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Alias: Season 02
Part of Series:
Alias [TV Series]
The weekly, hour-long TV adventure series Alias wasted no time in establishing a high level of suspense. Its first episode, "Truth Be Told," ran a full 65 minutes, with no commercial interruptions -- and be assured that few viewers were willing to leave their seats for the duration. Jennifer Garner starred as college student Sydney Bristow, who during her senior year was recruited into SD-6, the shadowy "special operations" division of the CIA of which her father, Jack (Victor Garber), was a top functionary. Given a crash course in martial arts and high technology, Sydney still did not quite appreciate the gravity of her mission in life until she inadvertently caused the murder of her fianc�. Thereafter, she kept her profession a secret from everyone she knew -- and did her best to stay at least one step ahead of whatever enemy happened to be after her during a given episode. Created by Felicity's J.J. Abrams, Alias made its ABC network debut on September 30, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Includes Seasons:
Alias: Season 02
Cunningly presaged by the cliffhanger at the end of season one, the first episode of Alias' second season confirmed what heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) -- college student by day, counterespionage agent the rest of the time -- had feared most: that "The Man," the evil leader of a vast criminal cartel, was no man at all, but instead Sydney's supposedly dead mother, former KGB agent Irina Derevko (played by new series regular Lena Olin). Though Irina would eventually claim to have reformed and insisted that she was looking out for Sydney's best interests, her actions -- which included innumerable double-crosses, sellouts, and betrayals -- would seem to indicate otherwise. Even so, nothing that was ever "indicated" on Alias was ever quite what it appeared on the surface. Meanwhile, both of the spy organizations for which Sydney worked, the CIA and the more sinister SD-6, were dedicated to destroying the cartel formerly run by Irina and now in the hands of her mercurial lieutenant, Sark (played by another new series regular, David Anders). The two rival agencies also continued their search for the missing Rambaldi fragments, which when assembled would become a terrifying weapon of mass destruction, as well as "The Bible," the operations manual used by Irina's old criminal empire. Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family. Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Includes Episodes:
Alias: The Enemy Walks In
Resolving the cliffhanger established at the end of season one, season two of Alias begins with college student-cum-secret agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) coming face to face with her presumed-dead mother, KGB agent Irina Derevko (Lena Olin, making her first appearance as a series regular). But the reunion is far from a happy one: Exposed as the master criminal whom Sydney has been tracking for months, the surly Irina displays decidedly non-maternal instincts by shooting her daughter in the arm and dashing off to parts unknown. Meanwhile, Syd's friend Will has published his expos� of the covert espionage agency SD-6, making him a marked man -- but not if Syd's father, Jack (Victor Garber), can protect Will from any and all assailants. And can it be that Syd's CIA contact, Vaughn (Michael Vartan), is really dead? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: Trust Me
Irina (Lena Olin) turns herself in to the CIA, insisting that her main purpose in life is "Defeating Arvin Sloane. SD-6. The Alliance." She also offers to help track down "The Bible," the elusive operations manual for the evil cartel which she formerly headed. But her ex-husband, Jack (Victor Garber), and daughter, Sydney (Jennifer Garner), are extremely skeptical about Irina's sincerity, even after she provides Sydney with the safety measures needed to retrieve a computer disk used by Irina to blackmail other secret agents into complicity -- an assignment given to Sydney by the sinister Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), as yet unaware of Irina's surrender. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: Cipher
Now that Sark (new series regular David Anders) is in charge of the cartel formerly headed by Sydney's mother, Irina (Lena Olin), he launches a Russian satellite spy camera that will help him corrupt the world's security systems. It is up to Sydney (Jennifer Garner) to tap into the images projected by that camera, thereby enabling her to locate a Rambaldi-designed music box containing valuable scientific equations. Though Irina insists she wants to help Sydney in her mission, Irina's ex-husband, Jack (Victor Garber), warns that the woman can still not be trusted -- and by the episode's end, it looks like Jack may be right. Elsewhere, investigative journalist Will (Bradley Cooper) finally meets Syd's CIA contact, Vaughn (Michael Vartan), and sinister SD-6 chieftain Sloane (Ron Rifkin) begins to suspect that his wife, Emily, isn't dead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: Dead Drop
