Alias Recap: SOS/Maternal Instinct (Contains Alias Spoilers)

 

It’s the moment you have waited for…Alias is back!!!!  It’s the final 6 episodes, so expect the unexpected.  I’ve done my very best to recap last night’s 2 hour episode, but damn, it was tough.  I forgot how complicated this show is.  I guess when I am just watching it, and I get lost or confused about their missions, I can just blow past it. But when I am recapping the entire episode for someone who may or may not have seen it…dude, it is tough. 

I’ve done my best.  Honestly.  I don’t know how those TWOPers do it.  Then again, if I were getting paid for this, I might be more inclined to watch the show a few more times and write a crazy detailed recap.  But for now, my only goal is to get this puppy posted before midnight so I can go to bed (note: yeah, didn’t quite make it.  I had to shut it down around midnight and resume this morning).

Previously on Alias…
Um, yeah, previously there were 4 and a ½ seasons full on mystery, suspense, and intrigue, so if this is your first time watching or reading about Alias, you might want to take an Alias 101 course. 

A quick refresher…The Prophet 5 people, led by Peyton (Amy Acker) have Syd on a cargo ship somewhere on the ocean.

We first seen Sydney Bristow as she tries to figure out where the hell she is.  Not much time for that since she quickly encounters the Prophet 5 gang (P5ers). She manages to elude them and finds herself in the navigation room of the ship.  In between contractions, or some other pain associated with the baby, Sydney finds the frequency to communicate with APO, and informs them of her location. The P5ers manage to bust down the door, but Sydney is already gone.  Peyton instructs her people to find and erase Sydney’s transmission.

Over at APO, Jack is trying to track down Sydney.  Marshall can retrieve Sydney’s transmission, but about half way through the file is erased from the system.  Jack knows what’s up and gathers all the APOers in the conference room.  Thomas, Rachel, Sloane, Marshall and Dixon (who is rockin’ the sweet Billy Dee William do) all listen as Jack informs them that someone within the CIA was the one who intercepted and erased Sydney’s transmission.  There mission, if they choose to accept it, is to infiltrate the CIA servers, and find the missing transmission.  Jack reminds everyone that this mission is a form of treason…like that matters to the APOers.

Masrhsall and Dixon go undercover on a CIA visitor tour in order to get inside of Langley, and help Rachel and Thomas locate the right server.  Question: has Marshall’s codename always been Merlin, because I never picked up on that….and I love it.

Rachel is doing her thing and making her way into the servers.  Thomas does his job, and then takes it upon himself to check out a few classified CIA files.  I mean, if he’s already there, why not, right?  Shocker, another Alias character with a dual agenda.  Thomas is looking up the file of a dead woman.  We later learn that the woman is Amanda Grace – Tom’s deceased wife.  While there, he takes a good glance at some guy whose picture was in dead Mrs. Grace’s file.  Interesting.  What are you up to Thomas Grace.  My mom always said never to trust a guy with the last name GRACE.  I should have listened.

Rachel finally come across the transmission, but it’s been removed from the computer.  The only way to retrieve it is to physically steal the hard drive.  Jack instructs her to do so all the while knowing that removing the hard drive would result in a security lockdown of the CIA.  She does, and the lockdown is in full effect.

Lucky for the APOers, they have an old buddy on the inside at the CIA…Agent Eric Weiss.  Yay! Weiss is back!!  Time for the happy dance.  Jack tells Weiss that Sydney is in trouble, and informs him of the mission at Langley.

Weiss says he will take care of it, and goes rushing into the CIA, which prompted Marshall to ask, “You think he’s coming to arrest us?  It looks like he’s coming to arrest us! Hey”

Weiss and Marshall look for Rachel who is stuck in the server room with the guards.  Weiss gets on her com and through his monitors directs her away from the guards while Marshall unlocks the server room doors.  Weiss tells Rachel that on his command she should run as fast as she can through the doors, which will be unlocked by the time she gets there. 1-2-3- Gooooo!!  Rachel runs towards the doors and but slams to the ground.  That’s got to hurt?  Weiss looks at Marshall who says, “Uh, sorry. I forgot to hit ENTER..now go”  ha ha!

All the APOers are safe thanks to Weiss.  But Weiss reminds them that if they half to infiltrate the CIA again, they should, ya know, just call ahead.   Good tip to keep in mind.

Back on the Carnival Cruise ship, Syd holds Peyton at gunpoint, and directs her into a dark room, that when lit, illuminates a hospital-like room with many ultrasounds pics. Seeing that she is in the early stages of labor, Sydney isn’t quite on her game and allows Peyton to take the gun from her, just seconds before Syd passes out.

When Syd wakes up she is hooked up to all kinds of baby monitoring devices, and strapped to a table.  The ultrasound pics show some kind of blinking light…I think. Is that in the baby’s brain?  I don’t think we are supposed to be able to figure it out at this point in time.  What we do know is that Syd’s OBGYN from home, just happens to be on the cargo ship right now.  Bad doctor.  Bad, bad doctor.

The doctors are about to start some kind of medical procedure on Syd, but P5ers have a date or something, and demand that the Dr’s condense their one hour procedure into 40 minutes.

