In Jennifer Garner’s directorial debut, we were promised an episode choc-full of Rambaldi, lots of answers and even more questions. It certainly had some answers (although the events after “Another Mister Sloane” were no where in sight), and it obviously wasn’t lacking in new questions. But Rambaldi? He was in there all right, just not to the extended level we were promised. However, forgetting that, you have to have some respect for this episode. It was very much a return to the old traditions of Alias…and in more ways than one.

Yes, Rambaldi is back, only his mysterious purpose was left hovering ambiguously in the background somewhere occasionally spurring on the motivations of the cast. The <o> symbol on the monastery, ancient manuscripts (which coincidentally happen to be Lot 47 at the auction), the mystifying origins of the orchid and even a practical exploitation of ‘The Circumference’ are all but a few of the Rambaldi incursions within the episode. And with the powerful display of Rambaldi technology in action during the opening scenes of the episode, its looks as if he might be here to stay.

But that’s not all! SD-6 makes a comeback. No, the secret section of the disappeared ones has not been reformed, but there hasn’t been as many references to the crumbled organisation since the second season and so it was a nice reminder of everyone’s origins. Particularly since ‘Marvin’ Sloane (Joel Grey) is taken into CIA custody. The ‘take down’ scene in which he is actually caught was very well realised by Garner in a fast paced and almost monochrome presentation which only serves to increase the excitement. The addition of the dream-like sequence that was so prominent within the episode helped everything along rather nicely. Dream sequences are difficult things to pull off, and can often to more harm than good. But not here, as Garner manages to accomplish the task with relative ease. The actress seems to have a genuine flare for directing, once again rising to another challenge: acting, stunts and now directing. Watch out J.J. Abrams, there could be some competition in the future.

And just to make everything that little bit sweeter, we are also blessed with the many talents of Amy Irvine once again. Last we saw her was running from a squad of CIA troops in “Truth Takes Time”. And it didn’t end well. Which was a shame, because as Irvine once again proves, she can handle anything the writers can throw at her and continues to bring out the best in Ron Rifkin. That’s not to say she turns Sloane back into the good man he once was, but the level of acting the couple are capable of is amongst the highest quality drama ever to grace our screens. The sheer intensity of the emotional flurry presented in “In Dreams” was so incredibly spell binding that it may exceed anything the series has given us yet. Quickly throwing Nadia (Mia Maestro) into the mix only elevated the performance to the new heights and at one point actually gave me goosebumps. It was a five-star performance from everyone involved.

There is just one other subtle piece of clever writing that flows so well into the episode you would hardly know it was there. It was almost as if it was woven into the plot arc in such a way that it seems almost trivial until the bigger picture can be seen. Towards the end in the dream sequence, Sloane says goodbye to Nadia, but then seems to miraculously wake-up out of his delirium. A stroke of luck? Hardly. The theory: This Sloane was the ‘good’ Sloane. Arvin has left the building and what we are now left with is the old, twisted and diabolically evil mastermind that was hell-bent on uncovering Rambaldi’s endgame back in the second season.

So if this a sign of things to come in the tail end of the season, all I can say is "Give me more!"