ALIAS - Episode 13 - Sydney
Tuesday
"No margin for error."

I really enjoyed this episode a lot. It had Marshall as our hero rescuing his 'beloved' Sydney from a fate that could lead to her death.

The opening was in Havana. Dancers cavort about the dance floor, Sydney being one of them. Her provocative dancing gets one of the male observers up out of his seat and he dances with her. However, he was not just one of the boys. He is a man ready to betray his friend and employer, Ulrich. Ulrich is in possession of a hard drive and APO wants to relieve him of it, because it supposedly has the place where the Third Faction has planted a bomb filled with a deadly pathogen.

Dixon is listening to the conversation. Sydney has a diamond bracelet, which will be his payment for the combination to the lock where the hard drive is hidden. The combination is eight zero two thirty-seven. Sydney and the betrayer continue to dance. Dixon takes the hard drive tells Sydney he has it and she passes the diamond bracelet to him. They are observed by the man’s boss who is suspicious.

In the meantime, at the home of the Flinkmans’, Carrie and Marshall are caring for their son the magnificent Mitchell who is crying up a storm. Carrie wants Marshall to take the baby to the doctor because he is ‘warm’. However, at the same time Marshall gets an order from Sloane to get to the office. He is an hour late. Dixon is on his way in with the hard drive.

Marshall throws Mitchell at Carrie, telling her that Mr. Hetherington insists that he be in the office immediately. He evidently is keeping Carrie in the dark about his role at APO. She thinks he still works for the CIA.

Sydney is walking down an ugly alleyway, talking to Vaughn about the assignment and they are chatting about going dancing together. Vaughn tells her he will take her dancing at Union Station when she gets back. She closes communication when she enters a waiting taxicab, which drives off with another car following. Shortly afterward, she notices the car following, but it is too late. The cab is in an accident and she is thrown against the cab and stunned. She is pulled from the taxi.

Dixon brings in the briefcase with the hard drive and gives it to another tech since Marshall is not there. He opens the box, which explodes just as he thinks he has the information, releasing a drop of the pathogen. The place immediately goes into LOCKDOWN. Dixon tries to help the tech, but he himself becomes ‘infected’ and people are warned not to touch them. Medics are called for and Sloane tells Jack they are trapped for thirty-six hours until HazMat gives them clearance.

Sydney is brought Ulrich who orders his friend, Alex, shot. Sydney wants to know if he wants her to beg or shed tears.

Ulrich says to her smiling, “I have something much worse planned for you.”

Marshall arrives at the garage at APO and Sloane wants him to confirm if their firewall was protected from being hacked. Marshall confirms they are fine.

Sloane tells the staff they were compromised. Worried, Vaughn calls Sydney cell phone. She pulls out her cell phone and realizes she is in a box with the dead guy Ulrich shot. She is asked if she has been buried. She thinks yes. Now everyone is scared. They are in a lockdown and there is no one to get her. It had been a black ops and not approved by the agency.

Marshall interrupts. He is on the outside. He will go to Cuba. Sloane tells him he’ll have a visa and passport waiting at the airport.

Jack says, “Marshall, there is no margin for error.”

He has to find Sydney before her air runs out. Marshall learns she has four bars left on the cell phone. He tells Sydney she has to turn it off while he flies to Havana. He needs the power left in it to locate her once he is in Cuba. He tells Sloane he has to build a locator once he gets there since he cannot get into his lab.

Sydney says, “I’m hanging up now.

In the meantime, Sydney is sobbing and trying to get her hands untied. Sloane demands everyone, Jack and Nadia included, work hard to find who might have the container with another pathogen bomb in it. It might mean millions of lives are at stake.

“They think they can stop us. They think they can bury us alive.” He seems to be really angry.

Marshall arrives in Havana and using parts from an old radio a shopkeeper gives him, builds the locator. In the grave, Sydney makes a call to APO. She has an idea they can trace Alex by taking his picture and running it through airport photos so they can find out whom his boss was and begin to hunt for the people who ordered the pathogen. The signal dies out and Sydney is in the dark.

Above her in the cemetery, Marshall is trying to find her. However the signal dies. He calls Vaughn and tells him to task a satellite over the cemetery to run a picture scan for a live body. They locate it and Marshall grabs the shovel from another gravesite. Vaughn locates the gravesite, and tells Marshall where to start digging. Everyone at APO seems to be watching, Jack and Nadia especially.

