#it is fun to draw him in outfits because of the inexplicable decision to make everything he wears white. i can play with offwhite tones

[bmpmp3]

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[pass-the-bechdel]

Alias s01e02 ‘So it Begins’

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

Yes, twice.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Four (25%)

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Thirteen (75%)

Positive Content Rating:

Two

General Episode Quality: 

An alright continuation of the pilot, fun in parts but also giving cause for concern in others.  

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Sydney and Francie talk about a plate of Sydney’s. Francie and Sara talk about waitressing.  

Female Characters:

Sydney Bristow

Francie Calfo

Jenny

Sara

Male Characters:

Michael Vaughn

Ineni Hassan

Marcus Dixon

Charlie

Will Tippin

Marshall Flinkman

Arvin Sloane

Jack Bristow

Luri Karpachev

Kazimir Shcherbakov

Abul-Hasayn Navor

Davenport

Weiss

Other Notes:

Do I love Sydney in the blue dress? Yes. Can I do so while also acknowledging that it doesn’t say great things about the series? Also yes.  As hot as she looks, looking hot is the entire purpose of the look, in a way that feels not great and seems to indicate some unsettling priorities.  Sure, missions as opportunities for sexiness have been part and parcel of the lady-spy genre from the start. However, that this appears to be the only reason for the dress makes it particularly bothersome. Does the choice of mission-wear tell us something about Sydney, aside from “Jennifer Garner is real fit”?  No. Does it tell us something about the person Sydney is pretending to be?  Technically, yes, but also no, insofar as the costume forms the entirety of the alias. It’d make sense if the outfit was meant for seduction, but it isn’t—according to the original mission parameters, Sydney was just supposed to just hand the money to Dixon. So why this particular look, which isn’t even that great as fashion?

That said, the mission where this outfit is worn is great fun. Details about it don’t make a lot of sense—it’s never explained why Sydney and Dixon needed to steal the money from the buyer they were impersonating, rather than bringing their own—but the pacing is great, the chemistry between Sydney and Dixon is fantastic, and the sequence as a whole is a step above what other genre TV was doing at the time. 

Sydney and Will have known each other for three years. I’m laying this out for the record, because this will not always be the case. 

SARAH SHAHI!! Love seeing her here, even if the actual writing for her is…not great. Yes, 2001-era Bradley Cooper is very hot. Hot enough for a twenty-something intern to risk everything she’s risking by actually being open and constant in her flirting with somebody who has openly said that he does not respect her (which is also groan-worthy but can also be interpreted as Will attempting, in a non-optimal way, to get her to stop pursuing him)? Not so much. J.J. Abrams, for all his work featuring women (he created or co-created Felicity before this) does not understand them in very key ways, it shows here, and will show up in the future.

This episode is all over the place, but I like the way Ineni Hassan, who is mentioned in the first act during a largely throwaway scene, is brought back in the end. 

I really love the chemistry Sydney has with her friend group; their scenes together are arguably better than the spy action. 

The SD-6 map scene…ugh.  I get what it’s going for, but what it’s going for and what it actually gets from it are two obviously different things, and it’s the first and earliest sign of all the way Alias goes wrong.

Some table-setting, for context: Sydney is telling Vaughn—her new C.I.A. handler, introduced last episode—what she understands of SD-6, as well as hashing out the details of their working relationship, and is clearly and openly impatient about the whole process. She accuses Vaughn of mansplaining SD-6 and espionage to her, and he responds by asking her to draw a map of the organization, and then revealing that the organization is exponentially larger than she believed it was.  

Multiple things bother me about this. First, that workplace sexism is indeed a thing, and it sucks mightily to have one of the few scenes in the series where it’s mentioned be one designed to make it seem as if it isn’t, and that Sydney is being unreasonable for suspecting it.  

Perhaps more groan-worthy, thought, is the way the scene undercuts the competence the writing seems to want to ascribe to Sydney. Yes, it’s perfectly true that Sydney has more direct experience with SD-6 than Vaughn does. It’s also true that, as the intro narration reminds us, Sydney worked for SD-6 for seven years without suspecting the truth. She should, by all rights, be questioning everything she thought she knew about them, which makes her certainty utterly inexplicable.

And yes, I get that part of the purpose of this scene is to establish Sydney and Vaughn as complementary opposites, and to establish the series’ stakes. And yet, I’d argue that there were ways to do both without throwing Sydney under the bus.  The latter scene, where they argue about Sydney’s decision to call SD-6 about defusing a nuclear bomb (which consequently allowed SD-6 to retrieve the bomb and sell it) is much better at establishing tension between them and portraying them as people with diverging thought processes who need to work together. In contrast, what the map scene does is establish Sydney as not very smart, which is a terrible thing to say about the show’s main character. 