Back at the ranch, the hard drive retrieved from Langley indicates that whomever was responsible for intercepting Sydney’s transmission had Alpha Black clearance, which is the highest level of security clearance within the CIA.  These people have unlimited access to all security info.  There are only 7 people in the CIA within that level of clearance.

As it turns out, these 7 people have a special cell phone, which if detected within close range, can identify who made the call to delete Syd’s transmission. Yeah, I didn’t quote get how that worked, but it was Marshall’s plan so I’ll just go with it.

Jack calls an emergency meeting of the 7 Alpha Black members.  Seems that they are all old drinking buddies of Jack. I don’t recognize any of the Alpha Black members, besides CIA Director Devlin, and Barry Goodwin.  Hey, wait, what’s Barry Goodwin doing there?  I thought he was heading up the Matt Santos transition team. I wonder if Santos knows about Goodwin’s Alpha Black status.

During the meeting, Marshall is able to detect, through their cell phones, the bad guy. To the shock of the other 6 Alpha Black members, Jack immediately shoots the traitor, whose actual name was Davenport.  Jack shoots him again, and breaks his nose before Davenport confesses that he is the bad guy, and that he knows that Sydney is on a cargo ship in the North Atlantic.  Just as the info is obtained, the guards get into the room and Jack is arrested.

Back under the train station at APO HQ, Thomas is still up to no good.  He managed to copy the files from the Langley computers, and hacks into Marshall’s computer to access the access code.

The APOers manage to get their asses all the way to the cargo ship in the North Atlantic before I my pasta finishes boiling on the stove.  Amazing how they can do that.  The guys find Sydney in the infirmary, but there are some bloodied gauze pads on the sidetable.  The Dr’s did some kind of procedure, but what, we don’t know.

Arvin talks to someone on the phone.  Looks like Sloane is still playing both sides of the fence.  All indications are that Sloane is working with P5, and continues to do so on behalf of Zombie-Nadia. Did we know about this early in the season? God, it’s been so long I’m not sure I remember who all the players are.

In other APO gossip, Marshall figured out that Tom was on his computer, and shares the info with Rachel.  Meanwhile, Thomas is hot on the heels of the bad guy that apparently killed his wife, Amanda.  He confronts him in a parking garage and speaks to him in Russian or some other language.  Thomas isn’t there about his dead wife though.  He needs this guy to get a message to The Cardinal. Who is The Cardinal?  5 episodes left and they are introducing new mysteries…come on, I can’t keep up with the mysteries already in play.

After being rescued, Sydney is taken to the hospital.  Jack comes to see her and explains that while on board the cargo ship, there was a major medical issue with the baby.  The baby is fine, but as it turns out, the procedure given by the bad doctor was one the baby needed in order to live. They weren’t harming the baby at all. After only a few minutes a guard enters the room and tells Jack his time is up.  Damn, I forgot that Jack is under arrest.

On transport to the hospital, the ambulance transporting Davenport (the bad Alpha Black guy) was hit by a Mack truck, driven by IRINA….Hi Spy Mommy.  Nice to see you.   Irina thinks that the bad guy told Jack something about The Horizon, but when he denies it, Irina shoots and kills him.

By the time Syd is released, so is Jack.  Dixon takes Sydney to meet Jack prior to her return to APO.  They meet in a remote location.  Jack informs Syd and Dixon that Davenport’s ambulance route was top secret, so again, someone on the inside leaked the intel.  He goes on to say that as a condition of his release, Devlin, the head of the CIA, is ordering APO to suspend all investigations on Prophet 5 until the CIA has a chance to review the records.  The Bristow’s, not ones for following instructions, agree to continue on with their investigation, right under the nose of Devlin who is kickin’ it at APO Headquarters these days.

Sydney tells Jack that while she was on the boat, the Prophet 5ers ran a regression therapy to get Syd to recall Leo 47 Norte, which was on the Alliance map that  Vaughn showed her waaaaay back in the day (remember?  it was in the faux-blood drive trailer…ah, those were the days)?! Dixon seems to know what Leo 47 Norte is or where it is, but hells if I can follow along.  All I know is that it’s in France. 

Time for yet another commercial break.  There are a ton of commercials tonight.  Oh, and by the way, where is Vaughn?  I want to see Vaughn!!

Jack tells Sydney that she has to go underground until at least the baby is born.  She heads home to pack a bag and finds Irina sitting in her living room. Argh, is she good or evil Irina?!  I can’t take this.  Ominous music is playing in the background, so that can’t be good.  Irina explains that “supposedly” Prophet 5 is so secret that everyone thought it was a myth.  They have been quiet for over thirty years, but they became active again when they thought they finally found someone that could lead them to what they were looking for…something called The Horizon.  Prophet 5 thinks Sydney knows where the Horizon is (of course they do).  Because of all this, Irina doesn’t think Sydney is safe.  Spy Mommy, what is your deal?!

Back at APO, Jack needs Marshall to get all files on Leo 47 Norte without Devlin knowing.  Marshall’s down with it and tells Jack, “I love secret conspiracies.  You know, as long as I’m a co-conspirator”. I love you Marshall Flinkman.

