circumference; and Sydney herself… y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. WHAT A CLIFFHANGER. Khasinau isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t The Man! IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SYDNEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S MOTHER. WHAT THE FUCK, SHE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S BEEN MANIPULATING EVERYONE THIS ENTIRE TIME. I 100% DID NOT EXPECT THIS, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO GLAD THAT THERE ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T A HUGE BREAK FOR ME UNTIL I GET TO SEASON 2, I COULDNT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 STAND THIS.<\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this season was spectacular<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so excited for more!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Almost Thirty Years\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":"