Second Double is the 21st episode of Season 2 of Alias and the 43rd episode overall. Sydney begins to question Will's identity when he's arrested for espionage, under suspicion of being a double. Meanwhile Sark and Irina plot to recover the Di Regno heart, and Sloane makes Jack a business proposal.
Plot Overview[]
Francie tells Sark that the CIA believes Will has been compromised. Irina, informed by Sark, refuses to allow Francie to kill Will but supports his set-up. Francie hypnotizes Will and burns the mark of the second double on his retina.
Jack, suspecting Will of stealing footage of the Tuscany raid and of being the second double, has him arrested for espionage. Jack then shows Syd and Vaughn a digital recording found in Will's posession — it's of them fooling around in Syd's apartment. Later, Syd tells a frightened Will that his ocular scan shows an accumulation of proteins, convincing evidence that he's the double. Syd asks him in what room they kissed but Will can't remember the specifics because Francie has selectively erased his memories. Syd then blows her cover to Francie, believing Francie needs to be protected.
When Will's fingerprints are found on the detonator that killed Diane, Dixon pays him a visit in the CIA holding cell. Will cannot convince Dixon of his identity and Dixon nearly chokes him to death. Will is soon transferred to a prison camp on orders from the Department of Justice. Sark tells Francie that she'll have to kill Will in order to maintain her cover. Jack confronts Kendall, who went behind his back to the DOJ to secure Will's transfer.
The CIA has located Dr. Hans Jurgen, the creator of the Project Helix equipment, and believes he may know the identity of the second double. In a Berlin sex club, Sydney, clad as a dominatrix, ties Jurgens up while Vaughn takes pictures. Under threat of blackmail, Jurgens swears he doesn't know the double's identity but says the DNA data is stored on a European server farm.
Will's convoy is attacked. As Dixon fights off the attackers, Will escapes. He desperately calls Syd, who wants to help. Will, however, says he can't trust her, that she's destroyed his life and he wishes they never met. Syd is still determined to help and mentions the server farm. Will says his research showed that Markovic owned land in Marseilles, and that might be the server location.
Irina, speaking to a contact, asks for the blueprints to a government storage facility. She then mentions to Sark that NSA security is based on a keycard. Sark admits he authorized the assault on Will and that Will is now at large. He suggests that if they get to Marseilles first, they could exchange the real double's DNA, which would prove Will's innocence, for the NSA keycard.
Jack determines Will's fingerprints were placed on the detonator after it was wiped. He arranges for Syd to go to Marseilles behind Kendall's back, knowing that he'll lose his his managerial position and be replaced by Kendall. Sloane unexpectedly confronts Jack at a restaurant. He says he forgives Jack for his SD-6 betrayal, to which Jack replies that their friendship ended when he recruited Syd. Sloane admits that was a mistake and asks Jack to partner with him in the next phase of the Rambaldi quest — and promises that Syd won't be involved. Jack declines. Sloane, undeterred, says they will work together again.
In the Marseilles facility, Syd's objective is to secure a killswitch worn by the security chief and prevent the deletion of data. Vaughn poses as a drunk, allowing Syd to breach security. She finds that Irina has already killed the guard and possesses the killswitch. Irina tazers Syd and destroys the data. She's copied and transferred it to a secure location, however, and will give it to Syd in return for a favor.
Will, believing he can trust only Francie, calls her. She picks him up and they drive off.
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 Allison Doren
- Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon
- Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman
- David Anders as Julian Sark
- with Lena Olin as Irina Derevko
- and Victor Garber as Jack Bristow
Special Guest Star[]
Guest Starring[]
- Robert Joy as Dr. Hans Jürgens
- Joel Swetow as Jens
Co-Starring[]
- Michael Canavan as Special Agent McCain
- Kristopher Logan as Garth
- J.P. Romano as French Guard
Uncredited[]
- Jayson Dumenigo as French Guard
Trivia[]
- In this episode Marshall consoles Carrie Bowman crying because she is listening to Joni Mitchell. Mitchell will be the name of their son on the third season.
- The person who made the blue dress in the episode So It Begins is the saw one who made the dress in Second Double.
- In order to see if Will was Will, Sydney asked about their first kiss in Parity.
- This episode has an audio commentary.
The Show[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Music[]
- "Speechless" by Macy Gray (changed in the Netflix version)
- "I Wanna MMM" by The Lawyer (changed to some generic shit in the Netflix version)
- "Corps a Corps" by Glendooz
Allusions and References[]
Quotes[]
< Season 1 | Alias Season 2 | Season 3 > | ||||||
#01 | The Enemy Walks In | #07 | The Counteragent | #13 | Phase One | #19 | Endgame | |
#02 | Trust Me | #08 | Passage (Part 1) | #14 | Double Agent | #20 | Countdown | |
#03 | Cipher | #09 | Passage (Part 2) | #15 | A Free Agent | #21 | Second Double | |
#04 | Dead Drop | #10 | The Abduction | #16 | Firebomb | #22 | The Telling | |
#05 | The Indicator | #11 | A Higher Echelon | #17 | A Dark Turn | |||
#06 | Salvation | #12 | The Getaway | #18 | Truth Takes Time |