| Alias
Taken
original air-date: 03-21-04
Be Kind. Rewind: Sloane hooked up with
Dr. Barnett and Vaughn took Sark into custody after a little
highflying adventure.
Everyone
knows that there are good episodes and bad episodes. These
are usually the ones that get the most attention, the ones
that get people talking about their respective goodness or
badness.
But there
are also mediocre episodes. These shows rarely get as much
notice and are forgotten by the time the next new episode
airs. Most of the time when someone asks me what I thought
of one of these episodes, all I can really say is "eh."
Not very eloquent, but that is the feeling that an episode
like "Taken" inspires.
One of
the problems with an episode like this one is that there were
some ok things about it, so you can't completely rant and
rave about how much it sucked. Another problem is that these
things that kind of worked don't really overrule the things
that didn't. In the end, you are basically left with tons
of questions and an unsatisfied feeling.
The questioning
part isn't all that bad really, since a show like Alias
is supposed to keep you wondering what's going to happen next.
This episode left viewers with many questions, such as why
the hell didn't Vaughn stay with Sark until he was in safely
in CIA custody? Ok, well that was just an annoying nitpick
that the writers should have dealt with better, but "Taken"
does force us to deal with even more interesting questions.
For instance,
what is Irina's name doing on a Rambaldi artifact? This "revelation"
comes about at a time when rumors are running rampant about
the possibility of Lena Olin returning to the series sometime
near the end of this season. Could the box bearing her character's
name be a clue to viewers that Spy Mommy might actually grace
us with her presence once more? Unfortunately, we'll just
have to wait and see.
Another
question that's worthy of some pondering is what's the deal
with Senator Reed? His relationship with Lauren doesn't seem
all that loving and his lack of interest in helping Dixon
makes the viewer wonder if maybe he has some dealings with
the Covenant as well. We've never learned how Lauren got involved
with the group and if the way Sydney got involved with spying
is any indication, it could be possible that treason just
happens to run in the family.
The one
question that was more unsettling than it was interesting
was what was the deal with Lauren in this episode? One minute
she's being a devious double agent and the next she seems
to have some real reservations about what she's doing to Dixon.
What is going on here? Just a few weeks ago she was prepared
to kill her husband and now she suddenly has a heart? Please!
It's completely understandable that they don't want to put
Lauren into some clear-cut category, but this ambiguity is
more jolting for the viewer than it is helpful in developing
the character.
One of the
better aspects of this episode is that it gives Carl Lumbly
a chance to shine. He is always really good at the emotional
stuff and what better way to get a grown man to cry than kidnapping
his children? Seriously though, Lumbly always manages to make
dramatic scenes involving his character into something great
to watch.
Slightly
less enjoyable were the action scenes in this episode. The
building with the bomb, the scene with Syd trying to get into
the government facility, the part where Spy Girl has a heart
attack collar around her neck; all of these scenes were supposed
to be suspenseful, but there were just too many of them. They
tried to make every scene so action packed that they couldn't
actually work and add something to the episode rather than
being distracting and detracting from it.
In the
end, "Taken" is not the kind of episode that can
stand on its own. It gives us some ideas about what we can
expect to happen next, but other than that, again, the only
thing that can be said is "eh."
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