Alias 5.14 plus meme

[selenak]

Still on the road (yesterday was Dortmund, today is Cologne), and with Jossverse fanfic I promised to read, and I will, plus I must catch up on my tm challenges, but whenever I got online these recent days, the Alias part of my brain overrode everything else.

(I did watch the Veronica Mars finale too, though. Will perhaps comment later on.) (And ponder again why good old Alias does it for me in a way Veronica Mars does not when VM is more tightly plotted and I usually am all over that; it probably comes to the fact that VM I feel entertained by and like, but am not in love with any of the characters.)

Apropos the newest episode, I present my newest icon, courtesy of this splendid collection of Arvin Sloane icons, by eirena. It's so nice not to be alone in one's thing for middle-aged smart ruthless obsessives.



Naturally, he sees her. Every big thing Arvin Sloane pretended to do comes true for him sooner or later. Whether it's Emily's death or Nadia's death or working for the CIA or being haunted (which he pretended to be in early s2) - fate delivers. I haven't had a fictional character that much bitchslapped by destiny (with this being his own fault, of course!) on an ongoing basis since Londo Mollari.

Mind you, a part of me is itching to rewrite a bit of Ghost!Nadia's dialogue anyway, because it could have been even more cutting/revealing (no pun intended), and really, we didn't need the echo effect to get she's in Sloane's head, but I did like what we got, and even more that he sees her with the wound on her neck. I also appreciated that Mia Maestro plays her talking in a slightly different tone of voice, because she's not really Nadia, she's the personification of Sloane's guilt and doubts.

(Sudden crazy crossover ideas involve Nadia, Lilah, and Six, though. With Sloane, Wesley and Baltar getting drunk together.)

While he's busy being haunted, he's also busy playing Prophet Five in general and Peyton in particular, which makes me happy. The P5 guys have apparantly learned from Elena Derevko's example, as evidenced by the fact they keep Sloane under guard all the time, but they just don't have the practice he has; he outfoxes them anyway. I knew that book request was a way for him to make contact with someone, but despite David Anders being in the guest star credits had not deduced it would be Sark. Neat. Again I say, Sark used only on occasional episodes is a really welcome guest - the only time I really felt he was useless was in s3 when he was around all the time. His s4 appearances were good ones and interesting, though, and when seeing him in the church, I felt posively fuzzy and glowing.

I See Dead People also gave me what I had been hoping for, a scene with Anna-as-Sydney and Sloane. Must rewatch. In terms of this shows propensity for doubles, I recalled Sydney and FauxSloane in In Dreams last season as counterpoint, except FauxSloane believed himself to be the genuine article whereas Sydney knew he wasn't, and Anna and Sloane both knew she wasn't. I also thought in that scene JG was most convincing as Anna. The "you avoid looking into mirrors"/"and I suppose you think you're driven by faith" exchange was the highlight. And Anna does really look different at him than Sydney does (either Sydney in anger or in those rare moments of compassion she had for him against her will); all of which makes me saliviate even more for the next episode's Sydney-as-Anna-playing-Sydney scenario. Never mind whether she'll continue to fool Peyton and will fool the rest of Prophet Five; will or won't Sloane recognize her? Both possibilities hold storytelling promise. If he doesn't recognize her, we could be in a dark twist of that loved Shakespearean plot device, best used in As You Like It, the scene where character a talks about character b to a character whom he assumes is c pretending to be b but is really b in disguise, and thus b learns things a could not say to her directly. If he does recognize her, it would hark back to him noticing she was a double back in the day and not telling anyone while using her to rid himself of the Alliance. It would be like him to recognize her while not telling her he does and pretend back, except that they're a bit pressed for time, so perhaps not.

(Of course, given that Sydney is in Nadia-avenging mood, there is the outside chance she'll try to kill him the first time they're alone together which would, err, give the game away, but then again, she's disciplined enough to know this would blow her cover and ruin her chance to destroy Prophet Five entirely.)

Anna-as-Sydney made her "in this game, it's always the children who suffer" observation as a deliberate taunt to him; I wonder whether Sydney-as-Anna will ask him about Nadia, to find out what exactly happened before she strikes, or because they're both masochistic that way?

