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The Real Arvin Sloane
May I have your attention please? Will the real Arvin Sloane please stand up?
The dreaded doppelganger is nothing new within the realms of cult television. Lead characters in various shows have often been the victim of imposters, posing as someone else as part of a malevolent plan. Alias served up a delicious twist on this trope towards the end of its fourth season. It was so cleverly conceived that soon we started to wonder just who the real Arvin Sloane was.
The sinister Arvin Sloane had featured in Alias since the beginning, running a terrorist organisation posing as a covert wing of the CIA, before supposedly seeing the light and becoming one of the good guys. Out of nowhere, a figure known by the same distinctive name was committing acts of villainy around the globe as part of a maniacal quest to lay his hands on the dangerous artefacts created by the prophetic 15th Century architect Rambaldi.
Arvin Clone, as he was quickly dubbed, didn't just have the same mission that his namesake once had. For the weasly looks, complete with spectacles, receding hairline and sharp black suits. Throw into the mix the soft-spoken tones and the same purposeful strides as well. Clone's acts of evil also echoed Sloane's, particularly with his horrific use of killer bees to decimate a monastery so he can lay his hands on a precious orchid.
He was eventually captured and came face to face with the real Sloane, but he was unwavering in his vehement denials that he was an imposter. He had perfect recall of events that only the real Arvin Sloane would know about. Given J.J. Abrams' love of subverting the narrative, could Clone actually be the real Sloane? Alas, it was not to be. It transpired that he was plain old Ned Bolger, who had Sloane's real memories implanted into him as part of a secret SD-6 experiment.
Great credit must go to the legendary Joel Grey for his wonderful, chameleonesque performance as Arvin Sloane. An Oscar winner back in 1972 for his role in Cabaret, Grey used his thespian prowess in Alias to make us doubt the very existence of Sloane after several years in his company.
