S.O.S - Save Our Sydney! An original review of "S.O.S". Oh wow! If the last episode was a nod to the old days, then “S.O.S” is nothing short of a 21-gun salute that jumps straight into the action and never lets up until the final moments. With Sydney imprisoned by the evil Kelly Peyton (I’m actually doing cartwheels that Amy Acker is now a series regular), the episode gave the rest of the cast a chance to tell their own stories and further develop the Prophet Five seasonal arc. It’s no secret that the series has been heavily criticised by fans over the last couple of years, and I personally don’t think its fair. Yes, fans have a right to say what they want to see and Alias has made some mistakes in its lifetime. Fans from all over the world have sent out their S.O.S for the series, and it has steadily improved. J.J. Abrams and his creative team have done what they can to rejuvenate the series. At the end of season 3, fans demanded better story-telling, and with the addition of Drew Goddard and Jeffery Bell to the Alias staff we got it. Fans wanted a personal life for Sydney, and with the presence of Mia Maestro we got it. A year later, we wanted a driving force in Sydney’s life…we got it. But Vaughn was ‘killed’ in the process. Prophet Five brought a breath of new life to the series, taking it into new directions whilst allowing the cast to revisit some old wounds. The S.O.S sent out by the Alias fans was answered! The choice to send APO further underground was a masterful stroke, dealing out the ultimate irony card. The division is now closer to becoming SD-6 than ever before, taking on not only whatever villain crosses their paths, but also the Central Intelligence Agency itself. Jack’s unsanctioned mission into the Langley building was one of the shows greatest missions. Every character played their part superbly but one man deserves a special nod: Kevin Weisman. Due to the nature of the Marshall character, Weisman finds himself so often separated from the rest of the cast and is relegated to phone calls, satellite feeds and comm Link-ups. This episode offered him a rare chance to join the team in the field and he done it wonderfully, bringing his usual comic delight to the scene of the crime. His over-the-top performance in decoding the hidden message in the memorial statue was a joy to watch. Greg Grunberg’s suave return was a pleasant surprise, but was far to brief for anything other than a welcome reminder that his character is still out there and that the CIA is bigger than the one office we see every week. And it was nice to see James Handy and John Aylward back as the agency directors who brought so much to the first season. Handy in particular was always a likeable character, so with a bit of luck we’ll see some more of him in the future. Nicely pulling on some existing threads to create new stories, “S.O.S” is a turning point in the season, and the final 7 episodes are sure to be unmissable! This review was written by the webmaster of A Free Agent, Alan Stanley Blair. In addition to running this site, he is also a writer for SyFy Portal.com where he regularly reviews other genre-based shows. Please submit any feedback on these reviews to alias@alanistic.co.uk. For other reviews from the fifth season, please visit Season 5 Deciphered.
	© Alanistic Creations! Alias is property of Touchstone Entertainment and is copyright ©. Alias: A Free Agent has not been approved or authorised by Touchstone. Alias: A Free Agent, all rights reserved.