Alias

Ice

Season 4, Episode 5, Aired 1/19/05

Episode Summary

Sydney and Vaughn are sent on a mission by APO to obtain a sample of a new bio-weapon, known as Ice 5, which can literally freeze a person to death. When the agents learn the substance is going to be sold to a buyer in Damascus, together Sydney and Vaughn have to turn each of the family members against each other while remaining undercover. But when they are found out, there are devastating consequences. Meanwhile Nadia asks Jack for the truth about her mother, and Sydney begins to wonder if Vaughn has really come to terms with Lauren's death.moreless

8.6

EPISODE RATING: Great

229 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate It

Watch Online

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Greg Grunberg

Eric Weiss
Kevin Weisman

Marshall J. Flinkman
Jennifer Garner

Sydney Anne Bristow

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

See All

Ice to See You

8.9

"Great"

By maxpower03, Aug 05, 2010 Report Abuse

The hiring of various Buffy/Angel writers seems to have had an immediate effect on Alias, as this episode almost completely abandons reality and features people literally smashing to pieces.

Ice sees Sydney and Vaughn going undercover to track down a deadly new weapon called Ice-5, which when injected into a human body, rapidly turns their body to ice. Meanwhile, Vaughn faces up to the past.

The Ice-5 device is extremely cool (just noticed the pun) and the special effects as Modell shattered to pieces were amazing. Thankfully, the rest of the storyline never felt like a let down after the explosive teaser sequence.

The episode is owned, however, by both Michael Vartan and guest star Kelly Macdonald. Vaughn's remorse for killing Lauren is the subplot of the episode and Vartan really nails it. The scene between him and Keira is heartbreaking to watch and excellently played out by both parties.

There was a lot of action throughout Ice. The big fight scene at the end featured some excellent use of various operating equipment and the close-up of Keira's eye as it frosted over was awesome.

The photograph subplot was intriguing but I can't actually remember if it was followed up on. My memory of Alias year four is pretty vague, so I'm probably just being forgetful.

All in all, Ice was an impressive episode, going for more than just visual greatness and culminating in the best hour of the season so far.

Director: Jeffrey Bell
Writer: Jeffrey Bell
Rating: Amoreless

DO YOU AGREE?
1 1
A stunning episode from an underrated season. Great character development, stellar guest stars (see Kelly MacDonald), and moving parallels.

10

"Perfect"

By ainsley_hayes, Aug 05, 2010 Report Abuse

"Ice" is one of my favorite episodes of the later chapters of Alias, simply because of the incredible performances given by Michael Vartan and guest star Kelly MacDonald. The episode started off rather nicely, with a man "explod[ing] like a frozen piata." Soon, Sydney, Vaughn, and Dixon are off on a mission, and the story begins.

I cannot say enough about the brilliant Kelly MacDonald, introduced as nurse Kiera MacLaine. She plays her role with wit and stern control, touched with a heart-wrenching vulnerability. The introduction of the character's relationship with baddie-of-the-week Fintan Keene (a reveal that he is her older brother) shows one of tension, and conflicted loyalty. As she says, "Love the sinner, hate the sin." The team soon discovers that her real name is Meghan Keene, former IRA. Her actions led to the death of a father and two boys. With a heartbreaking and touching realism she conveys her shame and regret, her conflict, her struggle to break away from her brother.

This episode is a fine example of the range of Michael Vartan's skills. As he taunts Dixon to hit him, just the beginnings of Vaughn's emotional wounds are introduced. His connection with MacDonald's character is beautiful. The 'flirty priest' gets under MacLaine's skin, and she gets under his. A tavern confessional between the two is incredibly touching in order to get Kiera to open up, Vaughn tells her about Lauren, about his overwhelming hate for her, and about how he murdered her. He tells her the toll it has taken on him, how he can't close him eyes, can't sleep. Kiera tells him that forgiveness is a tricky thing, and then opens up about her relationship with Fintan. She is, however incredibly resistant to the thought of breaking away from him. The entire scene is incredibly well-written and well-acted, focusing on forgiveness and shame, and redemption.

As they return to the hospital, Fintan arrives, boasting that his sister would never betray him. Kelly MacDonald is simply amazing throughout this entire scene, as her character watches her brother prepare to inject the substance (Ice-5) that froze the man in the opening sequence directly into the brain of the man who was trying to get her away from the life she hated. And when Fintan turns to her and says, "You do it," the look on her face is painful to see, as she feels both compelled to do what her brother demands and sickened by hurting someone that was trying to help her. Of course, Sydney bursts in, in the nick of time, and a fight ensues. As Fintan spins and stabs who he thinks is Vaughn with the syringe of Ice-5, it is Kiera who gasps.

Vaughn holds her as she dies; before she passes, she struggles to tell him that she forgives him. She then draws her final breath, and Vaughn can do nothing but look up at Sydney, helpless. On the plane ride home, Vaughn finally closes his eyes, and sleeps.

Again, this is one of my personal favorites from season 4. Kelly MacDonald's performance plays a big hand in that, but the main reason is that it's nice to see emotional character development in someone other than Sydney. So, it is highly recommended. A fine piece of television from a fine series.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
1 1
Review

6.0

"Fair"

By cavanagh15, Aug 16, 2007 Report Abuse

I dont feel like I am watching Alias this season. There really is no overlying plan, no huge terrorist cell that is being establsihed here. Individual missions have been done before in this show by the old SD-6, but the works of Rambaldi were always the topics of the random missions. This season, the missions are random and none of the episodes seem to flow together. In previous seasons, you could never take any two episodes and flip them because the timeline of the show would be incorrect. Season 4 seems to be quite the opposite. Flipping "Ice" and "The Awful Turth" would have little to no effect on anything. I expect that on shows like Numbers, Criminal Minds, and The Sheild...not Alias. Things need to flow in a pattern and Alias is all messed up at the moment. The writing is easy to predict and its bad at that. The "I forgive you..." line said by the woman as Vaughn is holding her was terrible.

