Twenty years after Alias’ conclusion, it’s time to reopen the Sydney Bristow dossier and revisit that two-hour series finale. The ABC spy drama ended on May 22, 2006, with a double-header: Season 5’s “Reprisal,” written by Monica Breen and Alison Schapker and directed by Frederick E. O. Toye, and “All the Time in the World,” written by Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner and directed by Tucker Gates.
Over five seasons, Alias followed spy Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) as she realized SD-6, her secretive employer, was not actually a division of the CIA, as she’d been told, but the very enemy she thought she was fighting, and that her father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) was an SD-6 employee, too. Syd became a double agent, working for the CIA… only to realize her father was, too. With the help of her CIA handler (and future love interest) Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan), Syd and Jack destroyed SD-6 and freed their innocent colleagues Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) from the organization’s clutches.
Syd, Jack, Marshall, Dixon, and Vaughn went on to work together for the CIA, and then, starting in Season 4, for a black-ops division called Authorized Personnel Only, where their boss was former SD-6 head Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin). Like Syd’s mother, Irina Derevko (Lena Olin), Sloane had shifting loyalties. But he was fully devoted to the prophecy of Milo Rambaldi, a 15th-century mystic who had lots to say about Syd…
Sydney & Co. were dealt harsh blows in “Reprisal,” before Sloane found the downside of “All the Time in the World.”
In “Reprisal,” the APO team readied to take down Prophet Five, a criminal organization on Rambaldi’s trail. Sloane had Marshall and APO colleague Rachel Gibson (Rachel Nichols) abducted, and he commanded Marshall to help him find a particular cavern. But Marshall sent a secret message to his wife, and that message led to his and Rachel’s rescue. After Rachel relayed that Sloane was headed to Italy, Syd deduced he’d headed for Mt. Subasio, a location significant to Rambaldi. She and Vaughn followed him to a cavern, where they saw he had found a Rambaldi amulet. And as Prophet Five associate Kelly Peyton (Amy Acker) killed the cabal’s leadership in a Sloane-ordered massacre, and as the APO office blew up in a Sloane-ordered bomb blast that team member Thomas Grace (Balthazar Getty) sacrificed himself to delay, Sloane again crossed Syd. Believing she was the all-powerful woman of Rambaldi prophecy, he shot the ice under her feet, sending her plummeting into an icy chasm.
In “All the Time in the World,” Sloane escaped while Vaughn rescued Syd. Later, Syd and her teammates figured out that Sloane used the assets of the slain Prophet Five members to purchase two stolen nuclear missiles being shipped to Hong Kong and that he wanted to profit off global destruction. They followed Sloane to Mongolia, where Sloane found Rambaldi’s tomb and was using an artifact called the Horizon to activate the tomb’s special powers. Sloane shot Jack, and Syd shot Sloane. Jack was mortally wounded, but Sloane wasn’t — he was seemingly made immortal by the pool of red liquid into which he fell. Then our heroes found out Sloane’s contact in Hong Kong was none other than Irina, and Jack insisted that Syd leave to stop her. Once Syd departed, Jack went subterranean to confront Sloane again — and detonated explosives to trap Sloane in the tomb forever. In Hong Kong, Vaughn forced the mercenary businessman Sark (David Anders) to call off the missiles, while Syd found Irina inspecting her newly-acquired Horizon. They fought, and when Irina fell on a splintering glass ceiling, she reached not for Syd’s outstretched hand but for the Horizon, and she fell through the glass to her death.
Several years later, Dixon visited Syd and Vaughn on a beach, where they were living with their two children, Isabelle and Jack. Isabelle mastered the same wooden puzzle that indicated a young Syd’s aptitude for spycraft, but she knocked it over and joined her parents, brother, and “Uncle” Dixon for a walk into the proverbial sunset.
Loved: Marshall’s kiss-off
In the first hour, Sloane tortured Marshall and told him to think of his son. But Marshall refused to give in — and, in fact, told Sloane he wasn’t scared of him any longer. “I see you for who you really are,” he added. “You are a weak, pathetic man. You know, you’re right. I’m not cut out for this. But I am thinking about my son. I want Mitchell to look up to me, to be proud of his dad. Which is why no matter what you do to me, I’ll never help you.”
Loved: Jack’s goodbye
As Jack lay bleeding out, he gave his daughter parting words she didn’t want to think were a goodbye. “I never wanted this life for you, you know,” he said. “I never wanted you to bear this kind of responsibility, but you, you were a very difficult little girl. You were far too driven, far too strong to let someone like me stop you from becoming who you are. … There’s no one in this world that can do the things that you can do.”
Loved: One more Francie sighting
Francie (Merrin Dungey), Syd’s late bestie, showed up for the first time since her Season 2 death in a finale flashback. And thanks to that glimpse of Syd and Francie’s college days, we saw the origin not only of Syd’s relationship with murdered fiancé Danny but of her work with SD-6, too.
Loved: Sloane’s fate
Sloane’s obsession with Rambaldi’s prophecies cost him everything he loved in his life — and thanks to Jack, he’ll have an eternity to dwell on his life choices, trapped and alone in the rubble of Rambaldi’s tomb. (Jack also had the best final line: “You beat death, Arvin. But you couldn’t beat me.”)
Loved: Syd’s semi-retirement
The finale’s epilogue showed us Syd and Vaughn had settled down in an impossible-to-find beachside home. But when “Uncle” Dixon paid the family a visit, we learned Syd was still in the spy game part-time. Dixon wanted Syd’s assistance for a “fun” field op, and she replied, “That’s what you say every time you show up on my doorstep. The next thing you know, I’m jumping over canals in three-inch heels while napalm explodes around me.”
Didn’t love: Irina’s betrayal
Since Syd’s presumed-dead mom first resurfaced in her life in the Season 1 finale, Alias had us guessing about Irina’s intentions. The Season 4 finale made it seem she truly did love Syd. But in the series finale, Irina chose power — “the only currency worth anything in this world,” in her words — over her daughter and even her own physical safety.
Didn’t love: Will and Weiss’ absences
After his exit at the end of Season 2, Bradley Cooper reprised his role as Will Tippin, Syd’s nosy but well-meaning journalist friend, twice more on Alias — including once in Season 5 to mark the show’s 100th episode. Similarly, Greg Grunberg returned as CIA agent Eric Weiss in a Season 5 guest spot after leaving the main cast earlier that season. We just wish both actors could have played their characters once more in the epic finale.
Didn’t love: The absence of aliases
Not one fake name? Not one accent? Not one costume? Not one wig? After five years of spectacular disguises — and even cloned characters — we wish the show had lived up to its title one last time in its finale.
Alias, All Seasons Streaming, Disney+