A perfectly reasonable offering, considering the absolutely interminable opening action sequence, by the standards of JJ Abrams rather ramshackle season openers. There were a few moments which were absolutely fantastic, although more than a few were meta-moments, which tends to mean a show has realised what made it great and is parodying itself while desperately trying to regain lost ground. Here, the Nadia-Sydney relationship shows promise without ever really being focussed upon.

4.1-4.2- 'Authorised Personnel Only

-The beginning of the episode recalls the now infamous post-Superbowl episode with Jennifer Garner's red and black lingerie. This time we're treated to the white, and the fact that Jennifer Garner gets to punch the person who was salivating over her later barely makes the objectification of her any less of a cynical ploy. I repeat the claim that the argument that it's meant without sexism is void considering the many similar scenes played by Melissa George and Jennifer Garner as opposed to Carl Lumbly and Michael Vartan. But there we go.

-The music at the beginning recalls an Agatha Christie mystery, and throughout the hour and a half, I was very impressed by Michael Giacchino's music. I think this is one of his strongest scorings to date, and he's obviously been noticed since he was called upon to score 'The Incredibles'.

-Talking of big Christmas films, the train sections of the first episode, recall 'The Polar Express', maybe mixed up with a bit of 'The Train Job'.

-When Sydney starts having that long conversation with Brodeen I was worried that I was never going to catch up with what was going on- since we'd already had the train section, then the (again utterly unnecessary) 72 hour flashback, then the sequence in Shanghai, and then Syd being debriefed by someone we've never seen before. This is resolved exceptionally well a little later.

-Brodeen calls Sydney's spontaniety during the mission, 'A psychological need to challenge authority', which, despite the fact that the whole scene is a facade dreamt up for the third party, is an interesting point, and one I hope they come back to. It ties in nicely with Sydney's (reasonable) complete lack of trust in her own father, and the constant betrayals by her Mother.

-Vaughn burns his house down, just as happened to Syd's house at the end of the second season. Now both of their lives have been burned down and left as ash, (Syd with the two years' gap, Vaughn with his Evil Wife), well they emerge, Syd's Phoenix code-name from the flame, as equal partners in their relationship. The attempt to take their relationship slowly in the earlier part of the first episode is demolished by the adrenaline produced during locomotion and spywork.

-'Last year sucked', we are told. Not entirely with the fourth wall intact, particularly considering Abrams famous branding of the third season as 'physical pain'.

-And the section where the four are revealed to be Vaughn, Dixon, Jack and Sloane. Sloane, leashed by inferiors only ('a system of checks and balances'!), now has the right to do whatever he wants with all the CIA's resources. It's hardly surprising by this point, but I really liked Sydney's 'Allow me to ask the most obvious question in the history of time'. Her sarcasm in the rest of the episode bears more than a passing relationship to Buffy and Wesley, though the sharpness here is in the knowledge that Sloane is not incompetent but deadly dangerous.

-The Dixon-Syd scene where she confesses that their resumption of their partnership is the one plus side of the situation is beautifully under-acted and really works. I think at this point, with so many of the relationships in limbo, it's nice to see the Syd/Dixon relationship as a stable cornerstone of the interpersonal relationships in our main character's life.

-Sloane: "I suppose I have something to learn about being a Father" We have no idea whether Sloane's being ironic here, (based on the undercutting of his repeated telling of Syd that he thinks of her as a daughter figure), or maybe he's learnt something. What's fascinating about the Sloane/Nadia relationship is that, with Emily, it appears she's one of only two characters that Sloane really does consider around about on a par with Rambaldi in importance in his life.

-I like the detail that Jack uses 'sickening Cologne'. You can just imagine it.

-Mia Maestro is incredibly beautiful.

-The whole Marshall section is an open goal joyfully slotted home. I like the chatting with Weiss, particularly when he admits that he's been to see Sark twice, once taking cake, and Weiss, gently, despairingly, says 'Don't do that'.

-The sword is written by someone who's been watching a good bit of Kill Bill, I'd say. Like Tarantino's sarcastic, knowing showing of Uma Thurman with her samurai blade on the plane in the first part of the film, Sydney spends a while running down the street past police cars with vast sword in sheath.

-'Better that she detest me. I fear the alternative would have left her incapacitated' Jack once again showcases the supposed sense and rationale behind the cruelty in his relationship with his daughter. It still fails to impress people who think that Jack's relationship with her is so one-sided that he enforces his decisions upon her when talking to her straight would be both professionally and personally a better thing to do. I fall on this side a little.

-We have another South East Asian torturer and bad guy, which is a bit disheartening.

-Nadia joins APO and appears to be on the way to becoming a regular fixture on the show, which can only be a good thing Dawn-Season 5 style.

-Jack kills Irina so that Irina doesn't kill Sydney. How that leaves the Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, Electra triangle is anyone's guess.

-Weiss is now going to be the man who Tippen-like, knows nothing. He has that same kind of amiable resilience which makes him as good a candidate for the role as anyone.

-Nadia's ultimatum is a mirror image of the one Jack gave last Season, that if he found Irina and Sloane's child he would kill her. Whether it's he who has forgotten this or the writers have is still to be revealed, but the Nadia-Jack relationship is unlikely to be port and cheese.

I'm persuaded to watch more after a promising start, without being blown away in the style of the sempiternally enthusiastic buffyannotater. But then, that's really my whole outlook on 'Alias'. Holding on to say if something amazing happens, and it happening ever so occasionally.

Thanks for reading.

TCH