Alias 03/16/03 - "Truth Takes Time" (1 Viewer)

[Vlad D]

Did anyone catch the look on Jack's face when Marshal asked him how he planted the passive transmitter on Irina? Makes me wonder where he placed it.

 

[Michael Martin]

Dixon failing to reload and kill Sloane

From my totally untrained eye, Dixon had a great shot already. I couldn't figure out why he didn't shoot earlier (story internal reason, of course). Maybe he is K-Directorate.

I also agree that Syd's stopping to check Vaughn was quite dumb. She fires ONE shot at Sark and then stops firing!? She KNEW Vaughn was wearing a vest, and missed a chance at taking out a major baddie to swap spit with her honey.

Urgh.

At least her not firing appears to be consistent characterization...she has previously displayed an aversion to killing enemies when some great opportunities presented themselves.

 

[MikeMcNertney]

I don't know about you guys, but I got the impression during the episode that this whole thing had been set up by Jack and Irena. The way Jack acted (not telling Kendell what's up, not wanting to go in unless Sloane was there) made me think he was hiding something. It would explain some things (such as why she had the manuscripts in the first place) if this was an op he and Irena set up to take down Sloane's operation in case something went wrong with the original meet.

 

[John_VI]

I agree that there's still a lot that we MAY NOT know about the true nature of the relationships between the main characters, but I, too, am getting a bit tired of all of the mistakes and lapses that the writers are using to prolong the current story line.

1. Syd could have easily taken out Sark. A true professional would have done so without regard for her honey's situation.

2. Dixon could have easily killed Sloan with a second or third shot. He had PLENTY of time.

3. The escape scene was just plain stupid. Why would Sloan set up an escape where he had to run a couple of hundred yards across an open field, exposing himself to gunfire?

4. Fake Francie needs to just die. Now. Please!

5. Reel Marshall's character in some. A little eccentricity is fine, but he's become a buffoon.

6. Syd could have easily incapacitated Irina with a shot to the leg or ass. Or even multiple shots to the leg/ass. After the first shot, when Irina started climbing out of the tunnel, why didn't Syd shoot again??

I agree that the writing is leaving a lot to be desired. It seems that - especially since the Super Bowl episode - the writers/producers are trying to appeal to a wider audience (women?) by including WAAAAY too much on the "relationship" side. The story lines that could be interesting to the hard-core Alias fan base - like delving into the Fake Francie issue in greater depth - seem to be getting shoved to the side to allow more air time for the touchy-feely stuff.

But Syd is still mega hot, so I'll keep watching!!

 

[Micheal]

6. Syd could have easily incapacitated Irina with a shot to the leg or ass. Or even multiple shots to the leg/ass. After the first shot, when Irina started climbing out of the tunnel, why didn't Syd shoot again??

Maybe she had qualms about shooting her Mother?

It's fun to chat about this stuff but I wouldn't try to compare it to real life. It's still a TV show last time I checked.

 

[Jim DiJoseph]

Maybe an expert marksman with the armed forces could shed some light on this, but I'd like to offer a potential reason Dixon didn't shoot a second time. (I've only gathered this from the movies, so I may be way off - e.g. "Absolute Power".) From what I've seen, a sniper will prepare his/her weapon with one round because he/she has essentially only one shot. I wonder if Dixon did not have the capability to shoot twice...?

 

[John_VI]

Don't know, Jim. But even if he only had one bullet in the rifle, he had plenty of time to reload.

Micheal - Your points are well taken, but not altogether valid IMHO. Sure, Syd should not have been working with Vaughn in that situation, but it's a TV show, after all. And sure, Dixon had just shot an innocent woman, but he's killed a BUNCH of people on Sloan's orders, and mission priorities mandate that Sloan go down. And sure, Syd may have had qualms about shooting her mother. But she had already shot her once, why not again? What about Syd's statement that she wished that her mother HAD been killed during the "extraction"? There were just too many holes in this episode. If one or two of the holes I mentioned in my original post above had made it into the episode, then okay. But ALL of them? In one episode? Sure, it's a TV show, but it's supposed to be about professional CIA field operatives, not an MTV music video.

I firmly believe that the writers/producers need to reign in the fluff and get back to the meat of what brought all of the season one viewers on board.

 

[Jeremiah]

I have to agree with John VI, those holes are just too big to look past, and this was one of the few times that it really bugged me.

 

[Randy Tennison]

Didn't anyone else get the real "Star Wars" analogy when Syd shot her mother.

Syd shot her mother in the shoulder / arm just as her mother shot her earlier in the series.

I like the idea that Jack and Irina have this all set up from the beginning.