In the mess of the now destroyed SD-6 offices, Sydney is
just standing in the middle looking around at all of what used to be her
life. I’m sure contemplating on all the
evil that has gone down there, but also looking back at the good times that she
did have there with Dixon, who may never speak to her again and other
co-workers. Vaughn walks in, and looks around and smiles once he sees her, she
is the reason that he came. He walks up
to her and tell her that he heard she was there. She
turns around and she is grinning ear to ear, it’s that smile that she has
always hidden from Vaughn, but showed us once in the second season opener when
Vaughn was talking of going to dinner in Barcelona. She tells him that she couldn’t sleep, at the
mention of sleep Vaughn does have a little smirk, he’s already thinking ahead
of himself, but she goes on to tell him that she was afraid that she would wake
up and find out that it was all a dream.
She also tells him that she went for a run to clear her mind and she
ended up there. She does ask if he’s
heard any news on Dixon or Marshall, and she is told that they will be in
debrief for a while, but meanwhile Sloane has been added to Interpol’s most
wanted list. Then she takes a look at
him, smiles swallows and then looks down, always a sign of approaching an
unwanted subject for both of them. And
she says, “About last night…” and she
is immediately interrupted by Vaughn asking if she is going to bring up Alice.
She tells him that she knows it’s complicated, and he cuts her off again
telling her that they aren’t together anymore.
You can see her relax at once, but she does ask since when, and he tells
her that it’s been since that morning, but that they’ve been over for a long
time. Let’s be honest for a moment
though, watching the way Vaughn is with Sydney compared to how he was with
Alice, it was pretty obvious that the moment he was allowed to be with Sydney,
any other relationship would be over. Sydney is nodding her head in enthusiasm over
this point. And once he finishes, he
smiles back at her. It is a great moment,
although not overly memorable in the scheme of all of their great moments over
five years, but Sydney’s lack of control of her smile is almost
contagious. Sydney just stands there
thinking and smiling for a moment before she tells him that she’s been thinking
that she can finally enter the CIA through the front door. Vaughn is quick to catch this train of
thought and tells her that even better; he can give her a ride. His smile here is pretty contagious as well,
but he’s never had control over his facial emotions when it comes to Sydney so
we get to see his smile fairly often.
But they are both excited at the concept of them being able to go to
work together.
One thing that should be noted here, although they worked
around it pretty well, this episode was made before Phase One, so many of the
scenes that are within the CIA Rotunda and on missions Sydney and Vaughn had
been on their date, but had not had the SD-6 smooch as Michael Vartan referred
to it in a DVD commentary. They had
taken some scene out of this episode to place in the Phase One episode and replaced
them with new Sydney/Vaughn moments after the kiss. For instance the whole story line of Will and
Francie making out was supposed to be in this episode, as well as the audience
discovering that Francie had been doubled.
So if some scenes seem lacking in the expected response or chemistry that
is why.
Back at Sydney’s apartment the doorbell rings, and Sydney
answers it only to find that it is Vaughn, whom she was expecting. He asks her if she is ready to go, she is,
but she invites him in anyway so she can get her stuff. He comments on her apartment, and she tells him
that she is thinking of getting a new couch, but she isn’t sure. He takes a few looks around and then a
comment about this is where she lives. I’m
sure he’s imagined this moment many times, and he is relishing being in her
home. She takes a look around as well and
tells him yep, I love here. He tells her
that he loves it. Then she grabs her
things and tells him that she is ready.
Then we get another kiss. Is it their
second kiss, or just the second kiss that we get to see? But while they are kissing, he backs up a bit,
ends the kiss, and tells her that they should go, right now. You can totally see that he is thinking like
a man and knows where a longer kiss in her house will lead to, and they have a
mission to get to. Before they leave, Evil
Francie enters the room and says hey.
