Alias - 4x04 "Ice"

Because I only managed to write down two bits of notes for this episode (1. Sydney to Von: "God, you look awful"; 2. Sydney asking Kelly Macdonald's character (who, by the way, looked less and less like Kelly Macdonald as the show progressed) what the soldier was saying even though she probably understood the language), I'll make some series-general comments in lieu of a typical post.

1. The suspense of the show is compromised when Sydney's life is in danger; conversely, if the success of the mission is in question (since, obviously, Syd's more likely to fail than die), the show can engineer a genuine amount of suspense.

2. Sydney is the moral barometer of the show (credit where credit due -- thanks Emily!); if the audience is supposed to distrust Sloane, you betcha Syd's going to be giving him a big slice of stinkeye. In this respect, there's an attempt to align the viewer with her, and (here's the part where I talk about my thesis) by extension, Alias suggests that its audience does not have a true "self" that is not constructed by the show or the act of watching the show. I deserve a cookie for that, I think!

3. I forgot, there are things I could talk about for this episode. Like, MR. CROOKED TEETH VON GETS HIS WOODEN INEXPRESSIVE PODEX SERVED TO HIM ON A PLATTER. Yeah, that was cool.

Indie rating: Nobukazu Takemura - "Icefall"