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Alias
Crossings
original air-date: 01-18-04
Be
Kind. Rewind: Kendall
revealed the truth about Syd's missing time, SpyGirl learned
that she willingly went under a procedure to wipe her memory
because she wanted to forget about the Covenant taking her
eggs to fulfill Rambaldi's prophecy, and we learned that Lauren
is really working for the enemy.
Turning
a character over to the dark side can be tricky business.
The switch has to be believable; the character's actions cannot
become so very outrageous that the shift seems like a desperate
ploy created by the writers to spice the show up a bit. Fortunately
for the writers of Alias, they never allowed us to
get to know Lauren well enough for us to think that it wasn't
possible for her to become a baddie.
All that
we really knew about her was that she was the bitchy devoted
wife of Agent Vaughn and an NSC higher up thanks to daddy
dearest. There wasn't more to the character than those few
simple facts.
Many fans
(this one included) found her boring and annoying and little
more than poorly constructed plot device created to drive
a wedge between the show's star-crossed lovers. So, while
having her working for the enemy isn't all that big a shock
and doesn't exactly cause any of us to go into shock, it is
a good thing for this character, as well as the actress portraying
her, Melissa George.
In "Crossings,"
George got to do more than just look pretty and be concerned
for BoyScout. Now that we know that she's up to no good, every
look, every word, that comes out of her mouth seems to be
full of double meaning. The coolness with which she regarded
the possible death of her husband was harsh, yet great to
watch. Her motivations for being a part of the Covenant are
still unknown to us, but if the writers play their cards right,
they could draw this storyline out for a while and manage
to make it interesting while doing so.
Of course,
the plot thread is one that we are familiar with (it just
smacks of Jack and Irina), and they will have to find a way
to make it distinctive, but in the meantime they should concentrate
on allowing George to have as much fun as possible with this
new aspect of her role. If all goes well, watching Lauren
try to undermine the CIA's plans could be almost as exciting
as watching evil Francie sneaking around Syd's apartment last
season.
Unfortunately,
"Crossings" was not without its fair share of problems.
Consider this a plea to the writers and producers of the show:
Please stop doing the flashforward, flashback thing at the
beginning of episodes. We understand that it is an editing
trick used to grab the viewers' attention right away and then
hold it for the next 55 minutes. This is all well and good,
but you've used it far too many times on this show for us
to consider this creative or original. Do us a favor and find
another way to hold our attention, one that doesn't involve
watching the same scene twice.
Isabella
Rossellini was the big name guest star in this episode, but
as Irina's sister she was really just a poor substitute for
what fans really want, the incredible Lena Olin to return
to the series. Ending the episode with the awkward kiss between
Katya and Jack was also a lame attempt at giving Spy Daddy
a possible love interest. The chemistry between Olin and Garber
was electrifying and not something that can be recreated with
another actress, no matter how hard the writers try.
Hopefully,
they will use Rossellini sparingly and make a deal with Olin
to return sometime during sweeps, something that was hinted
at when Katya told Sloane to back off Irina. Spy Mommy is
up to something, and hopefully we'll get to see just what
that is sometime soon.
And then
there's the thing that everyone will be talking about after
watching this episode: the much anticipated, overly hyped
kiss between Sydney and Vaughn. Of course, fans of the couple
most likely swoon, but for those of us concerned with more
than the romantic angle of the show, the entire scene was
flat and without any real emotion. Having the two argue for
a good chunk of the episode, then make up and make out because
they realize they might die is just a little pathetic. We
know that they aren't going to die, and we also know that
this changes nothing between the two of them. Vaughn will
chalk it up to a near death experience and remain faithful
to wifey, Sydney will go cry in a corner somewhere, and there
will be lots more angst for everyone.
Overall,
this episode did not impress and was only a slight step up
from last week's, which was a complete and utter disaster.
But seeing Sydney holding a knife to Sark's manhood sort of
made up for some of the more sucky parts. Well, at least I
thought it was funny.
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