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Alias
"Salvation" (2.6)

Review by Malin Huffman
11.21.2002

Synopsis:

Following her supposed betrayal of Sydney, Irina is put on trial for espionage, and the government wants the death penalty. Fortunately, the case will take months, leaving plenty of time for plot twists -- or so it appears, until Irina pleads guilty, and is sentenced to swift execution.

One of Sark's henchmen captured by SD-6 turns out to be infected by a nasty sort of ebola-like virus. Sloane sends Sydney and Jack to a hospital in Geneva where several of Sark's men with the virus are being kept, to get more information about it.

Jack makes excuses for carrying out brainwashing/spy training on his daughter as a child (Project Christmas). Syd doesn't seem to bite. Syd tries to blow the whistle to the CIA on her father's deception to try to save her mother's life, but Jack covers up her communication and encourages her to reconsider.

At Francie's restaurant, Will bemoans that he can't get a decent job because of all the negative publicity over his supposed drug addiction. Francie has hired a guy (who apparently makes more than Will!) to dress up as a hamburger and hand out flyers promoting her restaurant.

After finding similar practices took place in the Soviet Union, Vaughn suspects the KGB planted Project Christmas questions on standardized tests in the US. Will is falling on hard times and calls Vaughn for help, but the CIA can't hire him because he now officially has a criminal record. Vaughn offers to pay him, off the books, to research US standardized tests from the past 20 years and look for connections to Project Christmas.

In Geneva, Jack and Syd pose as father and daughter going into the hospital for a kidney transplant. Marshall has rigged a briefcase (which is handcuffed to Jack, supposedly the payment and his insurance that the operation doesn't go awry,) to emit knockout gas before anyone can get cut up. They find Sark's men, who are about to literally turn themselves inside out, and get data and blood samples. They narrowly escape hospital security and are extracted.

Sloane tells Jack what he learned last episode about the antidote to the poison he used on Emily. He thinks he sees Emily on the street, and chases the woman into a church, where she disappears. He is genuinely disturbed, and Jack suggests there's only one way to know for sure...

The Rambaldi device from the first season finale, the giant liquid filled sphere, turns out to be the source of the virus, and Sydney and Vaughn may have been exposed. The two are quarantined together and Vaughn again provides a friendly shoulder. Syd is quickly cleared and Vaughn later follows.

Jack turns himself into the CIA for his actions and is brought before the same committee that sentenced Irina. He is to be imprisioned. Sydney kidnaps the senator in charge of the committee and persuades him to release Jack, and return her mother to her cell at the CIA. She does so by telling him that there is a senator being controlled by the alliance, and only she and Jack can get this information from Sloan.

Sloane digs up Emily's grave, to find an empty casket. Meanwhile, Vaughn displays first symptoms of the virus, bleeding from the fingernails....

Review:

After the revelations of the past few weeks, this episode is a bit of a disappointment. The secret mission is pretty brief and uneventful. No appearances by Irina or Dixon.

Why was the Rambaldi sphere the source of the virus? Was that its purpose, or just a side effect? Rambaldi doesn't seem like the sort who designed devices to kill, plus, he specialized in mechanical devices, not bio-engineering.

Worst is the plot device used to "reset" the status quo at episode's end. Irina is off death row and back in her cell, Jack is free to roam again, just because Sydney came up with a (rather implausible) lie to tell the senator? Doesn't quite work. How was the CIA planning to reconcile Jack's imprisonment with his cover at SD-6?

If I have one complaint about the pacing of "Alias", it's the speed at which many major plot points are introduced and then resolved. You know that a)Vaughn can't die from the virus, which means b)they'll have to find a cure quickly. As long as they keep coming up with new storylines, more power to them, but I'd like to see a little more depth.

There is some good. The line between good parent and evil parent has blurred for Sydney, who now can hardly trust either one but, despite herself, still cares about both of them.

Jack is becoming more and more paranoid in his hatred of Irina, accusing her of pleading guilty just to provoke sympathy in Syd.

Francie again contributes little of interest. Again, I say, give Syd a few more normal friends! With Will now part of the main plot, the deck's loaded pretty heavily in favor of the spy game.

Repartee:

"If you hadn't been so gullible, I never would have been born." - Sydney to Jack.
"You're probably thinking, 'Now hold on a second, Marshall, we need our kidneys,'" - Marshall, during mission briefing.

Marshall's Geek Toy of the Week:

Handcuffable briefcase with knockout gas

Mission Style Guide:

Location: Geneva
Hair: Severely bleached blonde
Outfits: Black dress with little white ornamentation; hospital gown; doctor’s uniform

Malin's Score: 6/10