Did you guys see the fourth season premier? Too cool!
So mom was going to kill Syd so dad kills mom. Wow. WHY would Irena want to kill Syd? Is it a lie? Is it true? Did Irena find something else in the Prophacy about Syd and the end of the world? And what's up with Irena's sister trying to kill Mike and then Syd too?
I'm very very happy that Mike and Syd are back together. YAY! *happy dance*
And, while stretching reality a bit, cool that all the parties are brought back together in an SD-6 kind of thing. I mean...it's not cool that the US Government would run something like that... but cool for the show...
When they tried to trick us in the beginning I was like "NO! Syd is a national hero and stuff!" and then it was all like.. "ha ha, fooled you! Syd's still a hero, she's just going deeper." That was cool.
And Marshal... hehehe.. . "Um..Syd...*whisper* SLOANE's here." lol!! that was great!!
I can see where they are going with this season... they said they were going back to their roots with this season, showing Sydney's personal life more...but I didn't think they would go almost mirror image on us, with an SD6 clone and everything. Eric is going to be the Will and Francy for this season.
What are everybody's thoughts?
PS> Sorry I've been away...busy with the holidays and stuff. Never a chance to get to the computer! *huggles*
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Yay, thanks Telp! This is so cool: an Alias thread!
For some reason, I was expecting more out of this episode but I liked it anyway. Probably had something to do with my not remembering exactly what happened last season. It's been so long!
I was confused by Irina too. And then when Tamazaki (or whatever his name is) said it was her, I thought Jack hadn't really killed her. still possible, but the timeline was a little fuzzy there.
I'm not all that sure about Sydney's decision not to tell Nadia about their mother's death. I hope she tells her eventually. I think Nadia would understand because if she finds out some other way, there is likely to be some horrible misunderstanding and Sydney would end up an orphan. That is, if her mother's really dead. I'm just very pessimistic about that point..
It's very cool that Nadia's on the team though. That's a great way to get that personal side of Sydney in there. I'm also very glad Sydney and Vaughn are back together. And it was confusing that you said Mike. Did you not know how to spell Vaughn?
Posts: 1056 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote: WHY would Irena want to kill Syd? Is it a lie?
Here's my theory. They weren't able to get back the actress that played Irena. Did you notice that while Irena was a character in season 3, she was not on screen, even once? I think that they decided to kill her off because they couldn't get the actress back on screen.
Also, remember that the prophecy is that Sydney and Irena are going to kill each other. I think we have seen the seeds of that sprouted with Nadia vowing to avenge her mother's murder.
I'm glad they kept Eric in the show -- he's one of my favorite characters. He's way cool because he's not cool -- just good. And I agree with Lupus Rex that he is going to be the Francie/Will for this season.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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An exerpt from an email I sent to Telperion that sums up how I feel about it:
quote: Last season Lauren eluded to the idea that Sydney has been controlled all her life and tells her where to look to find out. She goes to look, and all we see is that it is a CIA project with her as the subject, statis active, and father as the person in charge.
Also, remember that in all of season 3, there was no Irena Derevko (the actual actress that played her.) We had internet chats, we had her sister (who seemed cool, but then turned out to be evil and murderous and is now dead), we even had her long-lost daughter Nadia, but no actual sightings of Irena. My guess is they couldn't get the actress to come back (and that actress was so perfect! I dare say she was the best thing that ever happened to Alias.)
And my guess is that they *still* can't get the actress to come back, so they killed her. It was a cheap shot. And it doesn't fit the "clues" we were given last season. Not even slightly. The inconsistencies are blaring and obvious. I am so disappointed.
I think the show has "jumped the shark".
But I will probably still watch it and enjoy it on some level anyway. I want to find out "what happens". But the sad thing is, I feel like we are being given the "runaround" and that the writers are dragging things out. We keep thinking we have all Rambaldi's artifacts, but inevitably something new shows up "bigger and more powerful" than before. But it either is nothing but something leading to something else, or "nothing happens" (as in the case with this last artifact that Sloane handed over to the CIA.) I am sick of it. American writers are stupid and haven't learned yet that when they try to drag things out and milk the popularity for all it is worth, they sell their souls and the show inevitably jumps the shark. Multiple times.