Sydney tells Evil Francie that this is Michael from the bank. Vaughn tells her that it is nice to meet her,
Evil Francie says that it’s nice to put a face with the name, and he
agrees. This whole time Sydney is
standing behind Vaughn pointing at him, smiling and mouthing this is him very
excitedly. She is definitely expecting a
better response to Vaughn from Francie. When Vaughn looks at Sydney she stops
and tells him that they should get to their plane. And Evil Francie asks about her going on
another business trip, Sydney makes up a banking trip and says that it is just
overnight. Once Vaughn and Evil Francie
begin the pleasantries of meeting each other and saying to goodbye already,
Sydney is giving Evil Francie some looks like what has gotten into you, as well
as a look when she leaves of what do you think.
But still does not get the expected response from Evil Francie.
Now just a heads up, the whole Evil Francie storyline is one
that is so unbelievable to me that it really brings down my overall liking of
the second season. I’ve never really
been a huge fan of the Francie character in general, but her being doubled was
an aspect that I could never swallow. How
can you show what a good spy Sydney is throughout the entire series thus far
and let her be fooled by Evil Francie. This
story line just makes both Sydney and Will look like idiots. They don’t take notice to how Francie now where’s
her makeup differently, doesn’t catch on to some of the things that they are
talking about, and isn’t as relaxed and fun as she used to be. Also the one clue that they didn’t give
leading up to Francie being doubled is when did Evil Francie learn her likes and
dislikes? Did the Evil Francie date
Charlie at some point and ask him everything he knew about his ex? On a side note of this particular rant, I
read that this is actually the reason that Bradley Cooper left the show, because
he didn’t believe in the storyline, as well as his fans didn’t like seeing him
not being smart enough to see it. I’m
not sure if it is true, but I read it in some Alias themed article. I hope I can contain my editorial rants on
this subject to right here, but I may find another time where I can’t take it
anymore. So sorry!
The mission that Sydney and Vaughn are sent on was due to
the international coverage of a CIA agent that they apparently knew being
dropped off on a corner in Berlin tied up in C-4, then eventually being blown
up. They were sent in to recover her
partner who was assumed to be captured.
Sydney and Vaughn did go over the mission details on the flight, and it
was the first time that we see Sydney and Vaughn in the CIA plane alone, but
not much happened. Once on their
mission, the most exciting thing for their relationship was that Sydney knew
that if she acted a certain way, being sexy and basically having her bikini top
off before entering the changing tent, would bring their target to the tent as
well. So she entered the tent barely
covering her front, and I can guess that since the target walked in and Vaughn
was right at the entrance, Vaughn may have seen a little to get him excited,
but we can only guess there. They worked
together on the mission, but acted pretty normal for what they would’ve done
pre-kissing. They recovered the missing
agent and were able to get him back on the plane as well as recovering the
Intel on project Helix which the two agents were investigating before. Even on the plane with Agent Lennox, the
missing agent, they were very careful about staying professional. The most exciting thing there was once again
was Vaughn wanted to know if she was okay after having to fight her way out.
After returning home Sydney and Vaughn were present for part
of his debrief and psych evaluation. We
learned that the Dr. Markovic that was in charge of Project Helix was working
for someone else, although that person is unknown. He wanted to know if they
knew anything about how his partner Emma was compromised, they didn’t. At the end of the debrief agent Lennox is asked
if there was anything else that they should know and that was that they were
engaged. Upon hearing that they were
engaged, Vaughn did have a concerned look and looked toward Sydney. I can imagine that he was trying not to think
of losing Sydney. Seeing one agent lose
his partner who was also his fiancé isn’t easy, but seeing it having just kissed
your own partner is a whole other experience I can imagine.
Agent Weiss and the new recruit are analyzing the footage of
Emma blowing up and find an anomaly in the footage, so they start working on
that. Vaughn does consult Weiss about
how odd it was that Emma was very good at sending in reports of anything
unusual, but on the day that Lennox was captured, nothing was sent in, and she
didn’t send in any reports of his being missing, he thinks that this is odd
behavior and that there might be something there. And since the opening sequence we did see
Emma begin to send in report that Agent Lennox had been doubled and that it was
agent Lennox, or a look alike that knocked her out, I’m pretty sure Vaughn is
right.