Enough speculation; back to the episode. Sydney's talk with Dixon was just as it should be, and like I suspected, the irony, the cruel irony, that she did trust Sloane again at last, the very thing he had wanted for so long, and then what she feared in her paranoia trip in Nocturne, that as soon as she does trust him he'll kill another person she loves, comes true, only in a way neither of them could have anticipated. The eulogy for Nadia was another echo of Emily (and Sydney's eulogy for her). I so will rewatch old episodes as soon as I'm longer in my own flat than 24 hours. Also, if someone ever does a Sloane vid they'll have to use both the two actual death scenes with him holding them with blood on his hands and pretend/real funerals with Sydney speaking. I was a bit surprised to see Rachel so afflicted, as she had not known Nadia, but her later explanation that it was about being played first by Dean and then by Sloane made sense. (And now she's getting played by Grace whom she fancies. Poor girl.)

...and then there was this Vaughn guy. Okay, I'll be fair. He did well. My s4 goodwill towards him seems to return, though I still wouldn't have missed him if they had just killed him off for good. Favourite moment? "You're a terrible kisser" followed by Anna's "I always said Sydney was too good for you", because hey, femslash.

You've got to love the fact that Sydney's last big alias on Alias will be being herself.

Lastly, I'll try to shut up the fanfic portion of my brain about the entire Syd/Anna/Syd and Sloane thing, at least until the show is over (then we can fill in missing scenes).

****

artaxastra has tagged me to list ten fictional people I'd have sex with and why. That kind of list unfortunately suffers by my mind telling me "...but you know, there is the chain smoking thing; I bet the breath and smell of skin is awful, and you wouldn't get in the mood", or "...and then you end up either pregnant, insane, dead, or all three", which is such a mood killer as well. However, as I am a sheep and the rest of ya'll have done it as well:



In no particular order.

1) Mr. Spock. Shut up. He was my first tv crush. That kind of thing stays with you.

2) Jean-Luc Picard. That voice! Also, good pre and post coital conversation guaranteed. Giving his interest in archaelogy, we could geek out over history together.

3) Cethegus, from Felix Dahn's novel Ein Kampf um Rom. Which you don't have to know; it's a bombastic thing from the 19th century with all the late 19th century prejudices you can possibly imagine. Think Bulwer-Lytton as far as the style is concerned. But Cethegus, who is the villain of the book - a Roman manipulating both Goths and Byzantine Greeks and setting them against each other - was my first book crush. Given that he's ruthless, manipulative, intrigues not just for himself but with the quixotic idea that if the Goths and Greeks finish each other off, (Western) Rome could be restored to its old glory, and has a son on the good (for Felix Dahn, those would be the Goths) guys' side whom he loves but not enough to give up his ambitions and dies tragically, you could say he left an imprint...

4) Jadzia Dax. Beautiful, witty, and with the expierence of eight lifetimes and both genders. What can I say?

5) Samuel Vimes. There are problems with this (see above), even if I try to get around the fact he's happily married by going for that one night stand at an earlier point in his life when he's not, but Vimes, from Terry Prattchet's Discworld novels, is just my favourite incarnation of the messed up noir hero.

6) Lucas Buck (from American Gothic). Because every girl should have at least one fictional fling with at least one fictional antichrist/Lucifer/all-around-bad-guy. Also, he's charismatic, manipulative, clever and dead sexy. However, see above.

6a) No, not Londo Mollari. My Londo adoration is strictly platonic. Ditto for G'Kar, and the rest of the Babylon 5 bunch. Doesn't mean I wouldn't want to have dinner with some of them, and/or write fanfic wherein they have sex with other people, but I just can't imagine myself getting horizontal with any of them.

6b) No, no one from the Jossverse, either. They're all insanely attractive and some of them are scorching hot, but again, just can't see it. Well, I suppose if I really had to pick one because Aliens made me do it, I'd go with Angel, but, see above.

6c) My adoration for the First Generation Spies from Alias, while not entirely platonic, does not surmount my fear of death. So you won't find them here, either.

7) Boromir (Lord of the Rings, film version). I utterly and entirely blame Sean Bean and Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, because his book counterpart earlier certainly did not have this effect on me. But well, yes. Oh yes.

8) Now it gets really embarassing. Derek Sagan from Margaret Weis' Star of the Guardians novels. Which are a Star Wars rip-off and mistranslate Latin phrases all the time and - okay. He is this former good guy who betrayed his fellow good guys and helped overthrow the government and literary a bastard. He also has this intense love/hate thing with the sole other surviving Guardian going on, Maigrey. Need I go on?

9) Chauvelin as played by Martin Shaw, from one of the newer versions of The Scarlet Pimpernell. Why not Ian McKellan in the earlier version when I adore Sir Ian? Because the Shaw version gets better writing. In fact, he's so well explored that this imbalances the story because it's really not possible to root for Percy, especially in the second instalment when we get some of Chauvelin's background and meet his illegitimate daughter who dies tragically - aren't you all surprised - and I'm sure Baroness Orczky, reactionary that she was, would have been appalled, but, yes. Give me Chauvelin. Vive la Revolution!

