>>  episode 1.01: " Truth Be Told"   [pilot]

- Sydney Bristow, a vivacious, athletic grad student, discovers that her not-so-typical after-school job as an agent for SD-6, a top-secret division of the CIA, holds some deadly secrets that not only put her life in danger but also threaten the security of the free world...

- Recruited freshman year, the then shy and lonely Sydney jumped at the chance to add some meaning and excitement to her life. Little did she know how great she’d be at espionage or how much she’d love it. Today Sydney is no longer shy or alone. Boyfriend Danny has just proposed and her best friend Francie couldn’t be happier. Her friend Will, however, has to feign happiness, keeping his unrequited love for her to himself.

- Sydney now finds herself facing a moral dilemma: What does she want from the rest of her life, and what does she tell her friends and would-be fiancé?

- Sydney’s SD-6 partner, Dixon, a devoted family man, warns her not to reveal her secret to Danny, and Sydney knows that SD-6 leader Sloane would not look kindly on any breach of security. Even Marshall, SD-6’s highly inventive weapons and gadget maker — a super intelligent man with noticeably lacking social skills -- knows that divulging their identities is strictly verboten. This is the one rule you don’t break.

- When Sydney breaks protocol and tells Danny about her secret life, her world is spun terrifyingly sideways: Danny’s life is placed in mortal danger, and Sydney is in a fight for her own life. She discovers that her long-estranged father, Jack, is also SD-6 and that the organization is covering up a nefarious plan — they are not a branch of the CIA, but are actually an enemy of the United States. With nowhere else to turn, Sydney seeks the aid of the real CIA in hopes of putting SD-6 out of business. She is put under the command of operations officer Vaughn who enlists Sydney to become a double agent. Her mission is to complete her cases at SD-6 while reporting her findings back to the CIA. But when Sydney finds out that her father is also affiliated with the CIA, she begins to question where his true allegiances really lie.

>> episode 1.02: " So It Begins"

- Clutching a stolen satchel, Sydney is dodging bullets and racing from French guards at the Machlet Corporation. Taking the nearest elevator, she punches the ceiling out and pulls herself out the top. Climbing the cables, she escapes onto the street to a waiting limo...

- Back home, Sydney briefs Vaughn about her mission and the overall organization of SD-6.  CIA Agent Vaughn illustrates for her that SD-6 is no small matter, it encompasses over 200 groups and contacts - and not just the LA bureau where she works.

- Later that day, her journalist friend, Will, confronts her about her recent disappearance and asks what her fiancé Danny could have been involved with that got him killed. Sydney tells Will that she has been disoriented since Danny's death and to please leave it at that.

- Will learns and tells Syd that Danny had a booked flight from LA to Singapore the night he was killed...to which, Sydney must hide her shock.

-  Jack admits to Syd that he was the one who bought the plane ticket so he could send Danny to Singapore, to hide from the SD-6 assassins. We learn that Jack had visited Danny's home that fateful night, only to find he was too late.

- In an SD-6 mission to Moscow, Sydney impersonates a hotel maid to gain access to the hotel room of the CRC’s representative holding the payoff money -- while Dixon meets the document sellers at a Moscow club. Later, incognito in a body hugging blue party outfit, Sydney races to the club, and makes a fast switch with the two computer disks containing the stolen files - with two plastic cocktail coasters. Dixon and Sydney knock the agents out, and escape with the disks. At LAX, Vaughn makes a ”brush pass“ with Sydney, duplicating the stolen floppies for CIA, and returning them so she can present them to SD-6.

- The information Sloane later retrieves from the disks, informs that a nuclear device from the Cold War period is still buried somewhere in the US.

- Sydney's mission leads her to a Virginia cemetery, where she finds a tombstone with the contact's name, Ivanov, on it.

- Digging up the grave, she finds the seventh nuclear device, rigged to the coffin lid. She calls a panicked Marshall who guides her through the process of disarming it with only a two minute warning.

- Angry, Vaughn informs Sydney that SD-6 has sold the device to Ineni Hassan in Cairo, a known arms dealer. Since Sydney knows Hassan, she volunteers to make the trip and get the bomb back; making sure that SD-6 doesn't know that she's going there. Back at the CIA, Davenport tells Vaughn that he's being pulled off of the Bristow case because Devlin, the boss, wants a more senior officer assigned.

- Meanwhile, Sydney and a male CIA operative go to Cairo. When Sydney finds the bomb, she quickly dismantles it and grabs its bright green core... only to find a gun is pointed at her head and cocked - and it's Hassan...

>> episode 1.03: "Parity"

- Sydney is holding the nuclear weapon's plutonium core in her hand, when Hassan catches her -- and puts a gun to her head. Using the core as a distraction, she knocks Hassan out, and dodges soldiers' bullets as she escapes...

- Upon return, Sloane sends Sydney and Dixon to Madrid to steal a lockbox, containing a sketch with what appear to be digital code...only drawn in the late 15th century by a seer named Milo Rambaldi.

- In secret, Sydney meets Vaughn along the Santa Monica pier, and tells him about the sketch...but Vaughn also informs her that he's been taken off of her case, and a senior officer assigned in his place.

- In Madrid, Sydney visits a show at the Auto Museo, where the box is hidden, while Dixon monitors outside in a van. She discovers that Anna is also there and one step ahead – she has the lockbox. But only after an intense fight, Sydney takes possession of the box.

- Back home, Will is still curious about Danny's murder...But after requesting surveillance footage from traffic cameras around Danny's former apartment on the night of the murder, he discovers that all of these cameras went out within a mile of the apartment on precisely that night.

- Will kisses Sydney, in a very awkward moment.

- Francie discovers a matchbook with a woman's name and phone number, in Charlie's things.

- Back at SD-6, Marshall cannot open the lockbox, and if he forces it open, a concealed piece of technology inside will destroy the sketch. Knowing that Anna has the key to the lockbox, Sloane arranges with K-Directorate for Sydney to meet Anna in Berlin, open the box and view the sketch together. Sloane knows that K-Directorate doesn't know that there are two sketches that make the entire code.

- Sydney meets with special agent Seth Lambert, a senior CIA agent who has been assigned as Vaughn's replacement, to go over her Berlin assignment...But Sydney takes an intense dislike to him, and orders him to get Vaughn back on case...or no results!

- Arriving in Berlin, Sydney is wearing a CIA wire, and is relieved to hear Vaughn's voice in her earpiece - he's back. Sydney meets with Anna. When Anna opens the lockbox, both agents are horrified, as a sizzling sound emits from inside...
 

>> episode 1.04: "A Broken Heart"

- In the final moments of a cooperative mission, Sydney and her Russian nemesis Anna memorize a 500-year-old binary code written by Milo Rambaldi before it is destroyed.

- The completed code represents a geographical location for a church in Málaga, Spain, where Sydney and Anna once again meet up – this time as opponents. Sydney bests Anna in a brutal fight, and recovers a gold circular crystal from the church's stain glass window.

- She returns it to SD-6, where Marshall's analysis discloses a pre-synthetic polymer, also invented by Rambaldi...The 15th century seer's progressive inventions now appear to be at the root of a much deeper mystery.

- Sydney and Dixon are sent off on their next mission – to investigate a plot to eliminate the World Trade Organization. In Casablanca, Morocco, Sydney adopts the guise of a French-Canadian tourist.

- At SD-6, Jack is interrogated by McCullough – but we reveal, in a dreamlike sequence, that a unspoken truth about Sydney's mother continues to haunt him. Meanwhile, Vaughn's feelings for Sydney, in a moment of briefing, show through even further – finally, when she breaks down to him about the heartbreaking conflicts in the career of a dual agent, Vaughn offers her his support as a friend.

- Meanwhile, Francie's suspicions grow of Charlie's infidelity, so she and Sydney stake him out, CIA-style, until they spy him kissing another girl. And Will unravels further clues about Danny's death and struggles with his own feelings for Sydney.

- SD-6's latest clues lead Sydney and Dixon to São Paolo, the location of the next WTO conference, where Sydney witnesses the method to Jacqnoud's scheme. While Sydney observes, a small bomb is surgically implanted into the pacemaker of Patel, the Peace Prize winner, scheduled to speak at the WTO conference. Sydney, turns around, only to face a heavy blow to the head from the same bodyguard she encountered earlier...
 

