Throwback Thursday - Alias - I See Dead People

“You’re nothing like her. You’re driven by anger; you crave power – which is something I assume you were deprived of in childhood. Sydney, on the other hand, is driven by a sense of duty, of loyalty, to those she loves. That’s where she gets her strength.” - Arvin Sloane, to Anna Espinosa

Written By: Andi Bushell & J.R. Orci
Directed By: Jamie Babbit
Originally Aired: May 10, 2006

When it came time to choose my TBT for this round of writing, I was a bit stuck. The guidelines for these pieces are simple: choose any episode of a series that’s already ended and write about it. I’ve done three instalments for SpoilerTV so far: Alias, Veronica Mars, and The Sopranos.

Now, I could list about 100 other shows no longer on the air that I absolutely love. Mad Men, Buffy, Arrested Development, Friday Night Lights, Seinfeld, and so on. I’m all over the map… but it almost always comes back to Alias, especially this month, which happens to be the 10-year anniversary of the series wrapping. TVLine has put together some incredible pieces, including an oral history of the series, as well as lists that encompass the best episodes, costumes, music, and so on.

One thing that I think is incredibly under-appreciated when it comes to Alias is its final season. Here’s the thing: Alias did, undoubtedly, have several peaks and valleys (I dare you to find me a show that doesn’t.) But it was a series that moved at warp-speed: a single episode could burn through more story than most series’ did in an entire season. Anyone who watched the show knows that isn’t an exaggeration.

This was also a JJ Abrams show before he was, well, JJ Abrams – ABC had a tendency to meddle. They wanted things to be less serialized, to be specific. This caused a bit of an imbalance in some storylines, and admittedly Alias was never as great as the peak it reached in season 2. Let’s be clear, though – the 2nd season of Alias was among the greatest TV seasons of all time. It was expertly crafted, with incredible storytelling, plotted out like a mesmerising jigsaw puzzle, featured unbeatable acting, visionary directorial moments, and fight scenes that rivalled anything I’ve ever seen on the big screen. It was emotional, action-packed, and totally original.

Essentially, there was no way the series could keep up the greatness of that season. Unfortunately, because of that, the later seasons are often looked down upon – now, like I said, they certainly had their ups and downs, but I can say without a doubt that the 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons of Alias are still some of the best television ever produced.

What I’ll always be thankful for is the 5th season wrap-up: Alias got back to its mission statement. After Vaughn’s “death” in the premiere and the emergence of Prophet Five, Sydney had a real singular mission with an emotional attachment – something that was largely missing in the 4th season.

In "I See Dead People", the writers are gearing up for the big endgame. Nadia has been killed at the hands of Sloane; We finally know the truth about Vaughn (his death was faked by Jack and Sydney to ensure his safety from Prophet Five); Sloane is working alongside Kelly Peyton and her team to discover Rambaldi's prophecy, and Anna Espinosa is their latest pawn. The title of the episode, then, is incredibly accurate - Sloane has visions of his daughter, we witness Renee's autopsy, Sydney sees Vaughn for the first time, etc. It's a dead people party, and it's awesome.

In typical Alias fashion, there's nearly 10 minutes before the first act-break, and it feels like an entire episode’s worth of information: we see Nadia’s funeral, and we watch as a chip is discovered in Renee’s deceased body – the chip gets analyzed, and the name Andre Michaux is discovered on it (this is Vaughn’s real name, remember?) Jack believes that Renee’s father, along with Vaughn’s own father, must have implanted the chip when the two were working together 30 years ago. Sydney agrees to go to Nepal to see if Vaughn has a similar implant that can help to decode the chip. All the while, Prophet Five is listening thanks to a bug that Sloane planted in APO (Sloane is hidden away working to decrypt a message in the Rambaldi manuscript that he killed Nadia to save.) APO knows that Sydney is going to Nepal, and they plan on using an agent to intercept – Kelly Peyton asks Sloane to brief the agent, who, of course, is Anna Espinosa doubled to look like Sydney. END OF ACT ONE.

When Jack notifies Sydney that she’s been compromised, the scene is incredibly intense. Sydney’s car is attacked, leading her to veer off the road and crash. She’s met face-to-face with Anna-as-Sydney, who steals the chip taken from Renee and lights Sydney’s car on fire. Anna-as-Sydney makes her way to Vaughn and discovers an identical chip implanted in his chest: they put the two together and discover coordinates to a location that they believe will open some doors for their investigation of Prophet Five.

The chip leads Anna and Vaughn to an underground bunker – they, of course, have to do some work to get down there. When they make it to the bunker they discover an abandoned office of sorts, with all of Renee and Vaughn’s fathers’ research on Prophet Five. Anna attempts to kill Vaughn, but he knew better: he had already realized that the agent by his side wasn't Sydney, and he emptied her bullets. There's a great Anna-as-Sydney VS Vaughn fight sequence, and just as Anna is about to pull the trigger (this time with a loaded gun) on Vaughn, she’s shot three times from behind. Sydney arrived just in time. Now we get the reunion we’d been waiting for all season.

Elsewhere, Nadia appears to Sloane and torments him. I’ve always thought of Nadia as Sloane’s conscience more than an actual ghost. I loved that Alias never worried about making these characters unlikable at times, and I especially loved that all of the villains still had souls. They made us develop a soft spot for Sloane in season 4, and then pulled the rug out from under us once again in season 5. I have no doubt that he loved Nadia, Sydney, and Jack, but the lure of Rambaldi’s endgame was too great. Similarly, when Irina pursued the same goal in the finale, I wasn’t totally surprised. I would have loved a Syd / Jack / Irina reunion, but it wasn’t in the cards. To me, part of the Rambaldi story was always a thinly-veiled parable about how faith and religion can drive people to some heinous actions.

As the episode winds down, things get even more complicated – Sydney decides that, with Anna dead, she must take her place and go undercover in Prophet Five to take down Sloane and the organization (That means in the next episode, Sydney is undercover as Anna as Sydney. Do you follow?) You can’t say that Syd wasn’t always down for a risk. Meanwhile, Sloane has put out word to a contact: Sark! I remember when this first aired, I was so excited to know that Sark was going to be in the mix for the endgame of the series. It wouldn’t have been the same without him.

Covert Communications – Best Lines:

“You’re not a man of honour. You’re not particularly courageous. You’re charitable, but only when it serves your own interest. And last, but not least, you murder the people you claim to love.” – Anna, pretty much summing up all of our thoughts on Sloane.

“No one will stand between me and the fulfillment of Rambaldi’s ultimate vision. No one.” – Sloane

“First it was Gordon Dean, and now it's Sloane. They were right in front of me the whole time, deceiving me, and I was oblivious.” - Rachel, basically summing up the entire series.

“In this business, it’s always the children who suffer.” - Anna, to Sloane

“It gets worse... I’ve been doubled.” – Sydney, to Jack

What do you miss most about Alias 10 years after its wrap-up? Were you happy with the final season? What did you think of this episode when it aired? Hit the comment section and let us know your thoughts - and feel free to follow me on Twitter for more of my SpoilerTV work. Thanks for reading!