Alias 4.05, 7 and 8
Mar. 13th, 2005 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakOr, how JJ Abrams gave me several things I had hoped for. Given that I'm a sucker for Sydney/Sloane and Jack/Sloane interaction, wanted more Dixon character scenes, hoped for Sydney/Nadia relationship establishing, how much did I love these episodes, especially Detente? Watch the wide grin on my face. Especially when yet another of my kinks, Jack calling Sloane "Arvin" , got fed.
4.06 had me grumbling a bit about the fact we've yet to see Dixon and Sydney interacting as partners after the season pilot, and that was one of the things I missed most during season 3, dammit. Stop assigning Sydney with Vaugh and assign her with Dixon instead,JJ Sloane. However, as it turned out stay at home Dixon got a meaty scene with Sloane and Syd got assigned with Nadia in the next ep, always a viable alternative, so I'm not complaining anymore.
The "vampire plot" was eminently predictable, but fun. As Andraste is currently watching season 2, I was reminded that Sydney's fear is something she voiced to Jack in season 2 as well - that he sees Irina in her every time he looks at her. And as a certain Jack dream from season 1 tells us, she's not 100% wrong, his denials notwithstanding. Best visual of the episode was Sydney projecting Sloane on Jack when looking at him - her bad father and her good father melting into one. You know, I've never had any problems with the idea that Sydney, her hatred notwithstanding, is ready to work for Sloane. I've said it before, I'll say it again: She needs him. He's her raison d'etre for being a spy. Her gatekeeper, as visualized in season 3, the one who recruited her, who scarred her emotionally via Danny, turned her into a double agent, and keeps her going.The one time she genuinenly had a chance to quit the business and get out, her grand justification for continuing as an agent wasn't "I'm good at this" but "I still have to get Sloane". The two times she believed he was dead - in season 2, Counteragent, and in season 3 when he went through that execution - she was anything but jubilant and rather lost instead.
So imagine my joy when the Sydney-Sloane relationship was front and center in Detente, together with the one between Syd and Nadia which had gotten short shrift so far. The continuity gods furtherly blessed us with pointed reminders that Sloane is also responsible for the demise of Francie (he was Allison's employer, after all), something that as opposed to his responsibility for Danny had been forgotten in season 3. Sydney returning to find Sloane and Nadia talking in her house was so horrible yet so logical; doubly horrible because a) it's a reminder that he is a part of her family now, no matter how twisted, and b) what do you want to bet that Sydney who was practically adopted by Emily had both Sloanes at her house often in ye olde SD-6 days before she found out "who you were, and who I was", to quote her statement to Sloane in season 3?
Comparing Nadia and Sloane to herself and Irina in season 2 near the end of the episode works on a meta level, too. It's not often pointed out in fanfic because thanks to the hotness of Irina/Jack Irina get her share of fandom absolution but in fact there is nothing Sloane did which Irina didn't do as well, as evil deeds go. (Ask Jack, who pointed out to Sydney that Irina had that blood poisoning virus developed and tested on her own people who presumably were loyal to her. ) Is Nadia kidding herself about Sloane? Given that her introduction to him entailed something even more hurtful than Irina shooting at her daughter, i.e. the Rambaldi juice, I'd say not. What I wonder is this: Sydney let herself love Irina as long as Irina was behind bars and seemingly remorseful. The moment Irina got out of jail and took up her old life, Sydney felt obligated to hate her again (though you could tell the love was still there as well). Is whatever Nadia feels for Sloane depending on him being semi-reformed and working for "the good guys"?
(Insert aside about why an Argentinian should see the CIA as the good guys here. But hey, moving on.)
Sydney and Nadia bonding, gleefully showing of their girl talk knowledge and working together was a joy to behold, as were their quiet scenes, talking about their parents, and later Nadia describing her adolescence. Go, SpySisters!
Jack giving Sloane parental advice with the understatement of the year was priceless. Also oddly touching. Never mind possible other motives (always a given with Jack Bristow and Arvin Sloane), whenever they have scenes together that long, long backstory colours all their interactions. And for the life of me I can't figure out another motive than friendship behind Jack's later "Arvin, you did what you have to do" statement. (Whereas the earlier one about Nadia and Syd could also have been because he wanted Sydney to continue having her sister at her side.)
This is the season where Sydney gets confessions in the guise of monologues - see Vaughn talking about Lauren, and killing Lauren to the IRA girl, and now Sloane talking about dastardly acts in the form of briefing her on distracting the redshirt of the week. At the same time, it's a strange, twisted form of intimacy - he's talking to her, and he's making her speak at the same time, and he's making her pass judgment on him even while she's acting on his behalf. Sloane might not be Sydney's biological father, and he'll never be her lover, but he's her (co-)creator nonetheless. Odin to her Valkyrie.
