Synopsis of The Coup


Written by TK

Hong Kong
Gun shots. An Asian man stumbles out of an a building labeled Tyno-Chem Engineering with a bullet hole in his chest. A white man with a gun follows him. The white man shoots another round into the Asian man and the Asian man falls dead on the pavement.

SD-6 briefing room
Sloane explains how Tyno-Chem is the front for FTL headquarters, and Quan Li, the head of FTL, was assassinated. They have a picture of the guy who shot him, but can't match his face to anything in their database. Dixon is surprised the shooter let his face be caught on camera. Sloane explains how FTL was attacked at the same time SD-6 was attacked by Cole, and the goal was the same, to steal a Rambaldi artifact. Marshall asks why they're not celebrating the fact that FTL is basically gone. Everyone explains that they're more worried about who out there would attack FTL and SD-6 at the same time, and the fact that whoever it is now has a pretty serious collection of Rambaldi artifacts, perhaps enough to figure out what the hell Rambaldi was doing. Marshall agrees that that sucks. Jack explains how whoever did this has contacted K-Directorate about a meeting to share Rambaldi information. They want to get details on this meeting. The K-Directorate contact is a man named Brandon Dahlgren, who lives in a penthouse in the Regal Casino. With Sydney as communications backup, Dixon is supposed to go in posing as Darian Buchanan, a delegate from Jamaica, and place a fake ring on Dahlgren that looks like a ring the man normally wear, but has a bug in it.

As the meeting ends, Sloane holds Sydney back and reiterates how grateful he is for her incredible actions when SD-6 was under attack. He also expresses his condolences over her finding out her mother was KGB. When Sydney finally walks out, all of SD-6 is outside and applauding her. She's embarrassed.

A metro car
Sydney meets with Vaughn and tells him about how the whole thing made her feel sick, because all these people were patriots, thinking they were working for their country, when really they were being misused by Sloane. Sydney rubs a bruise on her face. Vaughn says he can hardly see it. Sydney laughs that it's because she's wearing a ton of coverup on it. Vaughn explains how Sydney's counter mission isn't anything yet, because the CIA also wants the info on this meeting between the really bad guys and K-Directorate. Sydney asks Vaughn about the consequences of his helping her, and he says that he just got a slap on the wrist, but now the annoying Haladki has to report to him.

SD-6 main floor
Jack says Sydney should get ready to leave soon, because the real Jamaican delegate is about to leave Jamaica. Sydney says she just has to stop by school for a second. Jack awkwardly asks how school is going, and Sydney says it's fine. Then Sydney decides to open up a little more, and says how she was thinking of leaving SD-6 last week, but now she realizes that she was sort of going to grad school just to follow in her mother's footsteps, but now that she knows her mother was KGB and not a literature professor, she's thinking of dropping out of school. Jack kinda clams up and just says that maybe he's not the best person to ask about this.

Sydney's place
Will comes over to borrow a tape recorder 'cause his died. Sydney finds a hickey on Will's neck and helps him cover it with coverup. Sydney jokes that hickey's are something you get in high school, but that's about the age of Will's girlfriend, so it makes sense. Will defends Jenny, but Sydney says Jenny's just not in his league. Francie and Charlie come back from having brunch with their parents. They're both a little horrified that their parents got along so well that they're now planning vacations together. Francie notices Sydney's suitcase and asks where she's going this time. Sydney says Las Vegas. Francie and Charlie think of going there too. Sydney panics and says that this is not a vacation for her, she has to go to a conference. Francie says that don't need her to baby sit them. Sydney says she'd want to hang out with them, though. She suggests they all go to Vegas next week together. Francie is mollified. Sydney heads off to school and Charlie gives her fliers for his gig on Thursday to post there. He also gives some to Will even though Will says he's just doing an interview at a jail.

Jail
Will meets with David McNeil, who's totally willing to talk now that his daughter is safely out of the country. McNeil explains how he wrote a secret subroutine into his encryption software that logs everyone who uses it, so Will needs to break into his old company (McNeil gives him detailed instructions on how to do so) and download the log, which is a file called Dolphin. Scenes of McNeil's explanation are interspersed with scenes of Will actually pulling it off.

