Alias

Let's see, Sydney and Vaughn get "recruited" to live in the Liberty Village in Russia. This is no ordianary village though, there are crazy Russians who want you to kill others for your place in their "town". Luckily for us, this is Alias and so this is no big deal. I found it hilarious when they were at the used car dealership! Sydney and Vaughn also "got back together" in this episode, after all of the Lauren drama. So all in all, it's pretty great and there's a lot of action. I'd say it's the best of season four, possibly my favorite from the whole series, definitly worth watching.

While season 4 continues its streak of stand-alone episodes, succeeding to various degrees, though failing to retain that true Alias feel, Welcome to Liberty Village is the first episode to showcase that, no matter the formula, this spy series can excel at anything. This is mostly down to a razor-sharp script, courtesy of genre fave, and long-time Whedon writer, Drew Goddard. This hour borderlines on full-throttle comedy - with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of visual gags on offer, WTLV has a nice mix of character-driven drama and small touches that make it that bit more special. The entire concept is played for laughs, and from Weiss' few jabs at Syd and Vaughn about being as spontaneous as his dead grandparents, resulting in Syd overanalyzing their reasons for overanalyzing their relationship, I knew I'd be in for a treat.



Comparing this to the crème of the crop of Alias, this hour wouldn't even radar, but this is admittedly one of my favourite episodes, and that's because of the small stuff. Vaughn telling Syd in a roundabout way what he had planned in Santa Barbra before she had to go become all corpselike was fantastic; their little bathroom briefs were wonderful ('who says we're boring?') and the dialogue, especially, felt very fresh and playful. Overall, this is a commendable effort at a lighter, mytho-less hour filled with bizarre action sequences and brilliant one-liners. I wouldn't want every episode to be this flippant, and indeed, it's truly the only one of its kind from this series, but I'm glad its in here amongst the plethora of angst-driven, mind-boggling stories; probably the closet the show will ever get to resembling an hour of Chuck (and as a matter of fact, said show has a similarly themed episode in its second season).

Looks as if this season is going to be the season of random missions with no overall story arch seeming to stem from the five episodes that we have seen so far. I did like the Liberty Village storyline, for the advancement of Vaughn and Sydneys relationship for the most part - but it was a good epsiode to watch all around as they lost contact with the APO very soon into the operation.



I liked the idea of Liberty VIllage enough that I wish they had broadcasted it over the span of two episodes as I think that would have been a nice little storyarch to cover two episodes of the season. I still dont feel like the Alias that Ive watched before. The new season seems like the show is trying to redefine the parts of the show that needed to be left alone. The black ops version of the CIA doesnt even feel like that - but that could be because of Arvin Sloane at the head of the leadership. Best episode of the season so far, problem is I rated it a 9.0. Season 4 feels like a new show, one that I dont really care for.

'Ice' was horrendous. A cheap horror flick. Luckily, Liberty village makes up for it! This particular standalone episode was -for a change-good. It didn't remind me of Alias at all, but still, it was very enjoyable, and somewhat nerve wracking.



The whole concept of going undercover in a terrorist cell is fascinating. Vaughn and Syd has to play an american couple, to win the confidence of the terrorists. However... all this in the middle of Russia in an artificial american town.



The episode builds on Vaughn's and Syd's somewhat troubled relationship. Unfortunately, the biggest issue of this episode, is that, it was meant to be the 9th. That means, in this episode, their love to eachother should have been 'colder'. Because, in the following episode, Syd and Vaughn feel much less 'connected' than in this episode.



Overally, very enjoyable episode, very good, but despite all the attempts, it's still not Alias. The characters are still dumbed down to "CSI" level, and the plot is still very predictable. 1 mission per episode, you just KNOW that by the end, everything will get solved.

i like very much this tv show,i like very much michael vartan, jennifer garner, ron rifkin,and the other actors but speciality i like very much this episode...

every time i almost cry when i see the end of one serie of alias i like very much the world of cia and the "seccret world...

i´m portuguese but i like very much every english series movies and i like speak english to...

so i will like to rewie this fantastic episode of alias with sidney ann bristow,michael vaunht an all the outher very good actrs in this very beautiful tv show...

Is this the episode where these's two kiss for the first time?

If not an someone pleaseeeee pm or email me with the episode they do... really wanna see it!!

