ALIAS – Episode 19 – SYDNEY
IN DREAMS
“You’re part of it now.”

This was Jennifer’s directorial debut and damn, I think she did a fine job. I thought Ron Rifkin was excellent as was Joel Grey. I hope he gets a nomination for an Emmy for best guest star in a Drama. He was superb and so damn believable. It’s about time that Ron got an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor. He has been magnificent this season. So enough with the kudos…let’s talk story!

The show opens at a monastery. A black car and black van pull up to the gates. Clone Sloane leaves the car. Several monks, who ‘frisk’ him before letting him through the iron gates, greet him. As they shut, we see the ominous <o> engraved at the top of the gates. Oh, oh! Father Kapinsky meets Sloane and he shows Sloane through the monastery. The bees buzzing around busy-beeing what they do impress Sloane. Kapinsky tells him that any aggression that they had had been suppressed. It’s still there, but it they (the bees) feel being productive is better.

In the greenhouse, Clone Sloane moves to the beautiful orchid tree at the back of the room. Bees swarm around, sipping the nectar. He tells Kapinsky he will give him money for the Rambaldi formula and a clipping from the planet. Kapinsky refuses, saying he doesn’t need money. He is sorry he cannot help him.

Sloane smiles saying, “I’m sorry too!” As he pretends to leave the grounds, he phones the van telling them to put plan B into effect. Inside the van, a miniature red ball begins spinning.

Outside, the bees attack everyone except Sloane Clone who is wearing netting over his head and neck as well as glasses. He picks up a shotgun, returns to where Father Kapinsky is, and offers him a syringe with antidote serum. All he has to do is give him the Rambaldi formula he used on the bees. Kapinsky says he’s sorry, but he cannot.
Sloane clone shoots him.

At APO headquarters’ infirmary, Jack is discharged from the hospital. Sydney comes in to see him. They talk bout the charade and she answers his query who suggested it that it was Sloane. With a great deal of understanding in her voice, she says, “You told her you worked for the CIA. That’s how she stole secrets. You broke protocol.” She goes on to say he also told her he wanted to resign. He says he wanted to be a part of her life as she grew up. He didn’t want to be away so much.

Sydney smiles, “You are a part of it now.”

Nadia interrupts saying there is a briefing.
At the briefing, Sloane tells them about the raid on the monastery. He says that a rare orchid was stolen and 45 monks killed. Marshall gives everyone a highly detailed description of the orchid’s properties. Sloane tells them Langley wants them to retrieve it. He wants a plan on his desk ASAP. Jack pulls Sloane aside as the others leave and he is not happy.

“Because of what you put in place…You have 72 hours, otherwise I go to Langley and it will be the end of you.”
“You too, Jack.”
“Yes, I know.” He is resigned however.

Dixon, Sydney, Nadia, and Vaughn come up with a plan to retrieve the orchid. In Paris, a rare manuscript by Rambaldi is put up for auction. Nadia is on point. Sloane kept Sydney back because the clone Sloane knows her. Dixon is with her. In a nearby van is Vaughn and ‘whoopee’ Marshall. They are monitoring the auction.

As they take their seats, the auctioneer states the item just up was purchased by the man in the gray flannel suit. (Ha ha) The next item is Lot 47. Two guards enter with it and it is placed up for viewing with the admonition no one touch it. Nadia goes up to look at it using her minicam techno glasses to show the people interested in bidding. Sloane can identify everyone except a woman named Pamela Madison. The bidding takes place in Euros as the guards leave with the papers. Suddenly she stops bidding and leaves. Sloane knows something is up and sends Nadia after her. Dixon is told to go find the guards with the papers.

Too Late! The guards have been killed and the papers are gone. Sloane warns them to go after the papers. Dixon dashes out to see a truck in the alley pull away. He fires. Vaughn and Marshall block the exit with their van. They open the rear of the truck to find the Sloane Clone holding the briefcase with the papers.

Back at APO, the fake Sloane is brought into an interrogation room. Jack goes in and finds him at ease and confident. He tells Jack something only Jack knew about an event while on assignment in 1986. Sloane enters the room and the clone does not know him. Jack introduces him.

“You’ve been caught. This is Arvin Sloane. Who do you think he is?”
“A CIA stooge with my good looks.”

Marshall tells the team that the two men share identities. He shows them the brain wave patterns are identical. Sloane believes that when he was running SD-6, McCullough was overseeing Project Brainstorm for the Alliance and the purpose was to create a sleeper agent.

“Obviously Sloane Clone is one such.” Arvin is devastated.

Sydney remembers Santiago and the code word Sloane used to get into the warehouse, Jacquelyn. Sloane won’t talk about it. Sydney wants to know what happened to McCullough. He was not among the men captured when SD-6 went down.

“I tipped him off,” says Arvin regretting it. “I think I know where he is.”

In Buenas Aires, Vaughn and Dixon find McCullough at a table with a newspaper and coffee. They discuss his part in the Sloane Cloning. McCullough takes out a packet of sugar, tears of the top and pours it into his coffee. They want to know where the orchid is.

McCullough sips the coffee, “I’m beyond lying, and my employer would never let me live long enough to be interrogated.” He drinks his coffee. He tells them he just took cyanide. “Tell Arvin that…” he doesn’t finish. He is dead.

Sydney goes in to talk to the clone. He tells her she should ask something that matters.
“Such as…” she prods.

