S1 E17 – Q&A

Before I even start on this episode, I need to tell you that this episode was made so that viewers who hadn’t seen Alias yet, could watch this episode and get an idea of what the show was and catch them up on the season.  This was stated on the DVD commentary for this episode.   So this episode is mostly a recap of the past few episodes and gives more insight to Sydney’s beginning at SD-6.  So while there will be little actual relationship stuff; I will talk about Vaughn and Jack working together to rescue Sydney.

So Sydney is being held by the DSR and FBI to be questioned, and they have her handcuffed to a chair, at least they were nice enough to bring her a vanilla shake.  Back at the CIA, Vaughn attempts to make nice with Haladki to find out anything about what is going on with Sydney.  Haladki says that he doesn’t know anything, but I don’t think so.  Vaughn talks with Weiss and wonders if he believes this whole Rambaldi thing.  They both think that it is insane, but too many factors match up.  They care concerned about the FBI tribunal coming in from DC to question her though.

Vaughn and Jack meet at a warehouse to discuss Sydney’s situation.  Jack’s contacts have no info for him and all that Vaughn knows is that she is being held locally.  Jack then tells Vaughn that it isn’t where she is being held that worries him, it is for how long. Sloane wants to meet with her on Tuesday, and if she’s not there, it could blow her cover and Jack’s.  Also there is a possibility that they could hold her for the rest of her life without a trial.  Upon hearing that, you can see that Vaughn is now willing to do anything to try and rescue her.

Back at the CIA Vaughn is giving notes to his assistant and says something about lunch, which reminded him of Weiss telling him about Haladki having lunch somewhere, so he finds Weiss and asks him where he said Haladki would always have lunch.  Weiss told him that it was at the Webster rotunda.  Vaughn tells him that you are not allowed in the Webster rotunda unless you are a ranking officer of the FBI.  So Vaughn confronts Haladki in the men’s restroom.  Haladki defends the FBI holding Sydney and defends Rambaldi and gives Vaughn nothing.  Vaughn knows that he can’t do anything, but you can tell he is thinking of a plan to get the info that they need from Haladki. 

Vaughn goes back to his office and pours himself into the prophecy.  It is with him that we hear the rest of the prophecy. “This woman, without pretense, will have had her effect, never having seen the beauty of my sky behind Mt. Subasio. Perhaps a single glance would have quelled her fire.” Weiss is in Vaughn’s office giving him a hard time, when he talks about Mt. Subasio, Weiss makes a smart crack about them traveling around the world, after which Vaughn gets up from his desk , tells him thanks, and leaves.  We see him meet up with Jack, who has yet to be able to uncover any information. Vaughn tells Jack that if the FBI takes any part of the prophecy seriously, they have to take all of it seriously.  So what if they were to get Sydney to Mt. Subasio. It is at this point that I think Jack realizes that Vaughn isn’t the idiot he thought he was.  He may not really like Vaughn, who does Jack actually like and trust, but he sees that Vaughn can be an ally and will be helpful to him and Sydney.   Just the fact the Vaughn doesn’t back away from breaking the rules when Jack tells him that they will have to extract her says a lot to Jack.  Although, Vaughn does tell jack that Devlin is so mad at the DSR that he would go a long with it and set up transport and a jet.  Vaughn also tells Jack that Haladki may also know the details of Sydney’s position, but that he won’t talk to Vaughn, Jack tells him that he’ll get him to talk.

Jack finds Haladki and holds him at gun point and threatens him until he gives up Sydney’s location and when she is going to be transferred to a safe house for overnight.   I love how jack negotiates.  

After Sydney is asked the last question of the day, “Do you believe in Rambaldi?”  She only answered by saying, do you believe him?  There was no answer, and then she said, you’re not going to let me go are you?  We then see Sydney being escorted down the hall and out of the building.  As they got outside, a van pulled up and men in masks pointed guns at the men escorting her, telling everyone to get down and put down their weapons.  Sydney is taken into the van and they leave.  In the van the masked men remove their masks and it is Vaughn and Weiss, she wonders what is going on and the driver tells her that they will explain everything when they get there.  The masked driver is Jack.

At a warehouse they all unload from the van, Jack and Vaughn explain that she is going to disprove the prophecy by going to Mt. Subasio.  They suspect that the FBI would’ve kept her in custody for days if not longer and blown her cover at SD-6.  She protests that she is now a fugitive since she is running, they tell her that’s better than blowing her cover and being killed.  They tell her that as soon as she has seen the sky from Mt. Subasio she can call and let them know to take her in at that point.  The FBI can’t make a big deal of it because of the CIA aspect of all of it.  Vaughn gives her some clothes to change into and tells her that he is taking her to the jet, but since she can’t be seen she needs to go in the trunk.  He also hands her an earpiece so they can communicate.

Having a conversation with a girl that you have a crush on while she’s in the trunk of your car probably isn’t an ideal situation, but with these two, it seems that they can make the best out of any situation. Once again though, the first thing he says to her when the coms go active, is asking her if she is alright.  She asks him if he ever considered the thought that Rambaldi could be correct, and he just tells her that he didn’t because he believes in her, not Rambaldi.  I think she takes comfort in this, the one person that she relies on believing in her makes her feel so safe.  I also love his line afterwards, telling her, “Do you think I’d just throw anyone in my trunk?”  Beside Vaughn always wanting to make sure that Sydney is safe, he also wants her to be happy, so I think he will try and lighten the mood when he can.   Once they arrive at the designated spot where another car is waiting for her to drive to the airfield, they tell each other to be careful and part ways. 

I do have to say that her disguise or alias here is the most unattractive one of the entire series. But that might just be me.  The police end up chasing after her and it is even shown on TV, where back at home Will and Francie watch together with some popcorn.   When it seems like the police have her cornered, since she is up against a pier at the ocean, Sydney debates what to do and then floors the gas pedal and drives into the ocean.

Sydney being incredibly smart, was able to escape from the car, and used the air from the tires to breathe underwater until it was safe for her to come up.  She made a realization while doing that, so once she was back up, she called Jack to come meet her.  She explained what she did, and told him that she knew that her mother did the same.  She is sure that her mother must be alive.  She inherited the details that Rambaldi describes, so the prophecy must be about either Sydney or her mother, and Sydney knows it’s not her.

• Items that I find noteworthy… 
• We meet Kendall for the first time