School
Sydney tells Professor Choy that she's leaving the program, but Choy says she's one of the best students he's ever had and urges her to reconsider. Outside, Sydney puts up a flier for Charlie and a girl walks up and comments that she didn't know Charlie was a musician. Sydney and the girl, Stella, get to talking and Stella mentions that she and Charlie dated for a little while a few months ago and had a bad breakup. Sydney is horrified.

Las Vegas
Sydney is walking through Vegas with Dixon, who is wearing a dredlock wig. She is talking to Will on her cell phone about what she found out and how to tell Francie. She gets off the phone and she and Dixon prepare for their mission. She says she'll be in touch as soon as she gets into the casino's database and gives Dixon the ring to switch on Dahlgren.

Sydney goes in the employees' entrance of the casino with a fake employee ID and lets Dixon know she's in. She's dressed in the employees' outfit of a shiny silver two-piece very revealing... thing. I don't know how else to describe it. Oh, and it has this cool drapey silver headdress too.

In the casino
Sydney is horrified to see Francie and Charlie. She ducks and tells Dixon. Luckily, they don't see her. Sydney walks into the back rooms of the casino and breaks into a back room.

Flashback to Marshall talking about how tough security is in casinos, and giving her a razor prism, which will cut into a fiber optic cable and allow access without interrupting the data stream and setting off alarms.

Sydney applies the razor prism, gets into the database, and changes the picture of the Jamaican delegate to a picture of Dixon in his wig. Dixon walks into the casino, is spotted and identified by guards, and immediately greeted by a VIP representative who leads him to the private gaming rooms.

Francie and Charlie are playing roulette. Francie leaves a message for Sydney on her cell phone telling her they're there. Francie notices a nearby wedding chapel and suggests maybe they use it and just get married without their parents and without the hassle.

There's a lot of jumping around from scene to scene in the next paragraph.

The VIP rep is giving Dixon a huge line of credit. Sydney is looking at the security cameras and tells Dixon which table Dahlgren is sitting at. Dixon joins Dahlgren's table. They start playing high stakes poker. Sydney is telling Dixon what cards the guys at the table have. Dixon wins the first hand, and shows off how well he bluffed just to piss off Dahlgren. On the security cameras, Sydney sees Francie and Charlie in the wedding chapel. She asks Dixon if he can handle radio silence from her for two minutes. Dixon coughs his agreement. Sydney runs to the chapel, somehow magically now wearing a black banker's suit. Francie is happy to see her and asks her if she'll be the witness at their wedding. Sydney says she'd love to, but she needs to talk to Charlie alone for a second. Sydney and Charlie go off, and Sydney basically tells Charlie that if he doesn't tell Francie about Stella, she will. And if Charlie doesn't tell Francie about Stella before they get married, she'll kill him. She sends Charlie back to Francie and tells him to tell Francie she had to go back to work. Dixon is still playing poker and messing with Dahlgren. Dahlgren mentions that he's taking off soon. Dixon says that night is young. Dahlgren says the night started $86,000 ago. Charlie goes back to Francie who wonders what's wrong and where Sydney went. Charlie says they have to talk. Sydney runs back across the casino, stripping off her black suit back to the silvery outfit as she runs. The VIP rep gets a call on his cell phone saying there's a problem. Charlie tells Francie they can't get married like this, they should do it right with their friends and family. Dahlgren raises Dixon all the chips he has left. Dixon raises him back something personal, a jeweled gift from the king of Saudi Arabia. Dahlgren tries to bet his watch, but Dixon says he already has a watch. Dixon mentions the ring. Dahlgren bets it. Sydney gets back to her post and tells Dixon she's back. Sydney looks at Dahlgren's hand and tells Dixon he's going to lose to Dahlgren's flush. Dixon quickly makes the switch of the ring with it sitting on the table so that when Dahlgren pulls in the loot, he pulls in the fake ring with the bug in it. On a security camera, Sydney sees the VIP rep and some security guards going to Dixon's VIP gambling room and warns Dixon. The VIP rep comes in and tells Dixon there's an urgent message for him, and he should come with him. Outside, two security guards grab Dixon and VIP rep tells him that his attaché just called and apparently he's stuck in Jamaica. Sydney runs out and she and Dixon together take everyone out and run for it.