Defying the wishes of her father, Jack (Victor Garber), Sydney (Jennifer Garner) insists upon pumping her KGB-agent mother, Irina (Lena Olin), for information necessary to topple SD-6 -- and, incidentally, to allow Syd to quit the spy game for good. On other fronts, a rattled Sloane (Ron Rifkin), convinced that he has seen his wife (whom he was ordered to kill) alive and well, sends Dixon (Carl Lumbly) to investigate; the Rambaldi music box containing the vital numerical equation is now secreted at Sark's (David Anders) Falkland Islands retreat; a clue to the location of "The Bible" containing information on Irina's former cartel has been traced to a Moscow military library, which Sydney must infiltrate; and Will's ongoing expos� of SD-6 is aided by drug-addled conspiracy theorist Rebecca Martinez (Marisol Nichols). And topping things off, Vaughn (Michael Vartan) comes face to face with his father's murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: The Indicator
Now convinced that Jack (Victor Garber) was telling the truth about her mother Irina's treachery, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is warned by Vaughn (Michael Vartan) that even Jack can't be trusted. With this in mind, the rest of the episode -- involving Sydney's efforts to stop the activities of a vice cartel called the Triad in Budapest -- takes on several extra layers of significance. Upon discovering that the Triad is training children to be enemy sleeper agents, Sydney is shocked to learn the identity of the person who thought up this insidious method of indoctrination in the first place. "The Indicator" was originally scheduled to air on October 26, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: Salvation
Pleading guilty to her crimes, Syd's mother, Irina (Lena Olin), is sentenced to death. Though there is little love lost between mother and daughter, Syd (Jennifer Garner) nonetheless tries to prevent her mother's execution by writing a letter to CIA director Devlin (James Handy), revealing her father Jack's (Victor Garber) involvement in Project Christmas, an insidious method of indoctrinating future secret agents at an early age -- and one for which Jack used the young Syd as a guinea pig. Meanwhile, Sloane (Ron Rifkin) comes closer to a reunion with his "dead" wife, Emily; and Vaughn (Michael Vartan) is shocked upon discerning the contents of Khasinau's so-called Red Ball. This episode was originally scheduled to air on November 3, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: The Counteragent
Infected with the virus unleashed by Irina's successor Sark (David Anders), Vaughn (Michael Vartan) has but a few days to live. In order to find an antidote for the virus, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is forced to place her trust in the highly unreliable Irina (Lena Olin). Ultimately, Syd finds herself at the deserted Paldinski nuclear-sub training base in Estonia, where she is confronted by Sark. With surprising expansiveness, Sark offers to spare Sydney and give her the antidote -- but only if Sloane (Ron Rifkin) is delivered into the hands of assassins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: Passage, Part 1
In the first episode of a two-part story, Sydney's perennial nemesis Sark (David Anders) has ostensibly mended his ways and joined the staff of SD-6. Sark's former confederate Irina (Lena Olin) suspects that he is up to no good -- and she turns out to be right on target when Sark delivers the highly volatile Uzbek communication codes into the hands of insurgents. Inasmuch as these codes have the capability of activating half a dozen nuclear warheads, Irina is in a position to negotiate a 48-hour release from CIA custody so that she, her daughter, Sydney (Jennifer Garner), and her ex-husband, Jack (Victor Garber), can head to Pakistan in the guise of vacation tourists. Upon arrival, this "happy family" begins to track down the codes, their efforts compromised by Syd and Jack's inability to thoroughly trust Irina. Meanwhile back in the U.S.A., Will (Bradley Cooper) is astonished by the CIA's indifference to his findings concerning Project Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: Passage, Part 2
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Sydney (Jennifer Garner), her father, Jack (Victor Garber), and her mother, Irina (Lena Olin), are still in Pakistan, still searching for the code that will enable a group of rebels to activate half a dozen nuclear warheads. Despite Irina's protestations of good intentions, Syd and Jack still doubt her sincerity. Sure enough, Irina reverts to type by handing her family over to her villainous former ally Gerard Cuvee (Derek de Lint) -- but is this betrayal all that it appears to be? And back in the U.S., Sloane (Ron Rifkin) is blackmailed by an unknown party regarding his role in the attempted assassination of his wife, Emily. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alias: The Abduction
Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is forced to work side by side with former enemy Sark (David Anders) on their latest SD-6 mission: to steal a vital component of the Echelon Satellite System, which keeps the nation alerted to security threats. Syd's countermission on behalf of the CIA is to destroy the component's hard-drive so that it cannot be used by SD-6; even so, the information must be retained somehow -- and thus, the photographic memory of computer wonk Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) come into play. Alas, the mild-mannered Marshall is hardly the most competent of spies, and his first mission goes disastrously awry. Faye Dunaway makes her first series appearance as Ariana Kane, head of Alliance counterintelligence, who will stop at nothing to find out who is blackmailing Sloane (Ron Rifkin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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ALIAS-2ND SEASON (DVD) (6 DISC BOX SET) DVD

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