Editing 2.10 The Abduction

{{Sidebar
| name=The Abduction
| image=210.jpg
| season=2
| episode=10
| airdate=December 15 2002
| code=E661
| writer=[[Alex Kurtzman]] and [[Roberto Orci]]
| director=[[Nelson McCormick]]}}

'''The Abduction''' is the 10th episode of [[Season 2]] of ''[[Alias]]'', and the 32nd episode overall. Jack meets Alliance counterintelligence head Ariana Kane, who is sent in to investigate Emily's disappearance and to discover who is trying to blackmail Sloane. Meanwhile, Marshall is sent on his first mission with Sydney as his partner. Vaughn schedules Will to take a CIA psych test. Francie gets suspicious over Sydney and Will's secretive behavior.

==Plot Overview==
[[Sydney Bristow|Sydney]] tells [[Will Tippin|Will]] that [[Arthur Devlin|Devlin]] would approve of him doing research if he undergoes a psychological evaluation test. [[Francie Calfo|Francie]] walks in on their conversation and wonders aloud about the secrecy between Will and Syd. Later on, [[Irina Derevko|Irina]] tries to explain to Syd why she worked with the [[KGB]], and calls herself a fool for abandoning her daughter. They hug but guards separate them.

[[Arvin Sloane|Sloane]] threatens [[Julian Sark|Sark]] with torture, questioning his allegiance after the failed mission in Kashmir. Sark declares his loyalty to Sloane and suggests that a leak could have come from within [[SD-6]]. Shortly thereafter, Sloane organizes a mission pairing Sydney and Sark. He describes the [[National Security Agency|NSA]]'s [[ECHELON|Echelon Satellite System]], which filters transmissions and indicates threats to national security. Sark informs the group that [[Gerard Cuvee|Cuvee]] is in possession of an Echelon terminal and is moving it from its [[Paris]] location via armed transport. They must steal the terminal and bring it back to SD-6.

At the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], [[Michael Vaughn|Vaughn]] gives Syd the countermission: she is provided with a deletion program that she will upload to the terminal, so when SD-6 turns it on, the hard drive will be wiped clean. Vaughn says that [[Alice Williams|Alice]]'s father died; Syd offers condolences. Meanwhile, [[Jack Bristow|Jack]] tells Irina that he believes she and Sark are still in league. He offers her a deal that would relocate her to private prison in Puget Sound in return for a full explanation of why she turned herself in.

In [[Paris]], Sydney and Sark disable their target, a guarded truck, but learn that it was a decoy. Sydney gives chase to a man who emerges from another vehicle and finally grabs the terminal. Meanwhile, Sloane introduces Jack to [[Ariana Kane]], the head of Alliance counter-intelligence, who is investigating [[Emily Sloane|Emily]]'s mysterious reappearance. Later, she interrogates Jack, who explains that Sloane recruited Syd without his knowledge in order to ensure his loyalty.

After Will's taken the psych test, he and Syd talk in a bar. As she justifies her secrecy by calling it a "gesture of love," Vaughn and Alice enter. They meet, share an awkward moment and move on.

Back at SD-6, Sloane tells the team that a failsafe erased the Echelon terminal's hard drive. Cuvee, he says, may be able to reverse engineer a new terminal based on duplicate software that he's stored on a secure server in London, so he wants Syd to delete it. [[Marshall Flinkman|Marshall]] says the server can detect any electronic intrusion, so it must be cracked manually by a polymorphic algorithm — something only he can do. A nervous Marshall accepts his mission.

Vaughn tells Sydney that Marshall must be taken into protective custody after the mission because he has a photographic memory and will recall the system files even if they're deleted. He is, essentially, a human reboot. Sydney cautions that SD-6 is Marshall's life, and that the truth would be difficult for him to handle. 
In [[London]], Sydney and Marshall arrive at Royal Albert Hall dressed impeccably for the London Philharmonic. They sit behind [[Thatcher Powell]], Cuvee's head of IT security, who is the only man with access to the secure server. They sedate him, steal the access key and go to the server facility. While Sydney is trashing a couple of guards, Marshall is shot with a tranquilizer, which makes him too woozy to hack into the server. Sydney revives him with a kiss, and he quickly succeeds. They retrieve the software and return the key before Powell awakens. But they are observed by a mysterious man in a wheelchair.

After Syd and Marshall split for their return flight, Marshall is taken into custody — but not by the CIA! At SD-6, Ariana insists to Sloane that Jack is the prime suspect because he is unafraid of Sloane and is therefore hiding something.

When Jack visits Irina to discuss the deal again, Irina states that she has nothing to confess and that she turned herself in to make up for past mistakes. She also says that she will now allow Jack to debrief her, in addition to Sydney.

A terrified Marshall is in the custody of … "[[Zhang Lee|Suit and Glasses]]."

==Cast==

===Starring===
* [[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]] (credit only)
* [[Kevin Weisman]] as [[Marshall Flinkman]]
*[[David Anders]] as [[Julian Sark]]
* with [[Lena Olin]] as [[Irina Derevko]]
* and [[Victor Garber]] as [[Jack Bristow]]

===Guest Starring===

* [[Petra Wright]] as [[Alice Williams]]
* [[Ric Young]] as Dr. [[Zhang Lee]]

=== Special Appearance By ===

*[[Faye Dunaway]] as [[Ariana Kane]]

=== Co-Starring ===

*[[John Balma]] as [[Thatcher Powell]]

=== Featuring ===

*[[Don Took]] as [[Grey|Agent Grey]]
*[[Charles Constant]] as Desk Attendant
*[[Kenny Gould]] as Guard

=== Uncredited ===

*[[Derek de Lint]] as [[Gerard Cuvee]]
*[[Paul Anthony Scott]] as Guard
*[[Ernesto Trinidad]] as SD-6 Agent

==Trivia==
*The song being played in the concert while Sydney slips the sleeping drug into the British gentleman's drink is the Stokowski transcription of JS Bach's "Sleepers Awake" cantata.
*Before coming to Credit Dauphine, Jack worked undercover for SD-6 at Jennings Aerospace. This company is used by Sydney in her alias on this episode.
*At 17 minutes into the show, this episode has the latest entrance of the opening credits of the entire series run.

===The Show===

===Behind the Scenes===
===Music===
*"The Wreckoning" by '''Boomkat'''
*"Beauty of The Rain" by '''Dar Williams'''
*"Don't Try This At Home" by '''Chumbawamba'''
*"Sleepers, Awake" by '''J.S. Bach'''

===Filming Locations===
*Orpheum Theater - 842 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

===Allusions and References===

== Quotes ==

* '''Sark''': You know, it's a pity we're traveling separately. We could've used the opportunity to get to know each other better.
* '''Sydney''': (sarcastically) Yeah, I'm broken up about that too.
----
* '''Jack:''' There is one way for you to verify if my nocturnal activities are a security risk, Ms. Kane, but somehow I think we'd both prefer the torture.

{{Season2}}
[[Category:Season 2]]