[rkdoyoung]

✧ ✧ ✧  ━━━━━━━  & 헤어질 준비가 안됐어, WAIT A MINUTE                                               기다림은 너무 길은데 HAS NO LIMIT   —                                 TELL ME WHAT IS LOVE by D.O & YOO YOUNG JIN

note ! hover over song title for timestamp; click for outfit

he’s rooted in place after hearing his name, mind spinning, dizzying, making everything seem so surreal. he doesn’t even know how to react, nothing but a vague smile on his lips and the slow clapping of hands, and though he can’t see himself, he know he’s got an unmistakable look of disbelief on his face, but he can’t manage to shake it. there’s so much talent in the room, even from the fifty who have been eliminated, that he can’t believe he’s made it through.

but then it hits him. he’s heard his own name, hears hyojin’s, has heard every single name announced that’s moving on to the next stage, but the one name he wishes he’s heard, even above his own, is kim seungmin. eyes immediately dart to his side, only to find that seungmin has already made his way out. mindlessly, jooyoung follows after his little brother, guilt and panic and empathy all flow through his veins in a heavy concoction, clouding his mind as he reaches out and grabs his brother by the arms to stop him.

tears, he expected, perhaps anger, a deep frown, something, but what he gets is an inexplicably blank expression. jooyoung doesn’t know what to do. he’s never known what to do, and perhaps that’s one of his greatest flaws, and definitely one of his greatest regrets. he’s never known what to do with seungmin, how to fix this gap that’s only been growing over the years, how to make up for all the time he’d thrown out the window when he was living overseas and away from his family. he doesn’t know.

so he does what comes to mind first. he draws his brother into a hug, only holding onto him tighter when the younger struggles against him, and the crying starts and all jooyoung can do is continue to hold him in his arms and wait. wait as seungmin sobs and cries and lets out all his frustrations and anger and disappointment. there’s nothing he can say to help the situation at this very moment, so he remains silent, hoping he’s helping, even if just a little bit.

after it seems seungmin has calmed down a bit, jooyoung goes to find hyojin, and the three of them get into the car. it’s a quiet ride, and seungmin is still wordless even as he gets out of the car and into his apartment. to see his own little brother like that, to be so clueless as to how to help, how to make it easier or better, it breaks his heart.

if there were some way he could trade places right now, to give up his spot so that seungmin could move on, he would. he would give it up in a heartbeat.

but as cruel as it sounds, the show must go on, and he has a lot of work to do. he has to keep going, try even harder, make it as far as he can because seungmin couldn’t, because they had denied his little brother the opportunity he deserved, and yet here he was, so against living the idol lifestyle he wasn’t even sure if he’d take a contract. no one could ever be sure that if he hadn’t auditioned at all, it would mean seungmin would have gotten in, but it doesn’t matter. now he has has to continue on. he has to make it count.

he dedicates a whole night after work to going through his music library, letting it play on shuffle, writing down potential songs to sing for the next episode. he’s gone through several sheets of paper filled with lines and lines of songs, and he’s begun to think he’d have to spend another night doing just this, but then that song begins to play. a smile slowly curves on his lips and his body begins to sway to the smooth r&b tempo. it’s one hundred percent his style, but still palatable for the general public, and is a song that would be able to showcase his vocal talents more than the previous song’s mashup.

the rest of the week he spends practicing, using every chance he has to sing: at work, he’s working his vocal cords between clients and during meal breaks, at home, he’s belting during chores, cooking, and he swears he’s even begun singing in his sleep. for the first time in his life, he’s even started practicing in front of a mirror, watching his expressions, making sure he’s giving off exactly the impression he wishes.

the day before the recording he spends trying to relax, hoping it’ll help him with his nerves for the actual day of the episode filming. he calls off of work and sleeps in for most of the morning, then spends lunch at a dog cafe for a couple of hours before heading home to play some video games. before bed, he has a cup of herbal tea and even puts on a face mask, something he hadn’t done in months due to pure laziness about skin care.

the day of the recording, he manages to remain calm on the drive there, but as soon as he’s standing outside of the building, he’s hit with a wave of memories that brings back every nervous emotion he’d experienced on the first broadcast filming. the amount of contestants left is only half of what it had been, making the space seem bigger and him feel smaller.

the most notable difference, though, is that his little brother is still nowhere to be found. this ignites a newfound sense of invigoration within him, reminds him that he has someone to perform for, even if seungmin won’t be watching. with a sharp inhale, he walks inside and takes an empty seat.

while waiting for the show to begin, he sees a shadow come over him, and he stares upward to see none other than choi minho, the man whose man tiddiez he’d been blabbering about in the interviews last week (thank god they hadn’t aired any of that). immediately, an almost nervous smile blooms on his face as he bows in greeting.

