This is your idea of fun?  I enjoyed this little exchange between Sydney and Vaughn.  They both know that he's probably in a crap-load of trouble, but they're able to slice through the tension of the situation with a couple of sarcastic comments.  I know that a few people (I'm not sure how many) think there was something deeper in Vaughn's comment, "If you never see me again..." and for once I disagree.  I think this was just a rare glimpse at their now almost nonexistent playful banter.  And Sydney's "Shut up," was just the icing on the cake.  Loved it, even though it was only two lines.

What was up, though, with that agent taking off Vaughn's ID?  If it had been me, I would have used Sydney's line from "Watch the hand.  Hey, it's not a date!"  I'm thinking it was more symbolic than functional.  Maybe a little foreshadow to his level of clearance being down-graded?  Who knows?

When you wish upon a star:  Great performance by Carl Lumbly in this scene.  Dixon's had all this stuff dropped on his head, and yet he still manages to be there for Sydney, still manages to be an upstanding guy.  And Jennifer Garner delivers the "I wish she had been killed," line beautifully.

*once over* "How're you doin'?"  ("Friends" quote there, in case you don't watch, or didn't pick up on it.  Joey Tribbiani's classic pick-up line.)  Sadly, this was what was going through my head when Sloane says, "I'm asking about you, Irina."  And who loved Sark's _expression throughout the duration of this scene?  He looked like he was about to vomit, and frankly, so were the viewers.  I'm not one of those people who are just in LOVE with Sark.  Not by any stretch.  But he's certainly grown on me over the past few episodes, so I'm gonna wait and see which direction this goes.

I'm a firm believer that Irina isn't evil.  I don't think she's going to be loyal to the CIA or anything like that, but I think she genuinely cares for Sydney, and Jack as well.  And her quiet lash-out at Sloane shows this.  Lovely.

And did anyone notice Sloane comment, "Get some rest," the uncanny similarity to what Jack said in the last episode?  I think this is something that's going to come up again, in some way or another, so keep an eye out.

Do you know what I know:  Jack certainly does have an "intimate knowledge of the fugitive in question."  And that knowledge screwed him over too.  No pun intended.  And I loved Marshall's "Hey, how'd you plant it without her knowing?"  I'll admit, my thoughts weren't entirely pure when I heard this.  But then I slapped myself across the face and scream "PAY ATTENTION STUPID!!!!"

What chu sayin' 'bout mah momma?  Loved the scene between Sydney and Vaughn at the shooting range.  There's a bit of simmering sexual tension (I hope to God I'm not the only one who noticed that!) despite the circumstances.  It was great and shippery at first, but quickly reverted to Sydney being self-righteous, and Vaughn being her emotional doormat.  These two really irritate me sometimes.  I was cheering during A Dark Turn when he bites her head off.  I hope she was yummy so he does it more often.  Don't get me wrong, I love Sydney.  But she can be a giant pain in the @$$ sometimes.  But I'm going to be grateful that we get shippery moments at all and shut up about it.

"Don't do this to me again.  Don't condescend."  Am I the only one who didn't think he was?  I can't be, can I?
Just another quick note about this scene, (though it relates to several others as well) does it irritate anyone else when Jennifer Garner clamps her eyes closed every time her gun goes off??  Now, granted, I realize they're inside, but still!  I'm an amateur marksman (well, markswoman) and even I don't do that!  That one little action can kill the entire scene because it makes it obvious that she hasn't spent the past 8-9 years behind a gun. :(

Fight:  Horribly unoriginal subtitle right there, but it was the best I could do.  Throughout this scene (the Vaughn/Sark fight) I was thinking to myself, "I thought he was supposed to be agent trained."  Now, I haven't witnessed many fights in my day, but this looked pretty pathetic (Vaughn's part, I mean, not the fight in general.)  Now, to the heart-warming part afterward...

Out of the box:  This was one of the few times that we actually got to see Sydney display some emotion toward Vaughn (besides like anger) and I loved it.  It was such a sweet scene, it made me want to cry (but I'm a sap so...)  I tried to get a screencap from that part to use as the background for this site, but it was too light and my white font wouldn't work very well on it.

"Sydney!"  Right now, all I could even attempt to do is speculate about why Irina called out Sydney's name while running away.  And since that's all I can do, that's what I will do.  Briefly (I promise!)  I am among the people who think she did it to get her out of the building before it blew.  I do not, however, think that Irina is working as an angel in disguise.  I think she's evil and manipulative, if for no other reason than if she weren't, it wouldn't make for as great of a plot twist.  Don't get me wrong though.  I love the character to death...take that however you want.

Can you hear me now?  Good.  When Emily answers her husband's phone, a flash of recognition crosses her face when she hears the callers voice.  After 20 years, placing the sound must have been difficult.  She subconsciously knows, but logic and rationale tell her that her friend, Laura Bristow, is dead.  And then, on the plane, when the two come face to face...wow!  Excellent scene here.  The hug was so charged, it was incredible.

