ALIAS – EPISODE 4 – MOCKINGBIRD - SYDNEY
“Don’t call me Miss Bristow.”

Ah Monte Carlo…gambling…secret agents and theft of a box containing…what? Our story opens with Sydney in a black wig and exotic blue dress bought at the nearest baby boutique, driving up to the door of a casino. The valet is…Tom Grace. He takes the car into the garage.

Sydney moves to the crap table and with a load of chips starts throwing the dice and WINNING…excitement grows at the table as she warms the dice…across her breasts. Oh, oh, is our Sydney cheating with ‘magic Marshall’ dice? Meanwhile we see Grace down in the cellar next to the garage. Upstairs Sydney is accosted at the table by Dixon who chides her for gambling while pregnant. She throws again. She decides to leave with her money as Dixon challenges the croupier.

“No woman is that lucky.”

The manager and a couple of goons accost Sydney and take her to his office. There he takes out a pair of dice from between her breasts. Angry, she tranqs the manager and his two guards, heading for the casino’s safety box room. Below, Thomas gets the key code she needs and Sydney opens the box, removing a thin box, opens it, and leaves.
She drives to the ferry and is stopped by some official. She wonders what the hell is going on since it is easy to come and go in the little principality. Suddenly, something hits the top of the car’s roof and it’s lifted off the ground. This was not part of the plan.

Her cell rings. “I want my property back.” A familiar voice demands she return Mockingbird. Sydney says she has no idea who or what Mockingbird is.

Okay now we return to LA and 72 hours earlier.

Sydney is consoling Rachel about her co-workers that were killed and that she was really working for a criminal…Dean. She feels responsible. She’s writing her debriefing and it reminds Sydney about her own first debriefing so many years ago. She tells Rachel it was Dean who did the deed, not her. It’s still hard for her to understand and accept.

“I need to give you everything I have right now. The sooner I’m finished, the sooner it’s over.”

Sydney asks her about Mockingbird. Rachel tells Sydney she is “Mockingbird”…it was her call sign in Dean’s organization.

Someplace in Europe or the U.S. Dean hires a man who knows the target to contact him. As the man leaves, Amy Peyton says she needs his password to get into the financial files. He pulls the laptop over so she can’t see what it is. He’s consolidating his money.

APO knows Dean is relocating and Rachel will need to help them get his funds, thus blocking his reorganization. Rachel tells them that she set up the protocols for his account. The protocols are in the Shed, which was destroyed. Sydney tells her she will have to go back to Prague with her in order to find anything that will help. “We need you to do this. We need you to go back into the building.” It’s obvious that’s the last thing Rachel wants to do.

Meanwhile somewhere in Washington D.C., Sloane is facing a prosecutor who is not able to give him the pardon was given to start APO. Letters from people he knows will have no bearing on the proceedings. This is a tough guy. Because it’s a national security issue, Sloane will not be allowed to have a lawyer. The prosecutor questions Sloane about his crimes, especially the fact he was responsible for doctoring the waters of the world prior to the Sovogda incident. The prosecutor is not certain the pardon was justified.

Scene cuts to Tom and Dixon somewhere in the Cayman Islands where they are waiting to do some transfers of Dean’s funds if Sydney and Rachel can find the protocols in the office if Dean in Prague.

In Prague Sydney tells Rachel that she must become someone else and that using various disguises and identities she can forgot who she is and concentrate on the job at hand. This time with a simple badge, they become members of the Czech Intelligence. Rachel leads Syd to the area where the server might be. They find the hard drive with some dried blood and body parts. Rachel is upset, but Sydney calms her. They fix the hard drive so they can send the answers to the protocols to Dixon, who even now, is meeting with the bank officials.

Dixon has left a head’s up message with Sydney warning her he doesn’t have much time before the protocol questions are asked. The officials were a bit early. They lead Dixon and Grace into a tent where the bank is on the official’s laptop. They are given the answers by Sydney in time and the laptop is turned to Dixon, showing him the money stashed in the bank. He moves it.

Almost at the same time, Dean and Peyton watch in horror as his money disappears. He tells Amy, who is his second in command, that Rachel Gibson is still alive.

“We need to get her back.”

Our next scene opens when Sloane tries to defend himself, although having to admit he endangered the lives of millions. He was also responsible for the deaths of the Sovogdans. He tells the prosecutor that he’s reformed. This happened because he found out he had a daughter, Nadia, who has made a huge difference in his life. The prosecutor tells him that he still has to atone for his sins. He will know soon his fate.