>> episode 1.05: "Doppelganger "

- In São Paulo, Sydney evades Sawari’s bodyguard after watching a paramedic team implant a bomb into the pacemaker of UCO speaker Patel. When Sydney awakens in a run-off canal, she contacts Dixon, who grabs a dazed Patel at the UCO conference, and steals an ambulance. As Dixon proceeds to surgically extract the bomb, they are being pursued by Jacqnoud, who controls the detonator to the device. While Sydney drives, Dixon removes the bomb – just as Jacqnoud activates it and launches it beneath his car – abruptly ending the chase.

- In Los Angeles, Francie tells Sydney that they are throwing a big Halloween party – at Sydney's apartment.

- While setting up, Will tells Francie that he's been investigating the death of Danny, whom he has learned was to be on a flight to Hong Kong, not Singapore, and seated next to a woman named Kate Jones - neither of whom made the flight.

- Will meets up with the mystery woman, and has clearly done his homework – she even admits to having had an affair with Danny. But Will stuns her when he points out that, according to her social security number, Kate Jones died in 1973 – and she races away from the meeting place.

- Jeroen Schiller works for the Hensel Corporation with information on a vaccine against biological warfare...and Sydney and Dixon's mission is to help Schiller get safe passage into the US.

- Later, Vaughn introduces Sydney to CIA agent Paul Kelvin, who has been chosen based upon his resemblance to the German. Arriving in Berlin, Sydney uploads the files from Schiller's computer to a remote server, disguised as a network supervisor, before making their escape. Upon removing Schiller from Hensel, agent Kelvin, in further disguise, trades places with Schiller – without Dixon's knowledge – and doubles as the SD-6 captive, while Schiller returns home with the CIA.

- Back at SD-6, Kelvin feeds Sloane a partial computer program that will also run a CIA control into their network, enabling a "back door" for them to see into the SD-6 database. As Sloane questions the CIA operative about the location of a vaccine, which is being perfected into an inhaler form – Kelvin realizes he does not know about this...But Sloane is even more suspicious, when he also learns that Sydney had also changed Schiller's drop-off location at the last second.

- Knowing that her cover would be blown if Kelvin doesn't learn the location of the inhaler, Sydney asks Jack to assist, after Schiller reveals the location to the CIA.

- With Sloane viewing on a monitor, Jack quietly feeds Kelvin the location – before breaking his arm and passing a convincing message to Sloane about his SD-6 loyalties – and Kelvin screams out the location of the plant – Badenweiler, Germany.

- Sloane sends Sydney and Dixon to Badenweiler to retrieve the inhaler, and then destroy the plant so no one else will have the vaccine. Vaughn informs Sydney that the CIA will rendezvous with her in the building, make a switch with the inhalers and disable the explosive to save the building and its contents. But before departing, Sydney also learns from Vaughn that her father may also be working for the FBI...and she no longer knows where her father's allegiances lie.
In Badenweiler, Sydney disables Dixon's bomb, makes the switch with the CIA agents in the building and gets out. Dixon hits the detonator, and of course, nothing happens. But prepared with a second detonator device, that Sydney knew nothing about, Dixon completes their mission by blowing up the building - with the CIA agents still inside...
 

>> episode 1.06: "Reckoning"

- Sydney remains shattered after watching four CIA agents die in a plant explosion – triggered by Dixon as part of their SD-6 mission. She continues to struggle with a truth about SD-6 she cannot share with her fellow agent, while Vaughn convinces her that Dixon's life and family would be at peril if she ever crossed that line.

- Upon returning, Sydney learns that Jack will now be working alongside her at SD-6. But after looking into her father's CIA file – given to her by Vaughn – she visits the widow of FBI Agent Calder, and begins to form an opinion that Jack's suspicious activities led to the death of her mother 20 years earlier – and this creates an even deeper tension between them.

- The CIA continues to download SD-6's database though a worm previously implanted into their network via an invisible software control – unfortunately, Marshall reports the leak to Sloane who immediately suspects a mole from within.
 

- Meanwhile, Charlie finally tells Francie his secret. He is not cheating on her, but has been pursuing his dream to become a professional singer.

- Will also uncovers the true identity of the woman who formerly claimed to be Kate Jones and to have had an affair with Danny. But when he surprises her at her door, she pepper-sprays him, terrified, sending him away. Later, she calls to explain she was paid to impersonate Kate – but when Will tries to meet her again for more details, he finds her apartment now emptied.

- Sydney and Dixon's current mission is to recover one of FTL's genetically secured encoder devices – a highly sophisticated piece of cryptology equipment – from an operative named Smythe, who also owns a photo gallery in London.

- SD-6 needs the fingertip of Gareth Parkashoff, now deceased, and whose burial location is unknown except to his assassin.

- In the guise of a patient, Sydney must infiltrate the asylum in Bucharest where his killer, Martin Shepard has been recently committed.

- With the aid of SD-6 Agent Fisher, posing as the physician committing her, Sydney's mission is to trigger Shepard for the body's coordinates by reciting a poem by John Donne, a known key from this assassin's programming.

- Sydney is admitted upon their arrival in Romania...but her discharge will prove to much more complex, for only too late does the CIA discover that this institute is also run by Kreshnik, a K-Directorate agent.

- And when Sydney finds Agent Fisher with his throat slashed, the gates to this institution appear to be sealed for good...
 

>> episode 1.07: "Color Blind"

- Sydney is trapped within the walls of Mangalev institute in Bucharest, Romania. Moments after finding SD-6 Agent Fisher -- his throat, slashed -- she is immobilized by a tranquilizer, and awakens in an electroshock tub -- interrogated by K-Directorate agent Dr. Kreshnik. He demands to know if she received information from inpatient Martin Shepard, the FTL-trained assassin. Sydney assures she can extract the coordinates of Parkashoff's body from Shepard, as they have now established a basis for trust -- but only if Kreshnik allows her to live. K-Directorate grants her a stay of execution...until nightfall.

- Seizing an opportunity, she fights off Kreshnik, Ferroq and the orderlies -- and with Shepard, escapes to a remote CIA safehouse. The assassin's sight has been impaired by the FTL's tampering with his memory. When he looks at Sydney, he sees in black and white and cannot make a clear recollection.

- But as his memory returns, he reveals to her that he was Danny's killer, deprogrammed by SD-6 Agent McCullough...and Sydney tries harder than ever to forgive him, in the face of a killing for which Shepard was not truly responsible.

- Vaughn contacts Jack to meet at a Chinese restaurant -- but Bristow is none too thrilled about this break in protocol. In turn, he confronts Vaughn for pulling his CIA file; Vaughn explains that Sydney wanted to see it because she suspects he used to have KGB affiliations.

- At SD-6, Sloane informs Marshall that the virus found in the network was planted by SD-6 itself as part of a security drill. However, Sloane reveals in a face-off with Alain Christophe, elder statesman of SD-6 and the deadly Alliance, that SD-6 has set up a dummy server to catch the worm hacking into SD-6's mainframe. Christophe suspects one, or even two, moles inside SD-6 and wants them caught.

- Will now has cold feet -- he fears crossing a line with Sydney by defying her wishes to let go the details of Danny's murder, but after having pleaded earlier with his editor, he finds the story due for reassignment if he drops it.

- Thanksgiving dinner is served at Sydney's, and Charlie proposes to Francie, which she accepts joyously. When Jack arrives, he tells Sydney that the FBI investigated him 20 years earlier, suspecting he was KGB, leading to the pursuit which forced his car off the road -- killing her mother Laura.

- Back at SD-6, Sloane has decoded the FTL communique, using Parkashoff's DNA, which reveals news that another Rambaldi artifact has been sent for analysis at Oxford's Department of Engineering. Sloane assigns Sydney to follow...but Vaughn forewarns -- Anna Espinosa was last sighted leaving Bucharest, before Sydney, and may also be on the job.
 

>> episode 1.08: "Time Will Tell"

Sydney travels to Oxford to steal an ancient clock connected to the Rambaldi mystery. She successfully completes the mission, though Anna Espinosa is hot on her trail.

Jack confronts Sloane about the death of Eloise Kurtz, and admits that he hired the woman, a young SD-6 agent, to impersonate Kate Jones. Sloane, however, did not trust Kurtz and had her silenced.