Marshall finds the coffin, gets the lid up. Sydney lies inert and unconscious. He gives her artificial respiration and suddenly she coughs and returns to life.

“That’s her…she’s moving.” Vaughn is very thankful.

“Thanks,” says Sydney to Marshall.

“You’re welcome,” he answers, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

Sloane tells Sydney APO is in a lockdown. She will have to go to Berlin to confront Ulrich to get the information about what city the bomb has been planted. Sydney says he knows her and that Marshall will have to do it. Marshall gets a call from Carrie, who thinks he’s at the office and asks him sooth Mitchell.

Ulrich owns a nightclub. Marshall has to get to him. Sydney plays his handler, telling him what to do and say.

In the nightclub, Marshall walks toward the back where offices might be. He is kissed by one of the revelers. Instructed by Sydney, he walks up to Ulrich’s guard and looking him straight in the eyes, says he wants to see Ulrich…that he has information about another member of the gang who is going to betray him. Marshall gets inside the office introducing himself as “Jack Bristow.” He has the electronic device hidden in a cigarette case. He has to get close to the man’s computer in order to extract the information about the bomb’s location.

As the information is uploaded, Vaughn tells Sydney there is a problem. They cannot get through the firewall, which is located in the basement. Sydney tells Marshall to stall which he does with a the aplomb of a real field agent.

Ulrich is slightly suspicious, causing Marshall to arm himself with the miniature gun he made. He loads it and accidentally kills Ulrich. However that means they have to go to the server located in the basement to retrieve the information. Jack tells Marshall he’s going to have to cut out Ulrich’s eyes because that’s the only way he can get inside to access the firewall. There is a biometric scanner on the entrance. Marshall breaks the eyeball, now he has to get the other out without damaging it. He finds a spork in the man’s drawer and uses it to scoop out the eyeball as he would a soft-boiled egg, just as Sydney arrives.

They hurry downstairs and Sydney places the eyeball up against the panel. The door opens. Marshall hurries inside to down load the information to upload to APO. Sydney is in a gun battle with a couple of Ulrich’s men. She kills one and runs out of bullets. Marshall throws her the mini-gun. It has one more bullet in it. She fires almost point blank at the gunman who falls dead to the floor.

Information received indicates the bomb is somewhere in Hong Kong. The CIA office there is notified. Sloane tells the group that the bomb was located and handed over to the authorities. Dixon arrives having survived the pathogen and joins the discussion.

Later, Sydney drives Marshall to his home. He is nervous, because he’s late and he isn’t driving his car.

“I hate lying to Carrie,” he tells Sydney.

“You saved me,” she says.

“All in a day’s work,” he answers with a grin. He asks Sydney if she would like to come inside and have dinner with them.

She smiles and tells him she has to go to the train station. There is someone she has to see. Vaughn finds her and they dance slowly as people move through the area.


REMARKS

Eight, zero, two, thirty-seven… Well, what do you know that adds up to 47! Shades of Rambaldi. I bet you thought we would not be visiting that realm soon.

Interesting too the hard-drive exploded and Dixon was infected when he tried to help. Sloan could have rid himself of two troublemakers: Sydney and Dixon almost with one blow.

I loved seeing ‘Carrie’ again.


DISCUSS

Did you find it interesting that Sloane demanded that Marshall get to the office immediately? Then Dixon came in with the hard drive, which went off. So is it possible that Sloane wanted everyone in APO while Sydney was alone, cut-off from any help, in Havana. Do you think it was planned? Was Sloan in contact with Ulrich? He would have rid himself of The Chosen One, once and for all.

The Third Faction, a new group. I know Sark is on the loose. Do you suppose he’s hooked up with them? Is there someone else in charge? Want to speculate?


*** B)

I hadn't thought about that, about Sloane somehow planning this...interesting. Sark is probably involved in 'Third faction', that would be logical, but who else? It could be anyone. Cuvee is still alive, right? I don't remember what happend to Olivia Reed, maybe she's in too. Unless she's dead. Oh! Katya Derevko! Yeah, that one would be a good candidate I think.

I think yelena derevko and bill vaughn are involved

and someone from jacks past

bren