"Alias" Reprisal (2006)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Fred Toye

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator)
Monica Breen (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Alias" (2001)

Original Air Date:

22 May 2006 (Season 5, Episode 16)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Sloane takes Rachel and Marshall hostage to force them to help him find the Rambaldi clue that he is missing. Sydney, Vaughn and APO try to save them by having Marshall's wife, Carrie, to help out, while Sloan plots with Sark and Peyton to take over Prophet Five for themselves.

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Prophecy | CIA | Double Agent | College

Cast

Jennifer Garner	...	Sydney Bristow
Ron Rifkin	...	Arvin Sloane
Carl Lumbly	...	Marcus Dixon
Kevin Weisman	...	Marshall Flinkman
Rachel Nichols	...	Rachel Gibson
Amy Acker	...	Kelly Peyton
Balthazar Getty	...	Thomas Grace
Victor Garber	...	Jack Bristow
Michael Vartan	...	Michael Vaughn
Mía Maestro	...	Nadia Santos
David Anders	...	Julian Sark
Amanda Foreman	...	Carrie Bowman
Shaun Duke	...	First Man
Leland Crooke	...	Third Man
Rhett Giles	...	Bartender

Runtime:

43 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Company:

Bad Robot

Goofs:

Errors in geography: A scene, set on Monte Subasio, in Umbria (Italy), shows a typical landscape of a glacier, although there is no glacier on Monte Subasio and it is only 1290 meters high.

Alias is Not Forever !

This is my 20th review about one of Alias's episodes. I just want to add some notes that I didn't find the appropriate chance to say them before.

After the end of season 2, the writers wanted to make (Mission : Impossible) meets (Falcon Crest). And it was almost fine as a show since all the factors of attraction is available except for the persuasion ! But who cares ? In front of Alias we want to be amazed not to be thoughtful. In fact the best thing here was always the thrill, so no wonder at all when (J.J. Abrams) the very creator of this special world writes and directs the movie (Mission : Impossible - 3) for (Tom Cruse) in the same year of the final season. Simply the man is good at it.. Too good to say the least.

Aside from the writing, they couldn't have the power to continue for all of these years without that lucky cast. It was pure magic to have those actors in these roles. (Ron Rifkin) looked like a politician .. A real one, and how his role as (Sloane) unexpectedly reveled his strong charisma which was one of the main reasons of the first 2 seasons' astonishing success. It's only his strange green glasses during season 4 and 5 that I couldn't explain it at all !

If you watched (J.J. Abrams) in any interview you'd grasp easily how the cute short stumbling (Kevin Weisman) as (Marshall) wasn't approximately imitating him inasmuch as being him. He seemed with his way of talking, and dealing with all the characters, as the less important more childish one in the bunch, in the same time that he's really the talented Mr. Merlin all along. Like the creator made a personality which's close to him to represent that the writer is the actual magician of such world despite his lack of being hansom or brawny. In one word he/the technician/the writer still can be a hero without the Bond style.

Another thing, look at the way the show's title is written every episode. I liked the creativity in it. Lots of people didn't notice that, but try to observe the status of the letter (S) at the end of it. It's nothing like the rest of all the previous letters. It's the opposite of their color and condition. Like a sudden "twist" !, or to inspire that there is always a hidden unpredicted fact which contradictory to all what we've already known. It's close to a wonderful line said by (Sloane) to (Nadia) at season 4 : "None of us is one". It incarnated the word (Alias) as a meaning, and as a case.

Originally the title (Alias) got its own deepness. As the show itself didn't only rely on so many disguises, but also so many concealed secrets, history, and feelings; such as the love between Sydney and her father, so the love between Sydney and Vaughn in season 1 where it fitted perfectly.

In one interview before airing the last episodes of season 5 (Michael Vartan) nearly declared how they used to be silly sometimes with excessive twists, and too many unbelievable miracles. Even (Victor Garber) when they asked him about how the end would be he told them something like expect the unexpected (or the unacceptable !) saying : "HEY it's Alias !". The bottom line (Alias) exceeded its own power of surprise and exhausted it especially when they begin storyline and hang it, or can't finish it well, or forget all about it after a while ! (Vartan) himself said at the same interview how he got to review the old episodes just to remember his personality's history, or the origin of it ! I think it's natural with this heavy melodrama inundates what supposed to be cool espionage series.

(Alias) is an assured cult in the history of TV, and in the eyes of its countless fans. It created something that rarely smart, touching, and amusing. For me it's very few times since the 1980s that I had found a show could make me believe it, and be excited with it. (The X Files) for instance, (Vengeance Unlimited) for another. (Alias) made it to be one of those however nothing is forever, and the funny thing that you've learned that about it too early.