After her latest trip, Sydney discovers that SD-6 has hired an agent to trail her. Sloane insists that it is merely a routine procedure, but Jack tells Sydney that SD-6 suspects they have a mole. He urges his daughter to seek help from Agent Vaughn on how to fool a functional imaging test -- a sophisticated lie detector.

Sloane gives Sydney her next assignment -- travel to Positano, Italy and have the mysterious clock repaired. The clock was designed by Rambaldi, but built by a master craftsman named Giovanni Donato in 1503. One of Donato's descendants still pursues the family craft, and can repair the ancient artifact.

Meanwhile, Will's editor rejects his story about the mysterious deaths of Danny Hecht and Eloise Kurtz. The story contains questionable facts, and editor Litvack suggests that Will is lying. She demands that he cease his investigation, but Will has other ideas. He is tipped-off to the location of Kurtz's car, and continues playing detective. Inside the car, Will finds a piece of jewelry, which turns out to be a piece of sophisticated surveillance equipment...

In Italy, Donato explains that the symbol on the clock, <0>, is the mark of the Magnific Order of Rambaldi. When Sydney asks about a date engraved on the clock, Donato says that Rambaldi never told him what it meant. Donato realizes his verbal slip, and quickly covers his tracks. The old man returns the repaired clock, and a K-Directorate sniper fires at Sydney. Donato is killed instead, and Sydney narrowly escapes.

Back at home, Sydney reads a book that her father had given to her mother. She uncovers a Russian code embedded on each page...

At SD-6, Marshall discovers that the glass disc from the church in Malaga fits into the clock. When the artifacts are together, a star chart is revealed. Marshall deduces that the chart was made from a specific location on Mount Aconcagua, near the border of Chile and Argentina.

Before Sydney and Dixon can travel to the mountain, Agent Dreyer gives Sydney a functional imaging test. He doesn't reveal the results to her, but he later confides to Sloane that "we've found our mole."

At Mount Aconcagua, Sydney and Dixon discover a tunnel marked with the infamous <0> symbol. Sydney goes in alone, leaving Dixon on the surface. Once underground, she discovers a book with designs from Rambaldi.

Before Sydney can retrieve the book, she hears gunshots through her walkie-talkie. K-Directorate has crashed the party, and Sydney has a fierce fight with Anna. In the heat of combat, Anna grabs the book and crawls back to the surface. As Sydney pursues her arch-rival, she falls from the rickety ladder and plunges into the darkness...
 

>> episode 1.09: "Mea Culpa"

After her fight with Anna, Sydney crawls out of the underground tunnel and finds Dixon, seriously wounded. As a last resort, she uses a satellite phone to call the CIA. A CIA helicopter flies Dixon to a nearby hospital, though Sydney conceals the truth from Sloane. Sydney is scared, as she thinks that Dixon may have heard her talking to the CIA. Has she blown her cover?

At SD-6, Dreyer tells Sloane that he believes Sydney is the mole because she scored too well on the lie detector test. Sloane is reluctant to agree, though he insists that he will "take care of Bristow."

For her next assignment, Sydney is sent to Tuscany to steal information from Ineni Hassan's accountant. Despite Hassan's previous alliance with SD-6, he is now their enemy, and Sloane wants the numbers to Hassan's bank accounts so they can freeze his assets.

After Sydney leaves, Sloane sends a message to his colleagues in SD-4. He orders Sydney's assassination, though the CIA intercepts the order. Vaughn quickly assembles a team to rescue Sydney.

Jack learns of the kill order and, with Marshall's aid, discovers that the message was deliberately sent over the unsecured server previously infiltrated by Vaughn's team. Sloane is tempting the CIA, trying to draw them out. Jack argues with Vaughn, and prevents the CIA from interfering. The assassination attempt never occurs, and Sloane now believes that Sydney is loyal to SD-6.

Meanwhile, Will continues to investigate the pin that he found in Eloise Kurtz's car. He's shocked to discover that not only is the pin a small microphone, it's also still active...

One night while drinking with Francie, Will shows her the pin. Both of them start joking, asking a series of questions into the pin. Just then, Will receives a phone call. A mysterious voice tells him to keep his mouth shut.

From the Tuscany assignment, SD-6 have learned that the accountant's computer did not contain Hassan's bank account numbers, only the name of a specific Swiss bank. Sydney and Agent Russek travel to Geneva, in order to get the numbers. As Sydney reads the numbers to Russek, a secret transmitter in her ear beams the same information to the CIA...

While monitoring Sydney and Russek's latest mission, Marshall discovers the secret transmission coming from the bank vault. He shares this information with Dreyer.

At a phone booth, Will receives another phone call from the same mysterious voice. The voice asks Will how far he's willing to go in order to find the truth about Kate Jones. Will says he's up for the challenge...and later finds a cassette tape in his glove compartment. The tape is an audio recording of Kate Jones/Eloise Kurtz being killed.

After several days in the hospital, Dixon finally regains consciousness. Sydney is relieved when he doesn't remember how he was brought to a hospital. As she leaves the hospital, she's tackled by a group of men. Sloane then receives a phone call...A mysterious voice says "We got her"...
 

>> episode 1.10: "Spirit"

After being captured, Sydney awakens in a dingy cell. She is brought to a torture room, but at the last moment, the interrogation is halted...and Russek becomes the target of SD-6 suspicions...Instead, he is the one tortured, and finally executed.

Sloane confides in Sydney about the intercepted communication from Switzerland, and that it turned out to be a message from Russek to K-Directorate. And while Sydney is glad to be alive, she is even more confused...She explains her narrow escape to Vaughn, who has no explanation.

With Christmas approaching, Vaughn gives Sydney a gift -- an antique frame. This gesture arouses jealousy in Will, though he can't say too much -- he has just begun an affair with Jenny, his assistant, which Sydney knows all about

For her next mission, Sydney is sent to Semba Island, just off the coast of Kenya. SD-6 is still trying to track down Ineni Hassan, and they believe that a forger on the island has created a new identity for the rogue arms dealer. On the island, Sydney discovers that Hassan has had plastic surgery, and now goes under the name Nebseni Saad.

Sydney hides this fact from SD-6, but Sloane already knows... He then instructs Jack to go to Cuba, where Hassan/Saad is now hiding. Sloane wants Hassan dead, though Vaughn proposes a counter-mission. Jack is asked to make a deal with Hassan: In exchange for Hassan's client list, Jack would then fake Hassan's death, which would stop SD-6 in their pursuit...but also allowing Hassan to pass into the CIA's hands.

Meanwhile, Will studies the mysterious tape that was left in his car. With help from his audio engineer friend, Nevil, Will is able to discern some muffled dialogue. The person who killed Eloise Kurtz said the name "SD-6," revealing another piece to the puzzle...

Will researches the name, but finds only a single reference...in a transcript from a lawsuit against David McNeil, an expert in computer encryption, who is now in jail for embezzlement. Will question's the lawyer, Robert Stoller, who says that McNeil only plead guilty after his wife killed herself, under questionable circumstances.

Will visits McNeil in jail, but the man seems genuinely scared at the name "SD-6." Refuses to talk, he demands that Will leave the lawyer alone. Now, Will is even more intrigued...

From Vaughn, Sydney learns that her father doctored the SD-6 computer logs. Jack made it appear that the intercepted communication from Switzerland was actually sent by Russek to K-Directorate. Vaughn then reveals that Jack is now being held captive by Hassan in Cuba.

Secretly, Sydney sets out to save her father. She is quickly captured, and brought before Hassan, just as Jack is explaining his unusual deal to the arms dealer. Hassan recognizes Sydney as an SD-6 agent, but is unaware of her connection to Jack.

Tempted by Jack's offer, Hassan needs him to prove that he is no longer loyal to SD-6. As a test, Jack must kill the captured SD-6 agent. A gun is placed in Jack's hand...he takes aim directly at his daughter...
 

>> episode 1.11: "Confession"

While Jack aims the gun at Sydney, under orders from Ineni Hassan, he blinks a message to her in Morse code. With precision timing, Sydney and Jack take down Hassan’s thugs and capture the arms dealer.

They whisk Hassan away, and Jack photographs a "deceased" Hassan. Sloane is duped into thinking that Hassan is dead. In reality, the one-time ally of SD-6 is in CIA custody.