We find out that Leo 47 Norte was headed up by a guy named Jacq Bertrand. And before you can say jet lag, Dixon is in Paris with Rene Rienne, having a little chat with Bertrand.  And by chat I mean they strap him backwards on the hood of a car and drive around like madmen until he spills his guts. Bertrand tells us that Leo 47 Norte had something to do with a package that is being stored in a safety deposit box in a bank in Vancouver.

Over at Sydney’s place, Jack is equally elated and scared sh*tless  about Irina’s arrival in town. Per usual, Spy Mommy & Spy Daddy flirt like school kids.  School kids that have tired to kill eachother about 5000 times, but school kinds none the less.  Jack informs his daughter and his ex about the package in Vancouver, and off they go. But not before  Irina calls Prophet 5 peeps to tell then where The Horizon is.  Irina, do you have no heart.  It appears that Irina is up to no good.  But I’m reserving judgment.  I’ve been wrong about her before…or have I?  Hmmm.

Peyton puts a team together, but is a little weary of fully trusting Irina.  Yeah, good call on that one.

Rachel confronts Thomas about hacking into Marshall’s computer and the file on his wife.  Thomas tells a little faux-sob story about his encounter with the guy that killed his wife. Thomas, are you evil too?  I can’t even imagine how Sydney feels, because I can’t trust a damn word one person says on this show.

The Bristows-3 are undercover at the bank in Vancouver.  Using their sick skills of espionage, they are able to find the right safety deposit box.   Jack retrieves The Horizon but realizes he can’t open the package.  Around the same time, Peyton and her Prophet 5 friends head into the bank.  Irina tries to attack Jack, but he gets the best of her. Sydney walks in to see her father, once again, holding a gun to her mother’s head. Sydney realizes that she saw Irina on the cargo ship.  Wow, how is Sydney NOT in therapy?  I mean really.  Her mother tries to torture info from her pregnant daughter, and when that doesn’t work, she goes to her as her caring mother?  That’s got to be bad for the psyche. 

Irina tries to get out of the situation by insisting that she does not work with Peyton, and that if she finds her, Peyton will kill Irina.  I’m not sure that explains why Irina tried to take out Jack, but we don’t have time for that because Sydney is heading into labor.

Back at APO, we learn that it was Arvin who leaked the information about Devenport’s transportation route to the hospital.  Arvin uses Rachel to help clear his bad deeds from the computer, under the guise of helping Jack and Sydney.  Rachel is a little gullible here, but then again, she wasn’t around for Arvin Sloane: The Evil Years.

With the P5ers right on their tail, and Sydney is heavy labor, the Bristows try to escape via a helicopter from the roof of the bank.  Too bad Peyton bazookas the hell out of it before it can land.  Uh oh…looks like Sydney might not get that epidural after all.

Irina and Syd have a heart to heart, well as much as they can when Syd has a gun pointed at Irina.  Sydney asks if Irina was the one who put the hit out on Vaughn.  Irina didn’t deny or confirm, but she did say she kenw what Vaughn was up to, and warned him to get away from the Prophet 5 business. Sydney’s labor is getting worse.  Irina tells her that although the KGB ordered her to get pregnant, she never wanted a baby.  But when she first held Sydney, she knew that she loved her.  She also knew that she could never be a good mother and a good agent, so she chose to be a good agent.  Irina grabs the gun from Sydney in order to shoot one of the P5ers, but then uses this moment to grab The Horizon and escape.  But with Sydney moments away from giving birth, Irina can’t bear to leave her daughter alone.

As Jack dodges Peyton’s bullets, Irina is coaxing Syd through labor. Jack thinks he has killed Peyton, but come on now, he didn’t even check for a pulse.
 
Can I just say that Jennifer Garner acts the hell out of the labor scene?!  In the quickest birth in the history of TV, Syd pushes twice and Spy Baby Girl enters the world. Wow, that was WAY more anticlimactic than I expected. And I can’t believe Vaughn wasn’t there for the birth.

While escaping, Spy Granny calls in to APO to arrange for an extraction from Syd and Jack. She tells them to bring diapers. He.  I guess she does have a heart…a small one, but a heart all the same.

On the plane home, Jack holds his granddaughter for the first time.  He and Syd comment on how she has Vaughn’s eyes.  Sydney looks knowingly at Jack and says “It’s time”. Jack agrees and says “I’ll take care of it”…woo hoo….I think we all know what this means.  Second happy dance of the night!!

Somewhere in Middle Earth, or maybe a Buddhist monastery…the moment we have ALL been waiting for…a monk enters the room and says “My brother, I have good news.  You have a daughter”.  Oh YEAH!!!  VAUGH IS BACK!!!!  

Next week… We’ve got the return on Anna Epsionsa and Will Tippen. In the montage of the last five shows, I didn’t notice Vaughn once.  Ok, he was there once, but it was the only scene.  I need more Vaughn. 

Welcome back Alias…how I’ve missed you!!!

…and I’m out.  Damn, I’m wiped!