SEASON ONE EPISODE GUIDE

1.01 - Truth Be Told (airdate: 9/30/2001)
Grad student Sydney Bristow discovers that her unique after-school job as an agent for SD-6, a top-secret division of the CIA, holds some deadly secrets that threaten the security of the free world.  Recruited freshman year, the shy Sydney jumped at the chance to add some excitement to her life. Little did she know how great she'd be at espionage. Today Sydney is no longer shy or alone. 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'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 tolerate a breach of security. Even Marshall, SD-6's highly inventive but socially lacking weapons and gadget maker knows that divulging their identities is strictly verboten.  After Sydney tells Danny, he's murdered and her life is spun sideways. She finds that her estranged father, Jack, is also SD-6 and that the group is not part of the CIA, but actually an enemy of the United States. Sydney seeks the aid of the real CIA and is put under the command of operations officer Vaughn, who enlists her as 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.

1.02 - So It Begins (airdate: 10/07/2001)
In her new role as a double agent for the CIA, Sydney is intent upon destroying SD-6 within weeks. But Vaughn humbles Sydney, explaining that SD-6 encompasses over 200 groups and contacts, not just the LA bureau where she works.  Sydney's journalist friend, Will, does some digging and learns that Danny had a booked flight from LA to Singapore the night he was killed. Sydney must hide her shock.  Back at SD-6, Sloane orders Sydney to travel to Moscow and intercept a sale of stolen files pertaining to Soviet-American nuclear arsenals. Afterwards, she meets her father Jack. In private, Sydney asks him whether he knew of SD-6's plan to kill Danny. Jack admits he was the one who bought the plane ticket so he could send Danny to Singapore before SD-6 murdered him, but he was too late.  In Moscow, Sydney impersonates a hotel maid to gain access to the hotel room of the CRC representative holding the payoff money while Dixon meets the document sellers at a Moscow club. After a fight with the bodyguards, Sydney discovers the payoff money is false paper. Incognito in party attire, Sydney races to the club, and switches the two computer disks containing the stolen files with plastic cocktail coasters. Dixon and Sydney knock the agents out, and escape with the disks. At LAX, Vaughn makes a brush pass with Sydney, duplicating the stolen floppies for the CIA, and returning them so she can present them to SD-6.  The information Sloane later retrieves from the disks informs him that a nuclear device from the Cold War period is still buried somewhere in the US.  Sydney's mission leads her to a Virginia cemetery, where she finds a tombstone with the contact's name, Ivanov, on it. Digging up the grave, she finds the seventh nuclear device, rigged to the coffin lid. She calls a panicked Marshall who guides her through the process of disarming it with only a two minute warning.  Angry, Vaughn informs Sydney that SD-6 has sold the device to Ineni Hassan in Cairo, a known arms dealer. Since Sydney knows Hassan, she volunteers to make the trip and get the bomb back; making sure that SD-6 doesn't know that she's going there. Back at the CIA, Davenport tells Vaughn that he's being pulled off of the Bristow case because Devlin, the boss, wants a more senior officer assigned. Meanwhile, Sydney and a male CIA operative go to Cairo. When Sydney finds the bomb, she quickly dismantles it and grabs its bright green plutonium core — only she's stopped by a gun-wielding Hassan.

1.03 - Parity (airdate: 10/14/2001)
Sydney is holding the nuclear weapon's plutonium core in her hand, when Hassan catches her — and puts a gun to her head. Using the core as a distraction, she knocks Hassan out, and dodges soldiers' bullets as she escapes. Upon return, her Sloane sends Sydney and Dixon to Madrid to steal a lockbox, containing a sketch with what appears to be digital code...drawn in the late 15th century by a seer, named Milo Rambaldi. There are two sketches, containing the entire code, only when seen together...and SD-6 needs the second one. However, a rival Russian agency is also after the sketch, and Sydney discovers that she is up against her deadly K-Directorate rival, Anna Espinosa, whom we identify now by the eye tattoo on her hand.  In secret, Sydney meets Vaughn along the Santa Monica pier, and tells him about the sketch...but Vaughn also informs her that he's been taken off of her case, and a senior officer has been assigned in his place.  In Madrid, Sydney visits a show at the Auto Museo, where the box is hidden, while Dixon monitors outside in a van. She discovers that Anna is also there who, one step ahead, has the lockbox. After an intense fight, Sydney gains possession of the box.  Back home, Will is still curious about Danny's murder...But after requesting surveillance footage from traffic cameras around Danny's former apartment on the night of the murder, he discovers that all of these cameras went out within a mile of the apartment on precisely that night.  Later, he and Sydney get a little drunk after an evening out, and later at her apartment, a playful moment turns into a kiss — and a moment of shocking discomfort for them both. Meanwhile, Francie leaks that she and boyfriend Charlie haven't been intimate in a while and that she is worried. Sydney suggests it's because he's been busy...until Francie discovers that he had no law review the previous night. When Charlie assures Francie that he is not having an affair, she is satisfied, until later discovering a matchbook with a woman's name and phone number. Back at SD-6, Marshall cannot open the lockbox, and if he forces it open, a concealed piece of technology inside will destroy the sketch. Knowing that Anna has the key to the lockbox, Sloane arranges with K-Directorate for Sydney to meet Anna in Berlin, open the box and view the sketch together. Sloane knows that K-Directorate doesn't know that there are two sketches that make the entire code.  Sydney immdediately dislikes Seth Lambert, Vaughn's replacement, and orders him to get Vaughn back on the case … or no results!  Arriving in Berlin, Sydney is wearing a CIA wire, and is relieved to hear Vaughn's voice. Both SD-6 and K-Directorate have positioned snipers in the stadium, in case of a double-cross. Sydney meets with Anna and exchanges words...an intense psychological game is always at play. But when Anna opens the lockbox, both agents are horrified, as a sizzling sound emits from inside.  In a Virginia cemetery, Sydney finds a tombstone with the contact's name, Ivanov, on it. Digging up the grave, she finds the seventh nuclear device, rigged to the coffin lid. She calls a panicked Marshall, who helps her disarm it with only a two minute warning.  Angry, Vaughn informs Sydney that SD-6 has sold the device to Ineni Hassan in Cairo, a known arms dealer. Since Sydney knows Hassan, she volunteers to make the trip and get the bomb back; making sure that SD-6 doesn't know that she's going there. Back at the CIA, Davenport tells Vaughn that he's being pulled off of the Bristow case because Devlin, the boss, wants a more senior officer assigned.  Meanwhile, Sydney and a male CIA operative go to Cairo. When Sydney finds the bomb, she quickly dismantles it and grabs its bright green plutonium core — only she's stopped by a gun-wielding Hassan.

