This week on “Alias,” Allison (Merrin Dungey) came back. If Ihadn’t known this was going to happen, I would have been shocked.Unfortunately, this was the only major shock for any viewer of”Alias,” spoiled or no. We experienced the latest look into anunraveling marriage, new (but not nearly enough) insight intoSydney’s (Jennifer Garner) missing two years, and a kick-assmarriage proposal audition.

This week, Sloane (Ron Rifkin) went on his first double agentassignment &- and found out that Allison was ordered by theCovenant not to kill Syd on a mission in Milan, because the groupwants to get something back from Syd’s memory. Something that shesaw, Sydney presumed, although Allison said she didn’t know thespecifics. Intriguing, no?

In this episode we were also subjected to flashbacks, largelyfor the benefit of the uninitiated, who did not see last season’sfinale &- in which Syd found out that Allison was really adouble of our heroine’s best friend Francie, whom Allison hadkilled a few months before. We learned that Allison was broughtback to health thanks in part to a formula found in theever-complex Rambaldi manuscript &- a formula that allowedher, at the end of this episode, to escape an ambulance and knockout a few guards, all the while with a bullet lodged firmly in herchest. As for The Marriage &- Vaughn (Michael Vartan) agonizedover keeping secrets from his wife, Lauren (Melissa George), eventhough Lauren seemed to have no moral issues whatsoever withkeeping her own secret: She’s investigating the murder of Sark’s(David Anders) father, and found out that it was committed by oneJulia Thorn &- aka Sydney, although Mrs. Vaughn doesn’t knowthat yet.

“The Nemesis” was rather frustrating &- as usual, we leftwith more questions, specifically questions about Sydney’sdisappearance, than we had when the hour began &- but was alsointeresting in that character development came out in full force.Especially, Sydney’s director at the CIA, Dixon (Carl Lumbly),slowly got more of his personality back, after he’s been merely arandom superior during the past few episodes. We also got possiblytech geek Marshall’s (Kevin Weisman) best moment so far this seasonwhen he tried out his proposal for pregnant girlfriend Carrie(Amanda Foreman) on Vaughn, complete with some shouts about sushiand excellent drum skills by Weisman. Even when an episode isn’texactly excellent, a well-timed cut to Weisman’s hilariousportrayal can make the hour perfect, a concept that the creators of”Alias” are slowly beginning to embrace.