"Alias" Double Agent (2003)

Director:

Ken Olin

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator)
Roberto Orci (writer) ...

TV Series:

"Alias" (2001)

Original Air Date:

2 February 2003 (Season 2, Episode 14)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

When a young CIA agent dies, suspicion immediately falls on her parter and lover, agent Jim Lennox. But after Sydney rescues Lennox for captivity...

Plot Keywords:

Heroine | CIA | Double Agent | College | Fight

Cast

  (Episode Cast overview, first billed only)

Jennifer Garner	...	Sydney Bristow
Ron Rifkin	...	Arvin Sloane
Michael Vartan	...	Michael Vaughn
Bradley Cooper	...	Will Tippin (credit only)
Merrin Dungey	...	Francie Calfo
Carl Lumbly	...	Marcus Dixon (credit only)
Kevin Weisman	...	Marshall Flinkman (credit only)
David Anders	...	Julian Sark (credit only)
Lena Olin	...	Irina Derevko (credit only)
Victor Garber	...	Jack Bristow
Terry O'Quinn	...	F.B.I. Asst. Director Kendall
Greg Grunberg	...	Eric Weiss
Olivia d'Abo	...	Emma Wallace
Constance Brenneman	...	Christine Phillips
Ethan Hawke	...	C.I.A. Agent James L. Lennox

Runtime:

60 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Company:

Bad Robot

Trivia:

This episode was originally slated to air before its predecessor, "Phase One", after the Super Bowl.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The police cars shown in the scenes supposedly set in Berlin look nothing like German police cars. Real German police cars are not black and do not have red numbers on the side. Instead they are usually green and white in most German states, blue and white in others. Since the bombing scene was set in Berlin, the police cars should have been green and white.

Quotes:

Sydney Bristow: How is this possible without obvious scarring?
Jack Bristow: The procedure isn't surgical. A patient's genetic code is altered to reshape their physical attributes.
Sydney Bristow: Is it reversible?
Jack Bristow: It's unclear. It only works on people of a certain genetic disposition and the recipient must be induced into a comatose state for several days while their cells regenerate. The data indicates the only way to distinguish the real person from the double is by an ocular scan. A flaw in the iris was deliberately built into the procedure to tell them apart.

Soundtrack:

God Put a Smile Upon Your Face

Guest starring Ethan Hawke....and Ethan Hawke

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A female CIA agent is publicly executed (via explosives) on a Berlin street. Sydney and Vaughn are assigned to pick up her investigation, and also rescue her partner (and fiancé), agent Lennox . What they discover is a research into advanced genetic manipulation that can make one person look identically like another. What's more, the doctor who invented this process experimented firstly on himself, and turned into another Lennox! Sydney and Vaughn find and rescue Lennox, but is he the real Lennox or the doubled one? This is the first "New Alias" episode ("I can actually go to the CIA through the front door", Sydney says), and as such, it is sort of a test - a test that the series passes with flying colors. This is a very cleverly written episode - the first spoken sentence already contains a clue and even the title is a pun. Sure, this "who is the real person X and who is the fake one" thing has been done before, but it's done so well here that it's hard to complain. Plus, the new "Francie" is already about 5 times more interesting than the very likable but still plot-slow-downer real one. Oh, and did I mention Sydney is in a bikini again? *** out of 4.