Alias episodes (season 2)

__NOTOC__This article contains episode summaries as well as directing and writing credits from Season 2 of the American drama/adventure television series "Alias". Season 2 aired starting on September 29, 2002 and concluded on May 4, 2003.

Main characters

* Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow
* Ron Rifkin as Arvin Sloane
* Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn
* Bradley Cooper as Will Tippin
* Merrin Dungey as Francie Calfo
* Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon
* Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman
* David Anders as Julian Sark
* Lena Olin as Irina Derevko
* Victor Garber as Jack Bristow

The Enemy Walks In

"Original airdate: September 29, 2002"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: J.J. Abrams

Sydney finds herself face-to-face with her mother, whose intentions for her daughter are made chillingly clear. Meanwhile Sydney continues her search for Vaughn, not knowing if he is dead or alive after being swept away by a wall of water in Taipei. Will's life is forever changed when he learns the truth about SD-6 and Sydney's life as a double agent. Marcus Dixon must decide whether or not to inform Sloane of Sydney's suspicious activities.

International titles

* German: Wahrheit braucht Zeit (Truth Takes Time)
* Italian: Entra il nemico (The Enemy Enters)
* French: Ennemie intime (Close enemy)

Trust Me

"Original airdate: October 6, 2002"
*Directed by: Craig Zisk
*Written by: John Eisendrath

Sydney must decide whether her mother's goodwill gesture was sincere or an attempt to kill her. Will witnesses Francie discussing her restaurant plans with a man whose affiliations are questionable, and Sloane is made a full partner in the malevolent Alliance of Twelve.

International titles

* German: Erpressung (Blackmail)
* Italian: Fiducia (Confidence)
* French: Confiance aveugle (Blind trust)

Note

* The song playing in the background after Sydney returned to the FBI is "Shelter from the Storm" by Bob Dylan.

Cipher

"Original airdate: October 13, 2002"
*Directed by: Dan Attias
*Written by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Sydney must outwit Sark in order to find a crucial piece of intel. Meanwhile, Jack faces Irina for the first time in almost 20 years. Will finally meets Vaughn and Sloane is haunted by his wife's death. Sloane, who drinks only water is seen drinking whiskey in his office. We are told that Emily's garden is dead but Sloane finds it in full bloom.

International titles

* German: Musik aus dem Eis (Ice Music)
* Italian: Cifre (Figures)
* French: Code secret (Secret code)

Dead Drop

"Original airdate: October 20, 2002"
*Directed by: Guy Bee
*Written by: Jesse Alexander

Sydney's dealings with her mother lead Jack to take drastic measures to ensure his daughter's safety. Meanwhile Will is confronted by a mysterious woman about resurrecting his story on SD-6.

International titles

* German: Bewährungsproben (Practical Tests)
* Italian: Bugie (Lies)
* French: Eaux troubles (Murky waters)

The Indicator

"Original airdate: November 3, 2002"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: Jeff Pinkner

Sydney discovers a terrifying secret when she's sent on a case to track down a new generation of weapons. Meanwhile, Vaughn suspects Jack of setting up Irina to take a fall. Sloane tells Jack the truth about Emily's death.

Notes

OpTech: The optech for this episode is a tube of lip gloss that is a miniature camera with a compressed air injector that can shoot and place three cameras like darts.

International titles

* German: Projekt Weihnachten (Project Christmas)
* Italian: Il puzzle (The Puzzle)
* French: Nouvelle génération (New generation)

alvation

"Original airdate: November 10, 2002"
*Directed by: Perry Lang
*Written by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Sydney's trust in her father begins to fade. Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn may have been exposed to a deadly virus while in Taipei; Sloane, haunted by Emily's death, begins to unravel. Vaughn enlists Will to help research a case.

Notes

OpTech: The OpTech for this show is a briefcase that pumps anaethesia into the operating room where Jack is supposedly getting a kidney transplant from Sydney. In addition, Sydney and Jack have an "antidote" to the anaesthesia they are being given.