After the mission to Cuba, Vaughn meets with Sydney, and tells her that he investigated the Cyrillic codes from her mother’s books. The codes were orders written by the KGB...and contain the names of CIA agents who were killed many years ago.

Sloane briefs Sydney and Dixon on their next SD-6 mission. One of Hassan’s associates, Minos Sakkoulas, has taken his place in the criminal underground. Sakkoulas has a device, known only as "the Package," and Sydney must travel to Greece to get information from Sakkoulas’ computer. As a countermission, Vaughn gives Sydney a set of false files. She is to give these files to SD-6, while retrieving the real info to the CIA.

Vaughn and Sydney again discuss the Cyrillic codes, and both are convinced that Jack collaborated with the KGB. Sydney is reluctant to move forward with the information...but Vaughn secretly records their conversation as evidence.

In the Greek nightclub where Sakkoulas has his headquarters, Sydney’s plans are thwarted, and she is unable to break into Sakkoulas’ office... Instead, Dixon downloads the files, giving SD-6 the information they want.

Vaughn reveals to Sydney the secret recording of their previous conversation. He also explains that one of the murdered CIA agents was his own father. Sydney is understandably confused and upset, and she seeks solace in the warm embrace of Will Tippin.

Begrudgingly, Hassan informs Vaughn that "the Package" is hidden in an abandoned missile silo on the island of Crete. He also asks the CIA to bring his wife and son to the States for protection...but Vaughn refuses.

To justify Sydney’s trip to Crete, Jack also tells Sloane about the missile silo. Sloane believes that Jack learned of this through his own contacts, and Sydney is sent to retrieve "the Package" for SD-6...though she secretly plans to give it to the CIA.

On the island of Crete, Sydney breaks into the missile silo, with Vaughn observing via satellite. With Hassan apparently cooperating, Vaughn guides her every action. At the point of entry, Hassan provides a false code to the silo's alarm system. This activates an anti-intruder device and puts Sydney in grave danger as the room begins to shower gasoline...

Hassan refuses to supply the correct code until he receives a written guarantee that his wife and son will get protection. Vaughn and Weiss scramble to get his guarantee, and Sydney returns to LA with the mysterious device.

Sydney and Vaughn visit CIA Director Devlin with the evidence about Jack. But they are stunned when Devlin and Jack, along with eight other senior officers, enter the room. And Jack reveals what most of them already knew...that he never was a KGB agent…but that it was Sydney’s mother…
 

>> episode 1.12: "The Box ( Part 1 )"

Sydney is stunned when she learns that her mother was a KGB agent. The news is too much for her to bear, and she tells Vaughn that she is going to resign from SD-6.
At the same time, a group of heavily-armed intruders sneak into SD-6. By the time that Sloane realizes what is going on, the intruders have taken control of the building.

As Sydney enters SD-6, Jack catches up with her in an elevator. He warns her that the Alliance, the men Sloane works for, will kill her if she tries to quit.

Their elevator comes to an abrupt halt, and Jack realizes that Sloane has triggered the emergency lockdown procedure.which can mean only one thing -- someone has broken into SD-6.

Sydney and Jack sneak from the elevator, and make their way to an empty room in the basement. By splicing into the surveillance system, Jack and Sydney discover that the intruders have taken everyone hostage -- including Sloane.

Meanwhile, Will Tippin decides that the SD-6 story is too dangerous to pursue. Daniel Hecht and Eloise Kurtz have already been killed, and he fears the same fate for David McNeil's daughter if he continues.

At the newspaper office, Will receives another call from the mysterious voice. Will insists that he is no longer pursuing the SD-6 angle, but someone doesnít want him to give up. An unmarked envelope, containing another clue, is waiting on Will's chair. He refuses to open it, as he wants nothing to do with SD-6.

The leader of the intruders is McKenas Cole, a former SD-6 agent who is now working for an unknown group. Cole tortures Sloane for the access code to the SD-6 vault. However, because of the security measures that have been activated, opening the vault will trigger an explosion.

Jack tells Sydney that the entire SD-6 building will be destroyed. In Marshallís workshop is a scrambling device that can be used on the vault door, so that even if Cole gets the code, the vault will not open. Sydney must retrieve the device without being discovered.

Meanwhile, Will goes to a restaurant to meet a contact for a story. To his surprise, it is Kelly McNeil who shows up. Someone has clearly arranged this meeting, and Will refuses to talk.

Kelly follows Will to his office and pleads with him to continue investigating SD-6. He is persuaded and finally opens the envelope that was left on his chair. A mysterious key falls out. What will it unlock?

After learning that Sydney's mother killed his agent father, Vaughn receives orders to visit a CIA psychiatrist -- Barnett. He insists that he is fine, but Barnett asks about the Christmas gift for Sydney. Barnett wonders if his relationship with Sydney is "appropriate."

Vaughn confronts Haladki, the agent who informed Barnett about the gift. There is clearly bad blood between these two men.

Meanwhile at SD-6, Sydney retrieves the scrambling device and applies it to the vault door, moments before Cole arrives. Before Sydney can escape, Cole and his men hear her in the airshaft... They begin blasting away at the ceiling, the bullets narrowly missing Sydney...
 

>> episode 1.13: The Box  ( Part 2 )"

Sydney is hiding in the air ducts as McKenas Cole blasts away at the ceiling -- when suddenly, Jack appears and surrenders -- allowing Sydney to remain hidden.

Sydney discovers a note left for her by her father, explaining the dire predicament: since Sloane has activated the fail-safe alarm, opening the SD-6 vault would trigger a fatal explosion. Before the intruders can hack the vault security code, Sydney must disarm three charges of C-4.

Meanwhile, Dixon, who was taken hostage by the intruders, manages to swipe a PDA from a desk, and secretly sends an e-mail to the CIA, alerting them of the attack. Vaughn gets the message and wants to send in help. But Agent Haladki, now in charge of the SD-6 case, refuses to send a rescue team without more proof of an attack.

Against official orders, Vaughn goes to Credit Dauphine and confirms the break-in. He calls Haladki, who again refuses to send help. Vaughn then meets up with Sydney and helps her disable the first charge of C-4. They split up to disarm the two remaining charges.

Along the way, Sydney knocks out two of the intruders... then, Cole realizes that someone is still loose in the building and broadcasts an order through the address system: if Sydney doesn't surrender, Cole will begin killing the hostages. He chooses Jack as the first victim, and Sydney surrenders -- before she can disarm the C-4.

After Sydney is taken hostage, Marshall signals to her that one of her earrings, lying on the floor, is actually a flash grenade. She detonates the device, overpowering the intruders in the ensuing chaos... Cole, however, remains free.

Meanwhile, Will Tippin continues to investigate SD-6. The key -- that was mysteriously left in his office -- leads him to a locker containing an autopsy report on David McNeil's wife. Her death was allegedly a suicide, but the new evidence suggests otherwise.

For her own safety, Will urges Kelly McNeil to go into hiding... If not, she might suffer the same fate as her mother.

At the CIA, Agent Weiss learns of the call from Vaughn to Haladki. Since all incoming calls are recorded, Weiss now knows that the attack on SD-6 is confirmed. A rescue team is immediately sent to prevent the unknown intruders from gaining access to the SD-6 vault.

Jack discovers Sloane in the SD-6 torture room... Only Sloane can deactivate the fail-safe, but his fingerprint is needed as verification. As Jack struggles to free Sloane from the restraints, both men realize that time is running out...and the only way to save the SD-6... is to cut off Sloane's finger.

Using the bloody digit, Jack cancels the fail-safe order, seconds before Cole opens the vault. Once inside, Cole removes a small metal box, marked with the Rambaldi symbol -- <0>. As he tries to escape, Cole is defeated and captured by Sydney and the CIA rescue team.

Vaughn opens the metal box and finds... a small vial of clear liquid.

SD-6 now believes that the break-in was successful, not realizing that the Rambaldi artifact is with the CIA. But mysteries remain. Who has McKenas Cole been working for? And what secrets will the mysterious liquid unlock?

>> episode 1.14: "The Coup"

After the assault on SD-6 by an unnamed organization, Sydney discovers that rivals FTL were attacked and wiped out, and their leader executed -- on exactly the same date.

