S2 E21 – Second Double

Any episode that begins with Sydney and Vaughn making out is considered a good episode to me.  As they are making out and undressing each other they are talking about how long their debriefing was and how they couldn’t stop staring at each other.  Sydney even mentioned that she thinks her dad may have noticed.  Vaughn isn’t convinced that Jack noticed, but Vaughn’s attention was on Sydney and not on Jack.  Sydney asks if Jack didn’t notice, why was he assigned to the investigation.  Vaughn is still undressing Sydney and she’s undressing him as well, but he tells her that it’s a big case and he is the point guy for finding out who hacked into the CIA’s database.  She turns his comment about being the point guy around to the task at hand and brings him down on top of her on the couch.  He asks about Will and Francie and Sydney tells him that they won’t be back for hours.  It is at this point that we see that the tie that Evil Francie gave to Vaughn is lying in the floor.

The scene changes to a computer screen that is showing an audio feedback of Vaughn telling Sydney she is beautiful.  Then we see Evil Francie and she is on the phone with Sark telling him that Will may be compromised.   This leads to Sark going to Irina and telling her that Evil Francie may be compromised if the CIA is able to confirm that Will is the mole and use therapy to reveal that Evil Francie is not truly Francie.  Sark assumes that Will should be terminated and Irina is adamant that she wants Will Tippin alive, so they need to make his frame look convincing.

Next we see Evil Francie with some contraption over Will’s eyes keeping them open while she hypnotizes him.   She makes it so that when he is asked personal questions, the harder he thinks about them the less he will remember.  Then she puts some eye drops in his eyes and points a laser into his eyes.  I am guessing that she is making it so that the ocular scan that they perform to see if project Helix had been used will show he is a double now even though he is not.

While Sydney and Will are out for a run, some SUV’s approach them and men come out with guns out.  They arrest Will under suspicion of espionage.

In the conference room, Kendall, Jack, and Marshall are at the head of the table in a cluster, Sydney and Vaughn are sitting at the side table.  Usually they are more spread out, so this was a clue that something is definitely up.  But Sydney tells everyone that Will isn’t a traitor.  Jack then explains the reasons that they ended up arresting Will.  Which were the two instances where the information leaked out that led to satellites going down so Irina could escape and then the footage from Tuscany showing who shot Emily.  Marshall tells Sydney that Will’s user account was active in two locations during the information, but the data did come from one of those locations and from Will’s account. Sydney once again tells them that she has known Will for years and there is no way that he would ever work for Sloane.  Then Jack tells her that the other possibility is that they don’t actually have Will Tippin in custody, but he may be the second double from project Helix.

Sydney is having a hard time digesting that Will could possibly be the other double and looks to Vaughn to see what he thinks, but he just looks as surprised as she is. Kendall then explains that they found Provacillium in Will’s car.  It’s a medication that gene therapy recipients take to keep their body from rejecting the DNA mutations.   Vaughn is the first one to mention the ocular scan, but Jack tells him that Will is already being transported to medical services for one at that moment.  Jack takes a moment, and then looks at Sydney and Vaughn and tells them that there is something else, that a digital recording was found among Will’s things and it was taken by the surveillance equipment that they found in Sydney’s apartment several months ago.  Sydney and Vaughn just look at each other.  Jack takes one last look at them and then turns to leave. As he leaves he gives Sydney a remote.  Jack and Kendall are exiting and Marshall takes a look around and then realizes that it’s time for him to go as well.

Once Sydney and Vaughn are alone in the room, they look at each other and Sydney stands up with the remote and presses play.  We see them viewing the video of the first night that Sydney and Vaughn had together.  Sydney looks at it for a moment and then looks down probably thinking how much she wishes that he dad had not seen that.  Vaughn is very embarrassed; having your bosses see a tape of you in bed with a co-worker is bad enough, but even worse when one boss is that co-workers father.  They finally look at each other, but they are both speechless.

 I’m sure it is known that they are dating, but they have kept things very professional in the office.  There is never any kissing at work, or any other form of PDA.  The most they have done is hugged which is something they had done before they became a couple.  I think that they had such an emotional connection before they ever started dating that for them showing off in the work place isn’t necessary.  For the most part, they can look at each other and know what the other is thinking and when they are on their own that is when they can get all lovey with each other.  So having co-workers and their bosses / father see them like this is not something they ever wanted.  It is also interesting to think about as we go in to the third season soon and we how different the Sydney/Vaughn relationship is to another relationship.

After Will is back from medical services Sydney goes to visit him and tells him that they believe that he may be a double and that they aren’t sure if he is Will Tippin or not.  He failed the ocular scan, and she tells him this.  She starts to ask him questions, and then we see that Dixon and Vaughn are watching the feed in the command center.  Sydney asked Will about the time that they kissed, knowing that Will wouldn’t have told anyone about that, but Will couldn’t remember all the details which frustrates him and makes Sydney question if it is him or not.  Vaughn on the other hand, doesn’t like hearing about a time that Sydney and Will shared a kiss.  Will does tell her that it must be a set up, and he did some of the research on the Dr. who developed the program and was doubled himself.  He tells her to go to his office and find his research and try and clear him.

