Static Zombie

What is this Alias of which you speak?

An action spy thriller series just entering its third season.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/alias/index.html

Okay if she was declared an "enemy of the state" how did she just walk into the CIA and straight into the directors office? Then when she threatened to melt the chip, why didn't the guy just say 'fine, melt the chip and you've got nothing to bargain for your fathers life.' As Sydney said herself, finding the chip was her only chance.

Both good points. And normally, I'm an incredibly demanding audience when it comes to this kind of thing. But with Alias, I'm willing to completely suspend my disbelief because the ride is so much fun.

There's no way the CIA would have ever let Sydney go on a mission so soon after returning from an unexplained 2 year absence, either. But if she doesn't go, there's no show. Neither does it make sense that they'd throw Jack in prison for contacting Irina, but canonize Sloane. For that matter, Sydney herself is absurdly implausible. It's a high speed soap opera, executed with verve and panache. I'll cut them some slack on plot manipulations as long as they're internally consistent with themselves-- and so far, I think they are.

I believe the crew of the Satellite of Love said it best: "Repeat to yourself, 'It's just a show, I should really just relax.'"

I don't normally hold Alias up to intense scruitiny either, its good popcorn entertainment after our game-night, but the writers just seemed really lazy on this episode. It was a bit of a let down after all the tension built since the last episode. I get the feeling the writers really didn't have any clue where they were going at the end of the last season, just as you theorized. The previews look promising though.