Stepford Spies

This about sums it up. I'm not diggin' the one-off episodes (I miss those great cliffhangers), but this episode was pretty good. From Television Without Pity:

Syd and Vaughn go on assignment in a secret enclave of Stepford-looking mofo's somewhere in Moscow. The assignment seems to require that they act as a married Russian couple who also…spy? And steal stuff? Yeah, that part's a little unclear. Apparently, the "Liberty Village" of the title is actually some strange training ground for Russian operatives or militants or really icky people who also happen to speak with perfect American accents. So Syd and Vaughn have to pretend that they're interested in being recruits to this "Where's the Beaver?" bizarro world of spies and pearls and layer cakes. Honestly. I don't know. No, I'm not drunk! I just kind of don't know what's going on. Maybe it's because this wasn't supposed to be episode five. Maybe it's because I have the flu. Maybe it's because…oooh, hot chocolate!

Jack goes off to see some old Russian dude in order to find out if he knows about Liberty Village. Old Russian Dude confirms that it's a Russian spy training facility but that it's not really government-sanctioned. Or something. Meanwhile, Irina's old Russian novels have resurfaced and one of them has a secret message to "Sentinel" encoded in it. Jack hands it over to Old Russian Dude in exchange for safe passage home for Syd and Vaughn. But somehow this proves that the Russians are searching for Elena Derevko. Again. No idea, really.

What else happens in this episode? You're asking ME? Oh, okay. We learn that Vaughn very well may have intended to propose to Syd the night that she disappeared. But the bloom blows off the rose of that realization when Syd and Vaughn have to engage in a little friendly shooting competition with their neighbors, ruining their communications with the Apple Store in the process. But when it's followed by super-hot spy sex in the shower, who really gives a damn? Oh, wait. With their comms out…they can't hear the abort code that gets sent when their cover is blown. Oops. Doesn't matter, though, 'cuz Syd and Vaughn have their hands on an EMP and it takes them about two seconds to blow the circuitry for fifty miles and get their butts on a plane home. But not before they stop for dinner in Paris. Say it with me: Aw.