I am vindicated!
Apr. 19th, 2006 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theladyroseI'm generally not the bragging type, but it was so worth cramming nine post-it notes of music score notes from the last Alias episode ("The Horizon") down to predict what would happen tonight. Score analysis really does work!
And all of my predictions were right! If only I could find all of the predictions that I made-I swear I posted a bunch up on my LJ a few months ago, but I can't remember which tags they're under...
The big one: Irina's back! I knew that Irina was behind Sydney's regression therapy in "The Horizon" because when Sloane made the phone call to figure out who Sydney's captors were to the people unofficially blackmailing him Irina's theme was playing quite prominently. She doesn't have her nice lyrical theme in this episode, though; there are a few sinister minor note cello figures that are somewhat similar to the tonally ambiguous cello passages that introduced Irina early season 2.
The other big one: Michael Vaughn is really alive! I knew since "Prophet Five" that he wasn't really dead for some musical as well as more pragmatically cynical reasons. I've listed some of my cynical reasons before (the producers don't want to totally alienate their prime teenage fangirl demographic who like their spy eyecandy; why else do you think that Lauren is dead?). As for the musical clues, Giacchino (and those other uncredited composers who fill in since Giacchino's workload has been incredibly hectic as of late *cough*Chris Tilson anyone?*/cough*) has been scattering them throughout. There have been two emerging Sydney-related themes for season 5: there's the "trying to move on but still remembering and missing Vaughn" theme (intent similar to Sydney's "rebuilding her life theme" from seasons 1 and 2 that transforms into the classic Sydney and Vaughn theme; no melodic similarities, though) and its melodic sister, Sydney's baby theme. I didn't distinguish between the two until this episode when the baby finally came into being and got its own theme. Then I realized that Syd's baby theme is the former theme with a few notes changed with identical orchestration; aww, musical genetics.
Giacchino's so amazingly clever with the score, it blows my mind. It's insane how many notes I've taken on his Alias work; I have an entire desk drawer of post-it notes detailing this. And I'm not even done chronicling his works for the end of season 1, most of season 2, the end of season 4, and all of season 3. I have some more general notes on the general thematic structure of the series, but I really should compile it all sometime. But I digress.
Anyway, Syd's "moving on but missing Vaughn" theme reworks some of the "Almost Two Years" (re: season 2 soundtrack, track 23) theme that was the Syd and Vaughn theme for season 3 and even during parts of season 4. This theme was most prominently featured in season 3 (and in Syd's memory/hallucination in "the Horizon") when Syd and Vaughn think they're about to die in front of a South Korean firing squad in "Crossings." I took the reuse of "Almost Two Years" as a sign of faith that Syd and Vaughn will find each other again, and that death is an illusion...
During some of the intense Jack and Syd worrying about the baby moments you have Syd's season 5 "moving on..." theme as well as. Near the end of the episode you have a slower "Almost Two Years" in a more stately strings variation and at the almost end (just before the Buthan scene) a really lovely all-strings version of "Syd and Vaughn's original season 1 and 2 love theme," again all in strings and a little slower, a bit waltz-like even? This absolutely confirmed my suspicions about Vaughn reappearing; this theme appeared in the season 1 finale "Almost Thirty Years" in a Wagnerian variation when Vaughn is trapped and left swimming in between seasons. Syd thought he might have died then, but love conquers death apparently. I'll try to cut out the sarcasm. I thought that the reappearance of this theme at the end of "Maternal Instinct" was the producers' guarantee that Syd and Vaughn will be returned together again after another near-death experience.
Other musical favorites that have come back:
There isn't a very distinct season 5 mission theme, although it's a rough cross between the somewhat changed melody of the classic seasons 1 and 2 mission theme with the more sly/playful/adventurous season 4 mission theme with the flute playing a more prominent role.
We hear Syd's original "new life/seasons 1 and 2 Syd and Vaughn" theme in a brief quotation, I think in one of the spyfam in Syd's home scenes. I have to rewatch the episode to double check the exact scene as I didn't take notes.
A few other brief musical notes:
Peyton does have her own little leitmotif-think of the staccato cellos playing when she got Vaughn's file from the San Francisco data storage facility in "The Horizon." I didn't think she was dead after Jack shot her and well, the closeup of her fingers moving seems to prove that. The baddies never seem to die on Alias!
No Rachel/Mockingbird theme in this episode as Rachel isn't a major focus in the storyline.