Having shared the situation of losing a fiancé, Sydney went
to check on agent Lennox at the safe house and found him drinking heavily, which
is probably understandable. She tells
him that even though they are trained to compartmentalize their feelings, she
still deals with the death of Danny, but that she would rather feel that than
not feel anything and tries to prove her point by taking away the bottle form
him. As she does this, he takes her
face in his hands and starts kissing her, but she just stays stiff and doesn’t
kiss back. Finally he relents and
apologizes. It is at this point that
other agents come in to the safe house and call out for both of them. They instruct agent Lennox to get up against
the wall, but he knocks both of them down and tells Sydney to go, as she is
leaving she knocks him down and the other agents are able to restrain him. All
Sydney wants at this point is to find out what is going on.
In the Rotunda, it is explained to her, Project Helix is a
next generation gene therapy, where a patients face and body are reshaped to
identically resemble someone else. Then
Jack tells her that Agent Lennox was the first test subject to be doubled. Dr. Markovic was the first subject to undergo
the therapy, so they are not sure if they rescued Agent Lennox or Dr.
Markovic. Sydney doesn’t believe that
they have the wrong person and fights for it.
But then Vaughn tells her that even though it sounds insane, the footage
that Weiss and the new recruit found tells a different story. Then he shows her the tape of a man that
facial recognition recognizes as agent Lennox detonating the bomb that blew up
Emma. We find out that the project is
designed so that terrorists could possibly just have a procedure done and they
would no longer be themselves, making it impossible to be tracked down for
their crimes. We find out that the only
way to tell apart the real person from the double is with an ocular scan that
was built in to tell them apart. A
little while later they perform the ocular scan and agent Lennox is who he says
he is.
Agent Lennox and Sydney end up going on a mission together
to download the data off of Project Helix and then destroy it, once they are in
the system, Lennox finds out that he was not the only one who was doubled. Sydney wants to know who else was doubled,
but the computer doesn’t have the info on the second double. Insert my screaming at the TV saying that it
was Francie. But as he is saying this
the screen turns to Evil Francie planting a bug inside of Sydney’s TV in her
bedroom.
Back at the CIA a call is routed to Vaughn, and it is a man
claiming to be Lennox and telling Vaughn and the team that he’s been doubled
and that Sydney is with Dr. Markovic. They
are hesitant to believe him, but he tells them that the ocular scan was misinformation
that was purposely fed to them. He just
escaped a few hours ago and that he is in Poland where he tracked to prototype
to. Vaughn is not too happy to hear that
Sydney may be alone with the actual double, either way, she will soon be with
both of them, and so he works out the coms so that only she can hear him and
tells her what is going on. She is
instructed to get them both secured and they will figure it out once they are
both in custody. So she secures the
first and then corners the other. While
she is working to secure the second one, the first has escaped. The three of them chase through the train
yard and then end up in a standoff with the guns. Finally having already set the explosives,
she tells them both to keep their guns up and sets hers down. She gets the detonator ready and tells Dr. Markovic
that he better like his face because he will have it for a long time, she knew
that the real Lennox wouldn’t care if the lab was blown up, but the imposter
wouldn’t want her to blow it up. So the
real Lennox would shot the other if the imposter tried to stop her and it
worked.
Back in LA, Sydney takes a sip of wine while Vaughn watches
her longingly, and keeps watching her as she is making dinner. They are in very close quarters in the
kitchen and you can see the desire in Vaughn’s eyes as she passes by him and
only smiles. He is content, but definitely
has other thoughts in his mind besides dinner. She has him taste test what she
is making and he likes it, but after she has set down the spoon, and is
checking on whatever is in the oven, he is done watching, and he takes her arm and places it around him and he wraps
himself around her, and they begin kissing, and he is caressing her hips. They pull
away for a moment and he tells her that she is so beautiful, she responds by
telling him that dinner is ready. He
tells her that she does have an oven and they can reheat. She uses her foot to close the oven, and then
next we know they are on her bed. I won’t
go much further, but it is a pretty good love scene for having aired on network
primetime, especially for a channel owned by Disney. I will say that Vaughn kissing Sydney on her
stomach is one of my favorite parts. But
seeing the longing and built up psychical frustrations between the two makes
for an exotic night.