Sydney has a fight with Dixon about if Will is actually the double or not, Dixon firmly believes that he is and that he fed Sloane the information that led to Diane’s death.  Once Dixon leaves Sydney asks for Jack’s permission for a protective detail to be put on Francie in case someone is targeting her friends and asks to question Francie about Will’s behavior, but it would include telling Francie about her real life.  Jack approves it, but tells her to say as little as possible.

Back in the conference room, we have the same group as before, I can imagine that it has to be a little awkward, but luckily they are all trained in compartmentalizing their feelings.  But based off of Will’s research, they are sending Sydney and Vaughn to get information from a man called Hans Jürgen’s whose equipment was used to monitor the patients during the gene therapy, so they may be able to get information on the real second double from him.   Kendall wants to send Will off to camp Harris for unrestricted interrogation, but Sydney fights him on this, finally Jack jumps in and tells them that for now, Will is staying where he is and Sydney and Vaughn are going to Berlin to find Hans.

Once in Berlin Sydney and Vaughn meet up with a contact that has located Hans.  The contact tells them that he is currently at a sex club that he often frequents, the kind with leather, whips, chains, latex, etc.  Vaughn asks how long he will be there and the man smiles at him and tells Vaughn that it could be a couple of hours.  Sydney immediately tells them that she thinks that they should move in now.  Vaughn looks at her and a huge grin starts creeping across his face.  Sydney looks at him and sees this smile and just says, what?  He tries a straight face and tells her nothing and she looks back at their contact, then he looks at Sydney again and the grin returns. 

 Next thing we know we are at the said sex club.  We get a glimpse of Hans having a drink, but not being entertained.  Then we see Vaughn at the bar watching the room and you can tell he is a little disgusted by it all.  But once Sydney sits down next to him, he smirks a little and tells her that he’s glad he’s not the one in leather.  She smiles and tells him that he would look good in a teddy.  Vaughn smiles a bit, then goes into business mode and tells Sydney that Hans is with his security team against the wall.  Sydney takes a look back and sees him, and seeing him smile back at her doesn’t thrill her.  So she isn’t smiling when she turns back to Vaughn.  She takes a drink and bites down on some ice and then begins her job.  Vaughn watches as she walks away, and you can tell that he doesn’t mind the view too much.

 Sydney convinces Hans to come with her and she has him undressed down to her boxers and he is chained up by his hands and ankles.  Once she has him all tied up, she calls him by his name and tells him that she has a few questions for him.  He wonders how she knew his name and then the door opens and Vaughn walks in.  She looks up at him and says, “Hello, Honey.”  Vaughn places something on a table and responds, “Hello, Dear.”   Just that little conversation makes me smile and get giddy about the two of them every time.  I love seeing couples refer to each other with terms of endearment.  But Hans wants to know who Vaughn is.  But Sydney just looks at him and asks if she is correct with his wife’s name being Alba.  He asks how she knows his wife and we see Vaughn getting set up to take some pictures.  Sydney posing generously all around Hans and Vaughn smiles at her and the situation as he takes plenty if pictures.  Vaughn stops taking pictures and Sydney tells Hans that they know about project Helix, and since Markovic is dead, he is the only one who knows the identity of the second double that his machines were used on. Sydney throws her whip to Vaughn, I wonder if they will be keeping this Alias outfit and props for later?  Hans starts to tell her that he doesn’t know, but Vaughn interrupts him and tells him that his wife will love the pictures, and asks if she has the same email address.  Hans tells them that he wasn’t there for the procedure, but Markovic had to be connected to an off site server farm because of the large amount of data that the procedure required.  If they could find the server farm, they could find the identity of the second double.  Sydney and Vaughn look at each other and finally Vaughn sets down the memory chip and places it on the table and tells him he can keep the pictures, and they leave convinced that he has told them all he knows.

When Sydney returns from Berlin, she finds out that Will was transferred to Camp Harris by Kendall and that the transfer was intercepted and Will can’t be found.  So she locates Kendall and tears in to him.  She calls him a son of a bitch for sending Will to Camp Harris and because of him her friend may be dead.  He reminds her that even if Jack is his boss temporarily, he is still hers.  But after SD-6, I think she will always have a problem will authority.  Kendall tells her that her friend arranged for an armed assault team.  Sydney questions how he could’ve done this from his cell since he didn’t even get a phone call.  Dixon tells her that he saw it happen and that he shot some of the men, Sydney asks him if he is sure it wasn’t self-defense.   Dixon is pissed that Sydney is still defending Will, but Jack asks for a moment alone with Sydney.  Once the others have left, Sydney breaks down and tells Jack that she can’t accept that Will has been doubled, because if that is the case then the real Will would most likely be dead and she just can’t handle that. 

