Alias: Season Five begins

"Prophet Five

In the season premiere episode, Sydney regains consciousness after the car crash and instinctively suspects the motives of the paramedics. When a man tries to inject her with a tranquilizer, she swipes his hand away and eludes the other "medics." Hiding in a cornfield, she sees Vaughn airlifted by an unmarked helicopter.

Later, as doctors evaluate Syd, she meets Gordon Dean from the Office of Special Investigations, who grills her about Vaughn's whereabouts and activities. Jack explains that Vaughn is a suspected double agent, and the car crash was actually an extraction.

A bloodied Vaughn, referred to as Mr. Michaux, is given a strip of paper with coded numbers. When Vaughn denies knowing anything about the cryptic sheet, a man named Curtis threatens to cut "the girl's finger off." Vaughn agrees to cooperate and asks for a pencil.

Before Vaughn can write, however, he asks to have his dislocated shoulder popped into place. When Curtis accommodates him, he punches Curtis and makes his escape. He contacts Sydney and asks her to trust him -- and to bring his father's watch when they rendezvous.

At APO Dixon tells a troubled Syd to give Vaughn the benefit of the doubt - as Dixon did for her years ago when he first realized that they worked for SD-6. Meanwhile, Gordon Dean instructs Marshall to pull Vaughn's files.

When Sydney arrives in Rome, Vaughn explains that his real name is Andre Michaux and his father was a mathematician involved with a top-secret project called "Prophet Five." He gleaned this info seven years ago from a woman named Renee Rienne and has been working with her since.

They meet James Lehman, a friend of Vaughn's father. Lehman explains that brilliant scientists and linguists were recruited for Prophet Five in the 70's and were asked to break the code of a 500 year-old document on advanced genetics. After this group succeeded, its members were systematically murdered. As precaution, Vaughn's father changed his identity, as did Lehman. He warns that the murderers are relentless. He tells them the location of a book containing more Prophet Five intel.

In Cape Town, South Africa, Sydney and Vaughn, posing as a French couple attending a party at a mansion, try unsuccessfully to steal the book from the home's vault. As they run towards a cliff, Sydney receives a phone call from her doctor, who tells her that she's pregnant. Sydney shares the good news with Vaughn, who has a muted reaction. They jump.

Meanwhile, Sloane combs through medical journals in jail, desperately trying to find a cure for Nadia, who is still in a coma after being subjected to Rambaldi's device. He denies knowing anything about Vaughn's treachery to Jack, but says that Renee Rienne, an ex-CIA agent, could be a possible lead.

As Sydney and Vaughn sit in a car waiting for Lehman, they talk about her pregnancy. Vaughn says his initial hesitation was because of the complicated world they live in, but he can't wait to be a father. Seeing Lehman in the distance, Vaughn jumps out. Suddenly another car drives by -- Gordon Dean steps out and fires at Lehman and Vaughn. They drop in a hail of bullets.

Waiting in the ICU, Syd tells Jack she's going to stand by Vaughn. As Jack reprimands her, Sydney reveals her pregnancy. Jack softens. Later, he goes to APO and instructs the team to research Prophet Five and retrieve the records in Cape Town.

Later, as Syd watches over Vaughn, he flat-lines. Syd is frantic as the doctors work on him to no avail. He slips away.

After Vaughn's funeral, Syd travels to shady London bar, where she speaks to the bartender. After an initial denial, the bartender admits she's Renee Rienne.

oOo

I just finished watching the season premiere and copied the blurb about it from abc.com. I have to say that it left me with more questions than answers - what any good show should do to draw you in. Is Vaughn really dead? Sure looked convincing, but I'm skeptical. Michael Vartan's name was in the opening credits as a regular cast member. Mia Maestro's (plays Sydney's sister Maria) name was not. Her story line was left hanging at the end of Season Four. I hope they didn't write either charachter out of the scripts, but we will see. All of the other main charachters are back for this season. There were also a few new names listed as regular cast members whom I did not recognize, who are obviously new charachters this season.

I have to say I'm skeptical how this season's storylines will play out, similar to the way I felt watching the last episode of Season Two and the first several episodes of Season Three. Last year, when I was new to the show, I had no such worries because my expectations were minimal. But I have faith that all will make sense as the season unfolds in the coming weeks. ABC also must be confident in the shows ability to carry good ratings because of the new, more competetive, time slot (last season Alias was on Wednesdays at 9).

I am glad however that they are incorporating Jennifer Garner's real life pregnancy into the story. This week I noticed lots of waist up shots for Garner and how her mid section was discreetly covered in the distance shots. They started filming the new season in July and Garner is due for real in November.

This has been one of the better and most original shows on television in the last four years. It must be to have my ensorsement because it is the only show I watch with out fail. Other than that, my fare is usually movies or sports.