In order for Alias to be good, it has to "go somewhere". And this show isn't. I still will give it the benefit of the doubt. It might redeem itself, but I certainly won't be surprised if it doesn't. If it follows the pattern of American TV, it will be cancelled before it gives us any "real" answers. Or the answers won't possibly be able to meet our expectations or be worth all the suspense.
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My fiancee thought the Asian guy was hot too --
I was a bit jarred by the whole "Irena is dead" thing. Was this something that is supposed to happen between Season 3 and 4, or did it happen last season, and I've forgotten?
I'm thinking she and her dad (and her mom?) are in on something (Ramboldi-related, no doubt), and it will play out over the course of the season...
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Okay, I'm an Alias fanatic - I own all the DVDs and have watched them obsessively. I also read all of the boards. I had major problems with season 3, along with most of the other fans. Some thoughts on the premiere of season 4:
J.J. Abrams & Co. knew that last season had problems and are working to correct them. (Loved the shout-out by Vaughn: "Last year sucked.") It will take some time to get the show back on track.
There was a major plot change from the last episode of season 3 to last night's premiere. The papers that Sydney found in Wittenberg last season were about her and Nadia and Vaughn's father. The ones she found this season were about Jack killing Irina. I can't say if this is a change for the better, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
They tried to get Lena Olin back and she refused. Word is that they gave in to all of her money and scheduling demands and she still said no. That is not their fault and they have to address Irina - especially since Nadia would naturally want to meet her.
Katya Derevko (Irina's sister, played by Isabella Rossellini) is not dead and she will be coming back this season.
The prophecy is that Sydney and Nadia will kill each other - Sydney is the Chosen One and Nadia is the Passenger. That is one possible reason for Irina's hit.
The pacing was off - too choppy and it didn't flow. That will probably be corrected in later episoded.
The new credits stink. I hope they go back to the old ones.
The humor was fantastic, especially Marshall. I love Marshall. "Sydney, Sloane is here."
posted
Ok, bok, you've answered my email in a post, so I'll commence begging.
Can someone please, please, please send me an email with a detailed description of everything that happened after Nadia death-kissed that guy? I'm gathering some stuff from this thread, but I'd really like to know.
*makes doe eyes*
Please?
We had a freaking ice storm last night that interrupted Alias. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Posts: 3956 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: The papers that Sydney found in Wittenberg last season were about her and Nadia and Vaughn's father.
They were? I totally missed that. All I saw was that Sydney Bristow was some sort of active project headed by Jack Bristow. Still completely inconsistent though.
quote: They tried to get Lena Olin back and she refused. Word is that they gave in to all of her money and scheduling demands and she still said no. That is not their fault and they have to address Irina - especially since Nadia would naturally want to meet her.
OK, that's fine, but they could have done it without the blaring inconsistencies!!!
posted
celia, I don't remember enough for a detailed description, but Regina on Television Without Pity does a fantastic recap. It won't be up for a couple of days, but the recaplet is up.
Nadia must have been in the same building, which means she must have been close by when she got the call from Vaughn to help out. Sydney was left to drown in that water-pressure mask.
Nadia is "death-kissing" the guy, and I am thinking "OK, she's got 5 minutes max to realistically save Sydney," (not knowing at the time that she was in the same building.) Anyway, she just steps right in and takes the mask off.
Now the next part gets blurry in my memory. The Mr. Tomazuki is stil in the room, and he and Nadia have a scuffle. I think, "Oh cool! Now Nadia is going to kick butt!" But no, she is knocked down almost immediately. *Somehow* Sydney frees herself from whatever else bound her to the chair, and she and he commence fighting amongst hanging sides-o-beef. He has his awesome sword, she using meat hooks and whatnot. Somehow he gets thrust through with his own sword. I honestly don't know how. But before he dies, he finally, FINALLY tells her that it was Irena Derevko that hired him to kill her.
(The rest isn't in any particular order.) So she and Nadia spend some quality time together. She explains that their mother is dead, shows her where the body is, testifies that she identified it herself, and Nadia swears to kill the one responsible.
Sydney understands now why her father killed Irena, but still doesn't *like* it. She seems to still be ticked off at him, but considering past events, him smiling at her right might change her mind.
quote: There was a major plot change from the last episode of season 3 to last night's premiere. The papers that Sydney found in Wittenberg last season were about her and Nadia and Vaughn's father.
