Sydney is stunned when
she learns that her mother was a KGB agent. The news is too much for her
to bear, and she tells Vaughn that she is going to resign from SD-6.
At the same time, a group of heavily-armed intruders sneak into SD-6.
By the time that Sloane realises what is going on, the intruders
have taken
control of the building.
As Sydney enters SD-6, Jack catches up with her in an elevator. He
warns her that the Alliance, the men Sloane works for, will kill
her if she
tries to quit.
Their elevator comes to an abrupt halt, and Jack realises that Sloane
has triggered the emergency lockdown procedure which can mean only
one thing
-- someone has broken into SD-6.
Sydney and Jack sneak from the elevator, and make their way to an
empty room in the basement. By splicing into the surveillance system,
Jack
and Sydney discover that the intruders have taken everyone hostage
-- including
Sloane.
Meanwhile, Will Tippin decides that the SD-6 story is too dangerous
to pursue. Daniel Hecht and Eloise Kurtz have already been killed,
and he
fears the same fate for David McNeil's daughter if he continues.
At the newspaper office, Will receives another call from the mysterious
voice. Will insists that he is no longer pursuing the SD-6 angle,
but someone doesn?t want him to give up. An unmarked envelope,
containing another clue,
is waiting on Will's chair. He refuses to open it, as he wants
nothing to do with SD-6.
The leader of the intruders is McKenas Cole, a former SD-6 agent
who is now working for an unknown group. Cole tortures Sloane
for the access
code
to the SD-6 vault. However, because of the security measures
that have been activated, opening the vault will trigger an explosion.
Jack tells Sydney that the entire SD-6 building will be destroyed.
In Marshall’s
workshop is a scrambling device that can be used on the vault door, so
that even if Cole gets the code, the vault will not open. Sydney must retrieve
the device without being discovered.
Meanwhile, Will goes to a restaurant to meet a contact for
a story. To his surprise, it is Kelly McNeil who shows up.
Someone
has clearly
arranged
this meeting, and Will refuses to talk.
Kelly follows Will to his office and pleads with him to continue
investigating SD-6. He is persuaded and finally opens the
envelope that was left
on his chair. A mysterious key falls out. What will it
unlock?
After learning that Sydney's mother killed his agent father,
Vaughn receives orders to visit a CIA psychiatrist -- Barnett.
He insists
that he is
fine, but Barnett asks about the Christmas gift for Sydney.
Barnett wonders if
his relationship with Sydney is "appropriate."
Vaughn confronts Haladki, the agent who informed Barnett
about the gift. There is clearly bad blood between these
two men.
Meanwhile at SD-6, Sydney retrieves the scrambling device
and applies it to the vault door, moments before Cole
arrives. Before Sydney
can escape,
Cole and his men hear her in the airshaft... They begin
blasting away at the ceiling, the bullets narrowly
missing Sydney.
 |
|
|
| |
 |
| Written
By: |
Jesse
Alexander and John Eisendrath. |
| Directed
By: |
Jack
Bender. |
| Guest
Starring: |
Quentin
Tarantino as McKenas Cole, Greg Grunberg as Eric Weiss, Joey Slotnick
as Steven Haladki, Agnes Brucker as Kelly McNeil, Sarah Shahi as
Jenny and Patricia Wettig as Dr. Judy Barnett. |
| Additional
Notes: |
This
is Jesse Alexander's second time writing an episode
of Alias and John Eisendrath's first episode.
"The Box" (Pt 1) is Jack Bender's third
directed episode of the show.
Famous Hollywood director Quentin
Tarantino guest starred in this episode after he announced he was
a hardcore fan of the series.
Patricia Wettig who played Judy Barnett in this episode is actually the real
life wife of Alias Developer, Executive Producer and Director Ken Olin.
Although credited, Merrin Dungey does not appear in this episode. This is the
second episode in a row that Francie does not appear.
"The Box" was supposed to be a single episode, but during
pre-production it was realised that the episode would require a lot of editing
so it was re-developed
into a two-part story.
Sydney tries to convince Vaughn to go see the L.A Kings who are supposed to be
playing The Islanders. These two teams actually played against each other in
Los Angeles the night before this episode aired.
The episode first aired in America on January 20th, 2002.
There are no 47 references in this episode.
Locational ciphers: None.
|
| Source
Material: |
> "The
Box" (Part 1) Surveillance
> Season
1 Mission Log
> Season
1 DVD Report
> Discuss
This Mission On Echelon |
"How
Can I Keep From Singing" – Enya
Played: Near
the beginning of the episode as Syd meets with Vaughn.
"Dragula" – Rob
Zombie
Played: Cole's
strike team make a run for it through the SD-6 laser gauntlet.
A
huge drop from the last rating, "The Box" Part 1 managed
to achieve a viewer rating of 5.7 - almost 2 full points lower than
the last episode!
PLEASE
NOTE: This number has not
been confirmed
by A Free Agent and is
listed
based
on
the word
of a third party website. (What
are Neilson ratings?).
|
