So I’m watching “Alias” last night and there’s Sloan trudging up snowy mountains…and there, in the distance, appears to be Shangri La right out of “Lost Horizon.” And I said, “Well, SOMEone has been reading the work of Joseph Conrad.”
Moments later Sloan heads into the monastery looking for someone who turns out to be played by David Carradine. The name of the Carradine character?
Conrad.
Love it.
By the way, am I the only person who thinks the season ender is going to be the revelation that, six centuries later, Rimbaldi is still alive? I mean, *how* many times have they mentioned he was obsessed with immortality?
PAD
• 
That would awesome if he’s still alive. I was almost getting worried that the show was fazing out the Rimbaldi stuff because there really wasn’t much talk about it this season, but with Derevko escaping, the Rimbaldi stuff has really been heating up. Great, great stuff!
Rob R.
I soooo called that last night. I knew that the apocalyptic event had nothing to do with the heart and everything to do with sloane.
Just too easy…
and the whole dual swords with syd reminded me too much of elektra
Travis
Wasn’t there an episode last season where she met an old inventor in Italy and they strongly hinted that he was actually Rimbaldi?
I said the same thing to my girlfriend last night about Rimbaldi being alive(who has warned me repeatedly about my predictions ending up as spoilers).
I’m actually wondering if Sloan might not turn out to be Rimbaldi, since my assumption that it was Marshall is looking less likely.
L.
I’m curious to see who it is as well. I believe that Rambaldi is alive. However, this show has pulled a few surprises out of it’s hat before.
Oh, for those curious, Alias Season 1 hits DVD in September.
Bobby
Bobby Nash
Writer @ Large
Ah, Peter…I think that “Lost Horizon” was written by James Hilton, not Joseph Conrad.
Or were you referring to some other aspect of “Lost Horizon”?
**Ah, Peter…I think that “Lost Horizon” was written by James Hilton, not Joseph Conrad.
Or were you referring to some other aspect of “Lost Horizon”?**
Crap, you’re right. Joseph Conrad wrote “Heart of Darkness.” But then why the hëll was the Carradine character named “Conrad” of all things?
PAD
I haven’t watched it yet (It’s on my Tivo but I have to wait for my sister. We were both out at a show last night and couldn’t watch it then), but as for Rimbaldi being alive, I was under the impression that the guy who fixed the clock in Italy was Rimbaldi and he got shot (Ben B. seems to be thinking this way too).
He’d said something about Rimbaldi being told the day he would die, and he died immediately after (though it’s possible he’s still alive and will turn up at the end of the season. When you mix supernatural/sci-fi or whatever Rimbaldi actually was with the spy genre, it can be very difficult to dig out the truth of the matter through all the intrigue).
Ah, Peter…I think that “Lost Horizon” was written by James Hilton, not Joseph Conrad.
Or were you referring to some other aspect of “Lost Horizon”?
Crap, you’re right. Joseph Conrad wrote “Heart of Darkness.” But then why the hëll was the Carradine character named “Conrad” of all things?
PAD
I’m guessing they saw your “Bye Bye Birdie” tribute and they decided to jump on the bandwagon…. 🙂
Well, it would be keeping with predictability of the series at times. Who didn’t deduce from S1 a few episodes before their 1st season ender that Sydney’s mom was alive? Ditto for the “Iceman” episode where Sydney’s ex turns out to be the assassin.
I love Alias. One of my favorite series at the moment. Seems to be building toward Rimbaldi being alive. Knowing “Alias,” it wouldn’t surprise me to find out it was someone in the principal cast.
As for the “Conrad” thing…my theory? They named him after Conrad Bain, classic TV dad to Arnold and Willis Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes. 🙂 After all, he’s old. 😀
I kinda leaning towards Marshall being Rambaldi aswell but he says that his mother is still alive too. I don’t think that it is Sloan though. Maybe Milo Rambaldi is a woman and it will turn out to be Syd’s Mom? That would be a real kick in the pants. Guess we have to wait to next week to find out.
That old guy was a friend of Rambaldi, not Rambaldi himself. I belive that he was the one that designed the clock. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that episode, so I’m not sure of the details, but I’m relatively certain it wasn’t Rambaldi. My guess is that time travel has something to do with the plot, and eventually a character will go back in time and become Rambaldi.