1.04 - A Broken Heart (airdate: 10/21/2001)
In the final moments of a cooperative mission, Sydney and her Russian nemesis Anna memorize a 500-year-old binary code written by Milo Rambaldi before it is destroyed. Sydney isn't sure if she should give the correct sequence to SD-6 but Vaughn makes it clear that her role as a double-agent is in constant jeopardy.  The completed code represents a geographical location for a church in Mαlaga, Spain, where Sydney and Anna meet as enemies. Sydney bests Anna in a brutal fight, and recovers a gold circular crystal from the church's stain glass window.  She returns to SD-6, where Marshall's analysis discloses a pre-synthetic polymer, also invented by Rambaldi. The 15th century seer's progressive inventions now appear to be at the root of a much deeper mystery.  Sydney and Dixon are sent on a mission to investigate a plot to eliminate the United Commerce Organization. In Casablanca, Morocco, Sydney adopts the guise of a French-Canadian tourist.  In a crowded marketplace, she attempts to get near Luc Jacqnoud, whose bodyguard recognizes her from a previous encounter in Corsica. After a battle, Sydney arrives to Dixon's aide, and is crushed to find that their contact — and friend — Bak Ibrahim, has been slain.  At SD-6, Jack is interrogated by McCullough but we reveal, in a dreamlike sequence, that a unspoken truth about Sydney's mother continues to haunt him. Meanwhile, Vaughn's feelings for Sydney, in a moment of briefing, show through even further, finally, when she breaks down to him about the heartbreaking conflicts in the career of a dual agent, Vaughn offers her his support as a friend.  Meanwhile, Francie's suspicions grow of Charlie's infidelity, so she and Sydney stake him out until they spy him kissing another girl. Will unravels further clues about Danny's death and struggles with his own feelings for Sydney.  SD-6's latest clues lead Sydney and Dixon to Sγo Paolo, the location of the next United Commerce Organization conference, where Sydney witnesses the method to Jacqnoud's scheme. Dhiren Patel, the Peace Prize winner, is scheduled to speak at the UCO conference, but collapses at an evening social where men impersonating paramedics take him away. Sydney watches from the rooftop as a tiny bomb with a charge equivalent to 300 pounds of TNT is surgically implanted into Patel's pacemaker.

1.05 - Dopplegange (airdate: 10/28/2001)
In Sao Paulo, Sydney evades Sawari's bodyguard after watching a paramedic team implant a bomb into the pacemaker of UCO speaker Patel. When Sydney awakens in a run-off canal, she contacts Dixon, who grabs a dazed Patel at the UCO conference, and steals an ambulance. As Dixon proceeds to surgically extract the bomb, they are being pursued by Jacqnoud, who controls the detonator to the device. While Sydney drives, Dixon removes the bomb — just as Jacqnoud activates it and launches it beneath his car — abruptly ending the chase.  In Los Angeles, Francie tells Sydney that they are throwing a big Halloween party at Sydney's apartment. While setting up, Will tells Francie that he's been investigating the death of Danny, whom he has learned was to be on a flight to Hong Kong, not Singapore, and seated next to a woman named Kate Jones — neither of whom made the flight.  Will meets up with the mystery woman, and has clearly done his homework; she even admits to having had an affair with Danny. But Will stuns her when he points out that, according to her social security number, Kate Jones died in 1973 — and she races away from the meeting place.  Jeroen Schiller works for the Hensel Corporation with information on a vaccine against biological warfare. Sydney and Dixon's mission is to help Schiller get safe passage into the US. Later, Vaughn introduces Sydney to CIA agent Paul Kelvin, who has been chosen based upon his resemblance to the German. In Berlin, Sydney uploads the files from Schiller's computer to a remote server. Upon removing Schiller from Hensel, agent Kelvin trades places with Schiller — without Dixon's knowledge — and doubles as the SD-6 captive, while Schiller returns home with the CIA.  Back at SD-6, Kelvin feeds Sloane a partial computer program that will also run a CIA control into their network, enabling a "back door" for them to see into the SD-6 database. As Sloane questions the CIA operative about the location of a vaccine, which is being perfected into an inhaler form Kelvin realizes he does not know about this...But Sloane is even more suspicious, when he also learns that Sydney had also changed Schiller's drop-off location at the last second.  Knowing that her cover would be blown if Kelvin doesn't learn the location of the inhaler, Sydney asks Jack to assist, after Schiller reveals the location to the CIA. With Sloane viewing on a monitor, Jack quietly feeds Kelvin the location — before breaking his arm and passing a convincing message to Sloane about his SD-6 loyalties — and Kelvin screams out the location of the plant — Badenweiler, Germany.  Sloane sends Sydney and Dixon to Badenweiler to retrieve the inhaler, and then destroy the plant so no one else will have the vaccine. Vaughn informs Sydney that the CIA will rendezvous with her in the building, make a switch with the inhalers and disable the explosive to save the building and its contents. But before departing, Sydney also learns from Vaughn that her father may also be working for the FBI … and she no longer knows where her father's allegiances lie.  In Badenweiler, Sydney disables Dixon's bomb, makes the switch with the CIA agents in the building and gets out. Dixon hits the detonator, and of course, nothing happens. But prepared with a second detonator device, that Sydney knew nothing about, Dixon completes their mission by blowing up the building - with the CIA agents still inside.

1.06 - Reckoning (airdate: 11/18/2001)
Following the tragedy in Badenweiler, Sydney remains shattered after watching four CIA agents die in a plant explosion triggered by Dixon as part of their SD-6 mission. She continues to struggle with a truth about SD-6 she cannot share with her fellow agent, while Vaughn convinces her that Dixon's life and family would be at peril if she ever crossed that line.  Upon returning, Sydney learns that Jack will now be working alongside her at SD-6. But after looking into her father's CIA file — given to her by Vaughn — she visits the widow of FBI Agent Calder, and begins to form an opinion that Jack's suspicious activities led to the death of her mother 20 years earlier, creating an even deeper tension between them.  The CIA continues to download SD-6's database though a worm previously implanted into their network via an invisible software control. Unfortunately, Marshall reports the leak to Sloane who immediately suspects a mole from within.  Meanwhile, Charlie finally tells Francie his secret. He is not cheating on her, but has been pursuing his dream to become a professional singer. Francie has never even heard Charlie hum — she fears his humiliation, if it turns out he's on the wrong path. But he invites her to his debut at a local club, and her fears are assuaged when she hears his beautiful voice.  Will also uncovers the true identity of the woman who formerly claimed to be Kate Jones and to have had an affair with Danny. But when he surprises her at her door, she pepper-sprays him, terrified, sending him away. Later, she calls to explain she was paid to impersonate Kate. But when Will tries to meet her again for more details, he finds her apartment now emptied.  Sydney and Dixon's current mission is to recover one of FTL's genetically secured encoder devices — a highly sophisticated piece of cryptology equipment — from an operative named Smythe, who also owns a photo gallery in London. Dixon impersonates a wealthy buyer, distracting Smythe long enough for Sydney to break into the owner's highly secure offices, while eluding a menacing guard, and to recover the device. With the encoder in SD-6's possession, Marshall discovers it works by single-user DNA, sampled via a speck of skin from the recipient's fingertip.  SD-6 needs the fingertip of Gareth Parkashoff, now deceased, and whose burial location is unknown except to his assassin. In the guise of a patient, Sydney must infiltrate the asylum in Bucharest where his killer, Martin Shepard has been recently committed. With the aid of SD-6 Agent Fisher, posing as the physician committing her, Sydney's mission is to trigger Shepard for the body's coordinates by reciting a poem by John Donne, a known key from this assassin's programming.  Sydney is admitted upon their arrival in Romania...but her discharge will prove to much more complex, for only too late does the CIA discover that this institute is also run by Kreshnik, a K-Directorate agent. And when Sydney finds Agent Fisher with his throat slashed, the gates to this institution appear to be sealed for good.

