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TV Guide
September 6, 2003
Those Lips! Those Spies!
by Shawna Malcom
Thanks to Steph at the Sydney and Vaughn Mailing List for the scans! :)
SPOILERS!
It´s not like cliff-hangers are alien to Alias. In two
whiplash-inducing seasons, the ABC spy serial has certainly had its
share of jaw droppers. Still, even by those standards, last May´s
season ender was a doozy.
To wit, a quick refresher: CIA superspy Sydney Bristow, played by
Jennifer Garner, collapsed, unconscious, in her Los Angeles home after
a knock-down-drag-out fight with her evil roommate and awoke
disoriented in Hong Kong with a scary-looking scar on her stomach. She
promptly called her boss, who directed her to a safe house, where
boyfriend and fellow CIA agent Vaughn (Michael Vartan) greeted her--not
with an armful of roses or a thank God you are ok kiss but with two
big-ass bombshells.
Bombshell No.1: He was wearing a shiny gold wedding band.
Bombshell No.2: "Syd, you´ve been missing for almost two years."
For viewers, the reaction was a collective, Huh?
But Garner had a slightly different take. Sitting on a bed in Sydney´s
sprawling new digs, her hair swept up in a ponytail, she says with a
laugh, "I thought, 'Gosh, this show´s aging me so fast, we have to jump
forward in time!'"
Alias creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams says he was looking for
a way to keep the show fresh in its third season. "We had stories we
wanted to tell that we needed time to pass [in order] to tell them," he
says.
First up, throwing a wrench into Syd and Vaughn's blossoming
relationship. "Lovers as just happy isn´t dramatic,"Abrams says.
"There´s always a great story in lovers falling apart." So believing
Sydney dead, Vaughn eventually moved on to another woman, British
diplomat Lauren Reed (Melissa George, who first appears in the show´s
second episode). "It takes Sydney and Vaughn´s love story and throws it
into this question of 'Now what?'"
Both Garner and Vartan--who began dating offscreen when Alias went back
into production in July--were initially leery to see their characters
break up but ultimately accepted Abrams' plan. "If you really think
somebody is gone, you grieve them," says Garner, who split with husband
Scott Foley last spring. "But that doesn´t mean that you are not going to [move on]. Life moves
fast."
And sometimes takes painful twists. In the opening minutes of the
season premiere, Sydney delivers a major butt kicking to her former
lover. "I think Michael and I were afraid we´d get the giggles, but it
wasn´t funny at all," Garner says of filming that scene. "I was
strangling him. I had this electric cord around his face and it was at
his mouth at one point."
"There´s a part where she turns around and kicks me in the stomach,"
Vartan says. "Jesus, her legs are like pistons. I was wearing a
protective shell but still that girl gets props for her impact skills."
Don´t expect the impact of Vaughn´s actions resolved anytime soon. "The
role of the Mrs. started out as a guest recurring," reveals George. But
"After I read with Michael J.J. called me directly and asked if I´d like
to be on the show long term. I´m like, are you kidding me? I'm a huge
fan of the show. I was so happy."
Syd-Vaughn fans might not rejoice at first, but Abrams insists viewers
will grow to like the new character. "It´s not as easy as Vaughn
married some bitch," he says. "That´d be adolescent. She is someone who
is experiencing this totally f---ed up situation, and you sympathize with
her."
Adds Garner: "His wife is charming and funny and smart and dignified.
You can´t blame Vaughn. I´d marry her." (Instead look for Sydney and
Lauren to become unlikely allies.)
Some other classified intel (Warning! Spoilers ahead): Francie and Will, who
both survived a fire in Sydney's home, are MIA in the first episode. But
Abrams insists they'll both be back at least briefly during the season, along
with Syd's traitorous mom, played by Lena Olin.
Sydney's father, Jack, is no longer CIA, while Dixon's been promoted to
director of the agency. Slithery Sloane's living in Zurich, professing to be
a good guy. (A shadowy organization called the Covenant, which seems to have
played a role in Sydney's disappearance, helps fill the bad-guy void.) CIA
agent Weiss steps in as Sydney's new confidant and roomie, and gadget geek
Marshall is on the verge of becoming a father. Finally, Justin Theroux
(Six Feet Under) will pop up in the fourth episode as a mysterious
gun-for-hire who apparently hit the sheets with Sydney during those missing
two years.
While that's all fine and dandy, how did Sydney wind up in Hong Kong? What's up
with her freaky scar? And just how did Syd's hair go from long and
highlighted in the finale to her current shoulder-length, dark 'do? Nobody's
saying, although Abrams promises one major revelation will cap the first
episode. "They don't tell me anything," Garner insists, "because they know
I can't keep a secret."
Nice try, Ms. Garner. But it doesn't take a secret agent to figure out there
are more cliffhangers on the way.
© TV Guide 2003
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