Episode Report Card Erin: C | 3 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Double Your Premiere, Double Your Fun
By Erin | Season 4 | Episode 2 | Aired on 01.04.2005
Back from the break, Sloane's addressing the troops at the Apple Store. He sums the last two hours up thusly: "Congratulations. We recovered the isotope. We've eliminated a dangerous enemy. And the British government is most grateful for American assistance in returning the Shintaro sword." Wow. That's quite an impressive list of accomplishments for only two hours. Hell, it takes me two hours just to recap thirty minutes of this damn show. Sloane goes on to say that he's pleased to announce that, after all her fighting and hating, Nadia has suddenly agreed to join the Apple Store. She'll be in charge of customer service and gift wrapping. "So," he finishes, "that's it. Go home. Feel good about what you've done." Heh. He makes feeling good sound like something bad. Syd just glares at him and follows everyone else out of the office.
Later on, Syd's off in some random wing of the Apple Store. Jack enters and asks her how she found out about the whole "Mommy wanted to kill you" plan. Syd tells him about Rick Yune. Jack moves toward her. "You didn't know?" she asks. "I merely knew your mother had hired someone," he says, a look of concern coming onto his face. "I didn't know who. I knew only one way to stop him." "Why would she want me dead?" Syd asks. Oh, Syd, please. There are thousands of reasons. But the best reason that pops to mind is that Lena Olin's never coming back, and pretending that Irina was off somewhere in a cybercafé instant messaging with baddies all over the world was getting pretty damn old.
Jack approaches his daughter and tells her he doesn't know why Irina wanted her dead. Syd, on the verge of tears (again, some more), says, "You killed her to save me? You killed Mom to save me." Yes, Syd. In order to save you, he killed your mom. To spare your life, he offed your mama. So you could live, he…we could be at this all night. Jack moves to embrace his daughter and Syd puts her hands up, kind of like, "Okay, I get it, you saved me. But you still killed my mother, so I'm gonna have to wait on the parental affection bit for awhile, okay? Thanks. I'll see ya later. After about seven years of therapy." Syd walks off and Jack just looks after her, wondering if now would be an appropriate time to tell Syd that it wasn't actually HIM that killed Irina, but Vaughn. Dudes. If that's the storyline that plays out by the end of the season, each of y'all have to buy me something from my Amazon wish list. I'm holding you to it.
As the sweet strains of "The Wind" by Cat Stevens play across the soundtrack, Syd buttons up her gray flannel coat from the Mary Poppins collection and walks toward the exit. She stops right before the door and suddenly breaks down. Vaughn, never one for the timing, walks up behind her and interrupts her sobfest. She turns and tries to pull it together. He asks her if she's okay and she says that she is. But then she just loses it all over again and Vaughn pulls her into his arms. "Thank you," she says. They hug there in the hallway as the camera pulls back and Cat continues warbling on.