I as well thought that the only information the audience had was the project name: Syndey and that Jack had signed it. Of course, I've not listened to the commentary from that season since commentary on the first had spoilers for the second.
quote:They tried to get Lena Olin back and she refused. Word is that they gave in to all of her money and scheduling demands and she still said no. That is not their fault and they have to address Irina - especially since Nadia would naturally want to meet her.
I seem to recall from one of the commentaries in the second season that the role they wrote for her turned out to be considerably more physically demanding than what she signed on for. Given that, I can totally understand her not wanting to return, even though she was amazing in the roll.
quote:Katya Derevko (Irina's sister, played by Isabella Rossellini) is not dead and she will be coming back this season.
Wasn't she tranq darted? I had sort of just assumed that she'd either gotten away or was in CIA custody and the death option hadn't occured to me as, um, an option.
quote:The prophecy is that Sydney and Nadia will kill each other - Sydney is the Chosen One and Nadia is the Passenger. That is one possible reason for Irina's hit.
I had wondered that. Additionally, I wonder if (and only if they get Lena Olin at a future time) this will turn out like the season finale of the first season where she only appeared to be after Sydney in order to appear to be in compliance and Jack or Sloane is helping her hide since her death was the only way to call off the hit without getting Arina killed (heh).
quote:The pacing was off - too choppy and it didn't flow. That will probably be corrected in later episoded.
I hope so. Man.
quote: The new credits stink. I hope they go back to the old ones.
I actually said that when we were watching them.
quote:The humor was fantastic, especially Marshall. I love Marshall. "Sydney, Sloane is here."
"I went to see Sark twice just for a familiar face."
Posts: 3956 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Aw man, the producing of an actual mommy body hurts my theory. But not much since we've seen Emily and Sloan both die.
So what's the theory on the Rambaldi artifact? Like, as with the end of season 2, this is what Sloan's life's been leading up to and he once again just turns it over to the CIA. This is totally a repeat of how he gained the position he had at the beginning of season 3 and none of the characters questioned the nature of that artifact at all! The thing they spent the last part of the last season trying to keep from being found!
I suppose it'll come back half way through the season. Maybe it'll have something to do with Anna, the K Directorate chick that was Sydney's arch nemesis so quickly forgotten from the first season.
And does anyone else wonder if the fake Francie is still alive? They made such a big deal about her being super human and then she was taken out by Will? Or does that fall under mistakes made last season?
Posts: 3956 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: Aw man, the producing of an actual mommy body hurts my theory.
We, the audience, didn't see a body. Only a grave. And since Sydney bold-facedly lied to Nadia about knowing nothing else, she may have lied about "IDing the body".
quote: So what's the theory on the Rambaldi artifact? Like, as with the end of season 2, this is what Sloan's life's been leading up to and he once again just turns it over to the CIA. This is totally a repeat of how he gained the position he had at the beginning of season 3 and none of the characters questioned the nature of that artifact at all! The thing they spent the last part of the last season trying to keep from being found!
Yup, that's pretty much what happened.
quote: Maybe it'll have something to do with Anna, the K Directorate chick that was Sydney's arch nemesis so quickly forgotten from the first season.
I wondered why they dropped that. I thought maybe they couldn't get that actress back either. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
The Rambaldi artifact was not turned over to the CIA in season 2. Sloane assembled the Rambaldi device and told the CIA that the message was, "Peace." It was revealed in season 3 that the message was actually "Irina," which means peace. There was actually much more to the message, which Sloane concealed from the CIA. He used the device in season 3 to find Nadia's location - it was a pattern of her brain waves that could only be revealed to her father.
Nadia, as the Passenger, was the key to finding the Rambaldi artifact. She and Sloane went off in search of it in the last episode of season 3. I personally doubt that they turned it over to the CIA and if they did, I bet it is without something that makes it work. I noticed that Nadia made no mention of the Rambaldi artifact at all last night.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Anna Espinosa, played by Gina Torres, is coming back for 2 episodes this season. She'll be partnering with Sark.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Yeah, that's what I meant. Notice I didn't actually call the device an artifact. He's using the same trade for power and nobody seems to be questioning what his real game is.
