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ALIAS

BEFORE THE FLOOD


EPISODE NO. 88
Season 4, episode 22
Series 422
1st release: 05/25/05
Last update: 01/30/06


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REGULAR CAST, GUEST CAST & CREDITS
SYNOPSIS by Sally Dye
COMMENTARY by Sally Dye



REGULAR CAST
Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow
Ron Rifkin as Sloane
Michael Vartan as Vaughn
Carl Lumbly as Dixon
Kevin Weisman as Marshall J. Flinkman
Victor Garber as Jack Bristow
Greg Grunberg as Eric Weiss
Nadia Santos as Mia Maestro



GUEST CAST
Sonia Braga (Elena Derevko)
Lena Olin (Irina Derevko)
Robert Patrick Benedict (Brodien)
Eric Anderson (Spotter)



CREDITS
Written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec
Directed by Lawrence Trilling



Broadcast on ABC, 9-10pm, Wednesday nights.

SYNOPSIS:

This synopsis is by Sally Dye.

Sydney, Jack, Vaughn, Nadia and Irina parachute out over the Russian city of Sevogda, over which the Rambaldi device hovers. When they reach the city, they find cars abandoned in the streets and dead bodies lying everywhere. No one seems to be left alive. Jack calls HQ, and Weiss tells him that pressure is being brought to bear on Russian authorities to delay their planned air strike on the city, but so far, no luck. Jack says the DSR team they were supposed to rendezvous with hasn't shown up. Sydney gets a signal from a transponder, and they set out toward it.

In their bunker under the city, Elena and Sloane are preparing for the arrival of the APO team. Elena says she is sure Nadia will make them proud.

The team finds the watch that was sending out the signal -- it's attached to a detached arm lying on the sidewalk. A man comes cautiously around the corner, and Sydney recognizes him as Brodien, an agent she worked with before she joined APO. He is surprised to see her because he thought she had been relieved of duty. Sydney: "Don't believe everything you hear." Brodien says that the infected residents of Sevogda wiped out the rest of his team in one night. He says once you become infected -- by being exposed to the Rambaldi device after you have drunk public drinking water -- then there is no cure, so killing them is doing them a favor. Sydney and the others are appalled. Brodien says he knows where the controls for the device must be, but he doesn't know how to disarm it. Nadia says Irina knows. Brodien is amazed to realize who Irina is. Sydney suggests that they get to the site by going through the subway tunnels. Nearby, one of Elena's henchmen radios to Elena that the APO team is here. Elena says it doesn't matter -- nothing can stop them now. Sloane says they will take no chances, and leads an assault team to find Sydney and the others. Elena tells him to bring Nadia back so she can have the option of joining them.

At HQ, Marshall tries to break into the Russian command system, so he can override the attack command. But he finds that it's hack-proof without an access code. Weiss wonders what Jack would do. Marshall says first he would glower a bit, and then he would blackmail or torture someone. This gives Marshall an idea, and he runs to check the Blackwell Index, which has damaging information on dozens of world figures. He hopes to find info on some Russian officer who might be able to give them the code.

As the APO team approaches the subway entrance, Irina sees a horse wandering in the street. She quotes a Rambaldi prophecy: "When bloodred horses run to the streets and angels fall from the sky, the chosen one and the passenger will clash, and only one of them will survive." Jack brushes the prophecy aside, but Irina says she can't shake the feeling that one of her daughters might die. They reach the entrance, and Brodien is opening the door when he is attacked and stabbed by an infected man. The man rushes at them like an animal, and Sydney and Nadia open fire and kill him. Then they run to Brodien. He tells them to go and end this, and then he dies. Jack leads the team into the tunnel. They get to one of the trains and go about preparing it to take them to the station nearest the Oransky Building -- the site of the Rambaldi device.

Irina and Vaughn work outside of the train. Irina tells him he shouldn't wait -- she says she saw the ring, and he shouldn't put off giving it to Sydney. He reminds her that she killed his father, so he shouldn't have to ask for her blessing. She says he'll get it anyway, along with some advice. Vaughn: "Like what -- don't betray your spouse?" Irina: "Yeah, that would be one of them." She tells him his activities are not acceptable secrets to be kept from a wife: "You're not as covert as you'd like to think." She says if he doesn't want to end up like her and Jack, he should tell Sydney the truth.

Sydney and Nadia program the train to stop at the Oransky station. Nadia tells Sydney she still has that feeling of dread. Sydney reveals that Vaughn asked her to marry him, and Nadia is happy for her. Sydney says there might be brides who want to kill their maids of honor, but she's not one of them. They split up to check the track switches on either end of the train.

Weiss calls a Deputy Minister Karkov and tells him he wants the code for the Russian command network, and if he doesn't give it to him he'll publish the "Tuva photos." The minister says he doesn't know what he's talking about. Weiss asks him about the green balloons in the pictures, and the minister caves, giving him the access code. Marshall tries it and discovers that a signal on the same frequency is also going OUT of Sevogda.

Sydney gets back on the train just as Jack gets it started. Irina asks where Nadia is, and they realize she hasn't come back yet. Sydney runs to the rear of the train in time to see Nadia running toward it pursued by several infected people. Sydney yells to Jack to stop the train, but they don't have control over the brakes. Nadia almost reaches Sydney's outstretched hand but is tackled by one of the men. The train speeds away, and Sydney watches in horror as Nadia is overwhelmed by the horde of people.

When the train reaches the Oransky station, Sloane is there to meet them. He has killed the other members of Elena's team. Sydney asks if he expects them to believe he came to help them. Sloane says he had planned to disarm the device himself, but Elena had built in safeguards, and he wasn't able to. He starts to give orders to the team, and Jack slugs him: "You're no longer in charge of this team."