International titles

* German: Virus
* Italian: Salvezza (Salvation)
* French: Haute trahison (High treason)

The Counteragent

"Original airdate: November 17, 2002"
*Directed by: Dan Attias
*Written by: John Eisendrath

Sydney races to find a cure for Vaughn, but in order to find the antidote, Sydney must make a deal with Sark that could endanger Sloane's life. Meanwhile, Will continues his research for Vaughn and discovers some disturbing inconsistencies involving 20-year-old standardized IQ tests.

Notes

On her mission to find a cure for Vaughn, Sydney is issued a Heckler & Koch P11 like the one Lara Croft carried in .

International titles

* German: Kollaboration (Collaboration)
* Italian: L'antidoto (The Antidote)
* French: Dangereuse alliance (Dangerous alliance)

Passage (Part 1)

"Original airdate: December 1, 2002"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer
Sydney, Jack and Irina must put aside their differences and go undercover as a loving family in order to seize six nuclear warheads from an abandoned facility in Kashmir. Meanwhile, Sloane announces to a suspicious staff that Sark will be working with SD-6, and later he is contacted by an unknown group claiming that Emily is still alive.

International titles

* German: Hafturlaub, Teil 1 (Arrest Holiday, Part 1)
* Italian: Passagio - Parte prima (Passage, First Part)
* French: Double jeu, première partie (Double dealing, part 1)

Passage (Part 2)

"Original airdate: December 8, 2002"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: Crystal Nix Hines

While continuing on a mission to take control of six nuclear warheads, Sydney and Jack discover where Irina's loyalties lie when she meets up with Gerard Cuvee. Meanwhile, Sloane informs the Alliance that Emily may still be alive.

International titles

* German: Hafturlaub, Teil 2 (Arrest Holiday, Part 2)
* Italian: Passagio - Parte seconda (Passage, Second Part)
* French: Double jeu, deuxième partie (Double dealing, part 2)

The Abduction

"Original airdate: December 15, 2002"
*Directed by: Nelson McCormick
*Written by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Jack meets Alliance counterintelligence head Ariana Kane, who is sent in to investigate Emily's disappearance and to discover who is trying to blackmail Sloane. Meanwhile, Marshall is sent on his first mission with Sydney as his partner. Vaughn schedules Will to take a CIA psych test. Francie gets suspicious over Sydney and Will's secretive behavior.

International titles

* German: Außendienst (In the Field)
* Italian: Il rapimento (The Abduction)
* French: Désigné coupable (Found guilty)

A Higher Echelon

"Original airdate: January 5, 2003"
*Directed by: Guy Bee
*Written by: John Eisendrath

After completing his first mission with Sydney, Marshall's life is placed in mortal danger. Meanwhile, Ariana Kane suspects Jack as being the prime suspect in the disappearance of Sloane's wife. Vaughn learns the truth about Jack's involvement in the murder of CIA agent Haladki and Sydney confides in Francie about her feelings for a fellow co-worker.

International titles

* German: Echelon
* Italian: Echelon
* French: Sables mouvants (Quicksand)

The Getaway

"Original airdate: January 12, 2003"
*Directed by: Lawrence Trilling
*Written by: Jeff Pinkner

While Alliance counterintelligence head Ariana Kane tracks Sydney in order to catch her fugitive father, Jack elicits Irina's help in finding Sloane's blackmailer. Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn risk exposing their covers to SD-6 when they share a romantic dinner together while on a case in France.

International titles

* German: Davongekommen (Got Away)
* Italian: La fuga (The Escape)
* French: Maître chanteur (Blackmailer)

Phase One

"Original airdate: January 26, 2003"
*Directed by: Jack Bender
*Written by: J.J. Abrams

Sydney and Jack are confronted by the new director of SD-6, one Geiger, who replaces Sloane, whose whereabouts and intentions are unknown. Sydney and Vaughn lead the team to raid SD-6 and shut down the Alliance, and Sydney's friend Francie is killed by what looks like her doppleganger.

