Alias: A Free Agent!

All Good Things Must Come To An End!

An original review of "Reprisal", the first part of the last ever Alias!

“The first time I learned of Prophet Five, my fiancée was gunned down in front of me. Turns out he wasn’t the first. They killed anyone who got too close. They'd infiltrated the highest levels of Governments and the inner sanctums of intelligence agencies. They appeared to control entire sectors of technology, finance, defence...we believed they were run by a group of 12 whose power was everywhere and no where because no one knew who they were. Until now. I've lived with secrets all my life...and I'm done!" - Sydney Bristow

From the very first scene, the finality of the episode was unquestionable. This is the last ever Alias adventure! And what better time to get back to old fashioned spying than on the APO team’s last ever adventure? The collection of mini-missions from the on-set do a marvellous job of both bringing the characters to where the writers obviously need them to be for this episode to have the impact they desire, whilst simultaneously re-integrate Vaughn into the Authorised Personnel Only division.

When the locational cipher “Sydney” flashed up on the screen, I had Goosebumps. This is the final Alias. The last five years have been an amazing journey. From SD-6 and the Alliance, through the missing time and the Covenant and right up to the current Prophet Five mystery, Alias has become one of the most intriguing and heart wrenching dramas ever made.

Just like the early days of season five, the true joys of “Reprisal” was the dark machinations of Arvin Sloane and his quest to fulfil Rambaldi’s final prophecy. The entire cast and crew were amazing, and throughout the opening episode of the series finale all the little connections to earlier episodes acted like a drawstring, pulling all five seasons together to form a neat little bundle ready to sail off into the sunset…but it won’t be sailing anywhere without a fight! Just like the first season, Sydney’s connection to Rambaldi are hinted at and finally revealed in a brilliant confrontation with Sloane under Rambaldi’s mysterious Mount Subasio which has always been the focus of the page 47 prophecy.

It was nice seeing Carrie Bowman back on Alias…I think she’s actually one of the only recurring female characters that hasn’t died. But you know, who really dies in Alias? Normally, everyone and no one…which is why both “Reprisal” and “All The Time In The World” are so good – it’s the last episode, so it doesn’t matter who lives and who dies.

To that end, Frederick E.O. Toye obviously worked hard to develop the lives of Rachel Gibson and Thomas Grace in order to give them the send off both deserve. Unfortunately, the artificially constructed chemistry between Tom and Rachel failed to reach the levels of Alias’ very own star-crossed lovers Sydney and Vaughn. And rightly so. Individually however, both are great characters and have become integral to the series and have made Alias their home.

Initially, when they were first introduced, the two remind me of the early years of Mulder and Scully in The X-Files, solving crimes with a relationship of mutual trust and respect. But the need to have Tom and Rachel couple just seemed so forced and unnatural as if it was the only way to fill the void that was left when Vartan departed at the beginning of the season. It’s important to remember, Mulder and Scully’s romance didn’t happen over night…it actually took seven years before both even came close to admitting their feelings.

The destruction of APO and the death of one of the CIA’s finest was surprisingly potent, thanks to the sinister voice over by Ron Rifkin as Sloane sets his plans in motion. And in the moments prior to the devastating explosion, as Tom admits he would have asked her out had there been more time, you can’t help but wonder if this is some sort of joke on the part of the writers – had the series had more time to grow, perhaps a more stable relationship like Sydney and Vaughn would have developed.

Unfortunately, that is in the land of what-if’s. ABC cancelled the show, forcing the writers to wrap up the series five episodes early. Luckily, the Alias writers are very talented people, and what we got in “Reprisal” tied off the story for the new characters, leaving the original Alias crew armed, ready and pissed to go head to head with Sloane and prevent the realisation of Rambaldi’s ultimate endgame.

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.

Alias: A Free Agent has not been approved or authorised by Touchstone.