Alias 5.12: "There's Only One Sydney Bristow"

Written by Drew Goddard
Directed by Robert M. Williams

In which Will Tippin is abducted from federal protection by Anna Espinosa as part of an elaborate scheme to convince Sydney to come out of maternity leave, while Sloane cuts a final deal…


Status Report

Now that the writing has been on the wall for a while, it’s clear that the producers have imposed their own mandate: find a way to make sense of the mythology, tie up loose ends, and integrate the fifth season into the larger tapestry. This episode gives that process a little more progress, as the focus shifts to one of the oldest dangling plot threads of the series.

While the fourth season took the “Page 47” prophecy and attached a few new elements to it, primarily in terms of Nadia’s role in the story, the underlying question of Sydney as Rambaldi’s “Chosen One” was never fully explored. The Rambaldi endgame described in the fourth season did make a certain amount of sense: a means of pacifying the world’s population with a select few, possibly a reborn Rambaldi himself, ruling over the sheep.

So the implication was relatively clear. The Mueller device was designed as something of a control mechanism, but one that could be abused by the wrong people. Yelena Derevko was the wrong person, and thus the true goal of the Rambaldi endgame was never achieved. And since the fourth season arc never addressed what the “greatest power” was supposed to be, beyond some vague possibility that “peace” might be the answer (as per the third season), there’s plenty of room to maneuver.

This episode raises an interesting possibility. The interpretation of the Rambaldi prophecy up to this point has been that Sydney or some relative thereof is the woman in the prophecy. However, as the writers now point out, there’s been a history of individuals modified on the genetic level to “become” someone else. Alison Doran is the most obvious example. It’s the equivalent of a personality transplant; the body is replicated, while the mind remains intact.

The result is a neat extension of one of the series’ first true examples of symmetry. Anna Espinosa was first introduced as Sydney’s equal but opposite. There was every reason to believe that Anna would become a recurring thorn in Sydney’s side, and once Anna was connected to the Magnific Order of Rambaldi, the connections were there to be exploited. For various reasons, that never happened, but now it feels completely natural that Anna become Sydney’s true dark reflection.

By the end of this episode, Sydney’s equal but opposite has all the hallmarks (or so we would assume) of Rambaldi’s prophecy. Thus the question is raised: is Sydney really the Chosen One? Or if she is, is it possible for the Chosen One status to be pre-empted? One is reminded of the question raised on “Angel” when Spike also became ensouled; when a vague term is used to describe the key player in a prophecy, it’s easy to make assumptions.

Whatever the case, there’s now someone with all the right stuff and every reason to render “the greatest power unto utter desolation”. And conveniently, this brings up a very good point. Why would Prophet Five (now firmly established, in the most natural way, to be connected to the ongoing Rambaldi movement) need the actual manuscript page? That implies that the information itself is not the most important thing; something unique to the page is necessary for the final endgame.

This episode also strongly suggests that Isabelle (or however Sydney spells it) doesn’t have much to do with Rambaldi’s endgame. There something that the Horizon and this latest gambit with Anna must relate to, but Sydney’s daughter doesn’t seem to be included. That may change in the near future, since there’s not a lot of time to play things out, but that would suggest that the Covenant’s goals in the third season (specifically, the plan to resurrect Rambaldi) isn’t coming back into play through Isabelle.

Beyond the exciting connections to the larger mythology, there were other highlights to the episode. For one thing, Will Tippin returns in a relatively logical way, and it feels like he never left. Will wasn’t always the best character in the world, but he was an important part of Sydney’s support system. Many feel that the series took a bad turn when Will and Francie were out of the picture, and Will’s return in this episode (which feels like a solid final farewell, without the usual tragedy) demonstrates that there is some truth to that.

Also, Drew Goddard delivers some great comedic moments in a script that could have been bogged down by the dramatic elements. Goddard understands that dynamic very well, thanks to his time under Joss Whedon on “Buffy” and “Angel”, and his writing continues to excel. The result is a versatile script that covers a lot of ground without stretching it too far. This was easily one of the best episodes of the season for that very reason.

Gina Torres is always good as Anna, and as usual, respect must be given to Amy Acker for her disturbing turn as Peyton. She plays amoral very well, but more importantly, she looks incredibly hot in the process (check her out when she’s holding Will or in that jacket at the end!) For that matter, it was great to see both Sydney and Rachel in the sexy outfits, and Rachel actually demonstrated competence. It’s about time!

Not everything was on the mark, but most of the problems were the result of the network’s moronic interference earlier in the season. Sloane’s involvement with Prophet Five was dictated by how it was treated previously, and that didn’t include Rambaldi. Yet now it is revealed (as one had to expect) that P5 is directly related to the Rambaldi endgame. (Indeed, those connections have always been assumed by this reviewer.)

But that brings up a bit of a logic problem. It’s one thing for everyone at APO to assume that the Rambaldi business is over and done with, though they should have recognized the similarities between previous situations and the P5 activities. But that can be ignored easily enough. What’s a lot harder to understand is P5’s decision not to consult or discuss Rambaldi with Sloane.

After all, if P5 is the evolution of the elements that comprised the Covenant, Yelena’s organization, the Alliance of 12, and so many other groups over the past 30 years, they would have a vested interest in knowing exactly what Sloane’s organization had done during the same time period. Even if they knew the details already, why wouldn’t Rambaldi come up even once? Especially since the cure for Nadia would logically come from a Rambaldi source?

Even so, this was an episode filled with all the classic “Alias” elements, mixed with the best aspects of the recent seasons. Sure, the shot of the P5 leaders was strongly reminiscent of the Syndicate from “X-Files”, but since the series’ mythology borrows generously from “X-Files” anyway, it fits thematically. It’s about as close to “old school” as this series is likely to get, and it’s all the better for it.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode felt like the beginning of the end, but in a very good way. A number of strong elements from past seasons thread through this episode, and there’s finally a return to the Rambaldi mythology after far too long. That gap in the mythology creates a few minor logic problems, but the good far outweighs the bad. It’s good to see things picking up when it counts!

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

Final Rating: 8/10

(Season 5 Average: 6.8)