The impact of another, priceless Rambaldi artifact being stolen has profound influence upon Sloane, who also explains that this unknown group has contacted K-Directorate, proposing to share information. SD-6's objective is to determine the time and location of the meeting between K-Directorate and the mystery group, and Sydney and Dixon will be sent to Las Vegas to plant a listening device on a K-Directorate agent.

When Sydney tells her roommate, Francie, about her upcoming "business trip," she and her fiancé, Charlie, are inspired to go to Vegas themselves -- though Sydney tries to dissuade them from this particular voyage...

Meanwhile, David McNeil explains to Will that he installed a back-door program in the software that he developed. Following McNeil's instructions, Will sneaks into the headquarters of the company where McNeil once worked. He is able to recover and download a "digital guestbook" of everyone who has been using McNeil's software -- the next clue in Will's quest for the truth about SD-6.

On campus, a student tells Sydney that she had been dating Charlie, but they had broken up. Unbeknownst to the student, she was dating Charlie at the same time as Francie was. Sydney is stunned, as Charlie has been engaged to Francie for some time. But before she can tell Francie the news, Sydney must leave for Las Vegas.

Upon arrival, Sydney enters the casino, disguised as a cocktail waitress. To her dismay, Francie and Charlie have chosen the same casino. She narrowly avoids them, barely maintaining her cover...

Meanwhile, Dixon masquerades as a Jamaican diplomat and enters a poker game with the K-Directorate agent...and Sydney, who has hacked into the surveillance system, can see the cards of all the players.

Dixon taunts the K-Directorate agent into wagering his ring -- which he intends to switch for an identical one containing a listening device. But while Sydney is feeding Dixon information, she sees Charlie and Francie in the casino wedding chapel on a different CCTV monitor...

In a daring gamble, Sydney leaves Dixon unattended, and races to the chapel. In private, she warns Charlie that if he doesn't confess, she will tell Francie about the affair. After stopping the quickie-wedding, Sydney returns to her post as Dixon switches the rings.

Moments later, the casino alerts their guards that Dixon is an imposter.

Exercising quick thinking and reflexes, Sydney takes down the casino guards and helps Dixon escape.

With the aid of the bug, Sloane has learned the location of the meeting between K-Directorate and the unknown group. He issues Sydney and Dixon to go to Russia to eavesdrop...and Sydney makes plans to exchange info with Vaughn, at a private meeting at Griffith Park. Vaughn also shares how much he'd like to be able to say yes, to becoming part of her personal life some day...

In Moscow, the clandestine meeting takes place at night, in a desolate office building with blown-out windows... and a gentleman known only as Mr. Sark negotiates to buy the Rambaldi artifact from K-Directorate. But when his offer is declined, the leader of K-Directorate is killed by his own bodyguard, and a remaining lieutenant is left to finish the negotiation.

He agrees to Sark's deal, while Sydney observes, suspended from a military-style harness, dangling outside the window. But when her foot accidentally knocks debris to the ground, this alerts the guard below...and Sydney hangs precariously from the side of the building as a machine gun fires away at her...
 

>> episode 1.15: "Page 47"

With bullets whizzing by, Sydney swings into a nearby building and narrowly escapes, aided by Dixon. She returns to SD-6 with video of the meeting between the mysterious Mr. Sark and K-Directorate...and gives the same to Vaughn.

Meanwhile, Will's investigation has attracted unwanted -- and potentially deadly -- attention from SD-6. Sloane tells Jack that this reporter should be "silenced" before he learns too much; Jack insists that more evidence is needed before such a drastic action should be taken.

After learning of Charlie's infidelity, Francie faces the awkward task of returning her bridal gifts. She tells Sydney that even though the wedding is off, she cannot bring herself to remove her engagement ring. Sydney reveals that she still wears the ring Danny gave her. In a touching moment, the two roommates remove their engagement rings at the same time.

Based on information gathered in Moscow, Sydney and Dixon are dispatched to Tunisia. A Rambaldi manuscript - the same one stolen by Anna Espinosa in Argentina - is being held on a yacht, and their mission is to retrieve the artifact before it is transferred to Sark. Her CIA countermission is to photograph the priceless manuscript before returning it to SD-6.
Using her feminine charms, Sydney arrives, and boards the yacht - posing as a Finn whose motorboat has run out of gasoline - and overpowers the K-Directorate agents, taking the Rambaldi book, along with the yacht - leaving Sark and his colleagues behind ashore.

Upon her return, Vaughn then presents Sydney with a moral dilemma. Knowing that Sydney is friendly with Emily - Sloane's cancer-stricken wife - Vaughn wants her to exploit the relationship to gain entrance to Sloane's house to plant a bug. Sydney feels awkward about manipulating a dying woman, but she finally agrees. After a "friendly" call, Emily invites Sydney to bring a date over for dinner.

Meanwhile, Will visits David McNeil with the information that he gained from the back-door program in McNeil's software. Unbeknownst to both of them, SD-6 agents are taping the entire conversation.

Two masked men kidnap Will as he leaves the prison, pulling him from his car and driving him to an abandoned warehouse. They issue a stern threat -- to stop investigating SD-6 or his family and friends will be killed. The threat comes from Jack -- though Will has no idea that Sydney's father is actually trying to save his life. In a desperate, final meeting, Will returns to inform McNeil that he must abandon the investigation.

As Sydney prepares for dinner at the Sloanes', Vaughn calls her for a crucial briefing.

Rambaldi manuscript, and in the prophet's style, page 47 is found to be - significantly - blank. Since the manuscript is currently held at Sloane's house, she is asked to retrieve the critical page during dinner. Before she leaves, Sydney reveals that Will is her date for the evening. Vaughn has no comment, but he is undeniably jealous.

During the dinner, Sydney excuses herself and proceeds to crack Sloane's personal safe. She takes page 47 - leaving a blank in its place - and quietly shuts the safe. As she turns, she is alarmed to find Sloane standing in the doorway, but how much did he see?

Using the same vial of "Rambaldi" liquid that McKenas Cole tried to steal - the CIA is able to reveal the image on page 47. Vaughn is shaken by what he sees, and immediately arranges a meeting with Sydney. She takes the page in her hand and sees a portrait of herself. How did a 15th century mystic draw an image of Sydney? What prophecy does this manuscript hold?
 

>> episode 1.16: "The Prophecy"

A hearing of the Department of Special Research is inquiring into Sydney's personal connection to the Rambaldi notebook... at which moment she is in Brazil, running for her life -- pursued by armed men and snarling dogs. She comes to the edge of a cliff, and leaps, revealing a para-sail, and descending to safety.

Upon her return to the States, she is detained by the DSR. As the paranormal research division of the National Security Agency, they are searching for an explanation for the image of Sydney on page 47 from Rambaldi's notebook. According to Vaughn, the text around the drawing has been partially decoded and is now being referred to as "The Prophecy."

The CIA is reluctant to cooperate with the DSR, though Haladki does everything he can to assist the rival agency. After undergoing a battery of mental tests, Sydney is asked to submit to a physical exam.

She refuses and walks away defiantly from the team of DSR researchers. Meanwhile, SD-6 has identified "the Man" responsible behind Mr. Sark and McKenas Cole. Using the evidence gathered in Brazil, Sloane identifies Alexander Khasinau, a dangerous and well-connected ally of the Russian mob.

The 12 members of the Alliance, the force behind SD-6 and its eleven sister cells, have called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. Will they go after Khasinau and his group, or shall they vote for détente -- Sloane desperately hopes that they will vote for war, but he doesn't know where the votes will fall.

Fishing for information, he calls Edward Poole, the leader of SD-9. Poole insists that Alliance member John Briault has been cooperating with Khasinau. Sloane is reluctant to believe that such a trusted, old friend could be cooperating with SD-6's latest enemy... but he finally decides to resolve the situation himself.

In an act of kindness, Sydney meets with Sloane's dying wife Emily, who reveals that her cancer might have been treated had she not denied the truth for so long. With these words as a warning, Sydney submits to further testing by the DSR.

Later, Jack reveals that the DSR agents do not have the original code key to decipher Rambaldi's writings. The original key is held at the Vatican... In a daring gamble, Sydney persuades Vaughn to break into the Vatican with her.