Win, lose, or tie:  For the first time in I don't know how long, Will was absolutely right!  "It's the weirdest thing of all time..."  My best friend's boyfriend is a pyromaniac, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give him matches for no reason!  It would be gratuitous for me to say that I think there's more behind this.  Anyone who disagrees has probably never seen the show before.  Regardless, there are so many different possibilities for this, one can only hope the best one is chosen and delivered.  And I, personally, hope it's not just a tie that's been bugged.  'Cuz come on!!  How trite is that?  (Answer: for any other show, not very, but for ALIAS, horribly.)

Also, I think Sydney and Vaughn's beepers going off simultaneously is slightly symbolic of their thoughts also coinciding as well.  It was obvious how uncomfortable Evil!Francie's gift made each of them, and the call from work was merely reiteration.

The Circle of Life:  Did anyone else think that Sydney wasn't very surprised to find out that Emily was alive?  I'm thinking that she's taken nearly all she can take, and this was just like, "Oh, well, of course she's alive and'll only talk to me!" (Sarcastically, naturally.)  She's compartmentalized nearly every aspect of her life, and that little box is only so big.  If I had enough friends who watched the show, I'd be taking bets on how long it will be before she has a breakdown of some sort.  Hopefully, not a Mariah Carey-esque fit, but one of some kind.

Power Struggle:  Round 3--Jackie: 3, I-Have-a-Big-Dill-Pickle-Up-My-@$$-Kendall: 0 (Thanks to whomever it was, so sorry I can't remember, that came up with the "Kendall has a pickle up his ass" thing...hope you don't mind that I ran with it a little bit!!)  We had a great tennis match going on here, with Michael Vaughn playing ballboy.  Luckily for those of us who don't really like Kendall, (hence the pickle up the @$$ comment) Jack seemed to come out on top after this match.  Kendall's authority has been undermined (what with Jack taking his job and all) and he's pissed.  Having to sit back while Jack runs the show is admitting that he was wrong, and he does *not* want to do that!

And the little pat that Jack gave to Vaughn's shoulder was...slightly unnerving, but in a good way (if that's possible.)  I think that he knows about his relationship with his daughter, and is trying--in his own Jackie way--to be supportive.

 

John Handcock:  Everyone knows that you should always read things before you sign them.  If you didn't, well, you should always read things before you sign them!  I get the eerie feeling that there was something else in that document that Emily signed that could have (and may still) come back to bite her on the @$$.  'Cuz seriously, how long does it take to type "Arvin Sloane will not be given the death penalty when apprehended and convicted."  Hey, would ya look at that!  I did it 13 words!  Granted, I know there's gotta be a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo and space for loopholes--cuz come on, it's ALIAS--but still!  Not to mention the fact that even Sydney suggested that she read it first.  As if she knew there was something else in there.

"You can't handle the truth!"  Did anyone out there think that Sloane was being honest (dramatic gasp from the crowd) when he told Emily that it was really over this time?  I didn't.  As she was telling him to "Oh, God, please!  Just stop!" I was saying the same thing.  It was an incredible scene, one in which Amy Irving really shines.  Her undying devotion to her husband is especially apparent, despite all he's done.  One may think that she's being naive, agreeing to run away with him, but I think she just wanted to give him another chance to prove himself.  She didn't want to face the fact that the love of her life was an evil, horrific man.  Especially after her letting him know of her betrayal, and him not holding it against her.  It planted the seed in her mind that maybe he wasn't everything Sydney and the others thought he was.  Just maybe.

Also, I think there was quite a bit of symbolism behind the grenade that Vaughn tossed into the room.  It's the same as the situation: explosive.  One wrong move, one naive alliance, one infinite love, and the whole thing could blow up in your face, and kill you.  Which it did, in Emily's case.

A really quick note here...the villa just happened to have a secret passageway?  *skeptical look*  All right...

It's a bird, it's a plane:  I wasn't too pleased with Dixon at the end of this scene.  A plane flies overhead, startles him, and he shoots Emily.  I don't really know what to say except that this left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Talk to me...  I've read that a lot of people didn't like this final scene.  I have to disagree though.  I loved the intimacy between Sydney and Vaughn (despite the conversation.)  The only thing that I didn't really enjoy was when the beeping noise starts and she asks if it's his phone.  After replying, he says, "Yours?"  Well, see, if it was her phone, why would she have asked if it was yours????  That really irritated me.  Someone ought to start an ongoing list of stupid or ridiculous things that Vaughn says.  Another thing that should go on there was, "It's encoded." *rolls eyes*

Despite all that, I still gave the episode a 9.67, cuz I really loved it.  Great job everyone!