Episode Report Card Erin: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Doctor, Doctor, Gimme The News!
By Erin | Season 2 | Episode 6 | Aired on 11.09.2002
Syd pipes up that Sark started testing Patient Zero at the first sign of infection. "What was the sign?" she asks. "Hemorrhaging. From the fingernails," Doctor Sweater Vest reluctantly informs them. He quickly leaves, and Syd looks concernedly at Vaughn. He assures her that he'll be fine and then reminds her that her dad's hearing is in an hour, so she'd better get a move on. Syd puts her boots on, which for some reason we get a shot of; it's like they're trying to tell us that Syd actually TOOK HER SHOES OFF in order to sleep. Like that's a precursor to sex or something. I just don't know why they showed that. Or why she took off her shoes at all. Vaughn didn't take off HIS shoes. Oh, whatever. I've already spent too much time on this moment as it is. Syd leaves, telling Vaughn that she'll see him soon. As she passes the window, she stops and looks at him sitting on the bed, looking fairly nervous and worried. Finally, Syd leaves him behind.
Joint Intelligence Committee: An Exercise In Oxymoronic Administration. Senator Douglas is back, and this time he's trying to determine Jack's punishment. This entire session is pretty much just an excuse to allow Jack to talk about how much his daughter means to him so that Syd can overhear it on her closed-circuit television and realize that Daddy loves her after all! Senator Doodyhead is all, do you have anything to say for yourself? Jack's all, yeah, I'm real sorry about that whole explosion thing, but I still think Mama Hari's a big ol' bitch who's up to no good. Senator Doody's all, oh, is that what we're calling "lying to your superiors" nowadays? Blah blah blah, why'd you change your mind and turn yourself in? Bling blam blooey, my reasons are my own, Nosy Parker. Flim flam flakey, this ain't the first time you've displayed rogue behavior, so, like, give it up, punk. Why the change of heart? Ding dang doodle, my daughter convinced me that I acted like an unethical asshole. Ming mang mookie, nice try, Cowboy Junkie, but ain't it a fact that you knew your little sweetie planned to turn your ass IN, and that you made it in before her, beating her by barely an hour, in order to save your butt some prison time? "No, sir! That is not the case!" Jack spits. Seeing that he can't get away with just that, he goes on, "Sydney Bristow, my daughter, has come to believe that when I look at her, I see the embodiment of all my flaws. This afternoon when I learned that she may have been exposed to a life-threatening disease, I realized she might die believing that. But nothing could be further from the truth."
We check in with Sydney here, who's watching on her monitor. Spy Daddy's conveniently enjoying his close-up at the precise moment that he says, "When I look at her, when I look at the little girl who raised herself to become one of the most extraordinary human beings, and one of the finest agents I've ever had the privilege of knowing, I see only the promise of my own redemption." And yes, Syd's crying now. "Turning myself in," Jack continues, "was the only way I could think of to make that clear to her. To prove that despite my limited abilities as a father, I love her more than I could ever say."