Alias 5.11: "Maternal Instinct"

Written by Breen Frazier
Directed by Tucker Gates

In which Jack’s actions lead to an audit of APO’s investigation into Prophet Five, complicating matters when Irina arrives to help Sydney and Jack find the Horizon…


Status Report

It’s quite likely that this episode was the result of changes to the season arc following the betrayal of the ABC network, reducing the episode order for the final season. There was a great deal of evidence that Sydney’s baby was at the center of Prophet Five’s plans, and while that may still be the case, it’s been complicated by the fact that Irina clearly says the Horizon was P5’s only concern. So what is the truth, and what is a lie?

The implications of this episode are fairly complex, but they also bear the mark of something cobbled together under less than ideal circumstances. If Irina is working for Prophet Five (or for that matter, running it), then why would Payton and her team act as though she’s an outside agent threatening their plans? The obvious conclusion is that Irina offered her services, as she mentioned, shortly after Prophet Five re-emerged after the incident in “Before the Flood”.

Since it was already revealed in the fourth season that Irina’s organizations were always designed to counter Sloane’s desire to fulfill Rambaldi’s prophecies, it would be easy to assume that the same logic applies to the goals of Prophet Five. Irina could have been advancing her own agenda, trying to derail or defuse the P5 endgame from within.

Everything Irina says in this episode seems to support that. She tried to warn Vaughn that something was about to happen (which is within continuity), and she was trying to save Sydney’s baby while achieving the goals of Prophet Five, which indirectly threatened the baby, give the methods employed to find the Horizon. The fact that Peyton seemed ready to turn on Irina suggests that P5 was always wary of her involvement.

Logically, if all of this was true, it would have made sense for Irina to save Vaughn, since it would in essence be a mitigation of the damage inflicted on her loved ones by the larger Rambaldi mess. (Still assuming, of course, that Prophet Five is directly related to Rambaldi in some way.) That may no longer be true, however, if the writers were forced to take a different direction with the story to fit the shortened timeline.

All of which hinges on the idea that P5 is not, in fact, interested in Sydney’s baby, which doesn’t quite fit within the continuity established in the first half of the season. The most obvious conclusion is that Irina is lying to Sydney, since it wouldn’t be the first time and certainly won’t be the last. And it’s the fact that Sydney and Jack know that, and know her history, that undermines one of the key plot points of the episode.

There is literally no reason for Sydney or Jack to trust Irina as far as they can throw her. Sure, her true intentions over the past 30 years or so were placed in context in the fourth season, but that doesn’t change her actions and choices. Irina just shows up with tons of information about Prophet Five, and not once is she questioned regarding her sources and activities since “Before the Flood”. It simply doesn’t make sense, especially when Sydney and Jack act shocked and appalled at the idea that Irina would use them.

Of course, the writers were trying for the unexpected yet pleasing notion of Irina and Jack delivering Sydney’s baby together. Yes, it makes for a touching moment, and it demonstrates that Irina’s axiom that “motherhood and spying don’t mix” may not hold water, but it’s otherwise a huge plot contrivance. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the many, many ridiculous aspects of the birthing itself.

After all the issues with getting Lena Olin to appear in the fourth season, when her presence would have made a lot of sense, it’s surprising to see her so involved in these final episodes. It’s certainly not a bad thing, but it does make the long-term fan somewhat wistful for what might have been. Will the writers try to place Irina’s decisions over the course of the series into context? Or will her motivations always be up to debate?

The worst part of this episode was the fact that Sydney, Jack, and Irina had to talk about the past 30 years, the Horizon, Prophet Five, and Irina’s involvement thereof without once bringing up Rambaldi. Even if Prophet Five has absolutely nothing to do with Rambaldi, it’s well past time for someone to mention how damned familiar all these elements are to what they’ve encountered in the past. It’s been well established that the Alliance was used to locate and acquire Rambaldi devices and artifacts for Sloane’s true purpose. So when the connection to SD-6 is tracked down and an artifact lies at the heart of it, how can Rambaldi stay out of the conversation?

All of which is largely overshadowed by the worst plot secret on the planet: Vaughn’s return. Was anyone genuinely surprised by this? Of course Vaughn was still alive. The producers practically told the audience to stop worrying and just let things play out. Did the short-sighted “fans” that all but destroyed the series’ future listen? Of course not. And now, which fans are tearing their hair out over the impending series end? How very predictable and sad.

Anyway, Vaughn’s return is hardly a surprise, but there is an implication in the previous scene that could be stunning if true. With the baby born, Sydney asked her father to take care of something, and in the very next scene, Vaughn (in apparent hiding) is informed that he has a daughter. Could Vaughn’s “death” have been staged by Jack and Sydney, all so Vaughn could investigate Prophet Five without their knowledge?

If that’s where the writers are going with all of this, then it would be an interesting if troublesome development. Frankly, the implication is that Sydney’s investigation into Prophet Five would have been a smokescreen for Vaughn’s activities. If so, why would Sydney place her child’s life at risk by being the decoy all this time? If Jack was in on it all, then he could have still led the investigation without Sydney being front and center. This is especially true given Rachel’s involvement.

This smacks of a major retcon, all designed to simplify the end of the season by allowing Vaughn to report on discoveries he made while in hiding which would otherwise have been uncovered by APO. It would have made more sense for Vaughn to be assumed dead and taken into custody by Irina for the purposes of her agenda. That’s still a possibility, since the intersection of scenes at the end of the episode could have been designed to mislead the audience into just these assumptions.

There are a number of issues just related to the fifth season that still need to be explained, without even considering the lingering plot threads from the first four seasons. Just what is Grace up to, and how does it relate to Prophet Five? What are Irina’s true goals in working for P5? What is the Horizon and what does it have to do with Sydney and her baby, if anything? Who runs Prophet Five, and is it connected to Rambaldi? If those questions are answered, then there’s still a lot regarding the overall mythology to be addressed as well.

Hopefully, the remaining episodes will allow Rachel to be in the field more. Rachel was supposed to replace Sydney in the field, especially with the hot outfits, and it just hasn’t happened as much as it could or should have. Rachel is mostly stuck sitting around being manipulated, and it’s unfortunate. Similarly, Rene is not nearly as compelling or sexy as the producers seem to believe. If anything, Rene looks worn out, and her attempts at dangerous sexiness make her look like an aged Parisian hooker.

With only six episodes left, there’s not a lot of time for explanations and connections to be made. The promos all promise that the mysteries will be resolved, and the producers say the same thing. But what are the chances, when the most obvious connections are still not being made? Will the audience be forced to sit through some scene where Prophet Five is revealed to be connected to Rambaldi, and everyone gasps in shock? That would be laughable at this point, and the series deserves to go out with a lot more style.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode had the benefit of bringing back a beloved character, but there were a number of plot elements that didn’t seem to fit the previously established continuity. Such issues have arisen before, but in this case, the writers may be trying a little too hard to shock the audience and defy expectation. Still, it’s good to see some of these characters working together again, and this continues to improve on the slow and inconsistent first half of the season.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 7/10

(Season 5 Average: 6.6)