10) And on that note, or rather, the opposite of it: Lady Johanna Constantine. (Of Sandman origin, though she got her own Hellblazer one shot.) Why not John Constantine but what amounts to a female 18th century version? Because I just like her better, plus her cynicism comes without self-pity. And she crossdresses! (Can't see John doing that.)

Comments

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I utterly and entirely blame Sean Bean and Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, because his book counterpart earlier certainly did not have this effect on me.

I feel the EXACT same way; my book crush was Faramir, but in the movies, it's Boromir all the way :P

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I know.*g* Though I have to admit I didn't crush on anyone when reading LotR, despite being in the right teenage age.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh yes! Shaw's Chauvelin had dignity and motivation. Orczky wrote a one-dimensional character who was evil becasue he was evil. All credit to the writer of the TV episode, though to my shame I know not who s/he was.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Orczky wasn't interested in why any of the villains/revolutionaries (same thing for her, which tells you something) did what they did, I think. BTW, back then a friend lend me the series taped on video - is it out on DVD yet?

[gelliaclodiana]

Heh. I thought I was the only one who adored Martin Shaw's Chauvelin so much. Best Chauvelin ever.

Every lie Sloane has ever told is coming true. (Or, as I said in a comment somewhere, coming back to bite him in the ass.) For a man who is so intentionally deceptive, he's incapable of not telling the truth, in some twisted way. It's marvelous.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Definitely, and if you can point me towards an icon, I shall be eternally grateful.

It is, isn't it?

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

However, as I am a sheep and the rest of ya'll have done it as well:

I'm a bad influence! You just used y'all! *hugs* Sugar, you are now an Honorary Southerner! Have some sweet tea and sit yourself down here!

A good ten. I see the types you run to very clearly. Dangerous women and tormented men. A lot like penknife's taste in some ways. With a big more Black Knight. *g*

I've never seen the Martin Shaw Chauvelin. Given my utter lust for Ian McKellen's Chauvelin, I'm favorably disposed toward the character -- which version is it? (And not just because he reminds me of Moreau, no, no.) I'm sure Baroness O would be rolling in her grave, but she can, the old cat. Yes. Vive la Republique! A la Volunte du Peuple!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I was also giggling over the "y'all." And I note that I have very few icons that would indicate Southern-ness, making ME a bad representative of my region -- but you get a Fred; she's from Texas and probably uses y'all as the second person plural when conjugating verbs (which she does, um, to impress Wesley?)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I just googled the data up for your sake: made in 1999, written by Richard Carpenter, produced by the BBC, distributed in the US by A & E Home Television. And here's good article (http://www.greenspot.info/TV/Scarlet/ScarletArticle03.html).

And I'll have that tea, thank you very much.*g*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Hmm, have you been exposed to sweet tea? We're talking lots of sugar. I was just discussing the idea that if Wesley ever had gotten to the point with Fred where they were dating and she took him home to meet the parents, it would get to the point where they served him sweetened iced tea and they would end up breaking up in an argument over tea abuse.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

He. I got served iced tea and assumed that would have been it, but apparantly not?

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

It depends on where you were. Did it taste like you were drinking pure sugar?

In Virginia, where I live, you'll usually be asked if you want sweetened or unsweetened iced tea. However, if you get much further south than that, it's just sweet tea, period. I grew up not drinking any kind of tea, for religious reasons (I'm not kidding -- Mormons are WEIRD). When I was actually introduced to tea, it was by a Russian friend in college, and we always drank it hot and very strong. When I finally drank iced tea, I was NOT impressed -- though I'm told this makes me a bad Southerner.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

(Sudden crazy crossover ideas involve Nadia, Lilah, and Six, though. With Sloane, Wesley and Baltar getting drunk together.)

Man oh man. Hey, you and I could RP the Lilah and Sloane parts. We just need. . .4 more people? *g* For that matter, Mr. Fisher should come too -- tell all three of the guys to stop whining.

I am REALLY excited about the last couple Alias, because Syd-playing-Anna-playing-Syd to Sloane is exactly that kind of thing that feels both unexpected and inevitable.