1.07 - Colorblind (airdate: 11/25/2001)
Sydney is trapped within the walls of Mangalev institute in Bucharest, Romania. Moments after finding SD-6 Agent Fisher with his throat slashed she is immobilized by a tranquilizer, and awakens in an electroshock tub. K-Directorate agent Dr. Kreshnik interrogates her, demanding to know if she received information from inpatient Martin Shepard, the FTL-trained assassin. Sydney assures she can extract the coordinates of Parkashoff's body from Shepard, as they have now established a basis for trust — but only if Kreshnik allows her to live. K-Directorate grants her a stay of execution until nightfall.  She fights off Kreshnik, Ferroq and the orderlies, and with Shepard escapes to a remote CIA safehouse. The assassin's sight has been impaired by the FTL's tampering with his memory. When he looks at Sydney, he sees in black and white and cannot make a clear recollection.  As his memory returns, however, he reveals to her that he was Danny's killer, deprogrammed by SD-6 Agent McCullough... and Sydney tries harder than ever to forgive him, in the face of a killing for which Shepard was not truly responsible.  Vaughn contacts Jack to meet at a Chinese restaurant but Bristow is none too thrilled about this break in protocol. In turn, he confronts Vaughn for pulling his CIA file; Vaughn explains that Sydney wanted to see it because she suspects he used to have KGB affiliations.  At SD-6, Sloane informs Marshall that the virus found in the network was planted by SD-6 itself as part of a security drill. However, Sloane reveals in a face-off with Alain Christophe, elder statesman of SD-6 and the deadly Alliance, that SD-6 has set up a dummy server to catch the worm hacking into SD-6's mainframe. Christophe suspects a mole.  Will now has cold feet. He fears crossing a line with Sydney by defying her wishes to let go the details of Danny's murder, but after having pleaded earlier with his editor Litvack, he finds the story due for reassignment if he drops it.  Thanksgiving dinner is served at Sydney's, and Charlie proposes to Francie, which she accepts joyously. When Jack arrives, he tells Sydney that the FBI investigated him 20 years earlier, suspecting he was KGB, leading to the pursuit which forced his car off the road, killing her mother Laura.  Back at SD-6, Sloane has decoded the FTL communique, using Parkashoff's DNA, which reveals news that another Rambaldi artifact has been sent for analysis at Oxford's Department of Engineering. Sloane assigns Sydney to follow but Vaughn warns that Anna Espinosa was last sighted leaving Bucharest and may also be on the job. 

1.08 - Time Will Tell (airdate: 12/02/2001)
Sydney travels to Oxford to steal an ancient clock connected to the Rambaldi mystery. She successfully completes the mission, though Anna Espinosa is hot on her trail. Jack confronts Sloane about the death of Eloise Kurtz, and admits that he hired the woman, a young SD-6 agent, to impersonate Kate Jones. Sloane, however, did not trust Kurtz and had her silenced. Sydney discovers that SD-6 has hired an agent to trail her. Sloane insists that it is a routine procedure, but Jack tells Sydney that SD-6 suspects they have a mole. He urges his daughter to seek help from Vaughn on how to fool a functional imaging test — a sophisticated lie detector.  Sydney's next assignment takes her to Positano, Italy to have the clock repaired. The clock was designed by Rambaldi, but built by a master craftsman named Giovanni Donato in 1503. One of Donato's descendants still pursues the family craft, and can repair the artifact.  Meanwhile, Will's editor rejects his story about the mysterious deaths of Danny Hecht and Eloise Kurtz. The story contains questionable facts, and editor Litvack suggests that Will is lying. She demands that he cease his investigation, but Will has other ideas. He is tipped-off to the location of Kurtz's car, and continues playing detective. Inside the car, Will finds a piece of jewelry, which turns out to be a piece of sophisticated surveillance equipment.In Italy, Donato explains that the symbol on the clock, <0>, is the mark of the Magnific Order of Rambaldi. When Sydney asks about a date engraved on the clock, Donato says that Rambaldi never told him what it meant. The old man returns the repaired clock, and a K-Directorate sniper, aiming for Sydney, kills Donato instead.  Back at home, Sydney reads a book that her father had given to her mother. She uncovers a Russian code embedded on each page.  At SD-6, Marshall discovers that the glass disc from the church in Malaga fits into the clock. When the artifacts are together, a star chart is revealed. Marshall deduces that the chart was made from a specific location on Mount Aconcagua, near the border of Chile and Argentina. Before Sydney and Dixon can travel to the mountain, Agent Dreyer gives Sydney a functional imaging test. He doesn't reveal the results to her, but he later confides to Sloane that "we've found our mole."  At Mount Aconcagua, Sydney and Dixon discover a tunnel marked with the <0> symbol. Sydney goes in alone, leaving Dixon on the surface. Once underground, she discovers a book with designs from Rambaldi.  Before Sydney can retrieve the book, Anna appears and grabs the book. As Sydney pursues her arch-rival, she falls from the rickety ladder and plunges into the darkness.

