In the sixth episode of the fifth season of Alias<\/i>, Sydney must guide Rachel on her first solo mission. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Alias<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of grief<\/b><\/p>\n
So, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know what went on behind-the-scenes for this season, and by the time this review has gone up, I will have finished watching the entire show. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably know what it was that prompted some of the story choices this season. The reason I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t research those things or allow people to tell me about them is because I want to preserve that sense of purity. I want to experience these stories as they are given to me with as little outside influence as possible. That being said, I think<\/i> I figured out that Jennifer Garner is ACTUALLY PREGNANT in these episodes. So, take some of this review with a grain of salt, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible that I am 100% wrong and what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve said Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Matter.<\/p>\n
I say that because I can see how Sydney, while still part of the main story, has been increasingly sidelined from some of the action. But this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done in a way that disrespects her character, and she isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t replaced with someone who is uninteresting either. (The same cant be said for Vaughn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s replacement, who is ONCE AGAIN completely boring. Well, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also needlessly rude to Rachel here, so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that as well.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rachel continues to intrigue me because she is not a repeat of Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey in the first season. There are parallels, of course, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big reason why Sydney is able to relate to her. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d presents us with someone who has training but virtually no field experience, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paired with someone who is able to be both a role model and a mentor. IT IS VERY FULFILLING TO ME BECAUSE IT IS LIKE SYDNEY IS MOTHERING BEFORE SHE GETS TO BE A MOTHER. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no sense of competitive friction between these two characters! Indeed, Sydney WANTS Rachel to succeed.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Take the opening scene, for example, which further highlights why Grace sucks so much. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has a disturbing opening not just because we think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re witnessing a random home invasion scenario. It also deals with a logistical nightmare: Rachel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family thinks she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s missing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not stated onscreen, but what if Rachel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family had filed a missing person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report? What if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stuck their daughter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s photo all over the news? If APO was truly going to protect Rachel and use her as an asset, then they needed to take care of her family, too. Again, there is no animosity from Sydney during this opening. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell Rachel to toughen up or to stop being soft and emotional. Nope, she offers empathy to this woman, whose whole life has fallen apart around her. AND IT WORKS. Throughout this episode, Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kindness and empathy is like a balm for Rachel.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another dynamic at hand, and boy, is it EVER heartbreaking. I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that Vaughn is gone, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve now made it five whole episodes without him. It HAPPENED, even though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been hard to accept that. His loss is everywhere, and while watching \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I kept expecting him to show up. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even talking about the intentional references to him in the script. When they were in the Chinese consulate, I was so used to Vaughn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence that I anticipated him just showing up, appearing at the right place at the right time to assist Sydney when things went awry.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And he never came.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sydney who fills that role, particularly in the final act when Rachel is the only qualified agent to fulfill a mission in an isolated location. Sydney transforms and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d deliberately calls back to all those months where Vaughn guided Sydney through SD-6 with just an earbud. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a loving tribute to Vaughn and how vital he was to Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life. But it also HURTS, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. It made me miss him more! Hell, you can tell that Sydney is especially bothered by how the events of this episode cause her grief to flare up. WHO CAN BLAME HER, EVERYTHING IS SO DEVASTATING.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As if all this wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough, then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goddamn Arvin Sloane. Ugh, does he express actual regret<\/i> here? His arrangement with Gordon Dean is a horrible mess, and some of that IS intentional on Arvin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part. He tells Gordon no multiple times. He refuses to hurt Rachel or Rachel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family. Towards the end of the episode, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually bold enough to refuse to hand over what Gordon wants because it is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153punishment\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for Gordon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interference. But exactly how much leverage does Arvin have? In every case but the last one, he ultimately gives Gordon exactly what Gordon demands of him. Does that make Arvin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s threats empty? Can Arvin actually do anything about the regret that he might be feeling for what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Assuming he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even feeling that, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Maybe he wants to protect the people around him, but in the end, he wants to save Nadia more. And I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where his story is headed: he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eventually going to have to choose Nadia over everything else.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/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":" In the sixth episode of the fifth season of Alias, Sydney must guide Rachel on her first solo mission. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Alias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[681],"tags":[682],"class_list":["post-6842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alias","tag-mark-watches-alias"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6842\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}