Was he genuine about his offer of transfer at the end? He might have been, which doesn't exclude it being a gamble that paid off as well. I'm thinking of season 1 where he created a situation to test her which would have offered her a genuine way out as well, if she (or rather the CIA and Jack, as Syd didn't know about it at that point) had taken it. In any case, Sydney's reaction - "I'll never forgive you, and I'll see you tomorrow" pretty much sums it up. She needs both, as I said. To hate him and to have him around.
That season 1 situation was also reflected - in my mind - when Sloane in episode 8 voted for substituting a fake despite the risk to Nadia. Which is very similar to Jack gambling his daughter's life on his guess that Arvin Sloane hadn't really ordered her execution but had created the situation to see whether or not the CIA would pull her out. However, in the season 4 case, the risk isn't taken. (Though the next episode might prove me wrong - it would be just like Jack to have substituted a fake and not told Sydney.) I'm curious why Anna Espinosa is on the list of people Sloane is not supposed to interact with - keep the drug addict away from fellow (Rambaldi) addicts?
Speaking of Anna Espinosa, despite my fondness for Gina Torres I didn't find her that memorable in season 1 that I was routing for her return (though I did appreciate she was Sydney's equal). So I had no great expectations. However, this episode made me decide to watch the Anna episodes from season 1 again. That wasn't even subtext anymore with Sydney. And she was suitably menacing, in a very smooth way, with Nadia. Who really must hate Rambaldi now....
Random additional observations:
- as I said, I was so glad to see Marcus Dixon get character scenes; both the one with Sloane in 6 and the one with Sydney in 7 showed that his actor can do the angst, anger, hate and deep affection so intensely that it makes pretty boys Vaughn and Sark look pale (no pun intended) in comparison
- speaking of Sark; "the woman I loved" was the sole point at which I paid more than avarage attention; sorry, still not feeling the Sark spark, but...
- Lauren is used better and more consistently after her death than she was while alive
- Nadia and Weiss are cute together, which automatically makes me fear for Weiss.
4.06 had me grumbling a bit about the fact we've yet to see Dixon and Sydney interacting as partners after the season pilot, and that was one of the things I missed most during season 3, dammit. Stop assigning Sydney with Vaugh and assign her with Dixon instead,
The "vampire plot" was eminently predictable, but fun. As Andraste is currently watching season 2, I was reminded that Sydney's fear is something she voiced to Jack in season 2 as well - that he sees Irina in her every time he looks at her. And as a certain Jack dream from season 1 tells us, she's not 100% wrong, his denials notwithstanding. Best visual of the episode was Sydney projecting Sloane on Jack when looking at him - her bad father and her good father melting into one. You know, I've never had any problems with the idea that Sydney, her hatred notwithstanding, is ready to work for Sloane. I've said it before, I'll say it again: She needs him. He's her raison d'etre for being a spy. Her gatekeeper, as visualized in season 3, the one who recruited her, who scarred her emotionally via Danny, turned her into a double agent, and keeps her going.The one time she genuinenly had a chance to quit the business and get out, her grand justification for continuing as an agent wasn't "I'm good at this" but "I still have to get Sloane". The two times she believed he was dead - in season 2, Counteragent, and in season 3 when he went through that execution - she was anything but jubilant and rather lost instead.
So imagine my joy when the Sydney-Sloane relationship was front and center in Detente, together with the one between Syd and Nadia which had gotten short shrift so far. The continuity gods furtherly blessed us with pointed reminders that Sloane is also responsible for the demise of Francie (he was Allison's employer, after all), something that as opposed to his responsibility for Danny had been forgotten in season 3. Sydney returning to find Sloane and Nadia talking in her house was so horrible yet so logical; doubly horrible because a) it's a reminder that he is a part of her family now, no matter how twisted, and b) what do you want to bet that Sydney who was practically adopted by Emily had both Sloanes at her house often in ye olde SD-6 days before she found out "who you were, and who I was", to quote her statement to Sloane in season 3?
Comparing Nadia and Sloane to herself and Irina in season 2 near the end of the episode works on a meta level, too. It's not often pointed out in fanfic because thanks to the hotness of Irina/Jack Irina get her share of fandom absolution but in fact there is nothing Sloane did which Irina didn't do as well, as evil deeds go. (Ask Jack, who pointed out to Sydney that Irina had that blood poisoning virus developed and tested on her own people who presumably were loyal to her. ) Is Nadia kidding herself about Sloane? Given that her introduction to him entailed something even more hurtful than Irina shooting at her daughter, i.e. the Rambaldi juice, I'd say not. What I wonder is this: Sydney let herself love Irina as long as Irina was behind bars and seemingly remorseful. The moment Irina got out of jail and took up her old life, Sydney felt obligated to hate her again (though you could tell the love was still there as well). Is whatever Nadia feels for Sloane depending on him being semi-reformed and working for "the good guys"?
(Insert aside about why an Argentinian should see the CIA as the good guys here. But hey, moving on.)