1.09 - Mea Culpa (airdate: 12/09/2001)
Sydney crawls out of the underground tunnel and finds Dixon seriously wounded. She uses a satellite phone to call the CIA. A CIA helicopter flies Dixon to a nearby hospital, though Sydney conceals the truth from Sloane. Sydney is scared, as she thinks that Dixon may have heard her talking to the CIA.  At SD-6, Dreyer tells Sloane that he believes Sydney is the mole because she scored too well on the lie detector test. Sloane is reluctant to agree, though he insists that he will "take care of Bristow."  For her next assignment, Sydney is sent to Tuscany to steal information from Ineni Hassan's accountant. Despite Hassan's previous alliance with SD-6, he is now their enemy, and Sloane wants the numbers to Hassan's bank accounts so they can freeze his assets.  After Sydney leaves, Sloane sends a message to his colleagues in SD-4. He orders Sydney's assassination, though the CIA intercepts the order. Vaughn quickly assembles a team to rescue Sydney.  Jack learns of the kill order and, with Marshall's aid, discovers that the message was deliberately sent over the unsecured server previously infiltrated by Vaughn's team. Sloane is tempting the CIA, trying to draw them out. Jack argues with Vaughn, and prevents the CIA from interfering. The assassination attempt never occurs, and Sloane now believes that Sydney is loyal to SD-6.  Meanwhile, Will discovers that the pin that he found in Eloise Kurtz's car is an active microphone.  While drinking with Francie, Will shows her the pin. They jokingly ask questions into the pin. Just then, Will receives a phone call. A voice tells him to keep his mouth shut.  From the Tuscany assignment, SD-6 has learned that the accountant's computer did not contain Hassan's bank account numbers, only the name of a specific Swiss bank. Sydney and Russek travel to Geneva to get the numbers. As Sydney reads the numbers to Russek, a secret transmitter in her ear beams the same information to the CIA. While monitoring Sydney and Russek's latest mission, Marshall discovers the secret transmission coming from the bank vault and tells Dreyer.  Will receives another phone call from the same mysterious voice. The voice asks Will how far he's willing to go in order to find the truth about Kate Jones. Will says he's up for the challenge and later finds a cassette tape in his glove compartment. The tape is an audio recording of Kate Jones/Eloise Kurtz being killed.  After several days in the hospital, Dixon finally regains consciousness. Sydney is relieved when he doesn't remember how he was brought to a hospital. As she leaves the hospital, she's tackled by a group of men. Sloane then receives a phone call with a voice saying, "We got her."

1.10 - Spirit (airdate: 12/16/2001)
Sydney is brought to a torture room but the interrogation is halted and Russek becomes the target of SD-6 suspicions. He is tortured, and finally executed.  Sloane confides in Sydney about the intercepted communication from Switzerland, and that it was a message from Russek to K-Directorate. A confused Sydney asks Vaughn, who is equally perplexed.  With Christmas approaching, Vaughn gives Sydney an antique frame. This gesture arouses jealousy in Will, although he has just begun an affair with his assistant Jenny, which Sydney knows about.  For her next mission, Sydney is sent to Semba Island, just off the coast of Kenya. SD-6 is still trying to track down Ineni Hassan, and they believe that a forger on the island has created a new identity for the rogue arms dealer. On the island, Sydney discovers that Hassan has had plastic surgery, and now goes under the name Nebseni Saad.  Sydney hides this fact from SD-6, but Sloane already knows. He then instructs Jack to go to Cuba, where Hassan/Saad is now hiding. Sloane wants Hassan dead, though Vaughn proposes a counter-mission. Jack is asked to make a deal with Hassan: In exchange for Hassan's client list, Jack would then fake Hassan's death, which would stop SD-6 in their pursuit...but also allow Hassan to pass into the CIA's hands.  Meanwhile, Will studies the tape that was left in his car. With help from his audio engineer friend, Nevil, he discerns some muffled dialogue. The person who killed Eloise Kurtz said the name "SD-6."  Will researches the name, but finds only a single reference in a transcript from a lawsuit against David McNeil, an expert in computer encryption, who is now in jail for embezzlement. Will questions the lawyer, Robert Stoller, who says that McNeil only pleaded guilty after his wife killed herself. Will visits McNeil in jail, but the man seems genuinely scared at the name "SD-6." Refusing to talk, he demands that Will leave the lawyer alone.  From Vaughn, Sydney learns that her father made it appear that the intercepted communication from Switzerland was actually sent by Russek to K-Directorate. Vaughn then reveals that Jack is now being held captive by Hassan in Cuba.  Secretly, Sydney sets out to save her father. She is captured and brought before Hassan, just as Jack is explaining his unusual deal to the arms dealer. Hassan recognizes Sydney as an SD-6 agent, but is unaware of her connection to Jack.  Tempted by Jack's offer, Hassan needs him to prove that he is no longer loyal to SD-6. As a test, Jack must kill the captured SD-6 agent. A gun is placed in Jack's hand. He takes aim directly at his daughter.

1.11 - The Confession (airdate: 1/06/2002)
While Jack aims the gun at Sydney, under orders from Ineni Hassan, he blinks a message to her in Morse code. With precision timing, Sydney and Jack take down Hassan's thugs and capture the arms dealer. They whisk Hassan away, and Jack photographs a "deceased" Hassan. Sloane is duped into thinking that Hassan is dead. In reality, the one-time ally of SD-6 is in CIA custody.  After the mission to Cuba, Vaughn meets with Sydney, and tells her that he investigated the Cyrillic codes from her mother's books. The codes were orders written by the KGB and contain the names of CIA agents who were killed many years ago.  Sloane briefs Sydney and Dixon on their next SD-6 mission. One of Hassan's associates, Minos Sakkoulas, has taken his place in the criminal underground. Sakkoulas has a device, known as "the Package," and Sydney must travel to Greece to get data from Sakkoulas' computer. As a countermission, Vaughn gives Sydney a set of false files. She is to give these files to SD-6, while giving the real info to the CIA.  Vaughn and Sydney again discuss the Cyrillic codes, and both are convinced that Jack collaborated with the KGB. Sydney is reluctant to move forward with the information but Vaughn secretly records their conversation as evidence.  Sydney is unable to break into Sakkoulas' office so Dixon downloads the files. Later, Vaughn reveals to Sydney the secret recording. He also explains that one of the murdered CIA agents was his own father. Sydney is upset and seeks solace in Will Tippin's arms.  Hassan informs Vaughn that "the Package" is hidden in an abandoned missile silo on Crete. He also asks the CIA to bring his wife and son to the States for protection but Vaughn refuses.  Jack also tells Sloane about the missile silo. Sloane believes that Jack learned of this through his own contacts and sends Sydney to retrieve it. With Hassan apparently cooperating, Sydney breaks in and Vaughn guides her via satellite. At the point of entry, Hassan provides a false code to the silo's alarm system. This activates an anti-intruder device and the room begins to shower gasoline.  Hassan refuses to supply the correct code until he receives a written guarantee that his wife and son will get protection. Vaughn and Weiss agree and Sydney returns to LA with the device.  Sydney and Vaughn visit CIA Director Devlin with the evidence about Jack. But they are stunned when Jack, Devlin and other senior officers enters the room. Jack reveals that he never was a KGB agent, that it was Sydney's mother.