My email is rommie_rules@yahoo.com.

I would love to see the episode where the 2 first kiss each other, be very romantic lol!

Thought I was going to hurt JJ if he screwed this episode up as bad as last week. But he lives on. I actually really liked this epi.



Top 10 Reasons Why “Welcome To Liberty Village” Rocked My World:



10. Michael Vartan Assembling a Gun. Sigh…give me my smelling salts now. They keep putting this man in impossibly sexy scenes. This week, it’s him and the gun assembly scene. You all see those forearms? Yum yum yum.



9. Awesome bad guys. Tom’s Jekyll-and-Hyde persona rocked! Sexy too.



8. Ron Rifkin’s Wardrobe. Black turtleneck with black suit at the office is something I want all men to start wearing in their offices.



7. Subtle continuation of the mytharc. These standalone episodes are not abandoning the central mytharc. Nadia trying to figure out the baby in the photo (last week), and the Irina Derevko First Edition Volumes of Russian Spy Orders from this week are leading up to something. They are going to have mytharc eppies very, very soon.



6. Weiss-as-new-Will. But better. I’m so, so, so glad they’re using Agent Sean as the new Ovary Electric warm-and-fuzzy guy, instead of just bits and pieces of him, here and there, in the office, insert-funny-line-to-be-said-by-Greg-Grunberg.



5. Marshall. Love the man. Kevin Weisman, week after week, manages to infuse just the right amount of genius and innocence into his alter ego. “And why are they dressed like the Cleavers?” asks Marshall quizzically.



4. Our intrepid spies showing off their language chops. I love it when we get to read subtitles.



3. Actual DETECTIVE work involved. Yes, me love it when my CIA spies do actual SPYING work. They actually had to THINK their way through this assignment, versus just flash-bang, grab the thang, thank you ma’am.



2. Fun, funny ROMP of a standalone episode! Very clever of our writers to think this one up. The auto showroom? Funny. You can just hear Vaughn and Syd’s “What the f***?” in their heads as they try not to show it in their faces. Nice acting work by Garner & Vartan.



1. And finally. The Number One Reason Why This Eppy Rocked For Me: Vaughn and his Monologues: WOW. First, it was Fr. Vaughn’s heartfelt, soul-baring talk from last week; this week, it’s David Parker’s wistful longing of a speech on the weekend-that-never-was in Santa Barbara. And Michael Vartan is delivering those lines with aplomb.

This episode was awesome. I am watching season 4 on dvd as I have just recently gotten into the show and all I've heard is that it isn't that good, but I love it so far. Especially this episode.



I thought the plot was great. It reminded me alot of an episode of X-Files. Season 6's "Arcadia". Mulder and Scully posed as a married couple in a weird "too perfect" little town. Of course they were aliens in the town, not a terrorist group.



Anyways, I loved this episodes humor. Especially how everyone keeps telling Syd and Vaughn they are cold or boring. I loved the shootout in the car dealership.



I just thought this was a very creative plotline that made for a very good stand alone episode. Didn't need to the history of the show. You could just enjoy this episode for what it was: fun.

Welcome To Liberty Village – Keeping Up A Front



Welcome to Liberty Village appeared to me like an episode set out to straighten out Sydney and Vaughn’s relationship problems, which was fine with me being a S/V shipper. The episode served its purpose well, bringing these characters together and strengthening their relationship that adds to the show in so many ways.



In this episode there was a theme, Keeping Up A Front, there was so much going on underneath the surface, so many things that were not as they seemed, it was basically a lot of what I like about Alias.



So what were the fronts? Where did they appear (at least in my opinion)?



Sydney and Vaughn Being Fun



After a debate with Weiss about going bowling, Sydney and Vaughn ended up declining the invite to instead stay at home and be called boring by good ole Weiss. I don’t think they need a front to be fun, they’re very interesting people, I believe that they think there needs to be a front because deep down they’re somewhat unhappy with their life and think that they’re boring, even if they’re not. Seeing this exchange made me realise that they’ve finally reintroduced the character’s day-to-day lives back into the story, instead of ignoring it much like they did in Season 3, which brought lots of criticism.



The October Contingent



To me the organisation was not keeping up a front in itself but in my opinion the writers are holding back, keeping up a front as such by not having one solid bad guy like The Covenant or SD-6. Again in one episode a brand new baddie arises only to be destroyed at the end of 40 of screen time.