During their adventure, Vaughn flirts and asks her to dinner at his favorite restaurant in Rome. Engraved into the frame of a Rambaldi painting - located in the Vatican's subterranean archive - is the code key. Sydney and Vaughn photograph the cryptic writing, narrowly escaping Vatican guards and never making it to dinner.

Meanwhile, Sloane has discovered that "page 47" of the Rambaldi manuscript is a counterfeit. He's furious and demands to talk to Sydney. Does he suspect her?

Before the Alliance's meeting, Sloane arranges a private rendezvous with John Briault - the traitor Poole accuses of aiding Khasinau. Quietly, and without emotion, Sloane assassinates his friend in a Montreal park at night.

When the Alliance meets, the decision to retaliate loses... by a single vote. Sloane realizes that it was Poole - not Briault - who has been working for the enemy all along and Sloane promises to "return the favor."

At the CIA, Vaughn provides the code key to decipher Rambaldi's writings, which only confirms what the DSR has already discovered... and he is not pleased. Sydney is taken into custody, plucked from a nightclub where she has met up with Francie and Will, and "the prophecy" is finally revealed to her.

According to Rambaldi, a woman bearing Sydney's characteristics will appear - she will fulfill the prophecy and "render the greatest power unto utter desolation". Sydney is driven away in chains and shackles by the DSR... now a prisoner of a 15th century prophecy.

THE PROPHECY:

"This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks. Signs that she will be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury. A burning anger, unless prevented. At vulgar cost, this woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation."
 

>> episode 1.17: "Q & A"

Sydney wears a short-haired wig, and is behind the wheel of a big American car, fleeing from a squad of police cars...Where is she trying to go? ...And where did she escape from? The high-speed pursuit ends on a pier, with Syd surrounded by cops. With nowhere else to turn, she slams her foot to the accelerator and plunges her car into the water...

We find Sydney chained to a chair. It is a day earlier, and we are in the moments immediately following the FBI taking her into custody. FBI Special Officer Kendall now questions her, before a team of interrogators... The CIA are out of the picture, and the questioners are delving into Sydney's background, and her connection to the Rambaldi prophecy. They ask her to start from the beginning -- the very beginning.

She explains how she was recruited by SD-6, trained at Credit Dauphine...and in a painful moment, she must also relive SD-6's murder of her fiancé, Daniel Hecht.

Sydney explains how she learned the truth about SD-6 from her father... She then joined forces with the CIA and became a double-agent. She confirms much of what they already know -- that her father is in the same situation, and that Arvin Sloane recruited her, and brought her into a life of espionage...But which does the FBI want to believe more -- Sydney's truth...or The Prophecy?

Meanwhile, Jack tells Vaughn that her cover with SD-6 will be destroyed if she remains in FBI custody much longer...According to Rambaldi, the woman in The Prophecy will never have seen Mt. Subasio in Italy. Vaughn has a wild scheme to break her out of custody and prove her innocence... Vaughn and Jack agree that she must get to the mountain somehow. If successful, their action would defy The Prophecy.

Through a chance conversation, Vaughn learns that Haladki used to be with the FBI. He asks Haladki about Sydney's location... but gets no help.As the questioning intensifies, Sydney talks about her mother -- a deceitful woman who worked for years as a KGB spy... and while being pursued by an FBI agent, she went off the road, and disappeared with her car into a river...

Sydney goes on to explain how her life as a double-agent works: SD-6 gives her a mission, then she meets with Vaughn who gives her a CIA counter mission. She refers to the explosion at Badenweiler, to illustrate how contradictory this situation can be.

Jack uses brute force and a deadly threat to force Haladki to divulge Sydney's location. The daring plan is put into action... Jack, Vaughn, and Weiss rescue her and explain the proposed solution to the Rambaldi prophecy. Sydney is angry at first, as her escape now makes her a fugitive... but she agrees to travel to Mt. Subasio.

When Haladki learns of the rescue, he immediately knows who was behind it. He discovers that four unmarked cars were taken out, and reports these license plate numbers to the FBI.

Wearing a short wig as a disguise, we find Sydney's drive to the airport interrupted, when the police quickly give chase...And in an ironic moment across town, Will and Francie watch the pursuit on television, unaware that their best friend is the subject.

After plunging the car into the water, Sydney has a burst of insight... and breathes the oxygen from the tires. She stays submerged for over ten minutes -- long enough get away.

Before boarding the plane, she meets with her father and reveals how she escaped. And, if Sydney managed to fool the police this way, couldn't her mother have done the same?

THE PROPHECY:

"This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks. Signs that she will be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury. A burning anger, unless prevented. At vulgar cost, this woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation. This woman, without pretense, will have had her effect, never having seen the beauty of my sky behind Mt. Subasio. Perhaps a single glance would have quelled her fire."
 

>> episode 1.18: "Masquerade"

Sydney has traveled to Mt. Subasio in Italy, following her underwater escape. She scales the mountain -- thereby proving that she is not the subject of the Rambaldi prophecy -- and once at the top, she uses a satellite phone to call the FBI and turn herself in.

Upon her return to the States, her father explains that the CIA is still investigating the Prophecy, but they are now searching for her mother. Jack also confirms that, according to a CIA investigation after Laura's car crash, a special commission concluded that she had escaped alive...and that Sloane, who was on this committee, had been keeping the truth from him for many years.

Sydney is now determined to find her mother, and she meets privately with Sloane to ask for his help, and insists upon a leave of absence. He agrees...but to her surprise the following day, he assigns her onto a mission to retrieve material about Alexander Khasinau.

.When Sydney protests -- reminding Sloane that she wants to find her mother first -- he explains that Khasinau was Laura Bristow's superior at the KGB. Dixon and Sloane are to fly to Vienna and rendezvous with an undercover agent stationed at the Russian embassy. The agent, Wexler, has a microchip with valuable information about Khasinau's organization.

Wearing a mask, Sydney attends a masquerade ball at the embassy. Another man, also wearing a mask, whispers to her that Wexler is dead and that they are both now in jeopardy. In private, the masks are dropped. The man is Noah Hicks, an SD-6 agent whom she dated years ago.

Together, they make it to the basement and find Wexler's corpse. Suspecting that he swallowed the microchip to keep it hidden, they cut the chip out of the body. With enemy agents in hot pursuit, Sydney and Dixon extract Noah from Vienna and make their escape.

On the plane home, Sydney asks Noah why he left five years earlier without saying good-bye. It becomes clear that their separation was the result of a misunderstanding, before Hicks had to be transferred out of the States...

That evening, Francie borrows Sydney's coat and discovers a ticket stub for a trip...to Italy. Sydney said she had flown to Seattle, so she and Will contemplate an explanation for the mysterious ticket, and speculation fills the air... Is she having an affair? Why would she lie to her friends? ...and they resolve to confront her about this.

Meanwhile, Jack -- after learning that his wife is still alive -- is furious that Sloane kept the truth from him for this long. He tries to console himself with drink, until Sydney finds him in a local tavern in the middle of the afternoon. She informs him that Devlin has ordered him to visit Dr. Barnett, the agency psychiatrist... and the wall, between father and daughter, goes up once again.

Following orders, Jack visits Dr. Barnett. She is a shrewd judge of Jack's character, and does not believe that he is being truthful, with her or with himself... She asks that he visit her once a week.
After the microchip is analyzed at SD-6, Sydney and Noah are sent to the Arkhangelsk forest in Russia. In an underground complex, below a ranger station, is a computer with information about Khasinau's organization. They break into the complex to steal the data-core from the computer. Sydney also uses this opportunity to confirm background on her mother.

The data-core is kept under sub-zero conditions in a cryo-chamber, and Sydney must don a protective suit to access it. During the invasion, one of Khasinau's men triggers a large, robotic lever-arm -- and knocks her to the ground, cracking her helmet -- and Noah must rescue her before she succumbs to the paralyzing cold. Sydney and Noah narrowly escape with the core, and make it to a cabin -- a remote SD-6 safehouse. With hours to kill before they are rescued, they discover that their passion has not been extinguished.
 

>> episode 1.19: "Snowman"

In the safehouse in the Arkhangelsk forest, Sydney sleeps against Noah's body...their bliss interrupted when Khasinau's soldiers storm the house. Escaping through a secret crawlspace below the floorboards, they get away on a motorcycle -- seconds before the cabin is riddled with bullets.