1.12 - The Box (part 1) (airdate: 1/20/2002)
The news her mother was KGB is too much and she tells Vaughn that she is going to resign from SD-6. At the same time, a group of heavily-armed intruders sneak into SD-6 and take control of the building.  As Sydney enters SD-6, Jack warns her that the Alliance, the men Sloane works for, will kill her if she tries to quit. Their elevator comes to an abrupt halt, and Jack realizes that Sloane has triggered the emergency lockdown procedure.  They sneak from the elevator and make their way to the basement. By splicing into the surveillance system, Jack and Sydney discover that the intruders have taken everyone hostage.  Meanwhile, Will Tippin decides to quit the SD-6 story, but at the office an unmarked envelope containing another clue is on his chair.  The leader of the intruders is McKenas Cole, a former SD-6 agent who is now working for an unknown group. Cole tortures Sloane for the access code to the SD-6 vault. However, because of the security measures that have been activated, opening the vault will trigger an explosion.  Jack tells Sydney that the entire SD-6 building will be destroyed. In Marshall's workshop is a scrambling device that can be used on the vault door, so that even if Cole gets the code, the vault will not open. Sydney must retrieve the device without being discovered.  Meanwhile, Will goes to a restaurant to meet a contact for a story. To his surprise, it is Kelly McNeil who shows up. Someone has clearly arranged this meeting, and Will refuses to talk.  Kelly follows Will to his office and pleads with him to continue investigating SD-6. He is persuaded and finally opens the envelope that was left on his chair. A mysterious key falls out.  After learning that Sydneyνs mother killed his agent father, Vaughn receives orders to visit Barnett, a CIA psychiatrist. He insists that he is fine, but Barnett asks about the Christmas gift for Sydney. Barnett wonders if his relationship with Sydney is "appropriate." Vaughn confronts Haladki, the agent who informed Barnett about the gift. There is clearly bad blood between these two men.  Meanwhile at SD-6, Sydney retrieves the scrambling device and applies it to the vault door, moments before Cole arrives. Before Sydney can escape, Cole and his men hear her in the airshaft. They begin blasting away at the ceiling, the bullets narrowly missing Sydney.

1.13 - The Box (part 2) (airdate: 2/10/2002)
Sydney is hiding in the air ducts as McKenas Cole blasts away at the ceiling when suddenly Jack appears and surrenders, allowing Sydney to remain hidden.  Sydney discovers a note left for her by her father, explaining the dire predicament: since Sloane has activated the fail-safe alarm, opening the SD-6 vault would trigger a fatal explosion. Before the intruders can hack the vault security code, Sydney must disarm three charges of C-4.  Meanwhile, Dixon manages to swipe a PDA from a desk, and secretly sends an e-mail to the CIA. Vaughn gets the message but Agent Haladki, now in charge of the SD-6 case, refuses to send a rescue team without more proof of an attack.  Against official orders, Vaughn goes to Credit Dauphine and confirms the break-in to Haladki, who again refuses to send help. Vaughn then meets up with Sydney and helps her disable the first charge of C-4. They split up to disarm the two remaining charges.  Cole realizes that someone is still loose in the building and broadcasts an order through the address system: if Sydney doesn't surrender, Cole will begin killing the hostages. He chooses Jack as the first victim, and Sydney surrenders before she can disarm the C-4.  After Sydney is taken hostage, Marshall signals to her that one of her earrings, lying on the floor, is actually a flash grenade. She detonates the device, overpowering the intruders in the ensuing chaos.  Meanwhile, the key that Will was given leads him to a locker containing an autopsy report on David McNeil's wife. Her death was allegedly a suicide, but the new evidence suggests otherwise. Will urges Kelly McNeil to go into hiding.  At the CIA, Agent Weiss learns of Vaughn's call and sends a rescue team. Jack finds Sloane in the SD-6 torture room. Only Sloane can deactivate the fail-safe, but his fingerprint is needed as verification. Both men realize that the only way to save the SD-6 is to cut off Sloane's finger.  Using the bloody digit, Jack cancels the fail-safe order seconds before Cole opens the vault. Once inside, Cole removes a small metal box, marked with the Rambaldi symbol <0>. As he tries to escape, Cole is captured by Sydney and the CIA rescue team. Vaughn opens the metal box and finds a small vial of clear solution.  SD-6 now believes that the break-in was successful, not realizing that the Rambaldi artifact is with the CIA. But mysteries remain. Who has McKenas Cole been working for? And what secrets will the mysterious liquid unlock?

1.14 - The Coup (airdate: 2/24/2002)
After the assault on SD-6 by an unnamed organization, Sydney discovers that rivals FTL were attacked and wiped out, and their leader executed on exactly the same date.  Sloane explains that the unknown group has contacted K-Directorate, proposing to share information. SD-6's objective is to determine the time and location of the meeting between K-Directorate and the mystery group, and Sydney and Dixon will be sent to Las Vegas to plant a listening device on a K-Directorate agent.  When Sydney tells her roommate, Francie, about her upcoming "business trip," she and her fiancι, Charlie, are inspired to go to Vegas themselves though Sydney tries to dissuade them from this particular voyage.  At David McNeil's behest, Will sneaks into the headquarters of the company where McNeil once worked. He downloads a "digital guestbook" of everyone who has been using McNeil's software — the next clue in Will's quest for the truth about SD-6.  On campus, a student tells Sydney that she had been dating Charlie, but they had broken up. Unbeknownst to the student, she was dating Charlie at the same time as Francie was. Sydney is stunned, as Charlie has been engaged to Francie for some time but she leaves for Las Vegas. In Vegas, Sydney enters the casino, disguised as a cocktail waitress and sees Francie and Charlie.  Meanwhile, Dixon masquerades as a Jamaican diplomat and enters a poker game with the K-Directorate agent while Sydney hacks into the surveillance system.  Dixon taunts the K-Directorate agent into wagering his ring, which he intends to switch for an one with a listening device. But while Sydney is feeding Dixon information, she sees Charlie and Francie in the casino wedding chapel on a different CCTV monitor.  Sydney races to the chapel and warn Charlie that if he doesn't confess, she'll tell Francie about the affair. After stopping the wedding, Sydney returns as Dixon switches the rings. Moments later, the casino alerts their guards that Dixon is an imposter. Sydney takes down the casino guards and helps Dixon escape.  With the aid of the bug, Sloane learns the meeting is in Moscow and sends Sydney and Dixon. Sydney exchanges info with Vaughn in Griffith Park. Vaughn expresses a desire to become closer to her.  In a deserted office building, a man known as Mr. Sark negotiates to buy the Rambaldi artifact from K-Directorate. When his offer is declined, the leader of K-Directorate is killed by his own bodyguard, and a remaining lieutenant agrees to Sark's deal. Sydney observes, suspended from a military-style harness outside the window. But her foot knocks debris to the ground, and the guard below fires at her.

