Deep Cover (Jack Bristow fansite) + Spy Factory (fansite for The Bristows)

Deep Cover

Welcome to Deep Cover, a fan website for Jack Bristow from Alias. Welcome also to Spy Factory, a fan dedication for the Bristow family from the TV series Alias. To find out more about how this combined-site thing works visit the site FAQ.

Our content includes:

The story of Jack and Sydney Bristow
A profile of Jack
A profile of Sydney
Memorable Bristow quotes
Links, credits, fan artwork, and more

Meet Jack Bristow

Jack Bristow, a longtime officer of the CIA and former double agent with SD-6, is often emotionally distant and can be among the show's coldest and most brutal characters. However, his character's defining trait is his devotion to the safety of his daughter, Sydney. He is highly protective of her and is willing to do anything - torture, kill, even betray his country - to ensure her well-being. His relationship with his daughter has always been problematic, although it warmed and matured as the show unfolded. According to background information provided in the official Alias magazine, Jack Bristow is originally from Canada (reflecting the fact that actor Victor Garber is Canadian). A screenshot in a fourth season episode showed a laptop referring to his birth in London, Ontario.

Prior to the events of the series, Jack fathered Sydney with Irina Derevko, a long-term KGB spy who married Jack to get close to the CIA, specifically to steal the details of Project Christmas, which Jack was developing for the Agency. She took the name Laura Bristow and built a cover as an English literature professor. Once the FBI started to investigate Irina, she faked her death in a staged car accident. Jack, suspected of being complicit in Irina's espionage, was detained and placed in solitary confinement. He named Arvin and Emily Sloane as Sydney's temporary guardians. Jack and Arvin became friends after they got to know each other in the early seventies, when both started their careers at the CIA. When Jack was finally cleared, he began drinking heavily and became more of an absentee father, leaving Sydney to be raised by nannies. About ten years later, Jack was recruited into SD-6 by Sloane when the Alliance of Twelve was founded, and was one of the few agents who knew the truth behind the cell. He was also Director of Operations at SD-6, and many in the Alliance believed he was a logical choice to take Sloane's place.

When Sydney was in college, Arvin Sloane had her recruited into SD-6 without Jack's knowledge. Jack reacted negatively to Sydney's telling him that she had gotten a job at Credit Dauphine, the front company for SD-6. However, Jack's reaction made Sydney more determined to be a part of the "CIA." Jack later revealed to Sydney that he had recognized her potential, but wanted to keep her away from this life, away from making the choices that he had to - and eventually she had to - as an agent. Sydney's recruitment into SD-6 also caused Jack's friendship with Sloane to end, although because of the clandestine character of Jack's work as a double-agent at SD-6, he couldn't reveal that to Sloane until years after.

Read Jack and Sydney's story, broken down by season.