The big downside to all of this happening is that we do find
out that Francie is in the other room watching the whole thing go down. And what is with the look she is giving the
TV? What is she going to do with a tape
of them sleeping together? Send it on to
Sloane? Come on really. Sorry, not raging on the Evil Francie story
may prove harder than I thought.
What made me very happy: Vaughn and Sydney more demonstrative with each other and finally making love.
ReplyDeleteWhat made me sad: Vaughn was introduced to Fake Francie instead of our Francie who had discussed the 'hot cute Michael Syd had a crush on'
What baffled me: Sydney and Will not noticing something was not quite right about 'Francie'.
This episode always makes me happy, although sad at the same time. For me, while I enjoyed them finally making it to the bedroom, I enjoyed the dinner scene more. I loved watching Vaughn watch her, and them finally being able to open up with each other and show their loving looks and smiles with each other rather than trying to hid them.
DeleteAfter all that Sydney has gone through and having Francie watch her struggle with it all, it was so sad that the real Francie never met Vaughn. But since you have read the entire blog, you know how I feel about the fake Francie. I think that this move was such a horrible plot choice. I can almost see where Sydney has been so involved with Vaughn that maybe she didn't notice some things, but to have Francie not get excited about meeting Michal from work, after how excited she was to hear about Sydney's crush, Sydney really should've noticed something. I had read somewhere, I wish I could remember where, but it stated that this was one of the reasons that Bradley Cooper asked to be written off. He said that he didn't find his character believable anymore. With how intuitive Will was towards finding all the clues concerning Danny's death and leading up to discovering SD-6, he should've noticed that he was dating someone that was completely different from the best friend that he had come to love.
I know I know ... I keep saying it but I really cannot believe Vaughn waited until the absolute last minute to break up with Alice ...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have other interesting observations to make ... in one of the commentaries, Michael Vartan talked about how his stubble gave Jennifer (as he called her - the "delicate flower") a terrible rash during the SD6 smooch so he was instructed to be clean shaven (as she called him - "baby face Vaughn") and I notice that now that they meet in the fallen SD6, Vaughn is really clean shaven ... hee heeeee
Also, in the commentary, Michael Vartan joked about how he needed stomach surgery to remove the ulcer from all the breath mints he had to eat (he was joking of course) but so cute right? :)
I LOVE the smile Sydney has when Vaughn tells her that he is no longer with Alice. I think she realises that there are no longer any obstacles for them to be together.
ReplyDeleteIt is very rare that we get to see Sydney express happiness in such an unguarded manner.
And yes Vaughn, where would you like to give Sydney a ride to the office from? On your way in to the office or when you both wake up together in her apartment and you both need to go into the office? hee heeeee ;p
I love love love their relationship in the rest of this season. They are both so happy and affectionate…the chemistry is incredible. I love that Vaughn says his relationship with Alice has been over for a long time…yea since he met Sydney. I wish he had broken up with Alice after his French date with Sydney but it’s really not that unusual that he waited. I wish this required love period could have gone on a little longer in the series..it was so great!
ReplyDeleteOh boy. The kitchen scene is one of my absolute favorite Sydney and Vaughn scenes. So sexy. So passionate. His looks! Yummy. I want me some of that. I loved them finally making love but it was ruined with Evil Francie ( taking your name) watching. Point please? Uggh. Unless she is turned on watching why? I get bugging the apartment but watching. And I will add to your tirade... I despised the evil Francie doubling story for all the reasons you already gave. The only thing I hated more was when Lauren wore some sort of plastic mask of Sydney in season 3 and later Sydney wore one of Lauren with some voice modulator. What I like so much about alias is that it might not be completely realistic what Sydney can do but they almost make me believe it. This doubling crap takes it so far beyond reality that it does partially ruin the show.
ReplyDelete