1.15 - Page 47 (aidrate: 3/03/2002)
With bullets whizzing by, Sydney swings into a nearby building. She returns to SD-6 with a video of the meeting between the mysterious Mr. Sark and K-Directorate and gives the same to Vaughn. Meanwhile, Will's investigation has attracted attention from SD-6. Sloane tells Jack that this reporter should be "silenced" while Jack insists otherwise.  Francie tells Sydney that even though the wedding is off, she cannot bring herself to remove her engagement ring. Sydney reveals that she still wears the ring Danny gave her. In a touching moment, the two roommates remove their engagement rings at the same time.  Sydney and Dixon are dispatched to Tunisia. A Rambaldi manuscript — the same one stolen by Anna Espinosa in Argentina — is being held on a yacht, and their mission is to retrieve it before Sark gets it. Her CIA countermission is to photograph the priceless manuscript.  Posing as a Finn whose motorboat has run out of gasoline, Sydney overpowers the K-Directorate agents, takes the Rambaldi book, steals the yacht and leaves Sark ashore.  Upon her return, Sydney is presented with a moral dilemma. Vaughn wants her to exploit her friendship with Emily, Sloane's cancer-stricken wife, to gain entrance to Sloane's house to plant a bug. Sydney hesitates but finally agrees.  Meanwhile, Will visits David McNeil with the information that he gained from the back-door program in McNeil's software. Unbeknownst to both of them, SD-6 agents are taping the entire conversation. Two masked men kidnap Will as he leaves the prison and drive him to an abandoned warehouse. They order him to stop investigating SD-6 or his family and friends will be killed. The threat comes from Jack, though Will has no idea that Sydney's father is actually trying to save his life. Will tells McNeil that he must abandon the investigation.  As Sydney prepares for dinner at the Sloanes', Vaughn calls her for a crucial briefing. The CIA has analyzed the pages of the Rambaldi manuscript, and in the prophet's style, page 47 is found to be blank. Since the manuscript is currently held at Sloane's house, she is asked to retrieve the critical page during dinner. Before she leaves, Sydney reveals that Will is her date for the evening. Vaughn has no comment, but he is undeniably jealous.  During the dinner, Sydney cracks Sloane's safe. She takes page 47, leaving a blank in its place. As she turns, she is alarmed to find Sloane standing in the doorway.  Using the vial of "Rambaldi" liquid the CIA is able to reveal the image on page 47. A shaken Vaughn arranges a meeting with Sydney. She takes the page in her hand and sees a portrait of herself.

1.16 - The Prophecy (airdate: 3/10/2002)
The Department of Special Research is inquiring into Sydney's connection to the Rambaldi notebook. As the paranormal research division of the National Security Agency, they are searching for an explanation for the image. According to Vaughn, the partially decoded text around the drawing is being referred to as "The Prophecy."  The CIA is reluctant to cooperate with the DSR, though Haladki does everything he can to assist the rival agency. Sydney refuses to submit to a physical exam. Meanwhile, SD-6 has identified "the Man" responsible behind Mr. Sark and McKenas Cole — Alexander Khasinau, a dangerous and well-connected ally of the Russian mob.  The 12 members of the Alliance, the force behind SD-6 and its eleven sister cells, have called an emergency meeting. Sloane calls Edward Poole, the leader of SD-9. Poole insists that Alliance member John Briault has been cooperating with Khasinau. Sloane is reluctant to believe it, but decides to resolve the situation himself.  Sydney meets with Sloane's dying wife Emily, who reveals that her cancer might have been treated had she not denied the truth for so long. With these words as a warning, Sydney submits to further testing by the DSR. Later, Jack reveals that the DSR agents do not have the original code key to decipher Rambaldi's writings. The original key is held at the Vatican. Sydney persuades Vaughn to break into the Vatican with her.  During their adventure, Vaughn asks her to dinner. Engraved into the frame of a Rambaldi painting, located in the Vatican's subterranean archive, is the code key. Sydney and Vaughn photograph the cryptic writing, narrowly escaping Vatican guards and never making it to dinner. Meanwhile, Sloane has discovered that "page 47" of the Rambaldi manuscript is a counterfeit. He's furious and demands to talk to Sydney.  Before the Alliance's meeting, Sloane arranges a private rendezvous with John Briault. Quietly, and without emotion, Sloane assassinates his friend in a Montreal park at night.  The decision to retaliate loses by on vote and Sloane realizes that it was Poole, not Briault, who has been working for the enemy.  At the CIA, Vaughn provides the code key to decipher Rambaldi's writings, which only confirms what the DSR has already discovered...and he is not pleased. Sydney is taken into custody, plucked from a nightclub where she has met up with Francie and Will, and "the prophecy" is finally revealed to her.  According to Rambaldi, a woman bearing Sydney's characteristics will appear. She will fulfill the prophecy and "render the greatest power unto utter desolation". Sydney is driven away in chains and shackles by the DSR, now a prisoner of a 15th century prophecy.

1.17 - Q&A (airdate: 3/17/2002)
Sydney wears a short-haired wig, and is driving a big American car, fleeing from a squad of police cars. The high-speed pursuit ends on a pier, with Syd surrounded by cops. With nowhere else to turn, she slams her foot to the accelerator and plunges her car into the water.  We find Sydney chained to a chair. It is a day earlier, and we are in the moments immediately following the FBI taking her into custody. FBI Special Officer Kendall now questions her, before a team of interrogators. The CIA are out of the picture, and the questioners are delving into Sydney's background, and her connection to the Rambaldi prophecy. She explains her story. But does the FBI believe her or The Prophecy?  Meanwhile, Jack tells Vaughn that her cover with SD-6 will be destroyed if she remains in FBI custody much longer. According to Rambaldi, the woman in The Prophecy will never have seen Mt. Subasio in Italy. Vaughn has a scheme to prove her innocence. Vaughn and Jack agree that she must get to the mountain somehow to defy The Prophecy.  Vaughn learns that Haladki used to be with the FBI. He asks Haladki about Sydney's location but gets no help. As the questioning intensifies, Sydney talks about her mother, a deceitful woman who worked for years as a KGB spy. Furthermore, while being pursued by an FBI agent, she went off the road, and disappeared with her car into a river.  Jack uses brute force and a deadly threat to force Haladki to divulge Sydney's location. The daring plan is put into action. Jack, Vaughn, and Weiss rescue her and explain the proposed solution to the Rambaldi prophecy. Sydney is angry at first, as her escape now makes her a fugitive but she agrees to travel to Mt. Subasio.  When Haladki learns of the rescue, he immediately knows who was behind it. He discovers that four unmarked cars were taken out, and reports these license plate numbers to the FBI.  Wearing a short wig as a disguise, we find Sydney's drive to the airport interrupted, when the police quickly give chase. And in an ironic moment across town, Will and Francie watch the pursuit on television, unaware that their best friend is the subject.  After plunging the car into the water, Sydney has a burst of insight and breathes the oxygen from the tires. She stays submerged for over ten minutes, long enough get away.  Before boarding the plane, she meets with her father and reveals how she escaped. And, if Sydney managed to fool the police this way, couldn't her mother have done the same?

