Succession

Episode Number: 3.02

Original Air Date: Oct. 05, 2003

Written By: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman-Counter

Two CIA agents walk into an elevator only to be cleverly kidnapped. Back at the CIA (or the basement) Jack tests Sydney for lingering brainwashing and they discuss her amnesia. Syd wants to tell the CIA about the murder she committed, but Jack refuses stating no good could come of it. He decides to contact Irina for help. Que the REM music...

Syd's got a new apartment. Weiss, her new neighbor, is helping her move in. He tries to console Sydney about Vaughn and everything that's happened and tells her Vaughn is thinking about coming back to the CIA, but he's afraid because of his history with Sydney. Cut to the CIA debriefing room, the Covenant has claimed responsibility for kidnapping the two CIA agents. Syd offers to go into the operation alone to get the list of demands. Dixon wants her to pace herself but Sydney just wants to get back to normal. Dixon informs Syd that she isn't the only person who's lost time: there's a whole support group of people who have lost months/years of their lives. Syd just smiles and goes off on her mission.

She's in a theater (a porno is playing) and she finds a box. Upon opening it, she finds one CIA agent's head along with the list of demands from the Covenant. Ewww. Shades of "Seven" and Gwyneth Paltrow. At the CIA, Lindsay is back. Oh goody. Cause we just love him. the Covenant agrees to let the agent go if the CIA releases Sark to them. While walking out of the room, Syd catches her name on a memorial wall of dead CIA agents. Kind of creepy. She leaves after Jack tells her that "her" ashes were given to Vaughn and spread.

Cut to French 101. Okay, my French Professors were never THAT good looking. Just so unfair, man. Anyway Vaughn is teaching and Syd visits. She tells him that it's alright if he wants to come back to the CIA; she can handle it. Vaughn cuts her off and sets her straight. Now I could rehash his speech, but I wouldn't do it justice, so find it online, download it, watch it over and over. Cause I was literally tearing up. He was so emotional. he basically told her how her death nearly killed him and cost him his sanity. He went through a really hard time because he couldn't let go for so long. He disappeared off the face of the earth. And he was "so in love with" her. If there had been really sad music behind this, I would just be a puddle on the floor. Oh and PS, JJ, I STILL don't like his wife. Anyway...

Back to Jack visiting Sloane. Ooo, the tension was just ...wow. Jack doesn't buy a word of Sloane's crap, and doesn't believe the whole message of 'peace' thing either. He blames Sloane for Sydney's disappearance. Sloane is still playing the good guy though, presenting Jack with a copy of every file he'd kept while doing his own investigation on Sydney's disappearance. Jack seems to see right through this and threatens Sloane with, "I'm going to bury you." Hehehe Jack kicks ass. Good boy.

In the CIA cellblock, Syd visits Sark, who by-the-way is wearing leather pants, a black T-shirt an is sporting a wicked crewcut. Okay, I was never really a big 'Sark' chick, but...hello. Meeeow. Sorry. Sark is completely surprised to see Syd, as he had no idea she was alive. He said he had nothing to do with her disappearance. Syd doesn't believe him. Cut to the exchange of Sark for the CIA agent. Apparently the NSC is made up of the same monkeys that run ABC, because they ruin a perfectly safe hostage exchange with an over-the-top, gung-ho ambush. Which goes horribly, horribly wrong. Not only do they lose Sark, but they also loose the CIA agent. Monkeys!

Syd confront Lindsay in the men's room, where they exchange witty repartee and bitch-slapping retorts. It's very funny. Later, Sark faces his captor, who takes him to a bank to withdraw Sark's entire inheritance. You see, Adrian (sp?) Lazarey was Sark's father- and also the man Sydney killed in the video. He left all of his money to his son. Of course, only Syd and Jack know of the connection. Jack contacts Irina. Nothing really interesting happens, but they sign off "I miss you," leading to some interesting questions about what they were up to that first year before Jack was arrested.

Syd goes into the club where the CIA agent is being held captive. She gets into the basement-like facility with Vaughn's help (Vaughn took Syd's advice and has come back to the CIA). She finds the CIA agents and kills the evil!doctor about to slice him open. But the doctor seems to know her from the past two years. She begs him for information but he dies. Syd goes tot he support group Dixon told her about, but she can't stand it. She's warned she may start having nightmares. She bursts into Dixon's office, telling him she doesn't feel comfortable. And of course, she still has feelings for Vaughn, but she doesn't want to go back to that group. Dixon interrupts her here to introduce her to a woman sitting across the room where Syd didn't see her. They shake hands. She's the new NSC liaison for the CIA. She eyes Sydney up and down for a moment before introducing herself, not only as the new NSC agent, but as Michael Vaughn's wife.

Sydney: "Hi."