Alias is a good show and me and my sister like it and watch it together. But it is predictable at times. And the corny ending shot of last night’s episode was just so bad.
I think they really push the envelope to bursting with some of the stuff Rimbaldi managed to pull off. I mean, gene manipulation? Microwave emitters? I can suspend disbelief as well as the next avid comic reader, but geez, I wish they’d do more with the spy angle of the show.
And does anyone else think the new agent Marshall is cosying up to is a plant? She’s dámņ cute (used to be on Felicity as Megan I think) but she has “I’m a double agent who will sleep with you and then try to decapitate you” written all over her.
Hmmmm…
Time Travel…
Sloane as Rimbaldi?
Hmmmm
Travis
I’m afraid that I vote for Rimbaldi having been the clock maker from Season 1 too. There were strong hints dropped at the time. Still, it could have all been misdirection.
If I recall correctly, the strong hints regarding the clockmaker in S1 weren’t that he _was_ Rambaldi– just that he _knew_ Rambladi, had been given the gift of immortality for his service to Rambaldi, and had been told via prophecy of the date and circumstances of his death.
By the way– that one little scene/set piece is still my favorite of the entire series to date. There’s such poignancy in that poor old clockmaker’s last words…
Heck, I kept waiting for David Carradine to call Sloane “Grasshopper” 🙂
As for why Conrad, maybe a link to Roger Zelazny’s “And Call Me Conrad…” (aka This Immortal) where Conrad is an immortal warrior who seeks peace but is drawn back into conflict?
I got the first season on Ebay and was surprised to see that Sidney’s rival Anna in early episodes was played by the actress who is currently Jasmine on Angel.
Small world
I keep thinking Rimbaldi will be a new character entirely. For some reason, I keep picturing F. Murray Abraham.
PAD
Alas, the Ronald Colman character in Lost Horizon is named Robert Conway, not Conrad…
I too am one of the ones who thought that Rambaldi was the old clockmaker. Like a previous person said, Rambaldi knew when he was going to die and the clockmaker was right after that shot by Anna from K-Directorate. I, however, think that that might have been the plan, but if you’ve read any interviews with the creator, he says that they don’t really have a huge epic plan like Joss Whedon. He says that they make it up as they go along which is why we’ve had such a sudden direction change halfway through the season.
What does this mean? I think the clockmaker was supposed to be Rambaldi, but with the show trying to gain viewers, the creators are not going to dip so far back in the show at a time when less people are watching for fear of scaring off any new viewers they may get. My vote is for PAD’s idea of getting F. Murray Abraham to play Rambaldi. That would be awesome. You could even throw in a throwaway line about how Rambaldi has lived different lives over the years and at one time, he was Antonio Salieri.
Alias is my only Must See TV. The only thing that bothers me is that there are episodes, like last night’s where some of the plots are left dangling and not really touched on like last night’s no show of Irina and evil-Francie.
My biggest worry is that they’re going to leave Evil Francie dangling all summer. That would really suck.
I never thought the old clockmaker was actually Rambaldi. His dialogue made it quite clear, when he slipped up, that he KNEW Rambaldi.
I hope it isn’t anyone in the main cast, that would be entirely too pat a resolution.
PAD’s suggestion of F. Murray Abraham is perfect casting I would think.
It should be interesting. A two hour finale where the last two minutes are supposed to leave us with our jaws on the ground? What can be better than that.
…well except for “24” that is.
I actually lost some interest in the show this year, when it went AWAY from Rimbaldi and towards all the family dynamic stuff. Not to mention the whole mid-season reboot with Sydney and Vaughn and wiping out SD-6.
I’m a sucker for Illuminati type stories, so I loved most of the first season. ANd I’m glad we’re finally getting back to it.
Will Berkovitz said: “My biggest worry is that they’re going to leave Evil Francie dangling all summer. That would really suck.”
Yer absolutely right; that’s too much fun to leave hanging for too long. Who thinks evil Francie is Anna?
Ha! What a great thought… perhaps Rimbaldi is manipulating the events behind the scenes and Sydney, Mom, Sloane, etc. might need to work together to prevent the ???
Let’s not forget that Sydney/Mom’s image was in some of the writings, perhaps there will be a personal angle if Rambaldi is revealed.
F. Murray Abraham would be a good choice.
Along with “T.Galloway” my first thought was the character from “Call me Conrad” Zelazny’s original title for the Hugo winning “This Immortal”. Conrad was an immortal just trying to live his life (but also a covert protector/advocate for the earth in a time of adversity).
Probably they just thought it was a cool name or some obscure “Thirtysomething” reference.
Am I the only person out there who thinks Alias “jumped the shark” on Super Bowl Sunday? For the life of me, I can’t figure out why they took down SD-6 in the middle of the season. I think that was a major mistake. They should have had something that major be a way to end the second season, or perhaps a cliffhanger to be resolved in the first episode of season 3. The show had steam. It had absolutely *no* signs of slowing down. They were pulling it off beautifully! Then out of left field, BOOM! It’s over. The whole point of the series in the first place, after the Super Bowl episode, is gone now. A season and a half in? Couldn’t they have stretched it out to fill out the season? And since then, it feels like a different show. There’s no tension. There’s no danger. I don’t buy Sloane’s change of heart about his quest for Rambaldi’s toys either. A 30 year obsession shoved aside just because his wife is killed? Please. And the evil Francie thing? Just plain stupid. I sure hope this show redeems itself with the finale, or it might just find it one viewer short.
Brad,
The reason that they did so much in the episode after the Super Bowl was to gain as many viewers as possible and keep áhøld of them – thereby getting a third season. The ratings weren’t that great before the SB episode. Do I think they “jumped the shark” (God I’m sick of that phrase)? No, I think J.J. and his crew have more than enough ideas to keep the show going. I was actually getting tired of the “Will Sydney/Jack be caught this week? Will Sydney and Vaughn ever admit their feelings?” It was too boxed in with no real room to grow, now the possibilities are endless. It was a gutsy move and for that I commend them.
I love this show and am happy others do to. I think Rimbaldi is a new guy. Though I hope the actor who plays him will be balled around the rim of his head…
I haven’t been getting much sleep lately…
-Shawn
ALias is currently my second favorite show (well almost third, cause Angel is almost reclaiming it old post, since I’m very happy with current season)
Haven’t seen last SUnday episode yet, but hope I’ll do it soon. Specially because next week it’s gonna be the double finale episode.
ANyway, Brad. JJ said in a interview a few weeks after Phase One was broadcasted, that they had to get rid of SD-6, in his opinion SD-6 concept was starting to make them limited instead of letting them tell the stories they wanted. ANd he also said that if they kept longer it would simply start to get silly, or actually make SD-6 look stupid, because they didn’t figure out Syd and Jack were double agents. Just like what WIll said, unlike Joss Whedon big epic plans, JJ, don’t plan that much into the future, ABrams did say that they did plan 2nd season finale, already thinking of Season 3, a few weeks before ABC announced that they were renewing the series, but it’s still quite different from what it’s common on Mutant Enemy shows. I think this was in a interview or article from zap2it, if I happen to find the link I’ll post it here.
— Johny
Me again….
Found link for the article:
http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?30232
— Johny
Alias is the only series I can stand to watch on TV anymore. Still 2nd to Farscape, tho. (yes, I know it’s canceled! aarrgh!)
I love it when I watch a show, and I can’t figure out where it’s going, and especially when I can’t think of anything I’d do differently.
So far, I’ve loved every ep.
Why does it have to be Lost Horizon? Maybe it could SEEM that way, and Carradine turns out to be a lot like Kurtz….
POTENTIAL SPOILERS BASED ON SPECULATIONS
This could have been said elsewhere but I don’t know… I don’t read Alias forums
I could be very wrong but I believe that the final artifact built by Rambaldi is a time machine…
That would explain how he knows the Sidney ( or Mother ) face , the italian clockmaker hints and the fact he was so aehad of his times …
My speculaton are based on the hints dropped during 1st season ( the only one translated in Italy )
I believe he is a contemporary man that found the time machine formula and that traveled back in time where he ( perhaps ) died.
.
bye,
oo
Who thinks evil Francie is Anna?
I thought this as well.
I very much liked the Sydney/Anna conflicts in Season 1. And K-Directorate has been pretty quiet of late. Maybe they are stealthily scooping up buisness that once belonged to SD-6.
Bobby
My guess for the season 2 ender is
spoiler
that Sloane finally tells he is Sydney’s father. It has been hinted many times, even on season 1. It would explain his interest in her life.
end of spoiler
“For some reason, I keep picturing F. Murray Abraham.”
