{"id":6830,"date":"2018-05-11T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T20:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6830"},"modified":"2018-04-29T16:22:04","modified_gmt":"2018-04-29T23:22:04","slug":"mark-watches-alias-s04e21-search-and-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/05\/mark-watches-alias-s04e21-search-and-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Alias’: S04E21 – Search and Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the fourth season of Alias<\/i>, the team rescues a familiar face. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Alias<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Holy shit, this finale is going to be ridiculous, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

Search and Rescue<\/b><\/p>\n

I can appreciate just how far the arc of Alias<\/i> has come since the beginning. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, there was a time when I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even fathom there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a rescue mission for Irina<\/i>. I also thought we were done with the Helix experiments! I also thought\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 nah, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I was safe. I knew<\/i> this episode was gonna fuck me up. Once tit was possible that Irina was alive, I figured this show would ruin me with the truth. I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO BE IRINA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S EXECUTION SCENE, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of a brilliant choice, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? If the audience doubted Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story and believed that he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> killed her, then the opening of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Search and Rescue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d confirms that he very much did<\/i> kill her. So nope, he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lying. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t part of some grand scheme of his and Arvin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to fool the world. HE DID IT. IT REALLY HAPPENED.<\/p>\n

It makes the reveal that she was doubled\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand that someone in Elena\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organization VOLUNTEERED TO BE MURDERED\u00e2\u20ac\u201da million times more creepy and effective. Elena\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s depravity was already on display, and guess what? THIS MAKES HER EVEN WORSE. She faked her sister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, then held her in captivity\/tortured her so that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get the information she needed to assemble that gigantic Mueller device. If anything, it shows that the Derevko sisters are consistently ruthless, AM I RIGHT???\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are so fucked up, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the rescue of Irina happens amidst the active Mueller device, which was FINALLY explained as a device meant to be used in conjunction with that formula that can make people either more disposed towards violence or less. SO THERE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LITERALLY AN APOCALYPSE HANGING OVER THIS STORY. It adds to the urgency of a scene that was already<\/i> incredibly goddamn intense. Sydney was going to be reunited with her mother; Nadia was going to meet her for the first time. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge<\/i> deal for these two, and the show plays up this sort of emotional volatility through a number of scenarios. The rescue itself felt more heightened than usual because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, I gotta be honest. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m starting to finally pick up on the fact that this show is constantly fooling me. So I tried to be prepared for the possibility that Irina wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> in that underground holding cell, that this was all a misdirection set up by Elena. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NOT OUT OF THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY, DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T JUDGE ME!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So once Irina was<\/i> found\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 whew, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I was not prepared for the sheer onslaught of emotions. Even knowing how fucked up Irina had been, I still knew how much this moment meant to Sydney and Nadia. IT WAS A LOT, OKAY.<\/p>\n

The Final Moves<\/b><\/p>\n

I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve commented on this more times than I can count, but I do love when the penultimate episode of a season treats its story like a chess game. Pieces are moved around on the board so that the big finale can just plow us down, and I am fully<\/i> acknowledging that this finale is probably going to answer a lot<\/i> of questions. So many threads have been wound around one another up to this point, so let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just acknowledge what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m following at this point:<\/p>\n