The previous episode ended with Sydney holding a ball of plutonium that she had extracted from a nuclear bomb while arms dealer Ineni Hassan pointed a pistol at her head; clearly not a good situation. Of course Sydney managed to escape in style; rendering the weapon useless and remaining unidentified. Back in L.A. she returns to SD-6 and learns that the Mueller Device that she recovered in the pilot episode was in fact based on a design created my one Milo Rambaldi; and Italian scientist/prophet whose work is being acquired by various intelligence agencies; both governmental and criminal. In order to understand how the device works SD-6 needs a code that is kept in a vault in Madrid; Sydney and Dixon are dispatched to retrieve it. In Madrid Sydney runs into Anna Espinosa, an agent working for K-Directorate, a Russian equivalent of SD-6. Anna beats Sydney to the case holding the code but Sydney manages to get it off her; the only problem is to open the case they need a key and Anna kept that. I a rare moment of agreement SD-6 and K-Directorate decide to share the knowledge so Anna and Sydney meet once again... but we will have to wait till the next episode to learn what the case contains. Away from her missions Sydney finds that Vaughn has been replaced as her handler and is unimpressed with his replacement and Will makes a breakthrough in his unofficial investigation of Danny's murder.
This episode started well with an exciting escape and was followed up by a second exciting mission; this was helped by Gina Torres' great performance as Anna Espinosa; K-Directorate's answer to Sydney who clearly knows she is one of the bad guys and relishes it... stylish and probably more deadly than Sydney. Some amusement was to be had when Sydney told her new handler what she thought of him. This episode features the first mention of Milo Rambaldi somebody we will hear a lot more of in future episode although here his importance is just hinted at. The side story involving Will's investigations into Danny's murder are getting more interesting now; no doubt it is only a matter of time before he comes to the attention of SD-6. I'm less keen on the soapy scenes where Sydney hangs out with Will, Francie and her boyfriend; I know they are meant to show how Sydney is trying to have a normal life outside SD-6 but is seems a distraction and whether or not Francie's boyfriend is having an affair is too trivial to care about given what is going on in the rest of the episode; thankfully this didn't take up too much time so didn't spoil the episode. With another cliff-hanger ending I want to know what was in the case that surprised Sydney and Anna so much!
This episode started well with an exciting escape and was followed up by a second exciting mission; this was helped by Gina Torres' great performance as Anna Espinosa; K-Directorate's answer to Sydney who clearly knows she is one of the bad guys and relishes it... stylish and probably more deadly than Sydney. Some amusement was to be had when Sydney told her new handler what she thought of him. This episode features the first mention of Milo Rambaldi somebody we will hear a lot more of in future episode although here his importance is just hinted at. The side story involving Will's investigations into Danny's murder are getting more interesting now; no doubt it is only a matter of time before he comes to the attention of SD-6. I'm less keen on the soapy scenes where Sydney hangs out with Will, Francie and her boyfriend; I know they are meant to show how Sydney is trying to have a normal life outside SD-6 but is seems a distraction and whether or not Francie's boyfriend is having an affair is too trivial to care about given what is going on in the rest of the episode; thankfully this didn't take up too much time so didn't spoil the episode. With another cliff-hanger ending I want to know what was in the case that surprised Sydney and Anna so much!