Meanwhile, Vaughn confirms that K-Directorate has hired a known assassin -- a.k.a. "The Snowman," for his favored use of an ice-pick as a weapon -- to take out Khasinau. He suggests that by following the hit man, they can find Khasinau.

When Sydney returns to SD-6, Noah makes her an interesting proposition. While working undercover, he opened some secret bank accounts and now wants to run away, leaving the spy world behind...and he wants her to come with him. She refuses, insisting that she must find her mother first. But Sloane has uncovered Noah's questionable banking practices and wonders if the agent is still loyal.

Jack is visibly upset; he tells his daughter that the information on the data-core is useless for tracking down Khasinau. However, it does contain video files of Laura Bristow...video recorded after her car crash, and supposed death.

Sydney watches the grainy video, and learns the unpleasant truth about her mother. Laura Bristow -- using her real name "Irina Derevko" -- answers questions from Khasinau and another man. Derevko states how she came to America for the purpose of seducing Jack Bristow. During their years of marriage, she had gone through his briefcase and monitored his conversations, reporting everything back to the KGB.

The other man on the tape, Igor Valenko, looks familiar, so Sydney investigates. She discovers that this man once worked undercover at the FBI under an alias..."Calder." She concludes that he was the agent who was, allegedly, chasing Laura Bristow before her fateful crash, and that he also must have faked his own death.

Sydney uncovers that Valenko currently does business with a bank in Cape Town, South Africa, and she speculates that he might still be connected to Khasinau. Using her input, Jack outlines a mission to Sloane -- to send Noah and Sydney to Cape Town to recover bank records to create a trail. Sloane is reluctant -- he no longer trusts Noah, and expresses concerns about Jack defending yet another male figure in Sydney's life -- but ultimately, he agrees.

Following a separate path to Khasinau, Vaughn travels to Bogota to meet with a man who once worked with The Snowman. This agent -- scarred and disfigured from an encounter with the assassin -- had formerly declined to help the CIA, but time has changed his mind, and he now offers to help.

With a mixture of curiosity and dread, Jack finally summons the courage to watch the recovered video of his wife. Although he already knows the truth, he is crushed to see her treachery in such light.

Using Marshall's ingenious op-tech, Noah and Sydney break into the South African warehouse and successfully hack into the computer using a wireless modem. They download all the files onto a laptop, but a sophisticated security system thwarts their mission...When they return home, they learn that the hard drive's memory was wiped as they escaped.

One evening, Will and Francie finally confront Sydney about the mysterious, unexplained plane ticket to Italy. Under pressure, she confides that the bank has been doing business with extremely private and sensitive clients as of late...and this is why she must keep secrets from her own friends.

Just when Sydney is beginning to trust Noah again, she is surprised to learn that he has accepted another deep cover assignment. Before he departs, he again pleads with her to run away with him. She finds the offer quite attractive... ultimately, she must decline, once again.

After further tinkering, Marshall is finally able to recover low-level sector information from the reformatted drive. According to the records, Valenko is in Mackay, Australia. Dixon and Sydney are immediately dispatched to capture him, hoping that this will bring them one step closer to Khasinau.

Vaughn receives a call from the source in Bogota. The Snowman has been spotted in Mackay, Australia, and he desperately wants to alert Sydney, to warn her, but he has no way to contact her.

When Sydney enters Valenko's mansion, she finds no bodyguards...and a trail of dead bodies. She stumbles into the kitchen and finds The Snowman standing over a fresh corpse -- and she fights the assassin in a brutal bout of hand-to-hand combat. During the melee, she impales The Snowman onto his own ice-pick, and he lies bleeding on the floor. She pulls back the mask and discovers his true identity... Noah... who mumbles a sad good-bye to her as he dies.
 

>> episode 1.20: "The Solution"

Sydney has become despondent, after killing Noah Hicks -- a.k.a. "The Snowman" -- a man she once loved. Vaughn bolsters her spirits by showing her a map of all the groups affiliated with SD-6. Red circles indicate the groups that she has helped destroy. This gives her the energy to continue her life despite the problems caused by constant deception.

At the apartment, Will and Francie discover a rat in the kitchen. While trying to deal with the pest, Will receives a phone call from his source -- "Deep Throat" -- and the mysterious caller urges him to resume the investigation of SD-6. The voice also provides him with another crucial clue...Jack Bristow was the man who kidnapped Will.

When Sydney returns home, Francie talks about setting a trap for the rat. This sparks an idea...perhaps the way to catch Khasinau is to set a trap for him as well...Sydney explains her idea to Vaughn.

Since Khasinau wants the ampule containing the solution that Cole tried to steal, they should offer to sell him the liquid...This way, they can capture him, and hopefully find Irina Derevko, a.k.a. Sydney's mom. The Kherefu Art Museum in Algiers is a formerly suspected trove of Rambaldi artifacts, and Sydney suggests that they stage a break in. They will dupe Khasinau into believing that a second vial of the solution has been found... and this vial is to become the subject of their transaction.

Before Sydney departs, Emily Sloane admits that she knows about SD-6. Although her husband never said a word, she tells Sydney that she picked up on it from little clues over the years. Unfortunately, Emily reveals this to Sydney in a SD-6 operated hospital.

Pretending to be French insurance agents, Vaughn and Sydney visit the museum. In order to test the security system, the power is turned off for a few minutes... and during this brief interruption, Sydney is able to steal the alleged Rambaldi artifacts.

Upon their return, Vaughn then spreads the word that Raslak Jihad, a radical terrorist group, was behind the robbery -- and that they now have the priceless liquid which will reveal Rambaldi’s invisible writing. He makes it known that the group will sell it for the right price, and Khasinau takes the bait. A meeting has been arranged in the Indonesian town of Denpassar, where Khasinau’s aide, Mr. Sark, will trade diamonds for the liquid.

Sydney is disappointed that Khasinau won’t be present at the trade... but Vaughn has his own plan. They will bring the real solution, in case Sark wants to test it, but Sydney will then switch this for a placebo...The fake vial contains an element that can be tracked by the CIA.

Meanwhile in L.A., Will submits a sealed envelope -- containing his piece of SD-6 reportage -- to Abby, another reporter at the paper. He explains that if he should disappear, the story should be published immediately.

At last, Will confronts Jack -- and explains that an unknown source gave him the information. Jack denies any involvement...but immediately, he pays a visit to CIA Director Devlin. He suspects Haladki may be a mole; leaking the information to Will.

Determined to find the mole, Jack agrees to help Will. He confesses that he gave the pin to Eloise Kurtz -- the pin that doubles as a surveillance device -- though he did not kill her. He tells Will to use the device to inform the unknown source that his SD-6 investigation is back on...

Meanwhile, Tambor Barcelo, head of security for the Alliance, visits Sloane at SD-6. Emily’s hospital room has been bugged, and the Alliance is fully aware of her conversation with Sydney. This woman must now be "eliminated" ...just as Daniel Hecht was. Sloane is outraged, and refuses, but Barcelo knows all about Jean Briault’s murder. Sloane’s position in the Alliance is shaky, and he is in no position to object.

Sloane instructs Marshall to tap Edward Poole’s cell phone, and in doing so, they discover Khasinau’s phone number. By monitoring this line, Sloane learns about the meeting in Denpassar, and he orders Dixon to make an appearance, and to recover the solution.

In Denpassar, Sydney shows up for the trade, wearing dark skin foundation, and a veil as a disguise. Sark asks her to prove her Raslak Jihad identity -- the members of whom practice an ancient form of martial arts... Sark leaves her no choice but to fight him, using a latajang -- a pole with curved blades on both ends... Although she has never used one before, she quickly adapts, and demonstrates skill with the weapon.

After Sark is satisfied, the exchange is made. Before she can switch the real solution for the placebo, Dixon and a team of SD-6 agents interrupt their meeting. With a gun trained directly upon Sydney, Dixon finds something disturbingly familiar about this woman
 

>> episode 1.21: "Rendezvous"

When SD-6 agents break up the diamonds-for-ampule exchange in Denpassar, Vaughn lobs a flash grenade into the courtyard. Sydney tries to escape and injures her shoulder while fighting Dixon...and she still wears a veil, so he has no idea that he's battling his own partner...

