Vaughn wraps his bloody fingernails and heads to Irina's cell. She thanks him for proving Jack's involvement in Madagascar. Vaughn admits he's sick and asks Irina what Khasinau learned from experimenting on people exposed to the Red Ball. Irina asks if he loves Sydney, to which Vaughn replies that he'll tell her if she helps him.

Will tells Sydney that the 1982 standardized test is missing from public record. Sydney then explains "Project Christmas" and says that Vaughn thinks Russian intelligence is still running it to recruit American sleepers.

At the CIA, Sydney, having learned that Vaughn is sick, asks Irina if there is an antidote. It's in Paldiski, Estonia, she says, at a former Soviet training base for nuclear submarine personnel. But the antidote is genetic-specific, meaning Sydney must manufacture it from Vaughn's blood. With Vaughn now in the hospital and expected to live only three days, Sydney draws his blood and they hold hands. On her way out, Sydney meets Alice, Vaughn's girlfriend.

Sloane confesses to Jack that he's insecure about his standing within the Alliance and that he confessed the Emily issue to Kristof, whom he must now meet in Tokyo. He tortures Richter, desperately trying to find the location of Derevko's ops base.

Will gets hold of the '82 standardized test and finds that it contains no spatial relations questions. Later, Francie recognizes that the test is actually from '83 because it references the American invasion of Grenada. Will then speaks to an official at the Dept. of Education who gives him the actual '82 test, which has spatial relations questions. The official is baffled — he had submitted the test without such questions.

Sydney arrives at the Paldiski lab and dons a hazmat suit. She spots Sark. Finding the equipment, she learns that an alarm will sound if she tries to generate the serum. She ignores Kendall's order to abort and makes the serum, thus alerting Sark to her presence. Sark traps her in a decontamination chamber and threatens to kill her by releasing ammonia flurochloride. He forces her to cuts a deal — Sydney can keep the antidote if she'll deliver him Sloane.

At the CIA, Jack supports her plan, mentioning that Sloane will be in Tokyo. As Sydney prepares for the mission, Jack says he never wanted her to be involved in pre-meditated murder, and hints that it's Irina's influence on her. In a Tokyo hotel, Sydney, dressed as a geisha, overtakes a pair of guards and replaces a masseuse administering to Sloane. Syd stabs him with poisoned prongs from her hairpin and he passes out. Sark spirits away Sloane in an ambulance. A Sark associate gives the antidote to Jack.

In LA, Vaughn awakes from a 40-hour sleep. Jack tells him the antidote has been administered and Sloane is dead as a consequence.

At SD-6, Sydney surprisingly sees Sloane — with Sark! He says Sark is cooperating with SD-6 on the search for Derevko. In private, Sark explains to Syd that he revived Sloane and convinced him that they should w**k together to solve the Rambaldi mystery. Sark then diminished Sloane's doubts by giving him a mysterious piece of paper.

A healthy Vaughn returns to Irina's cell. He confesses his feelings for Sydney. Irina says he hasn't said anything to the one that matters. He leaves her and runs into Syd, who hugs him and cries. She says that Sloane increased his standing in the Alliance by presenting Sark as their new ally. Vaughn says he knows that Syd met Alice, but Sydney tells him not to explain and leaves.Vaughn hesitates a moment and follows, but she's gone.

Aw, such a good episode. So many good bits - Poor Vaughn ! :tear: Poor Syd ! :(

Great bit at the end, when it turns out that Sloane is alive and Sark has joined SD-6 ! :o

Just rewatched this last night and noted yet another Alice ( in Wonderland ) reference. ;)

Do you mean Vaughn's girlfriend is called Alice or is there another reference?

Yup, it was the Vaughn`s girlfriend reference. :)

Ooh, are you taking note of all the references to Alice in Wonderland Sarah? I've been trying to keep track of all the "47" references but there's too many :wacko: :toomuchtv: :lol:

I really should reread the Lewis Carroll book, but that might be taking things too far. :blink: Can`t recall the first reference to the book, but I have a feeling it was even before Sydney dressed as Alice at a Halloween party in one of the Season 1 eps. .

What is it with 47 ? Was it Star Trek that was very keen on it, too ? :unsure:

I don't know what it is with the number "47" - maybe something to do with it being a prime number :shrug: , someone else around here probably knows ;) . I think 47 pops up in most Alias episodes, if not all of them :ponder: :unsure: JJ probably put all the references to 47 in just to drive the fans crazy :lol:

I didn`t start watching Alias until the first season aired on Channel 4 - I think it clashed with something on SKY, maybe ER. Plus, I didn`t have the internet then . Anyway.... I think when the first series aired in the US, there was a `secret` website which you accessed - the name of the site was an anagram of the letters which the episode `went` through each week - if the word Madrid came up on the screen, the letter A ( for instance ) was in a block and the camera went though it, something like that.

Ring any bells for you ? :shrug:

:ponder: Sounds vaguely familiar. I thought there was a thread in this forum about it but I can't find it now (unless I saw it on another forum :unsure: ).

I only started watching Alias when season 2 was on five (I think I saw one or two episodes on Sky One but I never kept up with it), but I missed the last half or so of season 2 when it switched to stupid am on Sundays so I went out and bought the dvds and I've been hooked ever since :thumbsup:

I missed the occasional ep. from Season 1, when C4 were showing it at some silly teatime on Sundays. :rolleyes: Yay for those lovely DVDs and playing catchup. :thumbsup: