Alias talk from Rachel Nichols; Spy Attire; Garner praise; Season 5 spoilersAlthough she has yet to give birth, pregnant superspy Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) on ABC's espionage romp "Alias" must be feeling like a proud mama in "Solo," the episode airing Thursday, Nov. 10. Rachel Nichols (Rachel Gibson), a young agent that Sydney has been mentoring since her rescue from an evil, faux-CIA organization (a parallel to Sydney's own history), is going out on her first spy mission on her own. And in true "Alias" style, there is not only a miniskirt, but a leopard-print coat to go with it. Even this early in the season, this is nothing new for Nichols.
"My first day on set," Nichols recalls, "I met Jen and she said, 'I'm glad you're here. Now you can wear the bikini.' I got the script for my first big fight scene, and I'm wearing a minidress, fishnet stockings, a red wig and stiletto heels. It was like, welcome to 'Alias.'"
This is a big wardrobe shift from Nichols' last TV job, as a buttoned-down FBI profiler in FOX's short-lived "The Inside" this past summer.
"I think I wore the same suit every day for 'The Inside,'" she says, "except that one episode where I got to wear jeans. Then this one is ca-razy. I'm sure there will be many occasions for me to sport a rubber dress, grass dress, the dress made out of pieces of nature, anything they want."
Nichols is settling into the "Alias" family, which was fractured early in the season by the "death" (anyone who watches the show knows this word must be in quotes) of Sydney's CIA-handler/fiance/baby-daddy Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan).
"First of all," Nichols says, "it's the nicest set on the planet. Even though you hear it's the nicest set on the planet, you're not really positive until you walk on and meet everybody -- then you realize that to say it's the nicest set on the planet is an understatement. Everybody is so happy to be there.
"But, yes, the Vaughn, sadly, is gone. I'm hoping they bring [the villainous] Sark back, because, hey, who doesn't like a little David Anders? I would be down for some Sark."
Sydney and Sark had a few knock-down drag-outs in his time on the show as her blond, British nemesis, so how does Nichols think Rachel Gibson would fare?
"I think he'd kick my little butt," she says. "I could run away from him. Maybe I'm faster. I think that's going to be Rachel Gibson's technique -- she runs when there's a big man that she knows she can't take."
By the way, it looks like Nichols will get her wish, as Anders starts shooting next week for a return by Sark scheduled to air in mid-December.
So far, Nichols doesn't know a whole lot about Gibson's history.
"I'm on a need-to-know basis, let's face it," she says. "They're very tight-lipped, the writers. They don't tell you a lot in advance about what's going to happen to your character.
"I don't even know if I have parents, and if I have parents, do I like my parents? Are they bad parents? Do I have siblings? For all I know, I could have a cork leg, and they haven't told me that yet. That might cut down on the fighting. That may be how they'll be able to explain why Rachel is not as agile and gazelle-like as Sydney.
"I could be bionic. As long as they don't write into the script that I used to be a man, they can do whatever they want."
On the show, Gibson looks up to Sydney, and on the set, Nichols has decided that Garner is her new hero.
"When I met her," she says, "I thought to myself, 'I don't know if I'm nice enough to be on the show.' It's the trickle-down theory. It all starts with Jen. She knows everybody's name; she knows their kids' names; she knows their birthdays. She has the coffee truck come once a week, and she has the hot-dog truck come, whether she's there or not. She celebrates Christmas; she celebrates all the holidays. She's the bionic one."
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