Dude, did Dixon get his hair done in cornrows?!
To be updated later with some more thoughts about Sloane and Grace...
And all of my predictions were right! If only I could find all of the predictions that I made-I swear I posted a bunch up on my LJ a few months ago, but I can't remember which tags they're under...
The big one: Irina's back! I knew that Irina was behind Sydney's regression therapy in "The Horizon" because when Sloane made the phone call to figure out who Sydney's captors were to the people unofficially blackmailing him Irina's theme was playing quite prominently. She doesn't have her nice lyrical theme in this episode, though; there are a few sinister minor note cello figures that are somewhat similar to the tonally ambiguous cello passages that introduced Irina early season 2.
The other big one: Michael Vaughn is really alive! I knew since "Prophet Five" that he wasn't really dead for some musical as well as more pragmatically cynical reasons. I've listed some of my cynical reasons before (the producers don't want to totally alienate their prime teenage fangirl demographic who like their spy eyecandy; why else do you think that Lauren is dead?). As for the musical clues, Giacchino (and those other uncredited composers who fill in since Giacchino's workload has been incredibly hectic as of late *cough*Chris Tilson anyone?*/cough*) has been scattering them throughout. There have been two emerging Sydney-related themes for season 5: there's the "trying to move on but still remembering and missing Vaughn" theme (intent similar to Sydney's "rebuilding her life theme" from seasons 1 and 2 that transforms into the classic Sydney and Vaughn theme; no melodic similarities, though) and its melodic sister, Sydney's baby theme. I didn't distinguish between the two until this episode when the baby finally came into being and got its own theme. Then I realized that Syd's baby theme is the former theme with a few notes changed with identical orchestration; aww, musical genetics.
Giacchino's so amazingly clever with the score, it blows my mind. It's insane how many notes I've taken on his Alias work; I have an entire desk drawer of post-it notes detailing this. And I'm not even done chronicling his works for the end of season 1, most of season 2, the end of season 4, and all of season 3. I have some more general notes on the general thematic structure of the series, but I really should compile it all sometime. But I digress.
Anyway, Syd's "moving on but missing Vaughn" theme reworks some of the "Almost Two Years" (re: season 2 soundtrack, track 23) theme that was the Syd and Vaughn theme for season 3 and even during parts of season 4. This theme was most prominently featured in season 3 (and in Syd's memory/hallucination in "the Horizon") when Syd and Vaughn think they're about to die in front of a South Korean firing squad in "Crossings." I took the reuse of "Almost Two Years" as a sign of faith that Syd and Vaughn will find each other again, and that death is an illusion...
During some of the intense Jack and Syd worrying about the baby moments you have Syd's season 5 "moving on..." theme as well as. Near the end of the episode you have a slower "Almost Two Years" in a more stately strings variation and at the almost end (just before the Buthan scene) a really lovely all-strings version of "Syd and Vaughn's original season 1 and 2 love theme," again all in strings and a little slower, a bit waltz-like even? This absolutely confirmed my suspicions about Vaughn reappearing; this theme appeared in the season 1 finale "Almost Thirty Years" in a Wagnerian variation when Vaughn is trapped and left swimming in between seasons. Syd thought he might have died then, but love conquers death apparently. I'll try to cut out the sarcasm. I thought that the reappearance of this theme at the end of "Maternal Instinct" was the producers' guarantee that Syd and Vaughn will be returned together again after another near-death experience.
Other musical favorites that have come back:
There isn't a very distinct season 5 mission theme, although it's a rough cross between the somewhat changed melody of the classic seasons 1 and 2 mission theme with the more sly/playful/adventurous season 4 mission theme with the flute playing a more prominent role.
We hear Syd's original "new life/seasons 1 and 2 Syd and Vaughn" theme in a brief quotation, I think in one of the spyfam in Syd's home scenes. I have to rewatch the episode to double check the exact scene as I didn't take notes.
A few other brief musical notes:
Peyton does have her own little leitmotif-think of the staccato cellos playing when she got Vaughn's file from the San Francisco data storage facility in "The Horizon." I didn't think she was dead after Jack shot her and well, the closeup of her fingers moving seems to prove that. The baddies never seem to die on Alias!
No Rachel/Mockingbird theme in this episode as Rachel isn't a major focus in the storyline.
Dude, did Dixon get his hair done in cornrows?!
To be updated later with some more thoughts about Sloane and Grace...
