US Airdate: 9th December 2001
Writer: Debra J. Fisher & Erica Messer Director: Ken Olin
Guest Stars:
Miguel Sandoval (Anthony Russek) Tobin Bell (Mr. Dryer) Timothy
Landfield () Christopher Thornton () David St. James (Mr. Franco) Jon Curry
(Phillips) Yvonne Farrow (Diane Dixon) Timothy Halligan (Dr. Mallaska) Kaline
Carr (Franco's Assistant) Richard F. Whiten (Officer Pollard) David Franco
(Guard) Maurice Irvin (Man) Cosimo Fusco (Logan Gerace)
Plot: Sydney is able to save herself from falling to the bottom of the tunnel by
hooking her leg to the rickety ladder; however, she falls unconscious. The
episode begins with her waking. She crawls out of the tunnel and finds Dixon, seriously wounded by K-Directorate officers. She has no other option besides contacting the CIA on a special phone (given to her by Vaughn) reserved for emergencies. A CIA chopper flies Dixon to a hospital and Sydney conceals the truth from Sloane. She is worried that Dixon may have overheard her speaking to the CIA; has she blown her cover?
Agent Dreyer meets with Sloane and insists that Sydney is the mole because she
scored too well on the lie detector test. Sloane does not entirely see Dreyer’s
reasoning, but tells him they will take care of Bristow.
Sloane soon sends Sydney to Tuscany to steal the numbers to Ineni Hassan’s bank accounts. Hassan was previously affiliated with SD-6, but has recently become an enemy. But after Sydney leaves for Tuscany, Sloane sends a message to SD-4 to assinate Sydney over an insecure line. The CIA intercepts the call and a team is quickly assembled to rescue her.
Jack learns of the planned assasination and works with Marshall to discover
Sloane deliberately sent the message over an insecure line to tempt the CIA into exposing Sydney. Jack rushes over to the CIA building, where Vaughn and his collegues are looking on as Sydney does her mission, watching out for any
irregularity. Jack and Vaughn have a heated argument, but Jack succeeds in
convincing them not to interfere. The assasination never occurs, and Sloane
does not doubt Sydney’s loyalty to SD-6.
Meanwhile, Will is shocked to discover the pin he found in Eloise Kurtz’s car is a small and very complex microphone and tracker. Plus, it’s still active. He makes several attempts to contact whoever may be listening on the other end, but to no avail. But one night with Francie, he shows her the pin. They start joking and asking it questions. Suddenly, Will recieves an anonymous phone call and is ordered to shut his mouth and not show the pin around.
SD-6 learns that the mission to Tuscany did not give them Hassan’s bank account numbers, but rather the name of a Swiss bank. Sydney and a temporary partner named Agent Russek travel to Geneva to get the actual numbers. Sydney reads off the numbers to Russek while the CIA is listening in the other ear for the same information.
Marshall discovers an unknown secondary transmission from Sydney and Russek’s
position in Geneva. He shares this information with Agent Dreyer, who seems
pleased, and later tells Sloane.
Will recieved a phone call from the unknown voice, which asks Will how far he’s willing to go to find the truth about Kate Jones. Will claims he’s up to the challenge, and is told to look in the glove compartment of his car. He does, and finds a cassette tape with the audio recording of the murder of Eloise Kurtz... along with some undescernamble talking.
After spending several days unconscious in intensive care, Dixon finally
awakens. Sydney is relieved to discover he doesn’t remember anything which may jeopardize her position as a double agent. But as she leaves the hospital, she is brutally apprehended by several unknown agents. Seconds later, Sloane recieves a phone call in which a mysterious voice claims, "We got her..."
Best Bits: Sydney’s mission in Tuscany with the CIA watching on,
Will’s ‘pincuriosity’ scenes
Quotes:
1. -Francie: Can you not be a reporter for, like, two minutes?
-Will: I'm asking because I care. I just think it's weird for something else like this to happen to you. I mean, first it's Danny, now it's this.
-Francie: Leave her alone, or I will kick your ass. I'm not kidding.
2. -Marshall: Oh, do you want some candy? (picks up a big jar) I just put this
jar of candy in here, trying to make the place a little more inviting. And, oh,
you want to take a seat in the inflatable chair?
3. -Marshall (to Sydney): Looks like a normal phone that you'd call. (puts it
up to his ear) "Hi, you want to go out on Friday? No? Okay. That's fine."
4. -Jack: I sent a communique to SD-4, but they never recieved it.
-Marshall: Oh, uh, you want some candy?
-Jack (assertively): No.
5. -Jack: You go in like this, you pull her out, it'll only prove that you've
intercepted Sloane's communique and Sydney will be exposed.
-Vaughn: You don't know that for a fact!
-Jack: Why am I even talking to you?
6. -Weiss: Oy. I just lost thirty pounds. Okay, I'm not kidding.
7. -Francie (into mysterious pin): Do you think I will find a good wedding
dress?
-Will: Fran, it's not a Magic 8 Ball.
Personal Response:
Mea Culpa is one of my favorite episodes, mainly because of the light-hearted,
funny, wonderful dialogue implanted in the entire script. There were so many
great quotes, I had to put up a lot. Although the mood of the episode was no
more or less serious than most of the others, the witty dialogue and the way the
cast handled it was excellent. The directing was smooth and the acting
incredible. It really was great!
Possibly the only negative point I have to
make is the somewhat unrealistic way in which Sydney is able to save herself at
the very beginning after tumbling into the darkness. It relies so much on one
of those 1-in-a-million chances that it makes it unbelievable. But following
that is the great scene of Sydney frantically trying to save Dixon. One can
tell her decision to contact the CIA may come back to haunt her in the future.
I am confused by Sloane’s actions in trying to prove Sydney the mole. It is
surely true that he doesn’t want to be right by thinking she is the one they are
after. He is proving himself to be much more of a complex person than your
average bad guy; one thinks of him as evil and terrible, and then he concocts a
trap for Sydney that, if it works, would take her out of his hands and save her.
The next major scene is one of my favorites. Sydney works in Tuscany unaware of
the great danger she is in and the many people watching on frantically. I
thought it was very sweet for Vaughn to stand up for her like that again (as in
Color Blind), insisting that her life is more important than the mission. The
scene was exciting, well-scripted, and extremely tensing.
Meanwhile, Will has been investigating the pin, sparking a series of funny events. I found the scene in which he is cowering in the bathroom, very worried, trying to make contact with his unknown informer (who gives no sign of hearing him) to be very amusing. And the scene in which he is talking to Francie is almost equally so.
But it is still a mystery as to who the pin was created by; was it SD-6... or
someone else?
Poor Marshall, unknowingly villainous. I felt really sorry for
him, having to turn in incriminating evidence against a close friend. But agent
Dreyer really is evil and has it in for Sydney. But why is this? Why is he so
dead-set that she is the mole?
Will’s story is moving quickly now; he has
essentially bound himself to the investigation by telling his informant he’s
ready for the challenge. And what use will the cassette tape be? So many
questions are roused in this episode, the final ones being, who has Sydney,
where, and how will she escape?!? Once again, stay tuned...
Music:
Duncan Sheik: Out Of Order
Smashmouth: Diggin' Your Scene
Munkafust: Sacred Way