I'm very bothered that Sydney didn't ask Nadia about it when they first met at the docks. I mean, what?!? Hey, didn't you escape our safe house to help your dad find something?
And yay! more Anna!
Posts: 3956 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: And does anyone else wonder if the fake Francie is still alive? They made such a big deal about her being super human and then she was taken out by Will? Or does that fall under mistakes made last season?
I've wondered that. He just stabbed her in the gut once, and in the previous episode, she came back in a few minutes from multiple gunshot wounds. I thought it was pretty stupid that they didn't even check to see if she was dead.
quote:Anna Espinosa, played by Gina Torres, is coming back for 2 episodes this season. She'll be partnering with Sark.
I'm surprised they've been able to do that, but I'm very excited.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote: There was a major plot change from the last episode of season 3 to last night's premiere. The papers that Sydney found in Wittenberg last season were about her and Nadia and Vaughn's father.
That was what I thought going into the premiere. I could have sworn it had something to do with Jack putting Sydney in that Spykids program, but I can't remember why I thought that now.
Does anyone else find it odd that this black-ops unit consists of a woman and her former partner, her lover, her father, her half-sister and her arch-nemesis. The arch-nemesis had an affair with the father's wife and killed the former partner's wife. The half-sister is the daughter of the arch-nemesis.
If they could just make Sydney and Vaughn first cousins or something, that would make the dysfunctionality complete.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I remember I thought that too at the end of the season 3. I think it is because there were reports signed by her father, and we knew from the time she were tortured to think she was Julia Thorne that she has been in a special program as a kid.
[ January 07, 2005, 09:10 AM: Message edited by: Anna ]
Posts: 3526 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
The SpyKids program was called Project Christmas. At the end of season 3, it was very clear that the documents in Wittenberg were about Sydney - we saw Sydney's birthdate and Project SAB (Sydney Anne Bristow). I can't for the life of me imagine why they had to change it. They could have done the reveal of Irina's murder some other way.
Of course, this is Alias and no one really ever dies.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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So why does a show about ultra cool CIA field agents plus the mandatory nerd have a storyline revolving around a magic prophecy?
Posts: 48 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Oooo, I liked this episode! I might even forgive all the things that are wrong with the continuity.
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Marshall finally got to tell someone to shut up. Yay for Marshall.
They have got to correct Jennifer Garner's grip. No law enforcement agent would ever hold their gun like that and everyone else on the show holds their guns correctly.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Must be the continuity since I didn't really get into it.
I did like how Jack played Nadia. Sydney got to see exactly how she reacted to being confronted with their mother's killer without the actual consequences of the truth. Of course, does he bother to explain that to Sydney? No, so that plotline will just have to keep going on. Though that secret, at the moment, is starting to feel like the memory recovery proceedure from last season. Did an episode go by without Jack explaining that it was an extremely invasive proceedure which could cause permanent brain damage.
Posts: 1481 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I love Alias, and I've been really excited for the new season to start, but I'm also disappointed by the glaring obmissions and changes. I mean, if Nadia's PURPOSE in life was to be the vessel of Rambaldi's message which leads to the one final artifact, and all the mention it gets so far is "Oh, we got it, handed it over to the CIA" without anyone questioning further . . . pretty disappointing. And the remix of the theme song is AWFUL.
That being said, I love seing everyone again (especially Marshall and Weiss), and look forward to seeing Sark - the kind of guy you can't help but like, even if he IS a bad guy. (;
And sign me up for those who believe that Irina tried to have Sydney killed to protect Nadia. It made it clear that the two of them were destined to kill each other, and Rambaldi's followers were trying to protect Nadia AGAINST Sydney. So I'm guessing it's more to do with the Prophecy.
Posts: 25 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I think it is very cool that the music at the birthday party was "You All Everybody" from Charlie's episode of LOST. I had to stop the DVR and point it out to my husband. Both shows on one night. Wow.
Posts: 15 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I don't watch Alias, but my friend sent me the clip when you can hear "You All Everybody" in the background. What a nice touch, and so very subtle.
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He's using the same trade for power and nobody seems to be questioning what his real game is. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Both shows on one night. Wow.
