ALIAS – EPISODE 3 – THE SHED
SYDNEY
“I believe in you.”

The opening takes place in Istanbul. We see a shadowy female figure approach and the guard stops her, but she shoots him and enters the lab where two scientists are working there and see her. She demands the vials and points her gun at them. They tell her that one of the vials is unsealed. She take’s the vials and throws the unsealed one at them. It breaks as she locks them inside where they die.

The next scene shows Sydney opening Vaughn’s mail. She takes a Hockey magazine and calls the company to stop it, saying he had died. First, she throws the magazine out; then she takes it out of the wastebasket and puts in the top left hand drawer of his desk.

At APO Marshall is working to get information about the break-in from his pen pal, Ali, who is in Turkey. The substance 33 stolen was a nerve gas developed by Russia during the Cold War. He says if he can get close to the place where the hacker who compromised Vaughn is, but he has to go to Prague. Jack assigns Sydney and Tom Grace to go.

Sydney doesn’t want the new guy because she found out he was a loner. Jack tells her she didn’t have authorization to read the files. Jack also reminds her he did sign on with APO as a member of the team. He insists she go with him. They will go with Marshall to find the hacker. She still would want to go with only Marshall. Sydney wants Dixon, but Jack says he’s on another assignment.

He’s going to baby-sit Sloane who has a contact in Russia, an Alexander Delshenko, who wants to meet him. The man indicates the Russians did save some Sovogdans and have found a cure. His friend wants $300,000 for the cure. Next, we see Dixon talking to Sloane and telling him he’ll be under his thumb during the entire mission. (Sloane looked a bit sly)

In Prague, Sydney, Tom, and Marshall are tracking the hacker in a café. The man is wearing a Red Sox baseball cap. Marshall is listening to their conversation, but tells Sydney that someone else is piggybacking off the young man’s computer onto a PDA or cell phone. Sydney turns to look around the café and she sees the blonde woman leave the café.

The woman gets into a mini Cooper and leaves. Tom takes the wheel of the SUV and roars after her.

He tells Marshall, “You’re going to want a seat belt.” The man can drive. He catches her, even though she almost evades him.

“Hi there,” he says with his gun pointing at her.

They take her to a hotel where Marshall examines her cell phone, which is broken. Sydney wants to talk to her and tells Marshall to set up a voice analyzer as soon as he can. He says to give him ten minutes.

Meanwhile Sloane and Dixon wait near a phone in Omsk. The man, Alexander, tells Sloane he isn’t alone and if he doesn’t come alone, he’ll forget the cure. Sloane begs Dixon who understands and lets Sloane go to the meeting place. After all as Sloane states, the CIA has Nadia as the reason Sloane will be coming back with Dixon.

At the hotel, Sydney talks to their prisoner, who has been identified by Grace as Rachel Gibson who is in Prague on a student visa. She tells Sydney that she is CIA and that she is a part of a black ops (off the books) section of the CIA. Sydney has a strange feeling about it and Rachel confirms it by telling her they are a black ops operation.

To prove she doesn’t work for the CIA, they send a message to Langley, but moments later where it goes, but then it is piggybacked to Prague to an address on Vlasska Street, which is right around the corner from where they are now. Rachel is devastated. What Sydney told her was the truth.

Sydney knows what’s happening. Shades of thirteen years gone by and SD-6. She tells Rachel exactly how she was recruited and how she was probably trained. She was probably promoted. She works for Gordon Dean who is the leader of the special ops division. She works for a criminal organization just as she did. Rachel tells Sydney that the office is close by and they call it The Shed.

Rachel makes a call. Tom meantime tells Jack that she is a computer specialist and not a field agent. Marshall wants her to steal the code and gives her a seemingly innocent credit card, but he’s added something to it…240 gigabytes, enough to download all the files at the Shed.

Sloane meets Alexander with the money. However, it turns out that Alexander lost a daughter in Sovogda and he wants Sloane dead. Facing Alexander’s gun, Sloane faces him down and Alexander leaves.

Jack is informed of what has happened. He tells Sydney they have to use Rachel to get the code so they know where Substance 33 is.

Sydney coaches Rachel on how to react as she enters The Shed. She asks her about Michael Vaughn, but she says she was told he was an agent who had turned.
Sydney says he was a good man. She did not reveal he was her fiancé.


Sydney reassures Rachel, telling her she believes in her and that she can do the job. Rachel returns to her office to get the codes for Marshall. Back in the room, the three APO agents worry about Rachel and her abilities to get the job done, especially since she was not a field agent.

As she works at her desk, Gordon Dean comes in, telling her that he enjoyed the book she recommended. He says he needs a prep report on a purported Iran and French interaction in the sale of a nuclear core. She says she will get right on it. However, she starts downloading the file codes instead. When she’s finished, she takes the card. She is supposed to do a brush pass with Sydney, who is coaching her.

Unfortunately, we see the woman who killed the guard and stole the vials containing substance 33. As Rachel is leaving, she invites herself along saying she wants a smoke. Rachel is scared, so Sydney calms her and takes the credit card from her while Tom Grace lights Amy’s cigarette. Rachel is told Marshall is downloading the files and to be calm. However, Amy who went with her to lunch is now telling Dean that they might have a problem with Rachel.

Dean checks the files and sees them being downloaded. He tells the girl to execute Plan B. This means blow up the place. The girl sets the charges as Dean races out of the building.

Marshall discovers something is wrong. Sydney tells Rachel to get out of the building fast. Tom Grace heads for the Shed. He is there as the building blows up. He goes up a flight of stairs and see’s Rachel under some debris. He pulls her to safety.

REMARKS

Okay now fans, why were we treated to Sydney opening Vaughn’s mail and canceling his subscription. Is it possible Sydney believes he is dead…or not, since she put the magazine back into his desk? Alternatively, is there some significant fact the magazine holds to be revealed in the future? We know these writers…and JJ can be devious at times.

Interesting that the guy in the café is wearing a Red Sox baseball cap and Sydney telling him it was her favorite team. (Yeah, well we know Ben Affleck’s favorite team is the Red Sox.)

Now we know where Vaughn lived…in Venice, California…at the beach.

DISCUSS

Should Sydney trust Rachel Gibson...or for that matter, Thomas Grace?

I had a spur of the moment idea when I saw Syd put the magasine in the drawer. I thought maybe someday she'd open the drawer and the magasine would be gone. Or maybe it's just that she can't let go, but it's sad, because so much time has passed.

I don't know about those two new agents. The guys seems shady and I hope JJ and Cie don't intend to put him in Syd's bed in stead of Vaughn. I like the guy but it would be too...expected. Like 'okay let's forget about Vaughn, here's his replacement'. About the girl, it's too much like Syd's situation, though I wonder about her friend. The evil coffee buddy, I wonder if she'll be a recurrent villain with Dean.

You still question whether Vaughn is dead or not. You have faith. I don't. Keep posting your little observations and theories, I would love to see Vaughn back, even though I don't believe it will happen. :(