The Alias crew is working too hard to move people into the show. This season they got a new timeslot and they took away what makes the show good. They have given every episode an ending, no cliffhangers like the golden days. This is the worst episode of the series so far and I enjoy that tv.com viewers have also thought so.

Long Live Julian Sark!moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
1 1
What the hell was that? Was I watching some low cost horror flick?

1.9

"Abysmal"

By _SemperFidelis_, May 05, 2007 Report Abuse

What... the... hell.

Alias is definitely NOT based on reality. But this episode... Ice-5, a lethal weapon which freezes you from the inside. How cool.

The episode opens with the founder of this weapon dying - first he loses his leg, then he falls into a million pieces. Surely. It wasn't horrifying or anything, but it was definitely disturbing and sick. Something that shouldn't be on Alias in my opinion.

What's worse, is that, the rest of the episode is even worse. Sydney goes undercover as a nurse, Vaughn goes undercover as a priest... how exciting.

The characters' are dumbed down, too. Especially Sloane. He's all good and effective now. What happened to Rambaldi? Why it isn't even MENTIONED?

Why the hell is Weiss and Marshall credited as series regulars when they hardly get 2 minutes screentime? And why does Nadia get more than them? With her photos... oh gosh.

The ending was so soap opera, too. No cliffhanger. No, of course not. Season 4 is all about standalone episodes... yeah, ok. I want my Alias back. This isn't Alias. This is a show with the same cast, but much crappier writers.

Overally, there was NOT even ONE redeeming quality of this episode, except maybe for Jennifer Garner's hot looks.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
0 0
Just for the record i write this review in Finnish, because I'm sick and tired to write in English at the moment. So, anybody who doeasn't understund Finnish can't get anything of this!moreless

8.9

"Great"

By AngelsCryBlood, Oct 04, 2005 Report Abuse

Alussa olin aivan varma ett tm jonkinlainen luultavasti Sydneyn painaijainen. Mutta olisihan minun ahkrrana Aliaksen katsojana pitnyt tiet ett tss sarjassa ei paljoa painajaisia nytet vaan ne ovat todellisuutta.

Hieman kyll jrkytyin kun tajusin ett sen miehen p rjhti miljoonaan osaan oikeasti (tai niin oikeasti kun tv-sarjassa voi)

Tst lhtee taas kerran jnnittv tapahtuma sarja kun Sydney pukeutuu tll kertaa lkriksi ja lhtee vakoilemaan sairaalaa jossa valmistetaan ainetta joka saa ihmisen jtymn.

Sairaalassa Sydney huomaa tarvitsevansa apua ja Vaughn tuleekin auttamaan hnt papin puvussa ja haavan kanssa joka tarvitsee paikkausta. Vaughn saa naislkrin hoitjakseen ja yritt iske hnt ja lkri arasti vastaa.

Tmn naislkrin veli on koko Ice-ohjelman takana ja he tarvitsevat lkrin puolelleen jotta saisivat aineen. Sydney nappaakin sen mutta lkri ja Vaughn jvt kiinni kun he yrittvt karata. Veli uhkailee Vaughnia pistvns tt ainetta joka pakastaisi hnet. Vaughn pist vastaan ja annos osuukin lkrin joka jtyy ja kuolee.

Matkalla pois Sydney sanoo Vaughnille ett hn voi puhua hnelle mys ja kpertyy hnen syliin.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Write a Review

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

Trivia
ADD TRIVIA
- Goof: At the end of the episode when Jack is telling Nadia about the picture of her mother, there is one shot that was reversed, so the picture is backwards. Edit
- Lena Olin was unavailable, at the time of production, when picture inserts were needed of her, for the picture found by Nadia in this episode, of Irina holding a baby [her niece]. At the last minute, Angela DeAwn [Nadia], offered to step in to play the part of Irina in the picture. Edit
- Kiera/Meghan asks Vaughn if he works for MI-5, but MI-5 is Britain's counterintelligence service, and doesn't operate outside of Britain. MI-6 is foreign intelligence. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- At the end of the of this episode when Kiera gets stabbed with the Ice 5, her eyes get frozen over. This is the same effect that happened on season five on "Angel" episode "A Hole In The World" when Illyria (Amy Acker) was taking over Freds (Amy Acker) body. Amy Acker also guest-stars in some episode of season five of "Alias" Edit
- Music from this episode includes: "Whoa Now" by Louque "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star Edit
- This episode averaged 14.00 million viewers. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Weiss: Killed? He exploded like a frozen pinata. Edit
- Vaughn: There are other ways to keep him from having power over you, to make him go away. Kiera MacLaine: You underestimate my brother. Vaughn: Or maybe you underestimate me. Edit
- Fintan Keene: You should be nicer to your big brother. (to Vaughn) Fintan Keene: Isn't that what the Bible says? Vaughn: Why, do I look like some kind of expert? Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Sloane: He called it "Ice 5", and offered it to the Agency for ten thousand dollars. In Kurt Vonnegut's book Cat's Cradle there is a special form of ice called ice-nine that had the ability to instantly crystallize water. In the book it brought about the end of the world when it was tossed into the ocean. Alias made a vague reference to this too, pointing out that putting a small amount of ice-5 in a city water supply could cause serious damage. Kurt Vonnegut's most famous book is Slaughterhouse 5, so Ice-5 might be a combination of the Ice-nine from Cat's Cradle and the title of KV's masterpiece. Edit