1.1 Pilot

Plot Overview

Sydney Bristow, a vivacious, athletic grad student, discovers that her not-so-typical after-school job as an agent for SD-6, a top-secret division of the CIA, holds some deadly secrets that not only puts her life in danger but also threatens the security of the free world...

Recruited her freshman year, the then shy and lonely Sydney jumped at the chance to add some meaning and excitement to her life. Little did she know how great she’d be at espionage or how much she’d love it. Today Sydney is no longer shy or alone. Her boyfriend Danny has just proposed and her best friend Francie couldn’t be happier. Her friend Will, however, has to feign happiness, keeping his unrequited love for her to himself.

Sydney now finds herself facing a moral dilemma: What does she want for the rest of her life, and what does she tell her friends and would-be fiancé?

Sydney’s SD-6 partner, Dixon, a devoted family man, warns her not to reveal her secret to Danny, and Sydney knows that SD-6 leader Sloane would not look kindly on any breach of security. Even Marshall, SD-6’s highly inventive weapons and gadget maker — a super intelligent man with noticeably lacking social skills -- knows that divulging their identities is strictly forbidden. This is the one rule you don’t break.

When Sydney breaks protocol and tells Danny about her secret life, her world is spun terrifyingly sideways: Danny’s life is placed in mortal danger, and Sydney is in a fight for her own life. She discovers that her long-estranged father, Jack, is also an agent for SD-6 and that the organization is covering up a nefarious plan — they are not a branch of the CIA, but are actually an enemy of the United States. With nowhere else to turn, Sydney seeks the aid of the real CIA in hopes of putting SD-6 out of business. She is put under the command of operations officer Vaughn who enlists Sydney to become a double agent. Her mission is to complete her cases at SD-6 while reporting her findings back to the CIA. But when Sydney finds out that her father is also affiliated with the CIA, she begins to question where his true allegiances really lie.
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Cast

Main Cast

• Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow
• Ron Rifkin as Arvin Sloane
• Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn
• Bradley Cooper as Will Tippin
• Merrin Dungey as Francie Calfo
• Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon
• Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman
• Victor Garber as Jack Bristow

Guest Stars

Edward Atterton as Daniel Hecht
Jay Gerber as Professor Mizzy
Angus Scrimm as SD-6 Agent Calvin McCullough
William Wellman Jr as Priest
Ric Young as Dr. Zhang Lee
Lorenzo Callender as Messenger
Greg Collins as Kenny
Vicki Davis as Intern
Lo Ming as Agent
Raymond Ma as Taiwanese Businessman
Miguel Nájera as Agent Gonzalez
Greta Sesheta as CIA Receptionist
Philip Tan as Taiwanese Security Officer
Emily Wachtel as Beth at Airline Counter
Nancy Wetzel as Amy Tippin
Erik Betts (uncredited) as CIA Agent
Greg Grunberg (uncredited) as Eric Weiss
Ron Letterman (uncredited) as Airplane Passenger
Mark Newsom (uncredited) as Survellience Tech

Music

• Vertical Horizon "You're A God"
• Gus "Goin' Our Way"
• The Cranberries "Never Grow Old"
• Supreme Beings of Leisure "Under The Gun"
• Cat Stevens "Trouble"
• Peter Gabriel "Here Comes The Flood"
• Stereo MC "Sofisticated"
• Sinead O'Connor "No Man's Woman"
• Vertical Horizon "Give You Back

Trivia

General Trivia

• Marshall is the first person to reference the number 47.

Allusions and References

• Sydney's red wig is a throwback to the movie Run Lola Run..

Memorable Moments

Sydney's alias. The red hair, and everything. The whole episode is a memorable moment.

Reviews

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