"Alias" Phase One (2003)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Jack Bender

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator)
J.J. Abrams (writer)

TV Series:

"Alias" (2001)

Original Air Date:

26 January 2003 (Season 2, Episode 13)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

In this episode, the entire world of 'ALIAS' is turned upside down, beginning with the mysterious disappearance of Sloane that brings Anthony Geiger...

Plot Keywords:

Heroine | Lingerie | Stockings | Dominatrix | CIA

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
Kevin Weisman	...	Marshall Flinkman
David Anders	...	Julian Sark
Lena Olin	...	Irina Derevko (credit only)
Victor Garber	...	Jack Bristow
Terry O'Quinn	...	F.B.I. Asst. Director Kendall
Jean Pierre Bergeron	...	Gils Nacor
Angus Scrimm	...	SD-6 Agent Calvin McCullough
Greg Grunberg	...	Eric Weiss
Rutger Hauer	...	Anthony Geiger

Runtime:

60 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Company:

Bad Robot

Trivia:

The bodyguard that Jennifer Garner fights with on the plane at the opening of the episode was the same man she had fought with on "Daredevil" where he had also been one of the stunt guys.

Quotes:

Julian Sark: Sydney leaked the intel to the CIA and the rest played out exactly as you predicted it would. So congratulations, sir. The Alliance is gone.
Arvin Sloane: We shouldn't celebrate yet. As you know, there's much more work to be done.
Julian Sark: I just wanted to let you know that phase one is complete.

Soundtrack:

Back In Black

Everything changes

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When Sloane goes missing for five days, the Alliance sends a ex-German Intelligence officer, Anthony Geiger (guest star Rutger Hauer, appropriately creepy), to replace him as the head of SD-6. Geiger immediately starts checking everyone's file, and even hacks into an Alliance server that Sloane had kept secret. When Sydney learns this, she informs the CIA and they send her on a mission to transmit the contents of that server back to their computers. What they discover is enough to finally expose all the SD cells and Alliance partners, and the CIA decides to simultaneously raid all the SD offices and destroy the Alliance once and for all. "Phase One" opens with a bang (the two dominatrix outfits Sydney wears on her mission are among her most famous ever, her fight scene inside the plane against a very skilled opponent is easily her best of this season so far) and closes with a bang (one....no, two....no, wait, THREE major - and I mean major - twists back-to-back), but what really makes it stand out is the big risk J.J.Abrams and co. are taking by "giving the people what they want" (Dixon learns the truth about SD-6, Sydney and Vaughn kiss, etc.) relatively early, and completely changing the entire premise of the show. Just like "Lost" was no longer "plane crash survivors want to leave the island" after "Through The Looking Glass", "Alias" is no longer "double agent Sydney Bristow works undercover to bring down the criminal Alliance" after "Phase One". Where we go from here is anybody's guess. There are those who believe that "Lost" never quite got back on the level of "Through The Looking Glass", though - and I'm one of them.... *** out of 4.