At home, Francie is telling Sydney about the rest of the trip to Vegas and shows her the bracelet Charlie bought her with his winnings. Francie thanks Sydney for talking them out of getting married in Vegas. Sydney tells Francie about Stella. Francie thinks Sydney is just trying to undermine her and doesn't believe it. Francie brings up when Sydney missed looking at wedding dresses with her, and Sydney says that was just about work. Francie says she hates Sydney's job and Sydney has become a distant and secretive person since working there. Francie says she doesn't know who Sydney is anymore and walks out.

Will's office, coffee room
Sydney and Will talk about her and Francie's fight. Sydney teases him about hickeys. Sydney's cell phone rings and Will goes back out to his desk to let her answer it. It's Sydney's dad calling. The trip to Vegas was a success and SD-6 intercepted a call that Dahlgren received. Jack asks Sydney to meet him.

Carousel
Jack and Sydney are walking by the carousel. He talks about how much Sydney loved it here as a child. He talks about regrets and not knowing that her mother was spying on him. He says he hasn't been here in 20 years. Sydney wonders why they're there now. Jack apologizes for not helping with her school problem because he's out of practice with personal matters. Sydney says she's not in a rush. Jack encourages her to stay in school, revelations about her mother aside. He compliments her on her future as a teacher. Sydney thank her dad.

At SD-6, Sloane and Jack brief Sydney and Dixon. The meeting between K-Directorate and The Man will take place in 20 hours in an office building in Moscow. Their job is just surveillance to learn what they can about The Man.

Sydney and Vaughn carefully meet and he gives her a flash memory card to record the meeting on so the CIA will see it too. He says she can just leave it in a specific airplane seat pocket and an agent will pick it up. He mentions how she asked him to a hockey game. He just wants to make it clear to her that he's like something like that too, to grab a pizza or go to a game and actually be able to look at her in public. They share a furtive smile. He wishes her good luck in Russia.

At home, Sydney is enjoying a glass of wine by the fire, and looking over her paperwork for dropping out of school. Francie comes in. They hesitantly greet each other. Francie just got back from seeing three movies. Francie says Charlie told her everything... she thinks. Sydney was right. Francie bursts into tears and Sydney comforts her. Francie apologizes for the things she said to Sydney. Sydney forgives her, and reminds her that she's on her side. Francie sees Sydney's paperwork and asks if she's dropping a class. Sydney says she isn't.

Moscow
A guard is outside in the cold smoking. Sydney climbs across a guide wire high above the guards head. Dixon is on communications. Dixon says they're heading towards the building now. Sydney lowers the guide wire to get even with the window of the meeting room. She watches the K-Directorate agents go inside. She turns on the camera. The guard is still below smoking. Sydney sets up the audio feed. Sydney notices the gunman from Hong Kong who introduces himself as Mr. Sark, director of operations. The K-Directorate rep asks who he works for. Mr. Sark says his employer has to stay confidential and he is authorized to run things. The K-Directorate rep is displeased. As Mr. Sark starts to outline the plan, Dixon watches through the camera feed and realizes that the K-Directorate rep isn't just a rep, he's Ilyich Ivankov, the head of K-Directorate. Mr. Sark suggests that he'll put $100 million into a numbered account, and Ivankov wonders how Mr. Sark knew the number of a K-Directorate account. In exchange, Mr. Sark wants the Rambaldi manuscript that K-Directorate got in Argentina, and any analysis they've made of it. Ivankov says it's quite an opening offer. Mr. Sark says it's a final offer and Ivankov has 60 seconds to decide. Ivankov says this is a joke and gets up to leave. Two of Mr. Sark's colleagues shoot Ivankov and his guard that goes for his gun. Two other K-Directorate agents are left alive because they put their hands up and don't go for their guns. Mr. Sark congratulates one of the agents, a Mr. Kessar, on inheriting K-Directorate, and Mr. Kessar closes the deal. Outside on the guide wire, Sydney knocks some cement off the side of the building and alerts the smoking guard. The guard starts shooting up and the men inside start shooting through the window. Dixon yells into his communicator. Sydney flails helplessly on the guide wire, bouncing off the building to dodge the bullets.


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