Probably because FMA played a character also obsessed with immortality… sort of, as the lead villian in STAR TREK: INSURRECTION.
I like oo7’s theory… assuming that the pages he was reading in the final minutes of the episode alluded to a time machine, that would mean he had a way to save his wife, which would be his only real motivation to continue with his quest at this point.
Woops, sorry, I’m referring to Sloane in the previous comment.
Brad Milyo writes:
“I don’t buy Sloane’s change of heart about his quest for Rambaldi’s toys either. A 30 year obsession shoved aside just because his wife is killed?”
Are you married? If so–just a word of advice–don’t let your spouse hear you say things like that. 😉
Anyway, given two of the show’s themes–Sloan’s desire to be with and save his wife and Rimbaldi’s fascination with longevity and immortality–it makes some sort of thematic sense for Sloan’s interest in the latter to be distrupted when the former was removed.
Has the show jumped the shark? I don’t know. I’m cautiously optimistic. I understand why the creators underwent the post-SuperBowl sea change. (Heck, any comics fan who’s criticized arcane and complex continuity as being detrimental to gaining new readers can understand…) Like everyone, I think I’m a little concerned to see if the show’s new direction is as compelling or well-executed. But there are glimmers of hope, reasons to be, as I say, cautiously optimistic.
However, to the extent that the show creators have said, “Well, you know, we don’t have a grand design, we don’t plan too far ahead” doesn’t itself fill me with a great sense of hope. The way a story ends is as important (if not moreso) as how it begins and how it plays out. Given the building mystery that’s so much a part of this show, if the creators don’t have at least some sort of resolution to that mystery in mind, I can see the show losing steam, petering out, and/or collapsing under its own weight after a while. (As happened, IMO, to The X-Files.)
Last comment about this episode: the special effects were quite impresive for a TV program, and a non-science-fiction one at that. That last shot pulling back from Sloan and Conrad out the window, over the monastery to look at the storm clouds was, though not perfect, nonetheless impressive and ambitious stuff for network TV. At the same time, I was amused to see all the techniques they used to enhance Sloan’s mountain trek–subtly tweaking the color to a cooler, more exotic shade; greying his beard to simulate frost; make up to give him the mountaineer’s racoon look (sun/windburn except where the sunglasses were)–yet they still couldn’t have his & his guide’s breath fog up when speaking. The limitations of California locations, I suppose…
While I don’t watch “Alias”, PAD’s confusing Joseph Conrad with James Hilton got me thinking. Obviously, it was a case of name association:
James Hilton wrote “Lost Horizon”…
Which reminds us of Conrad Hilton of Hilton Hotel fame…
Which reminds us of Joseph Conrad, who wrote “Heart of Darkness”…
Which also reminds us of astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr…
And naturally “Pete”, being short for Peter, inevitably reminds us of Peter David, writer of stuff.
Elementary.
As you can see, there is an elegantly simple, unbroken line connecting Peter David to James Hilton; however, in his haste to post Peter stopped short at Joseph Conrad and didn’t follow the thread to its natural conclusion.
Some detractors to the above theory may point out that the main character in “Lost Horizon” just so happens to be named Hugh ConWAY, but the likelihood of that connection is too remote. After all, changing Conway to Conrad is far more of a stretch than linking James Hilton to Conrad Hilton, to Joseph Conrad, to…
I’m happy to have an opportunity to clear things up. 😉
The way I understood it is the reason K-Directorate has been so quiet is because they were taken apart by Irina in her guise as “The Man.” She and her organization took apart a few organizations similar to K-Directorate and SD-6. Remember in that one first season episode where they were in Hong Kong somewhere and the building blew up? It was supposed to be some organizations headquarters like FTL or something like that. When Syd met with Sloane and the others, he mentioned “The Man” and how he/she had also hit K-Directorate.
I’m also glad to see that I’m not the only one who has thought at different times during the first 2 seasons that there was a paternal link between Sloane and Syd. It seems like it’s been hinted at several times during the first season. I kept expecting it to be a huge revelation. Lately, though, they really haven’t hinted at it so I don’t think it’s going to happen. It makes sense to back off though. Syd’s family life is screwed up enough without adding Sloane into the mix, and hasn’t Jack been through enough already?
