Alias (TV Series) Maternal Instinct (2006) User Reviews

Sydney gets a surprise visitor!

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 6 February 2012]

This episode starts with a bang as Irena intercepts the ambulance carrying the traitor Jack exposed in the previous episode and kills him along with the guards. She then appears at Sydney's house; she isn't there to threaten her though; indeed it appears that the visit is purely social... of course Sydney doesn't know of her involvement with Prophet Five. As part of a mole hunt APO is shut down while Director Devlin goes though all the records; this makes it difficult for Sydney and her parents who are going on an off the book mission to retrieve The Horizon in Vancouver. They aren't the only people heading to Vancouver; Peyton and a heavily armed team from Prophet Five are going too and they will make things very difficult... and they were a bit tricky already as Sydney started to give birth mid-mission!

This episode had plenty of excitement even by the standards of Alias; there is the shooting at the start, Renée and Dixon's interrogation of a former SD-6 man by questioning him while he is tied to the bonnet of a speeding car and Peyton casually blowing a helicopter out of the night sky with a missile! It was good to see Lena Olin back as Irina; her character rivals Sloane when it comes to deviousness. As usually the acting was solid and there were a few humorous moments to lighten the tone; most notably Jack and Irena pretending to be Italian parents to trick their way into a bank vault. The biggest surprise comes right at the end; I won't way what happens but be prepared for the biggest shock in the series!

Tell the team they'll need diapers

[gridoon2024 · 8/10 · 14 February 2010]

Having failed to get the correct location of the Horizon from the hypnotized Sydney, Irina Derevko tries a different approach: after killing the CIA division director who had been exposed by Jack as a double agent for Prophet Five, she visits Sydney at her own home, tells her that she's concerned about her safety and proposes to go get the Horizon herself, after Dixon and Renee learn its true location. Jack shows up and he wants to go with her, and Sydney won't be left behind, even though her baby is due any day now. The three of them do get their hands on the Horizon, but what follows is Irina's betrayal, an attack by Peyton and her team, and Sydney finally giving birth to her daughter. "Maternal Instinct" benefits from the enigmatic (as always) presence - and great (as always) physique - of Lena Olin, though I expected the series to carry out Irina's deception longer, instead of having her blow her cover so soon. Other highlights include the opening truck-van smash ("Alias" does vehicle smashes very well), a hilarious Marshall moment (when Tom walks into his office), Renee in fishnets, and Peyton with a rocket launcher! There is also one of the most WTF final shots ever, in a show full of WTF final shots. I bet this one got the fans theorizing like crazy until the next episode aired back in 2006. *** out of 4.

"A Magician Never Reveals His Secrets!"

[pedroedro · 9/10 · 23 September 2019]

What a fantastic episode, this is what Alias is all about! I still don't think it ranks higher than Horizon, but so many great sequences here, where to start? First of all, so great to see Rachel and Sloane working together, it's cool to see Rachel as the tech expert, filling very well in Marshall's shoes (although he is still there helping), and Sloane with his expertise of how the "game should be played" , it's very good stuff. Before getting into the "meat" of the episode, let me talk about Kelly Peyton, what a badass character she is, and in this episode more than ever she is in charge, the sequence where she blows up the helicopter and then walks away while the helicopter is falling down in flames behind her has to be one of the greatest sequences of the whole series, and it's cool to see it was not the last time we've heard of her. Now, the "meat!" , so Irina is back to "help" Sydney and Jack, of course by now, we, as the audience, already know she is not really helping she is in charge of Prophet Five, I thought "here we go again" another series of episodes where they think she's on the good side, but no, very abruptly (thank god) she tries to kill Jack and he , competent as ever, prevents her from doing this, then in a series of misadventures, they end up with Sydney having Irina delivering her baby, just after she told her that when she was born (Sydney) she had to make a decision between being a good agent or a good mother, and it's obvious what her choice was. Jack helping Sydney through the delivery it's precious so much history between these two, so much trust lost and regain. GREAT! About the very ending scene, the "twist": Of course by now one should know better than to believe anyone is actually dead, I'm still waiting for Emily , Laura and Francis to come back (kidding), so having Vaughn come back, it was not a surprise, at all. But it was a good twist (although "ALIAS" ofter exagerates in this department), I'm just excited to see Sydney with him again. 9/10 ********* Peter Shelby