Sydney and Nadia bonding, gleefully showing of their girl talk knowledge and working together was a joy to behold, as were their quiet scenes, talking about their parents, and later Nadia describing her adolescence. Go, SpySisters!
Jack giving Sloane parental advice with the understatement of the year was priceless. Also oddly touching. Never mind possible other motives (always a given with Jack Bristow and Arvin Sloane), whenever they have scenes together that long, long backstory colours all their interactions. And for the life of me I can't figure out another motive than friendship behind Jack's later "Arvin, you did what you have to do" statement. (Whereas the earlier one about Nadia and Syd could also have been because he wanted Sydney to continue having her sister at her side.)
This is the season where Sydney gets confessions in the guise of monologues - see Vaughn talking about Lauren, and killing Lauren to the IRA girl, and now Sloane talking about dastardly acts in the form of briefing her on distracting the redshirt of the week. At the same time, it's a strange, twisted form of intimacy - he's talking to her, and he's making her speak at the same time, and he's making her pass judgment on him even while she's acting on his behalf. Sloane might not be Sydney's biological father, and he'll never be her lover, but he's her (co-)creator nonetheless. Odin to her Valkyrie.
Was he genuine about his offer of transfer at the end? He might have been, which doesn't exclude it being a gamble that paid off as well. I'm thinking of season 1 where he created a situation to test her which would have offered her a genuine way out as well, if she (or rather the CIA and Jack, as Syd didn't know about it at that point) had taken it. In any case, Sydney's reaction - "I'll never forgive you, and I'll see you tomorrow" pretty much sums it up. She needs both, as I said. To hate him and to have him around.
That season 1 situation was also reflected - in my mind - when Sloane in episode 8 voted for substituting a fake despite the risk to Nadia. Which is very similar to Jack gambling his daughter's life on his guess that Arvin Sloane hadn't really ordered her execution but had created the situation to see whether or not the CIA would pull her out. However, in the season 4 case, the risk isn't taken. (Though the next episode might prove me wrong - it would be just like Jack to have substituted a fake and not told Sydney.) I'm curious why Anna Espinosa is on the list of people Sloane is not supposed to interact with - keep the drug addict away from fellow (Rambaldi) addicts?
Speaking of Anna Espinosa, despite my fondness for Gina Torres I didn't find her that memorable in season 1 that I was routing for her return (though I did appreciate she was Sydney's equal). So I had no great expectations. However, this episode made me decide to watch the Anna episodes from season 1 again. That wasn't even subtext anymore with Sydney. And she was suitably menacing, in a very smooth way, with Nadia. Who really must hate Rambaldi now....
Random additional observations:
- as I said, I was so glad to see Marcus Dixon get character scenes; both the one with Sloane in 6 and the one with Sydney in 7 showed that his actor can do the angst, anger, hate and deep affection so intensely that it makes pretty boys Vaughn and Sark look pale (no pun intended) in comparison
- speaking of Sark; "the woman I loved" was the sole point at which I paid more than avarage attention; sorry, still not feeling the Sark spark, but...
- Lauren is used better and more consistently after her death than she was while alive
- Nadia and Weiss are cute together, which automatically makes me fear for Weiss.
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more extensive version
Date: 2005-03-14 07:48 am (UTC)Link, link!
Seriously, if Sark had an LJ, his handle would be killer_smile, and the first among his listed lj interests would be "pushing Vaughn's buttons".
True enough.*g* Also agreed that Dixon has the deeper backstory. Note that this is the first season in which I actually like Syd/Vaughn as a couple, and Vaughn as a character. It took me only four years to get there, but I'm there.
Frankly, she seems fond of him, and genuinely cheered up by his presence, but any spark of romance is, in my eyes, overshadowed by the sizzling connection between her and Jack...
Alias - the fandom that makes you root for pseudo incest pairings.*veg*
Re: more extensive version
Date: 2005-03-14 01:17 pm (UTC)And oh, I just meant this one; I think you'd seen it before?
http://www.livejournal.com/community/alias100/98331.html
*snicker*
Now that everybody else has either left fandom-- half my Alias!Flist has given up on the show-- or the pairing? Your timing is impeccable. & ;-)
Note that I still love it and will continue to do so; my problems with the writing and the characters are minimal. Plot, now, THAT makes me frown, but well...
Heh. We knew that all along, though, didn't we? Plus, I'm not easily squicked-- as if Spike/Dawn was ever such a pure pairing, or, my secret flirt with Sloane/Sydney. I'm more worried about my quest for femslash that definitely sends me into non-pseudo territory...
Re: more extensive version
Date: 2005-03-15 03:22 am (UTC)Secondly, no, I hadn't seen that. Lovely dark writing.
Your timing is impeccable. & ;-)
I know! But after two episodes in a row which were Syd/Vaughn centric did not only not bore me but had me saying "hm, they're actually... good together" and after Vaughn's "How I killed Lauren, let me count the ways" monologue I resigned myself to my fate.