Marshall and Weiss radio the info that Elena must be trying to link to the Russian command signal so she can send the effects of the Rambaldi device worldwide. Marshall says they have about forty minutes. Irina says they need to get to the building's roof and shut down the device. Marshall sends blueprints of the building. Irina tells Sloane to just get her to the roof. Sloane says Elena changed the wiring sequence -- it's one of her fail-safes. Irina: "In that case, take me to my sister." Sloane looks around and asks where Nadia is.

Nadia is fighting off the crazed people attacking her. She gets away and sets out through the streets. She hears someone crying for help and goes to a man crouched in a doorway. She kneels beside him and asks how he knew she wasn't one of the infected people. He pulls out a gun: "Because I know who you are."

The man takes Nadia to Elena, who ties her to a chair. She tells Nadia that she always thought of her as a daughter. Nadia turns away from her. Elena gives her a choice -- Nadia can hate her or join her. Nadia says she sees her future -- two minutes from now, she's going to be killing Elena. Elena strikes her. Nadia says the only reason Elena wants her on her side is because she thinks Nadia is the only one who can stop Sydney. Elena goes over to her desk and gets a syringe. Nadia asks what it is, and Elena says not to worry -- it's only tap water. She injects it into Nadia's neck.

The team gets to the Oransky Building, and Sydney goes to the elevator to go up to the roof. She will disarm the device as Irina radios the instructions. Vaughn follows her and wants to go with her. Sydney says no, he will be needed in the bunker, and she will see him in a few minutes. But she adds, "Just in case, yes, I want to marry you." He gives her the ring, and she puts it on. They kiss, and Sydney gets onto the elevator.

Sloane and the others get into Elena's bunker and kill her henchman. Irina walks up to Elena: "Hello, Sis." She says there's something she's wanted to do since Elena was eleven and slugs Elena with the butt of her gun. Elena goes down. The others get her and tie her to a chair. Vaughn and Jack start trying to stop the signal from being broadcast, but Elena has jammed the controls.

Sydney gets to the roof and finds the control panel for the device. Just then Nadia approaches. She's obviously under the influence of the device. Sydney tries to reason with her. Jack radios to ask what's going on, and Sydney tells him Nadia has been infected and is guarding the device. Jack says she has to take Nadia out. Sydney says she can't -- Nadia is her sister. Irina breaks in and says that Nadia is not her sister any more. Sydney begs Nadia to let her help, but Nadia attacks her. She and Sydney fight all around the device. Sydney finally knocks Nadia out and goes back to the control panel. Irina directs her to the coil, which has two wires attached to it -- one white, one blue. Irina goes to Elena and asks which wire to cut. Elena says she doesn't care what they do to her -- she can withstand torture for the few minutes it will take for the signal to be broadcast. Irina says she's not going to torture her -- she's going to let Jack do it: "And he really doesn't care for you, especially after you tricked him into killing me." Jack gets one of the syringes of tap water and brings it over. He says he hopes she doesn't tell them, because Sydney has a 50/50 chance anyway, and he's willing to take those odds if it means he can stand here and watch Elena turn into an animal. He sticks the needle into Elena's neck. Elena stutters out to cut the white wire. Irina raises her gun and shoots Elena between the eyes: "Sydney, cut the blue wire."

Sydney starts to cut the wire, but Nadia comes up behind her and puts a chain around her neck, choking her. Sydney is almost unconscious when a shot rings out, and Nadia falls to the floor. It's Sloane. Sydney looks at him in disbelief and then turns to Nadia. Vaughn rushes out onto the roof, and Sydney yells at him to take Nadia to the elevator. Then she turns back and cuts the blue wire. They all run for the elevator as a wall of water comes crashing down. The elevator streaks for the basement. They get there and into the bunker just as the water reaches the doors.

At HQ, Marshall and Weiss try to reach the team on the comm link but can't raise anyone. Marshall sees on the satellite video that the Rambaldi device and the entire Oransky Building are gone. Vaughn finally gets through and relays that they need a medical evacuation right away. In minutes a chopper is on the way.

Jack and Irina talk. Irina says she knows she's supposed to go back with them. Jack says she can probably reach the border by daybreak if she sets out before the chopper gets there. She asks what he will tell the Agency. Jack: "Oh, I think they know -- no one can hold onto Irina Derevko for too long." They kiss. Irina goes to Sydney and tells her to take care of Nadia. Sydney says she will. Irina tells Sydney that she took down the greatest evil, just as she had predicted three years ago, and she is so proud of her. Irina adds that Sydney may not see her on her wedding day: "But I'll see you." Sydney watches with tears in her eyes as Irina walks away.

Back in LA, Sydney comes to see Sloane in his prison cell. He asks about Nadia. Sydney says she's stable, and they are keeping her under sedation until a cure can be found for her condition. Sloane says because of his choices he's hurt the most precious thing in his life. Sydney says they'll get her back. She says she's arranged for him to see Nadia. Sydney: "I didn't think I would ever say this, but I believe you were trying to do the right thing." Sloane thanks her as he is escorted away by the guards.

Sydney and Vaughn head for Santa Barbara. As they are driving along, Sydney suggests that they elope instead of having a big wedding. Vaughn agrees but adds that he needs to tell her something, just so there are no secrets between them. Sydney says whatever it is, she can handle it, "just don't tell me you're a bad guy." Vaughn says that depends on who you ask. He says it's from a long time ago, before they met. Also, it was no accident that he was the one she came to with her story about SD-6. Sydney: "Vaughn, what are you telling me?" Vaughn: "Well, for starters, my name isn't Michael Vaughn." Just then a car comes out of nowhere and crashes headlong into their car. Everything goes black.




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