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Jack Facts Jack Bristow is a man with many sides. Much of his past is still a mystery; just when we think we know all there is to know about him, we find something new. I call this fanlisting "Deep Cover" in honor of one of the most layered - and fascinating - characters on television. PROFILE: BRISTOW, JACK D. What we've learned about Jack Season 1 Sydney always thought her father sold airplane parts, but that was just a cover. He never sold airplane parts. Sydney learned the truth when Jack helped her escape from SD-6 agents who were trying to kill her. Sydney later found out that Jack is also a double agent, working with both SD-6 and the CIA. When Jack learned that Sydney's fiance Danny was going to be killed by SD-6, Jack arranged for both Sydney and Danny to flee the country; unfortunately, Danny was killed before Jack could follow through on his plan. However, Sydney's reporter friend Will Tippin discovered plane tickets for Danny and "Kate Jones" to leave the country; despite Sydney's pleas for him to leave that mystery alone, Will continued to investigate. Sloane, the SD-6 director, wanted to have Will killed, but Jack wanted to spare Sydney the loss of another friend. In disguise, Jack kidnapped Will and threatened his family. Convinced, Will decided to drop the story. When a search for the information leak at SD-6 pointed to Sydney, Jack framed Russek, another SD-6 agent, as the "mole" to protect her. The frame worked to free Sydney but resulted in a torturous death for Russek Sydney was stunned when Jack revealed that her mother, whom she knew as Laura Bristow, was actually KGB agent Irina Derevko, who was sent to the US to marry a CIA agent and steal information from him. Sydney was in college to become a teacher, because she thought her mother was a teacher. After learning the truth, Sydney considered abandoning her studies, but Jack said that Sydney "could become the kind of teacher your students will always remember." Later, Sydney discovers that her mother faked her death to escape capture, and Jack is shocked, to say the least. Sydney becomes obsessed with finding out what happened with her mother, which causes Jack to become angry/worried. In an old video tape, Irina Derevko told her KGB superiors: "Every night for ten years I went through his briefcase. I eavesdropped on all of his private conversations. I planted listening devices on his clothing. He was blinded by his emotions. He knew nothing. I can tell you one thing: Jack Bristow was a fool." Will Tippin receives a tip from a mysterious source that tells him it was Jack Bristow who kidnapped and threatened him. Will nervously confronts Jack, who then tries to use Will to discover the informant's identity. Jack suspected Steven Haladki, a CIA agent. Jack tortures Haladki for information and learns that Haladki was giving info to one called The Man. Realizing that Haladki's betrayal put Sydney in danger, Jack angrily kills Haladki. Sadly Jack's plan resulted in Will being kidnapped and tortured by The Man's group. Unable to trust the CIA or SD-6, Jack and Sydney go with Agent Vaughn to rescue Will. Long story short, Jack makes a trade with the murderous Sark, and Will is freed. Relieved (and exhausted), Will hugs Jack. Season 2 After Will's disappearance (in season one) his revealing article about SD-6 is published. Since Will knows too much, Jack arranges for him to be arrested in a drug raid; the plan works as Will's article is dismissed as the crazed work of a heroin addict. All of the CIA is stunned when Sydney's mother, Irina Derevko, turns herself in. Jack suspects that she has an ulterior motive, but he is frustrated when the others seem only too willing to believe her. Investigating Project Christmas, a program in which exceptional children are programmed to be spies, Sydney is devastated to learn that her father subjected her to the training. She is furious with him, but he later says that he only did it to make her strong. He never intended for her to lead a double life. Mid-way through season two, Jack, Sydney and the CIA succeeded in bringing down SD-6. However, Sloane escaped, and it became clear that he still posed a threat. Later, Sloane's quest to assemble Rambaldi's The Telling results in him capturing Jack: he keeps Jack alive because they're "friends," and later Jack is rescued by the CIA. Season 3 While investigating Sydney's apparent death, Jack finds proof that she is still alive. However, he was arrested by the National Security Council and put into solitary confinement for working with Irina. Jack later told Sydney that Irina was the only one he could trust. After Sydney's return, she blackmails the NSC director to obtain Jack's release from prison, and he returns to work at the CIA. When Sydney is taken into custody by the NSC - intent on discovering what happened during her missing two years - Jack and Vaughn form a plan to free her. With Sloane's help, they succeed. Seeing how Sydney still has feelings for the now-married Vaughn, Jack urges Vaughn to push her away. When Sydney (and Vaughn) are captured in North Korea, at Jack's request, Irina sends help: her sister Katya. Katya agrees to help, but she demands that Jack kill Sloane in return. Jack agrees, but as he is about to see Sloane, Katya calls to tell him to abort. Later, Katya gives Jack a ferocious kiss. After a slip of the tongue, Jack suspects that Vaughn's wife Lauren is a mole. Further investigation seems to prove this, and Jack confronts Lauren's father, who defends his daughter. Lauren diverts suspicion from herself by