Alias: The Box (1) Episode Trivia

Alias: The Box (1)

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Cole tortures Sloane by injecting a super-concentrated derivative of hot sauce. Capsaicin, the active chemical ingredient in spicy foods like hot sauce, has a paradoxical effect at sufficiently high doses: instead of causing pain, it relieves it. It's a common ingredient in topical pain relieving ointments. edit »
Goof:
In the corridor with all those red lasers you don't see a single hole or mirror in the walls where the light could come from or where it would be reflected. edit »
The failed mission that Cole was on was in 1996. Cole said that the KGB contacted the CIA through various channels to confirm whether or not he was a CIA operative, but the KGB was disbanded in 1991. edit »

McKenas Cole: (interrogating Sloane) You still got that room downstairs right? The �Conversation Room�? That�s what you used to call it right? The torture room, like you�re ever going to admit what ever it is you did down there right? So Arvin lets go to the Conversation Room. edit »
(After Irina�s past surfaces)
Vaughn: It�s a weird thing you know when, learning how your father died, I mean it�s always been this intellectual idea... knowing he died, just not knowing any details.
Weiss: You really want some space, or are you and I going to get drunk? Because there�s this bar, you wont even remember it tomorrow. edit »
(Sydney wants out of SD-6)
Jack: This is suicide.
Sydney: I don�t think it is.
Jack: What exactly is your strategy here? Politely asking Sloane to let you out of SD-6? edit »
Jenny: (to Will) I found out that SD-6 is an ingredient in artificial sweeteners... but that�s probably not the SD-6 you�re talking about. edit »
McKenas Cole: You're going to give me the combination to the SD-6 vault and if you don't, I'm going to open this box. And Arvin, trust me when I tell you, you do not want me to open this box. edit »
Jack: Sloane must have activated the emergency failsafe. There are five hundred pounds of C-4 strategically placed within the substructure of this building. Opening the vault will trigger that C-4. All underground levels will collapse, burying any evidence that the Los Angeles cell of SD-6 ever existed. edit »
Sydney: How could K-Directorate overpower fifty trained agents?
Jack: If K-Directorate attacks SD-6, they know SD-6 will return the favor. This team that's invaded SD-6, isn't working with any organization we know. My guess is they're working for a group, clearly unpredictable and dangerous. edit »
Sydney: Look where we are. I mean, this isn't real. This isn't what we should be doing. I want out.
Vaughn: Out? (Sydney nods.)
You want to enter the protection program.
Sydney: No. I'm not going into hiding.
Vaughn: If you don't, Sloane will kill you.
Sydney: I don't think he will. edit »
Jack: I know how this feels.
Sydney: Not exactly. You've had a lot longer to make sense of this than I have.
Jack: There was a time when this was news to me, too. Your mother was sent to the United States to steal secrets from a ranking officer of the C.I.A. How she and I happened to meet, how she supposedly fell in love, I thought it was all true. But it was just a set-up. edit »
Sydney: There�s something that happens when you discover the truth about someone. I know a little about this. The truth changes everything. There is this woman, a personality, like a collage put together from the photographs, the few memories I have, the scraps of stories I�ve heard. The clothes of hers I�ve got, her books. None of it�s real. She wasn�t that woman at all. She was� she was a horrible person, who killed your father. Vaughn, I just wanted to say, that I�m so sorry� edit »
Sydney: I can't believe, of all things, we're saving SD-6. edit »
McKenas Cole: You give us the codes, I won't have to open the box which will be really excellent for you.
Sloane: I can't be the first person to have difficulty taking you seriously, can I? edit »
McKenas Cole: (holding one 'needles of fire') Each one is like you took a bag of red jalape�os, threw them in a blender, and used them for an enema. And Arvin, you're about to get to know them. edit »

Quentin Tarantino is billed as a Special Guest Star. edit »
Music from this episode includes:
"How Can I Keep From Singing" by Enya
"Dragula (Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare Mix)" by Rob Zombie edit »
Sydney suggests she and Vaughn should go see the L.A Kings who "are in town next week" are playing the New York Islanders. This episode was aired January 20th 2002 and the Kings actually played the Islanders one night before this episode aired. edit »
Merrin Dungey does not appear in this episode. edit »
First appearance of Patricia Wettig, actress and wife of Ken Olin (executive producer, developer, and director on Alias). edit »
Quentin Tarantino is reportedly a hardcore fan of Alias. Rumors have it that he wanted to pay just to be on the show. edit »
Originally, "The Box" was to be a single episode, but it was realized that it was going to be too long for one episode so extra material was added to fill out two episodes. Interestingly, something similar would later happen with Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. edit »

Visual: "McTiernan Air Conditioning" van
The fake name on the van Cole and his men use is "McTiernan Air Conditioning", which is an in-joke reference to director John McTiernan, whose movie Die Hard shares a number of plot elements with this episode. edit »