Alias (TV Series) Nightingale (2005) User Reviews

Marked improvement....

[gridoon2024 · 8/10 · 13 January 2010]

....over the last couple of episodes. Largely because it focuses on a running storyline (Vaughn's search for the truth about how, why, when and IF his father was killed), instead of giving us yet another mission-of-the-week, of the kind that were fun to watch in early season 1 but not so much anymore, not after all the questions and issues that have been raised. Vaughn's investigation into the word "Nightingale", given to him by the woman who ran the orphanage where Nadia grew up, has come to a dead end; Sydney asks her father to use his level-six clearance to see if the files have been classified; an unknown third party contacts Vaughn and offers to tell him the truth about his father, but what he wants in return forces Sydney and Vaughn to plan a countermission during the latest APO operation. Meanwhile, Jack and Sloane's alliance comes out in full force; their objective is to locate Irina Derevko's OTHER sister, Elena. But only one out of these two teams will get what they want out of the operation. Vaughn's opening dream sequence is quite striking, and even the action is better than in the last few episodes, with Sydney threatening to break a man's neck if he doesn't answer her questions. That's the kind of Sydney I would like to see more often. *** out of 4.

Vaughn breaks the rules

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 12 September 2010]

A couple of episodes ago we learnt that at the time of his disappearance Vaughn's father was looking for something or someone called 'Nightingale' here we learn just what Nightingale is. In Siberia a man is left in a room while others observe him through the glass, when Nightingale is activated it looks as if his skin and soon his face is melting. Vaughn and Sydney find a lead to this when they steal a hard drive from the man funding Nightingale. While Sydney is attempting to decipher the disc Vaughn is lured away to a meeting with a man who tells him that he must acquire the key component of Nightingale if he is to learn more about his father. Sydney's father persuades her that they need to bring what they know to APO if they are to be successful in solving the mystery; to her it looks as if her father is trying to help but we the viewers know that he has kept Sloane informed about Sydney and Vaughn's actions from the start and the two of them and desperate that Sydney and Vaughn don't learn about Elena Derevko. To this end Jack accompanies them to Siberia so that he can question then eliminate the man who knows where Elena is. In Siberia Sydney is working to extract the component when the device is activated, Marshall tries to stop it but in the end Jack is forced to endanger his own life to save his daughter.

This was another thrilling episode with a shocking start; I was surprised to see something as gross as the effects of Nightingale on a mainstream television programme. The operation to retrieve Nightingale was fairly exciting even if similar operations happen every other episode; it was nice to see Jack accompany them. I liked how he barely broke into a brisk walk while Sydney and Vaughn were running about… Victor Garber makes Jack seem far more dangerous than any of the younger agents even though he doesn't get into as many action scenes. The scenes between Jack and Sloane nicely maintained the sense of suspicion about their activities without telling us too much about them; we just know they involve one of the Derevkos.