Do you agree with Dixon and the others that attempting to deal with Ryan as the Covenant was the correct initial strategy? Did they do enough “due diligence” beforehand? Or do you think Vaughn was right, should they have skipped the foreplay and gone straight to playing their Jack of Spades in this hand of poker?
I think Vaughn was right. Even if Ryan had given them the plans or the bomb, either way, it wasn't going to stop him from making another bomb at some point in the future. Being imprisoned would be the only way to stop him from killing more people, whether in the present or the future.
What do you make of Vaughn’s apparent change of attitude towards Jack’s, um, techniques? How do you take his use of the word “sic,” or is a cigar just a cigar here?
I just think that Vaughn knows that Jack gets results, period. And I think "sic" was just Vaughn's way of saying that. He knows how Jack deals with problems, and therefore, thinks Jack could be the easy answer to the one they faced (Ryan).
Any change in your view of Weiss? Is he up to something--other than being Vaughn's friend, that is?
No change in my view of him, I still think he's just Vaughn's friend. However, I think that he's begun to get suspicious of Lauren because he sees his friend's apathy over the state of their marriage, and I think it concerns him a great deal. I just don't think they'd make Weiss bad. I could be wrong, but that's what I think.
Do you agree that a great deal of the reason--or at least part of it--that Sydney was transformed into Julia Thorne was to undermine her character? Her identity as Sydney Bristow? To make her question herself? Her decisions?
I hadn't ever thought of it that way...I had just assumed that the Covenant needed her to not be "Sydney Bristow" in order to fulfill something Rambaldi related. But, that's a good point. They could break her as Julia Thorne, force her to become someone she wasn't, someone she would never be. And yes, I think it did make her question herself, her motives for doing what she did during those two years (like having an affair with a "bad" guy, Simon). But mostly I think it's just because they couldn't have her be Sydney Bristow. They needed SB gone, for some reason, probably Prophecy related.
Do you think that Sydney is becoming more like her father? Do you think she is becoming more morally ambiguous? Do you think others are trying to force her into positions in which she must decide between bad and worse moral choices?
Well, no, not exactly. I mean, when Vaughn suggested siccing Jack on Ryan, she didn't want to go that route. And she was horrified by Jack "killing" Ryan and bringing him back to life. I think this season, we have seen Syd do some things that I don't know if she would have been able to do in previous seasons (example: stabbing Vaughn). But, I still don't think she's becoming morally ambiguous, or more like Jack. I mean, she didn't offer to try to coerce Ryan into giving her the codes like Jack did. She was just going to sit by Marshall's computer and hope for the best. Or, it seemed that way to me. And, when she tries to get criminals to confess secrets, she usually starts with the humanitarian plea (with Bogden, with Ryan). With Ryan, unfortunately, it backfired. Jack, on the other hand, is no such humanitarian. He does what he's got to do to get results. And I do love him for that.
Do you think that Sloane is attempting to isolate Sydney? Do you think that Irina is involved in this?
Yes, I think Sloane is attempting to isolate her for something Prophecy related. I think Irina may be aware of Sloane's plans, but I don't beliee she's actively involved in helping him isolate Syd.
Why do you think Barnett is sleeping with Sloane? (Eww! Eww! Eww! Evil!--I can only suppress it for so long . . .)
I like to think that Barnett is in cahoots with Jack, and is holding the cards in their relationship. I like to think that she enjoys Sloane's company, and enjoys having sex with him, but that for her, she's not more emotionally involved. Hopefully, she's got her eye on some other big prize. Sadly, though, I think that she'll probably be another casualty of Sloane's manipulations. But I hope not.
And, yes, she wasn't in this episode, but I've been thinking about it. Lauren: more closely allied with Sloane or Irina?
Sloane. I still think Sloane is either loyal to the Covenant, or possibly the head of it. If Lauren had been working with Sark all along, I would buy that she and Irina were more closely allied. However, I think (or maybe I hope) that Sark has a different agenda than Lauren, and is using her to get what he (or Irina) wants. Therefore, I think Lauren is loyal to the Covenant, and Sark is loyal only to himself (and Irina, possibly).
Another great article!