At Sydney’s house Sydney is talking to Evil Francie about the possibility of Will being doubled, she can’t fathom how that’s even possible with a fake tear running down her check and immediate composure as soon as Sydney is not looking when she goes to answer her phone.  Sydney picks up the phone and it is Will calling. He tells her about the assault team hitting the transport and wanting to kill him themselves Sydney tells him that he is on a shoot to kill watch list with the FBI and CIA and that she needs to bring him in so that she can keep him safe.  He reply’s by telling her, “Syd, I love you.  I can’t…. I can’t trust you. Not anymore. Meeting you… Meeting you destroyed my life.  You want to help me? Prove I’m innocent.”  Sydney is incredibly hurt by this statement, but I don’t think that she is surprised by it.  Unfortunately it caught her enough off guard that she starts telling him classified information with Evil Francie standing right there to listen in.  She tells him that they may be able to locate a DNA record of the surgical procedure and it could clear him.  We see Evil Francie get intensely worried when she hears this.  She goes on to tell him that it is on a server farm somewhere in Europe, and that she promises to find it.  Will then tells her that it may not be anything, but Markovic used to launder money through his farm in Marseilles, but maybe it wasn’t a cow/pig type farm, maybe that’s the server farm.  She had to say the name of the city out loud when she asks if he remembers where, which he doesn’t.  Then he hangs up.  Evil Francie wants information, but Sydney tells her that she can’t, and tells her that she has to go.

On the roof of what I assume to be the command center, Jack and Sydney meet and Jack tells Sydney that forensics has determined that Will’s fingerprint was placed on the detonator after it was wiped clean, so they don’t believe that Will was responsible for Diane’s death.  But the DOJ won’t approve them going in to search the server farm for a while longer.  Jack tells Sydney to take Vaughn with her to Marseilles and go into the server farm tactically. Jack knows that sending them on this mission without DOJ approval will get him demoted and he will have to give up command back to Kendall, but Jack tells her that he isn’t cut out for management anyway.

Jack knew that Sydney was going to go with or without official permission, Jack sending her off with Vaughn I actually found to be quite nice. We have seen that Jack and Vaughn don’t always see eye to eye, but they do respect each other.  I am sure that Jack was well aware that Sydney was dating Vaughn, but after seeing that video, I could see Jack possibly wanting to keep them apart.  But he knows that Sydney needs someone that she can count on, and also someone who will watch over her if she becomes too emotionally involved and will protect her like he would.  Jack knows that the only person that fits in that category is Vaughn.  Vaughn has proven himself to Jack that he is willing to bend the rules when it comes to helping Sydney out.  I think at this point for the most part, Jack may not admit it, but he approves of their relationship for the most part.

Once in Marseilles Sydney is briefing the tactical team on what will happen once she is in the building, once she is finished, Vaughn tells them the rest of their mission.  I love the way that they work together on this and act as appropriate co-workers, Vaughn even called her Agent Bristow during his instructions.  Then as they begin their plan, he addresses her again as Agent Bristow, to which to pops open a bottle of Champagne and sprays him down with it, and after doing so, smiles generously at him as he wipes it off of his face.  They did this so Vaughn could act like a drunken partier to distract the guards while Sydney breaks into the server farm facility. 

  Once Inside Sydney finds that someone else must also be there because when she reaches the guard he is already dead and then she turns around Irina has a baton with a Taser attached to it, which she immediately uses on Sydney after telling her Hello.  Sydney falls to the ground and screams in pain.  Vaughn hears this over their coms and says her name but only hears another scream come from her as Irina uses the Taser a second time on her.  Irina has the kill switch that Sydney was going to secure so that they could download the data on to the CIA server.  Irina tells Sydney that she knows what is going on with Will, and then hits the kill switch erasing all the data on the servers.  Sydney moans again and Vaughn is no longer going to wait, he knows something is wrong so he tells the team to move in.  Sydney is almost in tears as she tells her mother that she erased it all.  Irina tells her that she transferred the data to a secure location and that she will give it to her in exchange for something.  Sydney tells her to go to hell.  Irina tells Sydney that if not her friend will be tried and executed as a traitor, and that Sydney will hear from her soon, and Irina runs off.

Back in LA, Will is waiting in a shady neighborhood he sees a car approach and he runs to it and gets inside and thanks them for coming.  It is Evil Francie that he called for help.  The one person who wants him dead most of all is who he calls for help.  Nice!

• Items that I found noteworthy… 
• Sydney did finally confide in Evil Francie that she was not working for a bank but for the CIA. 
• Sark tells Evil Francie to kill Will once he is recovered from the CIA’s custody even though Irina told him that she wants him alive. 
• Dixon goes into Will’s cell and tries to murder him himself after finding evidence that was planted on Will that included the detonator that blew up Diane.  But Dixon finally realizes that he can’t kill Will and walks away. 
• Vaughn’s smile when they find out that Hans is at a sex club and Sydney saying that they should go in now, reminds me of the smile that he had in season four, when they both have to go in together to seduce a man in a club and they have a conversation about who gets to be rough.