Alias

The Descent

Season 4, Episode 20, Aired 5/18/05

Episode Summary

After a tactical group infiltrates the DSR and steals Rambaldi artifacts, CIA director Hayden Chase discovers that the alarms at the DSR were disabled from Nadia's computer, allowing the raid to happen, and shows up at the apartment to question her. Soon Sloane and Jack arrive and suspect that Sophia, who had access to the computer while she was living with Syd and Nadia, is Elena Derevko. They follow her trail to a dead Rambaldi follower, a stunning betrayal, and a presumed dead family member...moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Kevin Weisman

Marshall J. Flinkman
Jennifer Garner

Sydney Anne Bristow
Carl Lumbly

Marcus R. Dixon

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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More Alive Than Dead

8.8

"Great"

By maxpower03, Nov 27, 2010 Report Abuse

Right from the opening scene, The Descent is one of the most exhilarating episodes in Alias history. There are so many twists and two massive shocks which nobody would have guessed.

The Descent begins with APO discovering Sophia's true identity: Elena Derevko. APO desperately search for Elena and follow her trail to a follower of Rambaldi who has turned up dead and eventually a raid on her Prague headquarters.

Where to begin? This episode has so many amazing moments. The Indiana Jones-style hunt for the Sphere of Life seen in flashback featuring Sloane and Nadia is extremely fun and the cracking glass which Nadia has to walk across to get to the Sphere is incredibly nerve-wracking. The only annoyance is that everything seems too easy during these scenes. The caves haven't been stepped in to for thousands of years and everything's so easy to get into. It would have been better if we saw some trials to get to the Sphere, like the quest to find the Holy Grail in the final Indiana Jones movie.

It's always good to see Bad-Sloane back and he again returns in this episode. Like in the past, you question his motives and he's so enigmatic that you have no idea if what he is doing is really some highly thought-up plan to take down Elena. Who knows?

Elena shooting Dixon is a massive shock but (I know I'm being morbid) it's a shame that Dixon didn't actually get killed off. He's the shows most underused character (well, except for Weiss, who may as well be invisible) and it would have been even more of a shocker to see the writers were confident enough to murder a character who has been there right from the beginning. But, his shooting does lead to the best Alias cliffhanger since Francie was murdered, that he saw Irina being taken away by Elena's men in Prague! It's a big shock that she's alive and I hope that her apparent "murder" at Jack's hands won't be resolved in a cop-out manner.

After so many stinkers this season, it's nice to finally get an episode of Alias which is extremely tense and extremely exciting.moreless

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9.8

"Superb"

By cavanagh15, Nov 27, 2010 Report Abuse

Im going to looooooooooooove hearing the explaination from Jack Bristow on this little mystery that has resurfaced. How can Irina Derevko possibly be alive if Jack put a bullet in between her eyes, it doesnt make any sense. The only conclusion that I keep coming back around to is that Jack is a traitor, even though I dont want to believe it. For some reason I keep thinking, as we get closer to finale time, that may be the big cliffhanger of season 4.

Either way - another strong episode to finish out the season. The last 5-6 episodes have been some of the best of the series....just sucks that the first 12-14 episodes were horrible. Vaughn asking Sydney to marry him should be an interesting scene in the next 2 episodes (depending on what she says). I thought Arvins betrayal was one that we all saw coming at some point. 44 episodes as a bad guy. He almost made it 44 as a good guy too, but seems he has rejoined the dark side in this episode, making his offical count 41 episodes as a good guy. About 35 more then I had expected. But with this show - who knows, maybe he has an even bigger plan to win back the hearts of everyone in the APO.

Glad to see osme Rambaldi storylines again, something refreshed me about the way I felt like I was watching Alias again. It has been a long time since I couldnt stop watching (Granted Ive watched all of season 4 in 3 days, but still...the last episodes have reminded me why I watched for so long)

The "One Year Earlier" scenes were brillant. Loved how the writers brought them all together so perfectly. Arvin going for the box and "Rambaldi" punished him for it. Its the scene that made him a changed man and credit to the writers for putting it in. Strong episode from season 4, one of the strongest.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Goof: When Sloane and Sydney are standing in front of the TV looking at their own image from a camera nearby, Sydney raises the remote control to switch to another channel. However the Sydney in the picture does not move her hand. Edit
- Yanking the glass shard out of Sloane's chest the way Nadia did is an extraordinarily bad idea. The proper field procedure is to apply pressure to the wound around the glass shard. Nadia, as a field-trained agent, would have known this. Edit
Notes
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- Sonia Braga and Angela Bassett were billed as Special Guest Star in this episode. Edit
- Music from this episode includes: "The Girl's Attractive" by Diamond Nights "No One" by Aly & AJ Edit
- Greg Grunberg does not appear in this episode. Edit
Quotes
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- Sydney: Don't. Touch. The fur. Alright, you may touch the fur... Once. Edit
- Vaughn: I'm sorry, maybe it's only me, but what do you mean when you say "Rambaldi's end-game"? What is it? Is it a scenario? A weapon? Sloane: In Elena's hands most likely an apocalypse. Edit
- Nadia: (about Elena's treachery) I just feel stupid, I trusted her. Marshall: Hey I don't blame you, I mean she was like family. Don't put this on yourself, hell I trusted Sloane for 6 years, before I found out he was evil. Edit
Allusions
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