Vaughn handcuffs Sark to a gate and recovers the ampule. Weiss, who has been monitoring the situation via remote, demands that his partner stay with the captive. Vaughn, however, disobeys CIA orders and leaves his post, in order to rescue Sydney... Moments later he returns to find that Sark has disappeared...

Meanwhile, Jack is determined to find the identity of "Deep Throat." He instructs Will to tell the mysterious source that he knows all about "the circumference"...and that he wants a meeting.

In London, Sloane meets with the Alliance, and threatens to resign if they won’t let his cancer-stricken wife die in peace. But he is surprised to discover that the Alliance knows all about Edward Poole’s deception, as well as the truth behind the murder of Jean Briault... Ultimately, the members decide to let Emily live, as her death appears to be imminent.

When Sydney returns to SD-6, she learns that Sark has been apprehended. Dixon is suspicious of her absence and notices her injured shoulder...

Over a glass of expensive wine, Sloane proposes to Sark that if he will help SD-6 find Khasinau, his life will be spared. Sark agrees...

Vaughn has a new dilemma at the CIA, when Weiss chastises him for having let Sark escape. Vaughn’s feelings for Sydney are clouding his judgment, and jeopardizing both of their jobs.

For their next mission, Sydney and Dixon must go to a Paris nightclub, where Sark will deliver the ampule to Khasinau...and during the meeting, Dixon will steal pages of a Rambaldi manuscript from a safe.

To crack the safe’s encryption mechanism, Sydney will need to monitor Khasinau’s heartbeat with a special ring [from Marshall, of course], which will then transmit the pulse to Dixon’s cellphone -- who will then be able to open the sophisticated safe.

Meanwhile, Will establishes a meeting with "Deep Throat." A location is set... Paris... and Jack will monitor the conversation using a hidden microphone in Will’s jacket.

Before Paris, Vaughn gives Sydney her countermission -- to deliver the real Rambaldi pages to the CIA and give fakes to SD-6. But she senses that he is being unusually blunt ... possibly cold with her, and she now wonders why he is acting so oddly.

In the Paris club, Sydney assumes one of her sexiest identities...a vamp-like cabaret singer. While performing from the audience, she holds her hand on Khasinau’s chest long enough to record his heartbeat... face to face with the one man who can also help her find her mother...

Moments later, she spots Will with Deep Throat’s men, being escorted through the nightclub at gunpoint... She interrupts the interrogation, flies into action and overpowers the armed men... Will is alarmed -- he has never seen Sydney like this -- and they escape to Jack’s car. She is furious with her father for involving Will, until Jack explains how this unknown informant has been trying to expose SD-6 publicly...

During the night, Dixon recalls the mission to Mt. Aconcagua... and Sydney having used the code name "Freelancer" on a satellite phone. When he asks about her injured shoulder, she explains that she fell while hiking, but he is suspicious...

Sloane explains that despite the chaos in Paris, they can still track Sark because of a substance added to the wine...In a private moment, Sloane thanks Sydney for not reporting Emily’s breach of security...he even expresses his own regret for having Danny Hecht terminated.

Will is moved to a CIA safehouse... Vaughn says that he may need to enter the Witness Protection Program for safety...or even be recruited.

Later, at the hospital, Emily learns that her cancer is in remission, but Sloane doesn’t know how to react. How will he convince the Alliance to let her live?

A team of SD-6 agents track Sark to his location, hoping to find Khasinau as well. Instead, they find a room with medical equipment. Using a blood transfusion to hide his trail, Sark is somewhere else... the CIA safehouse. And when Will opens the door, Sark fires...at point-blank range...
 

>> episode 1.22: "Almost Thirty Years"     [season finale]

Will, tranquilized and badly beaten, is dragged into a dingy storeroom, where Mr. Sark asks him about "the circumference"... with no answers. A sinister Taiwanese interrogator -- "Suit And Glasses," who tortured Sydney months before -- enters with an array of frightening instruments.

Sydney receives a call from Sark, setting up the exchange of her friend for the Rambaldi page that was stolen in Paris and the ampule of solution... to take place in Taipei, in 24 hours.

Jack agrees to help recover Will. He can easily get the ampule from CIA storage, but recovering the page will be tricky -- it's in an offsite SD-6 vault located off the coast of Santa Barbara... and they will need Sloane's fingerprint and voiceprint in order to gain access. Jack suggests that they study the Rambaldi page themselves and determine its value, before negotiating further with Sark. He also tells Sydney that she must keep her plan from Vaughn -- the CIA has a mole.

When Vaughn explains to Sydney that Will is still likely to be alive, he senses that she hiding something. Later, he tells Weiss that he suspects that Sydney has her own plan to rescue Will.

Her cancer now in remission, Emily is out of the hospital. At a remote beach house, Sloane finally tells her the truth about SD-6.

Later at SD-6, Alliance member Ramon Veloso explains to Sloane that they only allowed Emily to live because her future had been pre-determined her by lymphoma. Sloane demands that her life be spared... but protocol insists that she be terminated. If he carries out their order, however, Veloso affirms that he will become a fully-fledged member of the Alliance.

Wearing a concealed recording device, Sydney visits Sloane in his office, to speak candidly about Emily... In reality, she is distracting him while Jack hacks into Sloane's computer to collect the needed passwords, and takes a voiceprint and fingerprint

Having now stolen the Rambaldi page from the remote SD-6 island vault, Sydney climbs out of the water, only to be confronted...by Dixon. He demands to know why she used the codename "Freelancer" on Mount Aconcagua... Sydney is pleading when she insists that she is not betraying her country, but also that she cannot reveal the truth to him... and Dixon walks away.

Meanwhile, Vaughn is summoned into a meeting with Devlin and Haladki. Weiss has reported that Vaughn no longer fully trusts Sydney, and now they all need to know what may be hiding.

Jack calls Devlin. After taking the ampule from the CIA, he assures that he will return the stolen item once his mission is completed... Devlin demands that Jack return immediately.

Since Will has disappeared, his friend Abby, at the newspaper, goes straight to editor Litvack, with his sealed envelope about SD-6. And the editor agrees to run the story...as front page news.

Using the Rambaldi solution, Jack and Sydney finally expose the mysterious page. It reveals drawings for the same "Mueller device" stolen by Sydney in prototype stage, from Taipei months ago. Jack explains that this might explain Khasinau's search for "the circumference," a precise set of instructions for building the device in this drawing.

On a hunch, Jack abducts Haladki, who under pain of torture, admits to being the CIA mole...and that he has been working for Khasinau. The instructions are for a "battery" that Khasinau has been constructing in a Taipei lab... And after a treacherous, and deranged Haladki spills all...Jack silences him, for good.

Vaughn later finds Sydney alone at a train station. He has figured out what she is planning, and agrees to help save Will. With Jack, they will fly to Taipei...and while Jack makes the exchange for her friend, Sydney and Vaughn are to simultaneously detonate the lab where the battery is located.

At home, Sloane mixes a powder into a glass of wine. With resolve, he and Emily raise their glasses for a final toast... and she forgives him for the mistakes that he has made.

Meanwhile, after hours of torture, Will still hasn't revealed much about "the circumference." When he is finally unchained, he plunges a syringe into the neck of his sadistic interrogator. Guards seize Will, and drag him from the room.

In an alleyway, Jack meets with Sark and exchanges the page -- the drawing, now exposed -- for Will, who has been spared, bloody, but alive... Sobbing, Will embraces the stony-faced man who has handed him back his future.

Across town, Sydney and Vaughn find the Mueller device, behind lock and key, in a Taiwanese dance club. It is, in fact, similar to the prototype she retrieved before...only much, much bigger.

Sydney detonates the explosive, unleashes a tremendous flood... and she and Vaughn dash through the underground complex, trying to escape the approaching torrent.

Sydney makes it through a security door, but cannot hold it open long enough for Vaughn, who is trapped -- on the wrong side, in a room filling, perilously fast, with rushing water... and seconds later, Vaughn is gone. When Sydney turns, she is knocked out by sharp blow from a security guard.

She awakens to a familiar scene: she is once again chained to a chair, in a Taipei storeroom. But this time, instead of "Suit And Glasses," her interrogator is Khasinau... who explains that "his boss" has questions for her.

Puzzled, Sydney admits she thought "The Man" was the one in charge... But Khasinau is not "The Man." The door opens... "The Man" is a woman... Sydney's mother.