No More Alias

This is kind of going to be stream-of-consciousness. Be warned.

No major surprises with this finale, but then, how could there be? They'd kind of done them all. I would have been happier if they'd brought back Will for one final flashback, but oh, well, can't have it all.

I liked Nadia much better dead. LOL

I was going to be furious if Jack died. Especially after he was shot. I was prepared for a substandard revelation, like a non-dialogue scene where Sydney is told and collapses, or music-over montage of him being airlifted and undergoing CPR or something and dying that way.

But then, he didn't just die. He wasn't a victim. He went out on his own terms, taking Sloane with him (mostly--he hadn't resurfaced in that flash-forward, so I'm sure he was pinned there for eternity, quite fitting). So I couldn't be mad.

And they had the "I love you" moment that was so important to the arc of Syd and Jack's relationship that was the core of the whole show.

I loved that Isabelle was doing the puzzle at the end. Unsurprising, but it had to happen. I kinda wanted Sydney to see her doing it, but liked the mild suspense and foreboding and bittersweetness when she didn't.

I loved that they weren't completely out of the game, and that Sydney was the one being called back. She is the ultimate kick-a$$ heroine and always will be. True balance in that character. Heart and strength.

I loved that Sark reverted to a low-brow accent in the stress of being about to commit genocide, and that he was conflicted but said straight out that he just always wanted to wind up on the winning side. It was almost as good a moment as when Sydney hit him and smashed his face into the bar in the earlier episode.

I only have a few minor complaints. Irina's finale wasn't as well-rounded as it could have been. I buy that she always needed power, but ICBMs? That seemed a little extreme, even for her, and her softer side was completely eliminated in this episode, which I suppose was in character becuase her "softer side" in the past had still always been to further her own ends. I still felt something was missing. Though the fight between Syd and her mom was excellent, it was cliché for her to go after the artifact and die chasing it.

The other complaint was the travel/time factor. Okay, they always played fast and loose with travel realities. But how far is Ixtapa from LA? Seems like it would have been too far for Sloane to go from there to threaten Sydney and back there, and then for the APO team to get there in time to save Rachel and Marshall.

Oh, but back to the love! How awesome was Marshall? He always had that core of strength that he didn't usually have to test, but when it was tested, it was always diamond-hard. And then his gushes over Rachel's escape: "cool like Empire Strikes Back." He's always been the most consistent, most perfect character.

And Carrie! How awesome was she? God, seasons four and five would have been SO much better with her on the show instead of Nadia or Rachel.

Bottom line? Not tautly suspenseful like Prison Break, not mind-bending like Lost, but satisfying enough to make me happy, exciting enough to make me sad to see it go.