1.18 - Masquerade (airdate: 4/07/2002)
Sydney has traveled to Mt. Subasio and scales the mountain, thereby proving that she is not the subject of the Rambaldi prophecy.  Upon her return to the States, her father explains that the CIA is searching for her mother. Jack also confirms that, after Laura's car crash, a special commission concluded that she had escaped alive and that Sloane, who was on this committee, had been hiding the truth.  Sydney is determined to find her mother, and asks Sloane a leave of absence. He agrees, but to her surprise the following day, assigns her onto a mission to retrieve material about Alexander Khasinau. He explains that Khasinau was Laura Bristow's superior at the KGB. Dixon and Sloane are to fly to Vienna and rendezvous with an agent stationed at the Russian embassy. The agent, Wexler, has a microchip with information about Khasinau's organization.  Wearing a mask, Sydney attends a masquerade ball at the embassy. A mased man whispers to her that Wexler is dead and that they are both now in jeopardy. In private, the masks are dropped. The man is Noah Hicks, an SD-6 agent whom she dated five years ago. They find Wexler's corpse in a basement and cut the microchip out of the body and escape. Sydney asks Noah why he left without saying good-bye. It becomes clear that their separation was the result of a misunderstanding, before Hicks had to be transferred out of the States. 

1.19 - Snowman (airdate: 4/14/2002)
Sydney and Noah's sleep is interrupted when Khasinau's soldiers storm the house. They get away on a motorcycle seconds before the cabin is riddled with bullets.  Meanwhile, Vaughn confirms that K-Directorate has hired a known assassin, a.k.a. "The Snowman" for his favored use of an ice-pick as a weapon, to take out Khasinau. He suggests that by following the hit man, they can find Khasinau.  Noah makes her an interesting proposition. While working undercover, he opened some secret bank accounts and now wants her to run away with him. She refuses, insisting that she must find her mother first.  Jack is visibly upset; he tells his daughter that the information on the data-core is useless for tracking down Khasinau. However, it does contain video files of Laura Bristow — video recorded after her car crash, and supposed death.  Sydney watches the grainy video, and learns the unpleasant truth about her mother. Laura Bristow, using her real name "Irina Derevko," answers questions from Khasinau and another man. Derevko states how she came to America for the purpose of seducing Jack Bristow. During their years of marriage, she had gone through his briefcase and monitored his conversations, reporting everything back to the KGB.  The other man on the tape, Igor Valenko, looks familiar, so Sydney investigates. She discovers that this man once worked undercover at the FBI under the alias "Calder." She concludes that he was the agent who was, allegedly, chasing Laura Bristow before her fateful crash, and that he also must have faked his own death.  Sydney uncovers that Valenko currently does business with a bank in Cape Town, South Africa, and she speculates that he might still be connected to Khasinau. Using her input, Jack outlines a mission to Sloane — to send Noah and Sydney to Cape Town to recover bank records to create a trail. Sloane is reluctant because he no longer trusts Noah, and expresses concerns about Jack defending yet another male figure in Sydney's life but ultimately, he agrees.  Following a separate path to Khasinau, Vaughn travels to Bogota to meet with a man who once worked with The Snowman. This agent, scarred and disfigured from an encounter with the assassin, had formerly declined to help the CIA, but time has changed his mind, and he now offers to help.  With a mixture of curiosity and dread, Jack finally summons the courage to watch the recovered video of his wife. Although he already knows the truth, he is crushed to see her treachery in such light.  Noah and Sydney break into the warehouse and hack into the computer. They download all the files but later learn that the hard drive's memory was wiped as they escaped.  One evening, Will and Francie finally confront Sydney about the plane ticket to Italy. She says that the bank has been doing business with extremely private clients and this is why she must keep secrets.  Sydney is surprised to learn that Noah has accepted another deep cover assignment. Before he departs, he again pleads with her to run away with him. She again declines.  After further tinkering, Marshall is finally able to recover low-level sector information from the reformatted drive. According to the records, Valenko is in Mackay, Australia. Dixon and Sydney are immediately dispatched to capture him, hoping that this will bring them one step closer to Khasinau.  Vaughn receives a call from the source in Bogota. The Snowman has been spotted in Mackay, Australia, and he desperately wants to alert Sydney, to warn her, but he has no way to contact her.  When Sydney enters Valenko's mansion, she stumbles onto The Snowman and they fight. During the melee, she impales The Snowman onto his own ice-pick. She pulls back the mask and discovers his true identity. It's Noah, who mumbles a sad good-bye to her as he dies.

1.20 - The Solution (airdate: 4/21/2002)
Sydney is despondent after killing Noah Hicks so Vaughn bolsters her spirits by showing her all the groups that she has helped destroy.  "Deep Throat" urges Will to resume the investigation of SD-6. The voice also tells him that Jack Bristow was the man who kidnapped him.  Sydney tells Vaughn to entice Khasinau with the ampule. This way they can capture him and hopefully find Irina Derevko, Sydney's mom. The Kherefu Art Museum in Algiers is a formerly suspected trove of Rambaldi artifacts, and Sydney suggests that they stage a break in. They will dupe Khasinau into believing that a second vial of the solution has been found and this vial is to become the subject of their transaction.  Emily Sloane tells Sydney that she knows about SD-6.  Pretending to be French insurance agents, Vaughn and Sydney steal the alleged Rambaldi artifacts. Upon their return, Vaughn then spreads the word that Raslak Jihad, a radical terrorist group, was behind the robbery and that they intend to sell the liquid. Khasinau takes the bait. A meeting has been arranged in the Indonesian town of Denpassar, where Khasinau's aide, Mr. Sark, will trade diamonds for the liquid.  Sydney is disappointed that Khasinau won't be present at the trade but Vaughn has his own plan. They will bring the real solution, in case Sark wants to test it, but Sydney will then switch this for a placebo.The fake vial contains an element that can be tracked by the CIA.  Meanwhile in L.A., Will submits a sealed envelope containing his piece of SD-6 reportage to fellow reporter Abby. He explains that if he should disappear, the story should be published immediately. Will tells Jack that an unknown source gave him the information. Jack denies any involvement but pays a visit to CIA Director Devlin. He suspects Haladki may be a mole, leaking the information to Will.  Determined to find the mole, Jack agrees to help Will. He confesses that he gave the pin to Eloise Kurtz — the pin that doubles as a surveillance device — though he did not kill her. He tells Will to use the device to inform the unknown source that his SD-6 investigation is back on.  Meanwhile, Tambor Barcelo, head of security for the Alliance, visits Sloane at SD-6. Emily's hospital room has been bugged, and the Alliance is fully aware of her conversation with Sydney. This woman must now be "eliminated" just as Daniel Hecht was. Sloane is outraged, and refuses, but Barcelo knows all about Jean Briault's murder. Sloane's position in the Alliance is shaky, and he is in no position to object.  Sloane instructs Marshall to tap Edward Poole's cell phone. In doing so, they discover Khasinau's phone number. By monitoring this line, Sloane learns about the meeting in Denpassar, and orders Dixon to make an appearance, and to recover the solution.  In Denpassar, Sydney shows up for the trade, wearing dark skin foundation, and a veil as a disguise. Sark asks her to prove her Raslak Jihad identity — the members of whom practice an ancient form of martial arts. Sark leaves her no choice but to fight him, using a latajang — a pole with curved blades on both ends. Although she has never used one before, she quickly adapts, and demonstrates skill with the weapon.