I’m not criticising the current stories of Alias just the invention of new baddies every week, because to me it gets interesting when we’re fighting one person or organisation.



Liberty Village, Happy Families



When first presented to us the purpose behind Liberty Village and having everyone pretend to be happily married families living in suburbia was unclear. It was a little like an episode of Desperate Housewives integrated with the espionage with Alias, a welcome change to be honest. Despite my criticisms over a new bad guy every ep, I liked this one and the front that they held up, having agents in suburbia is not something Alias have explored before. This story also allowed for some cute humour to be introduced, I liked J



“We’re Not Cold”



A quote from Sydney seemed to be fitting, not only having to worry about being boring apparently Sydney and Vaughn are cold. I think it has something to do with the front that both maintained to stop them from being hurt again, these brought on by the damage Lauren caused between them, grr. This episode succeed in fixing a lot of this damage that has hindered their relationship for a long time, most of their scenes when it was just them together brought me the warm fuzzies.



Santa Barbara



The fact they needed to hold up the front of Dave and Karen Parker managed to bring back the fact that at the end of season 2 Vaughn and Sydney planned a well deserved trip to Santa Barbara, plans only to thwarted by Sydney’s “death” When it was first brought up, I was surprised and knew it must have been hard for Sydney and Vaughn to hear this. It was so clear that what happened with Dave and Karen in Santa Barbara would have been what happened with Syd and Vaughn, if only they had made it, of course the ending of this episode leave option open for this story to be revisited and knowing what I know now things are looking good J





Jack and Alexi



There was just something about their exchange that gave me the feeling they were both keeping up a façade for a bigger purpose. Jack held contempt for the guy because he was originally on Irina’s side, back when she betrayed him and Alexi only needed Jack to get the books that contained the name Sentinel. Their exchange was intriguing for me as a viewer because it proved a small amount of insight into whatever secret agenda Jack and Sloane hold.



Quote-Ables



“You guys are about as spontaneous as my grandparents, and they’re dead.” – Weiss

(Aww, poor Sydney and Vaughn)



Tom: “Don’t worry we’re not gonna kill you for a bad story.”

Wife: “At least not on the first night.”

(Eerie, nice to know that they have one day’s grace)



Sydney: “Huh.”

Vaughn: “Yeah”

(Couple-ly exchanges, aww and it basically sums up the entire Liberty Village)



Alexi: “Depends how you define government I suppose.”

(How SD-6)



Tom: “I guess that might help with your intimacy issues.)

(HEY! They’re intimate…)





Jack: “Whenever I was in town I’d but one (a book) for her.”

Marshall: “Oh that’s sweet.”

Jack “The KGB encrypted assassination orders in these pages.”

Marshall: “Oh… that’s not as sweet.”

(Tehe, nice continuity, bringing the books back)



“That’s how we live Phil, fast.” - Sydney

(Describes Alias perfectly, plus loved the delivery)



“I proposed on one knee in sawdust in front of a giraffe with a crooked neck.” – Vaughn

(I wanted to cry at the thought of a thwarted proposal.. well the future’s looking bright J)



“Her attachment made her work problematic at times.” – Alexi

(Wonder how Jack felt hearing this?? Maybe Alexia just said what he wanted to hear)



Sydney: “They’re onto us.”

Vaughn: “Yeah I figured that part out.”

(Tehe, no s**t Sherlock)



Sydney: “Even if we are a little cold.”

Vaughn: “And boring.”

(Not any more! Perfect delivery of these lines J)



Note-Ables



APO called them in after 10 at night??

Alias Karen and David Parker

Some of the terrorists inside Liberty Village are identified as having killed 47 people

Tom monitors their conversation via surveillance when they’re in the kitchen but can’t hear them talking about APO in the bathroom??

The date written in the front of the books Jack gave Irina was Feb 2nd 1979

The word found in the book was Sentinel who is apparently Elena Derevko

Vaughn broke a mirror, that’s 7 years bad luck



What’s in A Name?

Clear reference to Liberty Village itself



Scene Of The Ep

Sydney and Vaughn in the bathroom alone or on the Plane at the End



Loathed

Another new baddie

Liked

Elena Derevko coming into view

Loved

Sydney and Vaughn together, sorting it out.