Sydney was recruited into SD6 under the pretense she was working for a division of the CIA, right? Do the other agents believe they are working for the CIA or a division of the CIA? Do they know it as "SD6" or just think they work directly for the agency? I wonder if they would ever wonder why they can never go to CIA HQ or where their paychecks come from.

Mike

SD-6 is a covert operation within the CIA. It's the best of the best. They do the crap that the CIA isn't prepared to do. Most ordinary CIA employees are completely unaware of SD-6's existance.

At least, this is what SD-6 employees are told. Only the top dogs in SD-6 know the truth.

das

Some know the truth and some don't. And, in general, Sydney doesn't know who is who.

That's part of the fun of the show... and why she hasn't said anything to her partner (Dixon). Although she suspects that he would like to know the truth and would probably also become a double-agent, she's not 100% certain that he doesn't *already* know who he is working for.

I believe the most recent episode with Quentin Tarantino talks about how he thought he was working for the CIA , and he said something about Langley and they never heard of his "SD6" or of him and then he was tortured even more.

Entertainment Weekly has a pretty good guide to what's going on with Alias at http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1...uideto,00.html

Actually with Dixon, I think it's more about automatically dragging him into a more difficult and dangerous situation. If she tells him, then his life is at risk, as well as his familiy's lives. But of course she doesn't know who knows the truth for certain. But her dad probably has a good idea.

I've watched every episode, but apparently I missed the part that said why SD-6 was so bad. So far I haven't seen them do anything bad. Everyone wants to bring them down, but why?

Well they killed Sydney's fiancee, they sell nuclear weapons to terrorists, and so forth. Obviously on the surface they don't do such bad things or their agents might be suspicious.

I forget how she learned SD6 was bad. I remember the mission where she had the red hair and where afterwards she walked into CIA HQ. What happened prior to that?

This was all in the first episode, so they only showed about 30 minutes of this, but it basically goes something like this: Her boyfriend proposes to her and she accepts, so they are engaged. Since they are getting married, she decides to tell him the truth that she is a spy. He initially has trouble with it, but accepts it. SD6 finds out he knows because he leaves a message on her answering machine. While away on a mission they come and kill him. She returns to find him dead, runs to SD6. She's upset and Ron Rifkin's character tells her how she broke the rules. SD6 then comes after her, and her father comes to her rescue and she begins to learn the truth (She thought her father sold airplane parts).

I remember hearing in one episode that including Sydney's father and Ron Rifkin's character, only six people in all of SD-6 know what it really is.

I'm still not seeing what is so bad about SD-6. Yes, they killed her fiance, but she knows that was her own fault. If I remember right, she wasn't really anti-SD6 even after that until the 'CIA' guy met with her and told her what SD6 really was. Aside from his allegations of what they do, we've never seen any actual proof that SD-6 did anything wrong did we?

I sometimes wonder if it isn't the CIA people who are really the bad guys, where they really aren't really the CIA. I'm half expecting that as the season-finale cliffhanger.

No, she was anti-SD6 after her fiancee was killed. If you remember, she would not come back to work, and they had made attempts on her (like when her father rescued her). She realized she just couldn't quit, so she got what they needed to get them off her back and then went to the CIA.

As for not doing anything bad? Well obviously we don't see most of the stuff they do. It seems like they often steal stuff and then sell it. And you recall the episode where they find the nuclear weapon? Dealing nuclear arms isn't exactly a good thing, especially if you're giving them to free-lance terrorists

And lying to your own people about someone's death isn't too good either... I thought that was interesting that he ordered the hit and then said they didn't know who offed him.

Um ... I think she didn't like it when she found out that the real CIA didn't murder innocent people (regardless of what she told her fiance), didn't sell nuclear arms to terrorists, didn't leave their agents to die in the field ... and, oh yeah, is actually an agency of the United States government and not funded by world rebels with their own agenda. Oh, and that whole being lied to for her entire adult life thing. For starters ...

das

The point I'm trying to make is, all these claims you are making is just based on what that one CIA agent told her (selling arms, terrorism, etc). We've not seen 1 single bit of proof that SD6 has ever done anything wrong. Maybe that is just a flaw of the show, we are supposed to make a leap of faith and accept the fact that SD6 is bad without ever getting any proof of it.

Let's address the 1 thing we do know SD-6 did. They murdered her fiance. She was fully aware of the fact that SD6 was an ULTRA secret branch of the government that nobody could know about and she was not to tell anyone about. So she goes and tells someone about it. What choice did SD-6 have at that point? If it was a legitimate ultra-secret branch of the government, what would they do to protect the secret? I don't consider this proof that SD6 is a rebel faction funding terrorist activities.