Re: VMars -- (1) I called it! I started saying 'Beaver' a few weeks ago; granted, I had no idea what his motive would be, and after watching, I'm STILL not sure I'm sure; but hey, I called it (2) I kept thinking I would have liked the finale better if Logan had either (a) shot Beaver or, perhaps even better (b) talked him into jumping. I can actually see Logan do the thing that I never bought re: Gunn in Supersymmetry, ie, not wanting Veronica to be a killer, but doing it himself. That actually might have gotten me to LIKE him, perversely enough.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

For that matter, Mr. Fisher should come too -- tell all three of the guys to stop whining.

*g* Well, yes.


Re: VM, separate post, but for now, let's just say that vonnie_k reasoned it would be him two weeks ago, and named motives, too, which I agreed with, but I still think they blew it on the rooftop scene by bowing too much to the villain-reveals-himself cliché.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I think I called Beaver based on the absolutely-thoroughly-unlikeliness.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

and even more that he sees her with the wound on her neck.

The way the wound slowly grew on her neck was one of the most effective, and low key, effects the series ever used, IMO. I had to rewind it and watch to notice how it blossomed, because for a moment I wasn't sure if it was there the whole time or not.

I knew that book request was a way for him to make contact with someone, but despite David Anders being in the guest star credits had not deduced it would be Sark. Neat. Again I say, Sark used only on occasional episodes is a really welcome guest - the only time I really felt he was useless was in s3 when he was around all the time. His s4 appearances were good ones and interesting, though, and when seeing him in the church, I felt posively fuzzy and glowing.

Me, too! And I didn't guess either, even though I knew he'd be in the episode. Sark is one of those characters who is actually more interesting the less we know about him, and this is the best way to use him. I also thought he was great in his episode earlier this season, with Rachel. (Btw, I'm always surprised by how young David Anders is. Did you know, he's only 25? In fact, he was born only 8 days before me...March 11, 1981!)

I was, too, very impressed with Syd-as=Anna. It was one of those scenes that really proved how underrated Jennifer Garner is as an actress. I loved how she didn't do an Anna impression. She didn't even speak in her accent. But she somehow captured her essence regardless.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The way the wound slowly grew on her neck was one of the most effective, and low key, effects the series ever used, IMO.

All the more so because we didn't get hit over the head with it by Sloane or Nadia actually pointing it out by dialogue; we were trusted to pick it up while watching.

You and David Anders are both so young. *feels all of 36*

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

My adoration for the First Generation Spies from Alias, while not entirely platonic, does not surmount my fear of death.

Even with that fairly big problem, I *still* couldn't turn down Jack or Irina. And probably not Sloane either. Weak, I am.

Vaughn was a good spy, for the most part! It was very confusing.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

One thing I think is sort of interesting re: Sloane is that the new life he'd been struggling toward fell apart just when he'd more or less won. Nadia was alive. He could have cut ties with Prophet Five. Jack was still suspicious, but this is more or less simply evidence that Jack was still breathing; he was ready and willing to be convinced that Sloane was finally on their side for good. Irina was cast out, distrusted and unlikely to steal away his daughter's (or, perhaps, Jack's) affections anytime soon. And even his beloved Sydney, who hated him for so long, had vouched for him, forgiven him for past wrongs and welcomed him with a smile as he saw baby Isabelle in the park.

And in some ways, I'm wondering -- is this WHY it all fell apart at that moment? Sometimes, when you desperately want a thing, you feel as though everything will change once you've accomplished it. And yet it doesn't -- you're still you, with your guilt and your shortcomings and a car that needs an oil change, etc. Do you personally feel that perhaps it was the fact that temptation rose in this moment -- when Sloane had gained what he sought and was forced to face his wounds anew -- is the reason that his strength failed him for that one fatal moment?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

And in some ways, I'm wondering -- is this WHY it all fell apart at that moment?

That occured to me as well. I wasn't being flippant when I wrote last week that Sloane has an unmatched talent for self sabotage, but it's really specific to these kind of situations - i.e. when he has a genuine shot at a happy ending. The only comparable point in the series would be after The Getaway when he could have retired into anonymous happiness with Emily but didn't because his ambition was too great. The stakes are even higher here - as you say, so much of what he hoped and struggled for did indeed happen and is the case - and this perhaps was a far more dangerous moment than any adversity. (He rather thrives on adversity.)

I have similar issues with the actual death scene as written as you do, but I can buy the basic idea - that he would fail then, at this point of his life. Not with Nadia in a coma - for example, I think if someone had told him "the only cure for Nadia is if you tear up page 47 and serve it as tea", he would have done that to revive her - but with Nadia alive and well, Sydney and Jack reconciled, etc.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Sudden crazy crossover ideas involve Nadia, Lilah, and Six, though. With Sloane, Wesley and Baltar getting drunk together.

This needs to be written.