"Alias" Passage: Part 2 (2002)

Director:

Ken Olin

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator)
Crystal Nix Hines (writer)

TV Series:

"Alias" (2001)

Original Air Date:

8 December 2002 (Season 2, Episode 9)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Still trapped in hostile territory in Pakistan, Sydney, Jack, and Irina continue their search for the...

Plot Keywords:

Heroine | CIA | Double Agent | College | Fight

Cast

Jennifer Garner	...	Sydney Bristow
Ron Rifkin	...	Arvin Sloane
Michael Vartan	...	Michael Vaughn
Bradley Cooper	...	Will Tippin
Merrin Dungey	...	Francie Calfo
Carl Lumbly	...	Marcus Dixon (credit only)
Kevin Weisman	...	Marshall Flinkman
David Anders	...	Julian Sark
Lena Olin	...	Irina Derevko
Victor Garber	...	Jack Bristow
Terry O'Quinn	...	F.B.I. Asst. Director Kendall
Derek de Lint	...	Gerard Cuvee
James Lesure	...	C.I.A. Agent Craig Blair
Marshall Manesh	...	Rajive
Wolf Muser	...	Alliance Member Ramon Veloso

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Company:

Bad Robot

Quotes:

Sydney Bristow: Deploy? Detonate?
Michael Vaughn: "Activate." That's the word they used. Now, it might mean delivery, maybe detonation, we don't know. But we have to assume the worst since they got the control codes through SD-6.
Sydney Bristow: And I got the control codes for SD-6 which means I can deactivate the nukes.
Michael Vaughn: If you get there in time.

The family that spies together, stays together (?)

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Sydney's latest mission for SD-6 is to purchase some communication codes from one of Sark's long-time associates. After a tense action sequence she succeeds, but then these codes are given by Sloane to PRF, a terrorist group that apparently he and Sark have ties to, and they can be used to activate six nuclear warheads that PRF has acquired. Irina is the only one who knows where the warheads are kept and how to get there, so the CIA temporarily lets her out of her cell to accompany Jack and Sydney on a mission to Pakistan to find and deactivate them. Meanwhile, Sloane receives an anonymous phone call telling him that they've got his wife Emily, she's still alive, and if he doesn't want the Alliance to find out about it he should pay them 100 million dollars.

The two-part "Passage" is the best episode of Season 2 so far. It's superior to the previous ones in most categories, but especially in its (twisty) plotting and its (larger-scale) production. Lena Olin is PURE GOLD as Irina, and her interactions with Jack are fascinating and delightful. The scene where he puts an explosive necklace around her neck in case she tries to escape, the scene on the train where she undresses in front of him, the scene where they both remember the same incident from the happy period of their married life, all those scenes are among the highlights of the entire series so far. The Rambaldi artifact that comes into play ties very nicely with a memorable guest character of the Season 1 episode "Time Will Tell". The secondary plot with Sloane is also very engaging. This episode is so good it could almost be a season finale. ***1/2 out of 4.