Notes

* This episode originally aired after Super Bowl XXXVII on ABC
** Despite earning critical acclaim from "USA Today"cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2003-01-23-alias_x.htm|publisher=USA Today|date=2003-01-23|first=Robert|last=Bianco|title=Super 'Alias' will bowl you over] and attracting the largest audience of the series with 17.4 million viewers,cite news|url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2003/jan03/jan27/3_wed/news3wednesday.html|publisher=Media Life Magazine|first=Toni|last=Fitzgerald|title=How ABC fumbled its Super Bowl edge|date=2003-01-29] this episode retained just 19 percentcite news|url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2003/jan03/jan27/3_wed/news3wednesday.html|publisher=Media Life Magazine|first=Toni|last=Fitzgerald|title=How ABC fumbled its Super Bowl edge|date=2003-01-29] of the Super Bowl XXXVII audience and has the dubious distinction of earning the lowest overall ratings for a program airing after a Super Bowl since at least 1987cite news|url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2003/jan03/jan27/3_wed/news3wednesday.html|publisher=Media Life Magazine|first=Toni|last=Fitzgerald|title=How ABC fumbled its Super Bowl edge|date=2003-01-29] and the lowest rating ever (8.3 rating) in the age 18-49 demographic for a post-Super Bowl program.cite news|url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2003/jan03/jan27/3_wed/news3wednesday.html|publisher=Media Life Magazine|first=Toni|last=Fitzgerald|title=How ABC fumbled its Super Bowl edge|date=2003-01-29] Also, since the episode started airing at 11 p.m. on the East Coast, it was not eligible for the week's list of top primetime shows ranked by Nielsen Media Research and thus, the episode's viewership numbers were not factored in the series' overall 2002-2003 season average.
* Geiger is portrayed by special guest star Rutger Hauer
* This is one of the many episodes of Alias where French is spoken. There are several grammar mistakes, one of them being "laisse tomber la pistole" instead of "laisse tomber le revolver".

International titles

* German: Phase Eins (Phase One)
* Italian: Fase Uno (Phase One)
* French: Phase un (Phase one)

Double Agent

"Original airdate: February 2, 2003"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Sydney, Vaughn and Jack must determine whether CIA agent Lennox is who he says he is after his deep cover mission is compromised in Berlin. It is discovered that an agency has built a machine capable of replicating a human being's appearance. In this case, there are two agents Lennox at large and Sydney must discover which one is the real one and which one is fake. It is hinted that the machine has been used before to replicate someone else this way (Francie).

Notes

*Lennox is portrayed by special guest star Ethan Hawke.
*The song "Moving in Stereo" by The Cars plays as Sydney emerges from a swimming pool and wraps a towel around herself.

International titles

* German: Doppelter Agent (Doubled Agent)
* Italian: Duplicazione (Duplication)
* French: Trompe l'oeil (Trick of the Eye)

A Free Agent

"Original airdate: February 9, 2003"
*Directed by: Alex Kurtzman
*Written by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Sydney must make a life-defining decision regarding her future with CIA, while Sloane re-emerges and continues his obsessive quest to piece together the mysterious Rambaldi artifacts -- with the reluctant aid of a kidnapped scientist named Neil Caplan. Meanwhile, Dixon's marriage is put to the test after he tells his wife the truth about his occupation.

Notes

* Neil Caplan is portrayed by special guest star Christian Slater.

International titles

* German: Freier Agent (Free Agent)
* Italian: Un agente libero (A Free Agent)
* French: Électron libre (Free electron)

Firebomb

"Original airdate: February 23, 2003"
*Directed by: Craig Zisk
*Written by: John EisendrathThis is the episode in which it is revealed what some of Rambaldi's mysterious artifacts really are: the pieces to build a reusable neutron bomb in the 15th century. Sloane is the one who controls it. Meanwhile, Vaughn begs Dixon to aid the CIA in rescuing Sydney, Will is called upon to participate in a crucial CIA briefing session, and Sydney notices that something with Francie is not quite right.

International titles

* German: _de. Höllenfeuer (Hell Fire)
* Italian: _it. Bomba di fuoco (Firebomb)
* French: _fr. Jugement Dernier (Last Judgment)

A Dark Turn

"Original airdate: March 2, 2003"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: Jesse Alexander

Sydney begins to question where Vaughn's allegiances lie when she learns through CIA Agent Yaeger that he is under investigation. Meanwhile Irina and another crucial Rambaldi manuscript --this one about the secret of eternal life-- are used as bait to try to catch Sloane. It turns out Vaughn had only been investigating Irina through his own means because the Agency was slow and he wanted to see if he could catch her in a lie or discover additional information. Sydney also welcomes Dixon to the CIA.

