The Road Home (16 Mar. 2005)

During a mission to Austria, Sydney must protect the life of an American civilian, whom she unintentionally put in danger after she acquires information about a new mini-helicopter to be ... See full summary »

Director:

Maryann Brandon

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator), Josh Appelbaum,

Stars:

Jennifer Garner, Ron Rifkin, Michael Vartan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Garner	...	Sydney Bristow
Ron Rifkin	...	Arvin Sloane
Michael Vartan	...	Michael Vaughn
Carl Lumbly	...	Marcus Dixon
Kevin Weisman	...	Marshall Flinkman
Mía Maestro	...	Nadia Santos
Greg Grunberg	...	Eric Weiss
Victor Garber	...	Jack Bristow
Jason Segel	...	Sam Hauser
Corey Stoll	...	Sasha Korjev
Cliff De Young	...	Connelly
Cullen Douglas	...	Jimmy
Alan Toy	...	Frank Murdoch
John Hans Tester	...	Mr. Tauber (as Hans Tester)
Victor Alfieri	...	Jeremiah

Storyline

During a mission to Austria, Sydney must protect the life of an American civilian, whom she unintentionally put in danger after she acquires information about a new mini-helicopter to be used as a weapon. Meanwhile, Jack travels to Madagascar to visit with an old friend, the arms dealer Sasha Korjev whom is the mastermind behind the assassin helicopter. Back in Los Angeles, Vaughn uncovers more disturbing secrets about his father of finding a diary with notes written years after his alleged "murder," which straightens his quest to know if his father is really alive.

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Plot Keywords:

helicopter | witness protection program | club

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Portuguese

Release Date:

16 March 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Sable Ranch - 25933 Sand Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

40 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

92107 Is the zip code for Ocean Beach, which could be considered "right outside of San Diego" as Weiss describes it.

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Goofs

When Marshall shows Sydney the cigarette pack/magnetic strip encoder, initially one "cigarette" is partially pulled out of the pack. Following a cut the pulled "cigarette" is on the opposite side of the pack. Following another cut two "cigarettes" are partially pulled.

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Soundtracks

"Au Neant"
Performed by Eiffel
(played in the club)

User Reviews

Jack is a stone-cold killer

When Sydney meets a man in Paris to acquire a computer chip; the meeting goes badly when the man is shot, Sydney gets the chip however when the assailant kills himself rather than being taken alive as his employer, Sasha Korjev, would harm his family otherwise. Back at APO they learn that the chip is part of a new weapon which can target a person based on their biometric data. Sydney is tasked with going to Austria, where the weapon is being developed, things get a little complicated when she takes a pass card off an innocent worker and after using it his employers assume he is her accomplice. She feels obliged to extract him and he ends up with her for the rest of the mission. Jack meanwhile decides to go after Sasha Korjev and when he catches up with him he deals with him in the way you'd expect from Jack. The third plot involved Vaughn investigating a lead about his father which suggested that he has not a man to be trusted.

I rather enjoyed this episode even if the Vaughn sub-plot was one too many. As always Victor Garber was great as Jack; hardly breaking a sweat as he garrotted a man who had just proudly announced he was to become a father, he may be one of the good guys but he is also a stone-cold killer. The main story was fun even if the weapon was rather silly; the guns on the model helicopter must have been firing the smallest calibre of bullet imaginable; still in a show like Alias on has to suspend ones disbelief on a regular basis.