I'm still waiting to see some proof that SD-6 is bad other than information given via communications from the 'CIA' guy. Someone give me some facts to disprove my theory that the 'CIA' is really the imposters and that SD6 are in fact the good guys.

The CIA doesn't murder the family members of their operatives, no matter what they tell them. Operatives are under an oath, not innocent bystanders. Any number of preventive measures could be taken other than slaughtering them in a bathtub for all to see.

The CIA doesn't murder operatives that they think are "moles." Maybe ... MAYBE ... in an ultra-secret organization, but still HIGHLY unlikely.

The CIA has a big office in Langley, VA with a huge-ass CIA logo in the atrium.

I think the burden of proof is on you to show me how the so-called "fake" CIA was able to build a "fake" CIA building in Langley, VA that no one would notice.

das

SD6 didn't murder any moles. They staged a hit on Sidney to draw out the other side and see if she really was a mole.

Since the show doesn't explain anything very well, there is really no proof about anything. I'm sure there could be an explanation of why the fake CIA building can exist.

Since we are talking about proof. Why doesn't the CIA just close SD6 down? Quentin Terrintino was able to take over the entire base of SD6 with 4 men. Why can't the CIA, who has the backing of the entire US Armed forces, do the same? I believe they explained it somewhere saying that SD6 is huge and deep and they want to see how deep it goes. So in the meantime they let all these supposedly 'heinous' crimes go without doing anything about it? SD6 kills 1 innocent person to keep their cause alive (Sydney's fiance), yet by not taking any action against SD6, the "CIA" allowed tons of innocent people to die as they allow SD6 to continue their alledged terrorist activities? Seems to me then that the CIA is no better than SD6 in this regard.

If I seem hard on this show its because I am. Nothing that happens is ever explained or makes any sense. Its like a poor copy of La Femme Nikita.

Sure they did. When Sydney was captured and being interrogated they ended up killing the other guy because they thought he was the mole.

And Sloane ordered a hit on the foreign guy (can't remember his name) because he stole money from SD6.

Originally posted by Jeraden
SD6 didn't murder any moles. They staged a hit on Sidney to draw out the other side and see if she really was a mole.

Tell that to the mole they murdered when the transmission was faked. Are you actually watching the show? (that's not meant to be argumentative, but I really wonder, since they've already answered all your questions)

Since the show doesn't explain anything very well, there is really no proof about anything. I'm sure there could be an explanation of why the fake CIA building can exist.

They got David Copperfield to make the entire building disappear. Yeah ... that's the ticket.

Since we are talking about proof. Why doesn't the CIA just close SD6 down? Quentin Terrintino was able to take over the entire base of SD6 with 4 men. Why can't the CIA, who has the backing of the entire US Armed forces, do the same? I believe they explained it somewhere saying that SD6 is huge and deep and they want to see how deep it goes. So in the meantime they let all these supposedly 'heinous' crimes go without doing anything about it? SD6 kills 1 innocent person to keep their cause alive (Sydney's fiance), yet by not taking any action against SD6, the "CIA" allowed tons of innocent people to die as they allow SD6 to continue their alledged terrorist activities? Seems to me then that the CIA is no better than SD6 in this regard.

You answered your own question. You don't take down the street dealer until you get his supplier. Otherwise you tip your hand and lose everything. You shut down one cell, and another will pop up somewhere else.

If I seem hard on this show its because I am. Nothing that happens is ever explained or makes any sense. Its like a poor copy of La Femme Nikita.

All makes perfect sense to me.

das

While I'm pretty bored with Alias (as the episodes are becoming either boringly predictable or extremely far-fetched) the questions that are asked in this thread have been pretty much answered.

SD6 is not just the fake building that you see. All that we see is merely a section of an international organization whose outreach covers the whole world. It all goes back to the first episode: remember when Sydney drew the map of what she thought SD6 was and how she wanted to take them down and the CIA guy showed her the real map? That's what SD-6 really is. That's why you cannot take it down just like that...

We do know that Sydney had found a nuclear weapon, and then soon after that very same nuclar weapon was in possesion of a terrorist. That's pretty good evidence right there.

And like was stated, you can't just rush SD6 like Tarantino did in the least show. The LA Branch is just a small faction of the entire SD-6. What's the point of shutting down one branch of basically innocents (since most of the people in the office don't know the truth), when all the power lies elsewhere?