framing her father as the traitor. Lauren also frames Sloane as a source of information leakage, and he is arrested by the CIA. Sloane asks Jack to find proof of his innocence, but he learns that Sloane and Irina had an affair which resulted in the birth of a daughter. Jack refuses to help, and Sloane is executed, but it's a trick: Jack actually faked Sloane's death. Sloane is needed to help find his daughter, Nadia. Later, Lauren's betrayal is revealed. As she and Sydney fight, Lauren taunts Syd that she still doesn't know the truth about her life. Vaughn appears and shoots Lauren several times, and she falls down a mineshaft. Using the clues that Lauren gave her, Sydney locates a certain bank box. In it, she finds top secret papers that tell of an "active project" that started on her birth date - with project manager Jack Bristow. Syd cries as she reads the documents. Jack suddenly appears, telling her that she was never supposed to have found them. Season 4 Jack, as well as Sydney, Vaughn, Dixon, Marshall, Weiss and Sloane became part of the CIA's new black ops division, APO or Authorized Personnel Only. The relationship between Jack and Syd remained strained after Syd's discovery of the papers in the bank vault (at the end of season three). Syd confided to Vaughn that the papers were an official request from Jack to execute Irina Derevko. The request was approved, and Jack killed Irina. During APO's first mission, an assassin tells Sydney that she was his target, until the one who hired him was murdered. Under duress, the assassin reveals that Irina was the one who hired him. Jack confirms this to be true; he doesn't know why Irina did it, but he killed her to save Sydney. Sydney answered her half-sister Nadia's questions about their mother by showing her the place where Syd had Irina's body interred. Protecting Jack, Syd says that she doesn't know who killed Irina. Heartbroken, Nadia vows to find and kill the one responsible. Soon, Syd reveals to Jack that she plans to tell Nadia the truth out of respect. Before she can, Jack says that the target of their current mission was responsible. As that man is about to kill Sydney, Nadia shoots him dead, saying to Syd that he killed their mother. Syd confronts Jack, who says that he was trying to give Nadia closure. Following a lead from Katya Derevko, Sydney learns that Irina was framed. Someone else hired the assassin, and the payment was made from an account belonging to "A. Sloane." Syd and Vaughn tell Jack about Sloane's deception. Jack confronts Sloane, but Sloane says that he has been set up. Jack and Sloane revealed that Elena Derevko, Irina's long-missing sister, has been tracking Sydney and Nadia. APO soon learns that Elena is working on something related to Rambaldi. Apparently falling back into his Rambaldi obsession, Sloane finds Elena and offers to join her. While hunting for Sloane and Elena, Dixon finds someone else: Irina Derevko. He is proven correct when the team discovers that the woman Jack shot was a genetic double of Irina. Elena wanted everyone to believe her sister was dead. Jack, Sydney and Nadia find and free Irina. Irina explains that she had found the manuscript with instructions for assembling Rambaldi's final plan. She destroyed the manuscript but Elena tortured her until she revealed what she had read. Soon, Elena puts her plan into action and she activates a large version of the Mueller Device over a Russian city. The city's residents, who drank water that was prepared with a chemical by Sloane during his previous Rambaldi quest, become extremely violent and the city is torn apart by the crazed mob. Irina, Jack, Vaughn, Nadia, and Sydney arrive to stop them. On the ground, en route to the device, Nadia is separated from the others by a mob of crazed residents. She escapes from them only to be captured by one of Elena's men. When Nadia refuses to join her side, Elena injects her with the contaminated water. Sloane shoots Elena's guards and joins the others with orders on how to stop her, but they don't trust him. They continue with their own plan, but Sloane assists them in gaining access to Elena. Sydney goes to the roof to disarm the device, but Nadia, in a trancelike state under the effects of the device, is guarding it. They fight. Ultimately Sloane saves Sydney by shooting Nadia. Irina talks Sydney through shutting down the device. The team makes it to Elena's secure chamber seconds before the water from the device destroys the building. Waiting for pickup, Jack lets Irina go, despite her previous agreement to return to CIA custody after the mission. from the Alias magazine Jack Bristow, the Spy Daddy extraordinaire, has kept the odd thing from his super-spy daughter, Sydney, over the years: he worked with her arch enemy, Arvin Sloane, at the CIA; her mother was really a Russian agent; and he has 'removed' several people who've threatened Sydney's safety. In this issue, Victor Garber explains why Jack is so enjoyable to play. Garber praises the way the writing team developed his character: "It's been, so far, a great collaboration. I think this year, as they have some new writers, they want to talk to us more about our ideas - but of course, I don't really have any ideas! I'm just happy to let them play!" When asked about his thoughts on the season four premiere, Garber replied, "I thought it was brilliant. I felt so fortunate to be in the hands of such a great master craftsman… I've always loved his [Jack's] stillness, his inscrutability. He still remains fun to play because he's so complicated!" Many thanks to Amy for some updates to Jack's profile! |