“hey, do you have ig?”

the question posed to him throws him off for a split second, because it’s not what he expects at all. after a short recovery, he nods his head. “yeah, @iankim,” he responds. it’s not long until his phone chimes, and he fishes it out of pocket to see not only a friend request, but a dm notification as well.

can i slide into that seat next to you like i slid into ur dms

he bursts out into laughter at the message, nodding his head in confirmation as he sweeps his hand over the empty seat next to him. “it’s all yours, man,” he says rather than types back. he takes the next few moments to go through the man’s instagram before casually leaning over with a cheeky grin to say, “anyone ever tell you that you’re a thirst trap?”

he’s glad for the distraction that minho’s presence provides as they go through each other’s instagrams and make fun of each other’s posts because time goes by quickly, and before he knows it, the time for the performances to start has begun. he tries his best to keep his energy at a steady medium, but the closer it gets to his turn to perform, the more nervous he gets. he’s done auditions before, but it’s never been this bad, fists wound up tight in an effort to keep himself from falling apart.

hyojin goes up just before he does, and he gives just as much gusto cheering for his cousin as he did last week, perhaps even more now that he has one last person to cheer for and embarrass. he’s thankful that he has someone he knows going before him; it gives him a sense of home, as if they’re both just hanging out at a family gathering, singing without any of the pressure, enjoying themselves.

when it finally comes his turn to perform, he takes a deep breath and looks to his left side to see mason sitting there. for some reason, his fellow contestant’s presence helps calm him even more, the thought of their exchanges earlier pulling an amused smile onto his face. just as he’s about to make his way on stage, his phone vibrates in his pocket, and he has half a mind to ignore it. there’s something tugging at his heartstrings, though, and he chooses to pull it out as he’s walking toward the stage. what he sees fills him with a renewed strength and confidence, and a wide grin blooms on his face as he texts his little brother back.

the first two times, he’d used his guitar as a crutch, using it for comfort and as a sort of buffer in case they decided his voice alone wasn’t good enough, but this time, he’s left both his instruments at home, and he hopes his decision to do so won’t come around to bite him in the ass. this time, it’s just him, the audience, the microphone, and his voice, and he hopes it’s enough.

“hey, what’s up? it’s me, ya boi. kim jooyoung.” he introduces himself again, apparently never tiring of making references to videos or movies he’s scene that may or may not go over the judges’ heads. “i intend to show a different side of me today. i hope you like this side, too.”

with a smile, he settles into place, and the music begins. the intro is filled with adlibs by the original singers, and he takes liberties with the section, deciding to completely forego the original and go with his own adlibs and vocal runs, putting his own flare and feeling into it, showcasing what he thinks is the best of his abilities while still keeping up with the natural tempo and feel of the song.

나를 사랑하지 않는 너를 잊은 채 as i forgot about you who doesn’t love me 하고 싶었던 모든걸 하고 살아도 i live doing everything that i wanted to do 머릿속에 넌 절대 지워지지가 않아 i can’t ever erase you from my head 도대체 why?

he’s never quite experienced the exact feelings the lyrics portray in the song, but he’s definitely felt that deep emotional rut before, of being unable to forget, of being haunted by memories he’d no longer be able to experience. he channels that instead, using his tumultuous ups and downs with his search for fame and fortune as the emotional basis for his performance. after all, that feeling of hitting rock bottom is the same for everyone, no matter the source.

대답 없는 널 자꾸 불러도 i keep calling for you but you’re answerless 메아리만 돌아와… and only echoes keep coming back to me…

he immerses himself in this universe, of being left in the dark by someone or something that he loves, the loneliness, the denial, the hatred and anger. his eyes close as he sings, his hands coming up to grasp at the microphone, seeming to caress it as he sings into it. his eyes open, gazing directly into the camera as he cups the microphone in one hand as the other goes down to grasp at the actual stand, holding onto it tightly as if he would never let go. it’s a stand in for what he sings and yearns for in the song, using the microphone as a prop to further engage the audience and himself.

내 눈을 보며 말했던 like you told me while gazing into my eyes 두 글자가 낙인처럼 아파 와 the two letters hurt like humiliation 내 맘이 그걸 알게 됐는데 my heart finally knows oh, tell me, what is love? tell me, what is love?

the chorus serves as a natural climax to his performance, emotions escalating as the push behind the lyrics does, his body swaying naturally to the rhythm. his inexperience with love helps here as he asks the question of what love is because he is certainly unsure, in all aspects, of what love is. 

tell me what is love

as the song comes to a close, he belts out one last adlib, holding the final note and letting it fall in an effortless decrescendo just as the music does. once both the music and the sound of his voice have completely disappeared, he allows his hands to slide off the microphone and drop to his sides, still in character, dejected and alone.

he stands there for a few moments, basking in it all, absorbing the moment to remember it forever, not knowing if this will be his final performance on this stage or not.

he may not know what he’d do if given the opportunity to sign with a company or not, but he’s certain of one thing: he doesn’t want this to end, and perhaps that’s a sign. perhaps it doesn’t matter how or with whom he signs.

perhaps, in the end, he’s happy as long as he’s performing. any stage is enough.