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Alias
Full Disclosure
original air-date: 01-11-04
Be
Kind. Rewind: Syd slept with Will, Will "killed"
Allison, Jack asked Vaughn to push Sydney away, and Lauren
was nowhere to be found.
"Full
Disclosure" was supposed to give Alias fans what
we have been waiting for since last year's season finale:
the truth about what happened to Sydney during her two-year
absence. However, the truth itself and the way that it was
revealed ended up being less than thrilling.
The writers
and producers of this show have expected fans to remember
complicated plot points involving strange prophecies and weird
science since the very beginning of the series. This show
has more twists and turns than a roller coaster, and yet fans
have been expected to remember every detail week to week.
So why they decided that it was now necessary to include several
flashback scenes designed to "jog" our memories
concerning past events is a mystery to this faithful viewer.
One could
argue that since most of the episode was set in the past,
the flashbacks fit in well and helped the viewer remember
certain key plot lines. But the cynic in me tends to think
that these flashbacks were thrown in because the script was
weak, rather than the writers and producers having a sudden
desire to make sure the viewers can keep track of what's going
on. After weeks of repeats, fans wanted to see a new episode,
not a new episode with tons of old footage thrown in because
the writers couldn't think of any intelligent subplots.
This is
most certainly not the only disappointing aspect of this episode.
Alias is known for its big reveals, shocking plot twists
that no one ever sees coming and that is what this episode
should have been. It should have been a shocker. It should
have totally blown our minds and made us say, "Wait.
What the hell just happened?"
Instead,
what we got was the easily guessed. For months, fans online
have been throwing around ideas about what that scar on Sydney's
stomach could possibly be. The reigning theory was that the
scar was from a C-section, and that Sydney had had a little
bundle of joy during her two-year absence. While that was
not entirely the case (her eggs were just extracted to help
fulfill the Rambaldi prophecy), the fans' idea was pretty
damn close to being right on the nose. And call it what you
will but I'm willing to bet that though Syd blowtorched the
lab, this isn't the last we've seen of this "what if
SpyGirl and the fifteenth century science guy mated"
plotline. I'm sure it'll be back to rear its ugly head during
sweeps.
The fact
that Sydney was immune to the Covenant's brainwashing techniques
and then had her memory removed so they couldn't use her to
get to the cube isn't all that surprising either.
Having
Kendall be the one that was involved with Sydney the entire
time is slightly interesting, but since Dixon also knew the
truth the entire time, it seems likely that Kendall will soon
fade back into the woodwork.
And, finally,
there's Lauren. Apparently, she isn't what she seems, but
when is anyone on this show? We all knew that there had to
be more to her than just the pretty wife or the higher up
that got her job because of nepotism. Of course, she's a baddie,
thus complicating the Syd/Vaughn/Wifey triangle even further
and giving disgruntled SpyGirl/BoyScout fans another reason
to hate her.
The truth
is, this episode wasn't nearly as good as it could have, or
should have been. This episode was supposed to be one of those
major episodes in this series history that fans remember as
"the one where we learned what happened to Sydney,"
and all it ended up being was a substandard mess. It wasn't
the shocking, jarring reveal it should have been and with
this disappointing episode, Alias has started the New
Year on a decidedly low note.
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