“The re-engineering of the evolution of the species…”

She knows he’s found the application of one of Rambaldi’s formulas. He nods and goes on to tell her that she is only a beat cop in the greater scheme of things. He talks about vanquishing evil so that only good remains. Suppose one, he continues, could administer a formula to the general population that would silently alter our brain chemistry. She knows that would turn everyone using bees as an analogy…into worker bees…drones.

“How would you administer it?”

He puts a glass of water down in front of her. Drinking water already has so many additives, what else would it matter if one more thing was added.

Arvin admits he introduced additives to drinking water that would affect three to four hundred million people, but he failed because he didn’t have the orchid. However, the imposter did and could add the nectar to the water. Sydney now knows her father also knew about the project and kept it a secret.

“It makes you as guilty as he is.” She says disappointed in him.

Dixon and Vaughn found and brought back McCullough’s files. They need to go over them to find anything to help.

It’s Marshall who finds what they are looking for. They need to shock the clone with something he doesn’t know about. Jacquelyn. Sloane starts to tell everyone, but Marshall says no…to wait until he’s under. They are going to record everything and then administer the same to the clone as a shock.

Arvin goes under and Emily is back. They are in Italy. She sits on a bench looking out over a lake. Arvin wants her to go on a ride, but she doesn’t want to go. She doesn’t want him to speak Jacquelyn’s name ever again. She wants to stay with her own thoughts. Jack interrupts the memory and tells Sloane he has to go back further.

Now Arvin and Emily are in a garden. She is working. She is pregnant! (I knew it!) Jack prods more wanting to know what happened to Jacquelyn. Arvin moves into the hospital where he has to tell Emily their daughter died and she is crying her heart out.

At that point, the alarm peaks and Marshall says they can now administer this to the clone and learn where the orchid is. Jack and Sydney go to the interrogation room and put the brain recording into him. He receives the pictures seen by Sloane and it snaps him out of it. He tells them where the orchid is…Lugarno, Switzerland. He also divulges his real name: Nat Bolger, Corporal, US Army, and Serial Number 112762. He further sends Jack and Sydney into disbelief as he accuses them of torture, which is against the Geneva Convention. Good grief…how long has he been cloned?

Meanwhile Marshall is unable to bring Sloane out of it. He (Sloane) is happily ensconced in the past and doesn’t want to leave. Marshall says his pleasure center—his serotonin level is high. Nadia volunteers to go help him come out.

Sloane is with Emily and there is a baby in her arms. Sloane is so happy (I don’t blame him) to be with the woman he loves and the daughter he wanted so badly. Nadia appears and Emily wants to know who she is. Sloane says it is his Nadia. He asks her to stay. She shakes her head…

“You have to let them go.” He doesn’t want to, but she looks beyond him. “They’re gone.”

He turns and the bench is empty. He doesn’t want to go back telling her he’s “a monster and monsters cannot be allowed in this world.”

“You have to come back to undo what you started.”
He shakes his head, “I’m tired, and I’m ashamed.” \
“There’s hope. Come back and redeem yourself.”

He turns again to the empty bench and the door to his past, seeing Emily, and the baby.
Sloane is crying.
“Dad!” Cries Nadia.
Sloane jerks awake, back from the dreams.

Later he speaks with Jack telling him the back-story of what made him become involved with Rambaldi.

He promises, “I will clean up this mess that I have made.”

REMARKS:

Well I’ve seen this three times and each time it gets better. As I said earlier, the performance Ron Rifkin gave was superb. I mean I was crying with the man as he went back to Jacquelyn and Emily: the birth and death of his child. I think Sloane is going to end up on the bad guy list again.

Joel Grey was also great as the Sloane Clone. Real name Nat Bolger, which I thought was funny because he reminds me of Ray Bolger. Both of them are dancers, although Joel worked more on the stage. It was a pleasure to watch him. He was excellent.

I know a lot of people on the net were happy to see Marshall move into the story. I mean he probably had more lines in this episode than the entire season. Yea…Marshall.

More of you might not like the idea Jennifer was not on screen either, but directing and acting at the same time is a bit taxing. I’m sure next three episodes will see her more prominently on screen.

The writer of this episode was new also: Jon Rabin Baitz and I think he did a good job. Lots of drama here.

DISCUSS:

This episode brought me back to Truth Takes Time and the scene between Sloane and Irina on board the plane. She warns Sloane to stay away from Sydney, that she knows what kind of husband he is…and that they had this agreement. So do any of you think you might know what the agreement was?
I have an idea, but I want you to tell me.

Do you think Sloane is changed enough to redeem himself? Will Nadia’s belief and love be enough to keep him (ha ha) from the dark side?

Will we get to know what it was that he and Nadia brought back to the CIA that allowed them to put him in charge of APO?

Next week: Mom?

I think sloane is trying to change to be a good man

I think he needs to play the bad guy so everyone can let him do his work so in the end he can be redeemed

I felt ron did a fantastic job here

as for nadia and irina

I am still puzzling that out

could it be everything from nadia truly is sloanes child to the fact that she is jacks but soemhow irina cannot tell jack without endangering someone


Bren

I really loved this episode. I didn't mind that Jennifer wasn't in it considering the focus on Sloane and the fact that she got plenty of time in the following episodes ... and Irina returned later on!

Answers:
Hmm, I have a feeling that the agreement would in some way either go back to Sydney or Nadia. Sloane didn't know about Nadia until later ... or as we are lead to believe ... which leaves Sydney ...

Nadia might help Sloane curb his tendency to be on the dark side for now. But in season 5, you never know!

As far as the last question ... I don't know.