Agreed on the possible Sloane as Dad angle… obviously Sloane was bad before Sydny was born (30 year quest) and he might have had an inkling that Irena was a mole.
The show meandered after the super bowl but I don’t think it has JTS yet… the undercover nature of Syd and Dad at SD6 became unworkable… HOW would all of these extra CIA missions (FIELD MISSIONS!) even be possible with the “surveilence” that SD6 has on their agents. Too much unexplained time. All it took was 1 brief phone message from her fiance to blow open THAT secret.
Here’s a crazy thought:
What if Rimbaldi is…
…Sydney’s fiancee, Danny? They’ve mentioned him a lot lately, his death is the main reason Sydney’s pursuing Sloane, and the immortality angle would seem to work with this idea.
Hmm…just a thought. Of course, Rimbaldi would have had to find a way to alter time, but then again, it’s certainly possible…
Why the hëll was Sydney in Hong Kong for 2 years? I am having serious anxiety.
I have been following show from day 1 and the complexity of the story line leaves me confused. With that being said, I apologize if I am missing the obvious and if some of my observations are redundant.
I suspect that the Rimbaldi device is actually a time machine. I don’t know how we will start off next season 2 years ahead. I suspect that the 2 year leap will simply be the premise for next years story line: How did Sydney wind up in Hong Kong? There is to much to story to cover. in those 2 years. I think this past season was great and hope that the network does not cancel the show. The only disappointment I had was in the quickness that they answere all the questions regarding last season’s series finale.
My only questions regarding last nights episode are: Is Allison dead (evil Francie).
What is the significance of Sidney’s scar? Was the last scene ender simply a dream sequence?
Can’t wait til next fall.
i think rambaldi’s machine is a timetravel machine. i also think that conrad guy will play into the story a few more times. slone sent sydney to the future 2 years to get her out of the way. she will probably spend the first to episodes of next season getting back to her time and then the next season or two will cover what happend in between when slone tried to have sydney “gone” by sending her ahead in time. there is no way that vaughn can get married, it just doesn’t fit. the only thing that doesnt work is that scar sydney had. and slone cant be rambaldi if conrad was showing him stuff about rambaldi…slone would have already knew that conrad had whatever it was. i think rambaldi wont be alive in the story it wont fit well. however i think he used his time machine to gain info about the future, so he might pop up here and there as various characters, but nobody that dies or that would end his life which is impossibe because he was put to death in his own time in 14whatever. so he can’t possibly be the clock repair guy or whatever that guy was…but he had something to do w/ the rambaldi stuff…that guy knew too much, he was weird…yea well thats some of my ideas…
Posted by khag:
slone sent sydney to the future 2 years to get her out of the way. she will probably spend the first to episodes of next season getting back to her time and then the next season or two will cover what happend in between when slone tried to have sydney “gone” by sending her ahead in time.
I agree that this Rimbaldi device seems to have something to do with travel between time and space, but I kinda hope they won’t have Sydney return to her own time. If it is the case that she’s really lost two years of her life, that two years worth of changes have happened, then I think it’d be more interesting to have her in that future trying to figure out what’s going on. Think of it: Vaughn’s apparently married, but that’s not necessarily the most interesting change over the missing two years. Maybe Sloane and Jack Bristow are now working togehter. Maybe Irina Derevko is back with the C.I.A.. Maybe Marshall got more dates with that woman whose name escapes me (Carrie, was it?)
On the other hand, maybe this is just an elaborate hoax played on Sydney for some reason to make her think it’s two years later–like the kind of schemes the I.M.F. would pull off in classic episodes of Mission: Impossible. Of course, I have no idea who would do that, or why, but it’s fun to think of that possibility too…
Anyway, it’s probably at least as potentially interesting to have Sydney figure out what’s happened over the past two years as it is to have her travel back in time to prevent those two years from happening. (And, frankly, I don’t know if the feel of the show would be well-served if it becomes even more conspicuously a sci-fi show like Sliders or Time Tunnel…)
Time–no pun intended–will tell…
I loved the season finale right up until the last moment when we learn that Sydney has been “missing” and probably “presumed dead” for 2 YEARS!!! I was BULLSH*T about the whole thing (literally screaming at the TV). I AM HOPING that the trauma of what occurred in the last 5 minutes (the fight with Francine and seeing Will dead!?!) put Sydney in a coma and thus in her mind she finds herself in Hong Kong 2 years later.