Sydney is told that everything Vaughn said is true. She’s been believed dead for two years. Her father, believing she was alive, tried to find her with help from Derevko, for which he was jailed. Dixon is now head of Syd’s section at the CIA, Marshall and his girlfriend are expecting a baby, Vaughn is married, Weiss has been promoted and Sloane has seen the error of his ways and been granted a pardon in return for help on CIA cases. Sydney can’t remember anything that’s happened to her, but she must pretend to do so when a mission appears that will give her leverage to get her father released.

A new season of Alias, a new set of complications, and a new opportunity to sit back and say ‘What???’ a lot. For once we’re as in the dark as the lead character, so we learn what’s been going on as she does. The CIA alterations are a great idea and very cleverly make all the characters relevant again. Weiss now has Vaughn’s action man credentials and carries them well, Marshall’s status is endearing, and Dixon’s promotion enables him to stay centre stage.

It’s outside this core group that things aren’t quite so rosy. Vaughn a teacher? It seems a little unlikely. Plus we have yet to meet his wife. Sloane’s epiphany, conversion and pardon sit at odds with what we know of him; we still don’t know what he was shown on the piece of paper up in the mountains, and it’s hard to take him at face value after all this time. His encounter with Sydney suggests he’s still the same person he was, but we’ll have to see how it all plays out. It certainly seems unlikely that the Rambaldi device has been taken out of the equation so simplistically.

And then there’s Jack. Not only has he decided to grow a disturbing comedy beard, but he’s been locked up on what seem to be fairly minor charges. There’s no explanation as to how he found Derevko or what she’s been up to; indeed, the lack of her presence is felt quite keenly after she made such a huge impression last season. Yet however weird the charges against Jack seem, he’s let off awfully easily. What’s even more astounding is he’s sent straight back to the CIA! Why? Did he cross his heart and hope to not be a traitor? It seems a rather random and odd decision when surely he should be thrown back into the world of the civilian.

Overall then, the plot is good as far as it goes. Syd’s ability to find and retrieve exactly what the CIA wants when they can’t do it themselves seems a little too convenient, and her claim to know something about a building where the entire team is slaughtered is surely some kind of court martial offence. It’s damn lucky the mission would have gone ahead either way or she’d be racked with guilt for life.

The whole thing is as pacy as we’ve come to expect, but it’s not perfect. Garner and Vartan look terribly tired in places, which is a worry, and it’ll take a while to adjust to the changes that have occurred; indeed, it’d be nice to at least see Will and what he’s up to now. We also know nothing of Derevko or Sark’s actions in Syd’s lost time, so there’s a whole lot more to explore. This episode opens up a lot of questions, and is all the better for it, but it’s not instantly back to top form after the break. Still, it’s worth watching for the incredible tirade towards the end alone, when Sydney tells Vaughn exactly what she thinks of him and his so-called love. Incredible writing and performance.

***

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