1.21 - Rendezvou (airdate: 5/05/2002)
As SD-6 agents break up the diamonds-for-ampule exchange in Denpassar, a veiled Sydney tries to escape and injures her shoulder while fighting Dixon — he has no idea that he's battling his own partner.  Vaughn handcuffs Sark to a gate and recovers the ampule. Weiss, who has been monitoring the situation via remote, suggests that he stay with the captive. Vaughn, however, disobeys and leaves his post in order to rescue Sydney. When he returns, Sark has disappeared.  Meanwhile, Jack is determined to find the identity of "Deep Throat." He instructs Will to tell the mysterious source that he knows all about "the circumference" and requests a meeting.  In London, Sloane meets with the Alliance, and threatens to resign if they won't let his cancer-stricken wife die in peace. But he is surprised to discover that the Alliance knows all about Edward Poole's deception, as well as the truth behind the murder of Jean Briault. Ultimately, the members decide to let Emily live, as her death appears to be imminent.  When Sydney returns to SD-6, she learns that Sark has been apprehended. Dixon is suspicious of her absence and notices her injury.  Over a glass of wine, Sloane proposes to Sark that if he will help SD-6 find Khasinau, his life will be spared. Weiss chastises Vaughn for letting Sark escape. Vaughn's feelings for Sydney are clouding his judgment.  For their next mission, Sydney and Dixon must go to a Paris nightclub, where Sark will deliver the ampule to Khasinau. Dixon is to steal pages of a Rambaldi manuscript.  To crack the safe's encryption mechanism, Sydney will need to monitor Khasinau's heartbeat with a special ring, which will then transmit the pulse to Dixon's cellphone. Meanwhile, Will establishes a meeting in Paris with "Deep Throat." Jack will monitor the conversation.  Vaughn gives Sydney her countermission — to deliver the real Rambaldi pages to the CIA and give fakes to SD-6. But she senses that he is being unusually blunt with her. In the Paris club, Sydney assumes the identity of a cabaret singer. While performing from the audience, she holds her hand on Khasinau's chest long enough to record his heartbeat.  Moments later, she frees Will from Deep Throat's men and they escape to Jack's car. She is furious with her father for involving Will, until Jack explains how the informant has been trying to expose SD-6.  During the night, Dixon recalls the mission to Mt. Aconcagua and Sydney having used the code name "Freelancer" on a satellite phone. When he asks about her injured shoulder, she explains that she fell while hiking, but he is suspicious.  Sloane explains that despite the chaos in Paris, they can still track Sark because of a substance added to the wine. In a private moment, Sloane thanks Sydney for not reporting Emily's breach of security. He even expresses his own regret for having Danny Hecht terminated. Later, at the hospital, Emily learns that her cancer is in remission, but Sloane doesn't know how to react. How will he convince the Alliance to let her live?  Will is moved to a CIA safehouse. Vaughn says that he may need to enter the Witness Protection Program for safety or even be recruited.  A team of SD-6 agents track Sark to his location, hoping to find Khasinau as well. Instead, they find a room with medical equipment. Using a blood transfusion to hide his trail, Sark is somewhere else — the CIA safehouse. And when Will opens the door, Sark fires at point-blank range.

1.22 - Almost Thirty Years (airdate: 5/12/2002)
Mr. Sark asks a badly beaten Will about "the circumference." A sinister Taiwanese interrogator, "Suit And Glasses," who tortured Sydney months before enters with an array of frightening instruments. Sydney receives a call from Sark, and sets up the exchange of her friend for the Rambaldi page and the ampule of solution in Taipei, in 24 hours.  Jack agrees to help recover Will. He can easily get the ampule from CIA storage, but recovering the page will be tricky — it's in an offsite SD-6 vault located off the coast of Santa Barbara — and they will need Sloane's fingerprint and voiceprint in order to gain access. He tells Sydney that she must keep her plan from Vaughn — the CIA has a mole.  When Vaughn explains to Sydney that Will is still likely to be alive, he senses that she is hiding something. Later, he tells Weiss that he suspects that Sydney has her own plan to rescue Will.  Her cancer now in remission, Emily is out of the hospital. At a remote beach house, Sloane finally tells her the truth about SD-6.  Later at SD-6, Alliance member Ramon Veloso explains to Sloane that if he kills Emily, he becomes a full-fledged Alliance member.  Wearing a concealed recording device, Sydney visits Sloane in his office to speak about Emily. It's a decoy for Jack to hack into Sloane's computer, collect the needed passwords, and take voiceprints and fingerprints.  Having now stolen the Rambaldi page, Sydney climbs out of the water, only to be confronted by Dixon. He demands to know why she used the codename "Freelancer" on Mount Aconcagua. Sydney is insists that she is not betraying her country, but also that she cannot reveal the truth to him. Dixon walks away.  Meanwhile, Vaughn meets with Devlin and Haladki. Weiss has reported that Vaughn no longer fully trusts Sydney, and now they all need to know what he may be hiding. Jack calls Devlin. After taking the ampule from the CIA, he assures that he will return the stolen item once his mission is completed. Devlin demands that Jack return immediately.  Since Will has disappeared, his friend Abby goes straight to editor Litvack with his sealed envelope about SD-6. The editor agrees to run the story.  On a hunch, Jack abducts and tortures Haladki, who admits to being the CIA mole and a Khasinau crony. The instructions are for a "battery" that Khasinau is building in a Taipei lab. Jack finally silences him for good.  Vaughn finds Sydney and agrees to help save Will. With Jack, they'll fly to Taipei and while Jack makes the exchange, they'll detonate the battery.  At home, Sloane poisons Emily's wine. In a final toast, she forgives him for the mistakes he has made.  Jack exchanges the page, an exposed drawing, for a bloodied Will. Across town, Sydney and Vaughn find the secret Mueller device beneath a dance club. It is similar to the prototype she retrieved before, but massive, and the detonation unleashes a tremendous flood. Sydney and Vaughn try to escape the torrent, but Vaughn becomes trapped in a room filling with water. Sydney is then captured by a henchman.  Sydney awakens chained to a chair in a Taipei storeroom. But this time, instead of "Suit And Glasses," her interrogator is Khasinau, who explains that "his boss" has questions for her. Puzzled, Sydney admits she thought "The Man" was the one in charge. But Khasinau is not "The Man." The door opens. "The Man" is … Sydney's mother.