Jack talks with Sloane about getting his affairs in shape, as there is no guarantee he is going to walk out of the courtroom a free man. Sloane says, “Promise me you will take care of Nadia as if she were your own daughter.”

Dixon runs a briefing about Dean’s operations archives that are in the casino in Monte Carlo. Marshall uploaded this information from Echelon. Dixon says they have to break into the Casino’s safe deposit boxes to get the package.

Meanwhile Sloane has a visitor in jail. The man says his benefactor will see to it that Sloane is freed. There will be a price remarks Sloane.

Briefing entailing the APO group getting into the casino. They need to get the key codes. Rachel says she can do it. Again, another one of the duties she no doubt did for Dean.
Rachel indicates that she is willing to be a part of the team going. “If I can help you stop him…then that’s what I need to do.”

Following this, we see a bit more of the opening scenes in Monte Carlo. We are now privy to the fact that Rachel is hiding in the trunk of Sydney’s car. Tom Grace let’s her out and they both go to the code box where Rachel’s expertise locates the right key code to allow Sydney access to the box. Sydney is at the box, but no code yet.

Tom tells Sydney that Sidewinder needs more time.

Of course, we see a repeat of the scene at the ferry (official paid off, of course) and the car hanging two hundred feet in the air. Now, however, we see Rachel who is scared and Sydney who gets the message from Dean. He wants Rachel and she tells him Rachel is not with her. She is in a safe house in Philadelphia. Dean tells Sydney the CIA must deliver Rachel to the railroad station in Philly in thirty minutes. To illustrate his power, he has Amy drop the car a few feet. He also says the archives she has are fake.

Sydney calls Jack who gives her instructions. Jack calls Dixon to find out where he and Tom are. Five minutes away says Dixon and Jack tells him the rules of engagement are at his discretion.

Sydney calls back to Rachel and tells her not to worry that she has been in worse situations. Meanwhile Dixon and Grace have made their way to the ferryboat dock. They take care of the guard and enter the cab of the machine that controls the giant magnet. However before he can lower it, he sees the camera. Dean drops the car about fifty feet, scaring the hell out of Sydney and Rachel.

Syd is called again by Dean. He wants to be sure Rachel will be sent to the location he demands. He wants to talk to her. Sydney tells her to act scared and terrified. “I am scared.” Sydney says she has to get him to believe she wants to be with him. Ass she is talking to him. The ferryboat’s horn blows and Dean knows Rachel is with Sydney.

Sydney screams for Rachel to get into the seat and bring the crowbar. Sydney tells Rachel to get in the front seat. They scramble out of the car just seconds before it drops and hang onto the magnet with the crowbar as Dean tells Peyton to drop the car. It falls straight down crashing and crumpling.

Sloane faces the prosecutor who is obviously angry, but lets him go. He says the justice department said the pardon was valid.

On board the CIA’s plane back to the states, Rachel and Sydney talk. Rachel is scared.

“How can you people sleep?” She asks Sydney. She knows she isn’t safe until Dean and his superiors are caught.

“We have to bring them all down…every single one of them.” Sydney says quietly.

As he walks out of the courtroom, Sloane sees the man who is his benefactor, but says nothing nor looks directly at him. He walks out into a bright white light. Oh Oh!

REMARKS:

Grace’s call sign is Sidewinder…or is it Rachel’s. I think sidewinder would be Grace’s.
However, in the context of what was said, I thought it was Rachel’s.

Sloane says to Jack, “Promise me you will take care of Nadia as if she were your own daughter.” Irina is so ambiguous, especially in her meeting with Jack at APO. It certainly left me with the impression that Jack should have made her tell him if Nadia was his daughter. It certainly does give we fan fiction writers a lot to work with.

How did the mysterious visitor get into the jail to see Sloane? Oh yeah, people in high places.


DISCUSS:

So what do you think about Sloane’s being freed? Is he going to slip back into his evil ways or will he take the high road and play the double agent?

Do you like the way Rachel is being introduced into the group (APO)?

Do you think Tom Grace and Rachel Gibson will be good additions to the cast. I know this is outside questions about the episode, but we’ve seen them in four episodes now. Like one, the other or both?

I liked the way Jennifer is being filmed. There were only two, maybe three scenes, where you saw she was pregnant. The scene at the casino done so well. I think they might be trying to minimize the effect of her pregnancy. What do you think?