{"id":6848,"date":"2018-05-30T13:00:29","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T20:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6848"},"modified":"2018-05-10T17:05:21","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T00:05:21","slug":"mark-watches-alias-s05e11-maternal-instincts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/05\/mark-watches-alias-s05e11-maternal-instincts\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Alias’: S05E11 – Maternal Instincts"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh episode of the fifth season of Alias<\/i>, I am done with all of you. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Alias<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what to say, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. You did this to me. YOU DID THIS TO ME.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Arvin\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Okay, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start here because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the easiest thing to address. (This episode is an emotional mess, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I WILL NOT RECOVER.) I am on to you, Arvin Sloane! ON. TO. YOU. He wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trying to protect the team; he just got Rachel to delete evidence of his complicity in Prophet Five\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nonsense. Oh, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna get caught. I bet Rachel will remember that login name, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll use it later. PLEASE, RACHEL. DO IT. I just need<\/i> him to pay for all of this, STOP ALIGNING YOURSELF WITH HORRIBLE PEOPLE.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

While I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s any big character moment between these two, I did like that we got to see them work together. They hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t met before this, had they? Which means their only mission together is THIS, so at least they got to have some fun??? GOOD FOR THEM, THEY DESERVE IT. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure none of you will be surprised at me pointing out that, once again, Dixon is sorely underused this season. I get the sense that the writers are keeping him around because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. The cast would be all<\/i> white without him? Because of nostalgia? He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really affect the plot aside from bits here and there, and his only vital moments are emotional exchanges with Sydney. Which I love! But I want the show to develop him beyond being the support for Sydney and nothing else. What happened with his relationship with Director Chase? Is he ever gonna get his own story again?<\/p>\n

Family Reunion<\/b><\/p>\n

Truthfully, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not much to comment on in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maternal Instincts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t connected to the appearance of Irina Derevko. Indeed, this takes up the majority of the plot. AS IT SHOULD. From her surprise appearance in Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s home until she disappears from that Vancouver bank, this episode is about the thorny, complicated relationship that she has with Sydney. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why she was so easily trusted at the start, despite that she actually orchestrated Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kidnap and was instrumental in the emergency surgery being done. At the end of the last season, it felt like she was an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ally,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or at least as close as someone like her could be. They all parted on good terms after stopping that Mueller device in Sovogda. So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m right there with Sydney: WHY??? Why would Irina ever work with a group like this?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As much as she reveals as Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother, Irina never addresses this. Sydney might want the world to be simpler, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Horizon\u00e2\u20ac\u009d certainly confirmed that. But Irina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s involvement has to make some sense to HER, right? Given that we still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what the Horizon is and why Irina wants it, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even hazard a guess as to what Prophet Five\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s endgame is. The name doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help either. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so VAGUE. What does the Horizon DO????\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s get to Irina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s honesty. She might lie and obfuscate a lot in this episode, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finally honest about one thing: how she truly feels about being a mother. In general, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say this is a heartbreaking episode. Sydney discovers her mom has betrayed her, and then she goes into labor while ON a mission. The birth scene is just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 fuck, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I CRIED, I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T CARE, THAT HIT ME SO HARD AND I WILL NOT RECOVER. (Despite the ending, too. More on that.) The tragedy here is so deep, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, because just before Irina helps Sydney deliver her daughter (!!!!! A DAUGHTER OH MY GOD), she admits that she made a choice long ago. She could have been a mother, or she could have been a spy, but she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fathom being both<\/i>.<\/p>\n

So she chose being a spy.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t love and affection between these characters, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign of Irina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true loyalty. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to herself<\/i>. Even if she has<\/i> helped out Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u201dsuch as in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before The Flood\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthere was mostly likely an ulterior, selfish motive for her doing so. So how can Irina work with Prophet Five in any way? Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the answer. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how she can do it. Sydney is her daughter second<\/i>. Irina is a mother second<\/i>. And can you imagine how hard that is to hear just in a general? In this situation, though, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a damning indictment. Syndey is about to become the very thing Irina refused to be: a spy and a mother.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, this fucked me up so much.<\/p>\n

Vaughn<\/b><\/p>\n

BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE FINAL SCENE OF THE EPISODE. OH MY FUCKING GOD, VAUGHN IS ALIVE<\/i>??? <\/b>First of all:<\/p>\n

YYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I AM SO HAPPY. I literally teared up because this was so beautiful to me.<\/p>\n

Second:<\/p>\n

DUDE WHAT THE FUCK, WHY<\/i>????<\/p>\n

Once the elation and the shock wore off, I started theorizing. I only came up with one: Vaughn faked his death in order to throw off Prophet Five. Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I get? Only sorta? Because then I think about how much misery he put Sydney through\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnone of which is negated by this reveal, by the way!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> seem worth it? My god, THIS WHOLE SEASON UP TO THIS POINT HAS BEEN ABOUT GRIEF. I have been so sad! EVERYTHING HURTS.<\/p>\n

In the end, though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so glad he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alive. I missed Michael Vaughn so much<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maternal Instincts\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":"