Notes

* Agent Yaeger's name is German for "hunter." He is portrayed by special guest star Richard Lewis. In his scenes, he is actually reading his lines off of "documents" in front of him on his desk. Lewis is one of two Curb Your Enthusiasm references in this episode; the other is the Toyota Prius Sydney drives towards the end of the episode.

International titles

* German: Kehrtwendung (U-turn)
* Italian: Una svolta nel buio (A Turn in the Dark)
* French: Talon d'Achille (Achilles' heel)

Truth Takes Time

"Original airdate: March 16, 2003"
*Directed by: Nelson McCormick
*Written by: J.R. Orci

Sydney faces off with her mother, while Emily must decide whether to side with her husband or betray him.

International titles

* German: Bittere Erkenntnis (Bitter Awareness)
* Italian: La verità ha bisogno di tempo (Truth Takes Time)
* French: Liens sacrés (Sacred ties)

Endgame

"Original airdate: March 30, 2003"
*Directed by: Perry Lang
*Written by: Sean Gerace

Sydney defies her father in her attempt to rescue kidnapped scientist Neil Caplan, while Sloane, seeking revenge for the assassination of his wife orders that Dixon's wife be taken out. Meanwhile, Allison in the guise of Francie manipulates an unsuspecting Will for his agency connections.

* Neil Caplan is portrayed by special guest star Christian Slater.

International titles

* German: Endspiel (Endgame)
* Italian: Fine del gioco (End of the Game)
* French: Roulette russe (Russian roulette)

Countdown

"Original airdate: April 27, 2003"
*Directed by: Lawrence Trilling
*Written by: R.P. Gaborno, Jeff Pinkner

A Rambaldi manuscript prophesizes that an apocalyptic event involving a heart will soon take place. An agent is sent after one man in Panama in order to steal his heart. Dixon's grief leads Vaughn and agency psychologist Dr. Barnett to question his intentions, as his thirst for revenge on Sloane intensifies. Meanwhile Sloane receives a life-changing revelation from a mysterious monk in Nepal, Sydney and Dixon hunt for the killer who stole the heart from his victim.

* The Nepalese monk is portrayed by special guest star David Carradine.
* The agent sent to retrieve the human heart of the man in Panama is portrayed by special guest star Danny Trejo.

International titles

* German: Countdown
* Italian: Conto alla rovescia (Countdown)
* French: 48 heures (48 hours)

econd Double

"Original airdate: May 4, 2003"
*Directed by: Ken Olin
*Written by: Breen Frazier, Crystal Nix Hines

Sydney begins to question Will's identity when he's arrested for espionage, under suspicion of being a double. Meanwhile Sark and Irina plot to recover the Di Regno heart, and Sloane makes Jack a business proposal.

International titles

* German: Zweites Double (Second Double)
* Italian: Il secondo duplicato (The Second Double)
* French: Faux amis (False friends)

The Telling

"Original airdate: May 4, 2003"
*Directed by: J.J. Abrams
*Written by: J.J. Abrams

Sydney finally confronts her mother, who reveals her true motivation. Sloane, for his part, begins to execute his new grand plan and Will struggles to figure out who's behind his set-up. At the end of the episode, Sydney discovers that Francie is not herself but a genetic duplicate created in Project Helix and kills her. Having been herself badly beaten, she passes out. After what seems a short while she awakes in a back alley in Hong Kong, disoriented and confused. She contacts Kendall and Vaughn is sent to get her back. It is then revealed that Vaughn has married someone in the meantime, because Sydney has been missing for almost 2 years and left for dead.

International titles

* German: Il dire
* Italian: Il dire
* French: Risque maximum (Maximum risk)

References

External links

* [http://www.alias-tv.com/episodes2.html Alias Season 2] at Alias-TV.com