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

• Danny proposes to Sydney on the quad at the college she attends. He starts off by singing "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations.
• 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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