i really liked this episode,it was a very enjoyable one,i like the way it portayed alec. all round it was a good watch.

Yes i watched this episode for the first time last night.. very good and i really like Alec/Jenson hes a really good character.

Borrowed Time damn that was sad brought a tear to my eye

hey maca it is JENSEN and i really loved that episode also

Yeah,Berrisford Agendia is a great episode,one of my favourite episode over the whole show actually.
They really portrayed a different side of Alec,it was amazing.

Its a great episode. and I agree about "portrayed a different side of Alec" .

Anyone notice how Alec morns having killed the girl he loved, but doesn't seem to shed a single tear over killing poor Simon Lehane?

I've got a question. Do you remember in this episode when Alec falls off his bike? My question is, why? Why did they add that in? Here's the scene:

ALEC: I mean, it's not like I intended to date 'em both at the same time. And then when it turned out that I was dating both at the same time, it's not like I didn't intend to tell both girls about the other one. You know, eventually. Oh my God-- (Falls off his bike)

Showing that he's off I guess. Falling flat on his face as to not paying attention to life and thinking only of himself, running his mouth. The bike and the dating situation.

That sounds right, Nyk. Thank you. I've watched The Berrisford Agenda probably about five or six times in the past two days. I'm a little obsessed with it. I can't wait to print out the script from darkanglefan.com It's an excellent piece of writing. It's really impressive. If I could write something as intricate as, that would be a life achievement. I'd really like that.

I think that he fell of the bike also had something about that he recognized the place,but also that he was just thinking of himself and don't paying any attentation to what he was really doing.

You answered that yourself, he loved her. I believe he felt guilty about killing that guy, but he didn't know Simon Lehane well enough to shed tears for him.

But it's interesting that his regret isn't that he murdered, but he murdered someone he loved. I haven't watched all of season two (I still have disc five and six) but does Alec ever show regret for those he killed? In the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, both Angel and Spike show regret for those they killed before they had souls.

Rachel was his first love. Probably his only love. It was the first time that he really felt something. And that's probably why her memory broke through Manticore 'forgetting' techniques. When he killed others, he did it without feelings. He did what he had to do. And he probably didn't even have the time to get attached to his targets. Rachel was a different case.

Well, my opinion

I have to agree with Lyric.
Rachel Was a different case.

I agree with what Lyric said, as well. Let's put the issue of Rachel aside for a second, though. What I wonder is, why didn't Alec feel guilt or pain over those he killed, in the way that Angel and Spike did? Was it, simply, that he didn't feel guilty because there was nothing he could do to prevent killing? Possibly, however, I'd prefer to think that he still hasn't faced his guilt, that he indeed does have it. He felt sadness over Rachel first, and the sadness over the others he killed might come later. What do you think? Or do you think there is no guilt or sadness in him about these murders?

I haven't seen BtVS, so I can't compare the three characters. But I can refer to Alec by himself.

I'm not so sure that Alec remembered the killings he had committed, and if he did, he really didn't feel anything. As he told Max, "you tried to forget. And when you couldn't forget, they had ways of making you not care." Plus, he didn't know anything else at the time. All he had known was Manticore. And Manticore gave him life. It protected him. It gave him, in a very twisted way, a home. From where he stood and what he knew, he really didn't do anything wrong.

Now, if we're talking about how he had seen his actions in retrospection, then there's a chance the only way he could keep on living was to bury the past. Although... We don't know who he had killed in his years in Manticore. Simon Lehane was innocent. But the others? (were there even any others? ). In any case, I don't think he felt guilt or sadness. It was part of what he was. 'Was' being the operative word. He didn't have a choice and in the end, it was either him or those people that he probably didn't even know.

Does that make sense?

Oh, I'm definately talking about how Alec sees his actions in retrospective. It's true we don't know if he killed any others besides Simon and Rachel. Was Simon his first kill? It's possible, I supposed, but it doesn't feel like his first kill. But even if he didn't murder others, it seems to be there's lots and lots of stuff at Manticore that happened to him that he is repressing. I get the feeling he's repressing more than just what happened with Rachel. Consider the following dialog.

MAX: He doesn't want me looking out for him. He wants to be left alone...pretend like it never happened. He's so cut off.

LOGAN: Sounds like this girl I used to know. She was just looking out for herself. No responsibilities, no entanglements...

MAX: Yeah. 'Cause she kept thinking if she ran far enough and fast enough, she could forget all the things they made her do. But sooner or later, it always catches up to you. Learned that the hard way.

LOGAN: Now it's Alec's turn.

Don't you get the feeling that there's a whole lot of repression going on with Alec? As Joshua says about him, "He doesn't know himself. Look. (Gestures at the painting) Outside, lots of pretty colors. Tricks and treats. Inside, darkness. Confusion."

Oh, I have no doubt there. 'The Berrisford Agenda' was his breaking point, and I think it was the only time that we had seen this side of him.

I don't think he could have allowed himself to go back there, because if he did, he would have ended up like Ben.

Think about the things Ben said in 'Pollo Loco':

BEN: Killing is what I was trained to do.

***

BEN: What's the matter, Maxie? You afraid to remember?

MAX: I don't want to remember.

BEN: Because it scares you?

***

BEN: You're like a wolf in sheep's clothing, Max! You're hiding your instincts, every minute of every day, so no one will know what you really are. A soldier...a hunter...a killer.


I've never thought about it before, but Ben and Alec are like two sides of the same coin. Ben couldn't have let go of the past. Alec knew that he had to let go. Funny that it was Jensen who played both of them.

Excellent analysis, Lyric. That's cool that you thought of that, Ben and Alec two sides of the same coin, with Alec being the repressed side, and Ben being the unrepressed, but therefore crazy side.

Thank you

I've been thinking of something...
Do we know which year The Berrisford Agenda is happening?
Is it before the show even started,or is Alec doing the mission under Season 1?
It would be nice to now

Rachel was born on Jan. 15, 2002 and died on Oct. 21, 2020. Berrisford said that she was dying for 2 years, and Logan had confirmed it early on. So 'The Berrisford Agenda' seems to happen in 2018.
I can't remember a specific date on season 1, though

Thanx for that lyric
If I remember correctly Season 1 starts in 2019,but I better check that out.

Why on Earth did Alec let the people at Manticore know that he was in love?
He should have kept it to himself, and then told Rachel in a way which wasn't, "I'm a mutant", but "You're in great danger, people are trying to kill you and I'm not going to let that happen",
So you see, then he could have jeopardised the mission without the agents from Manticore backing it up and blowing up the car when he didn't/

YES?

Alec never told Manticore, it was the other way around, they knew Berrisford's daughter was already forming an attachment to Alec by inviting him to dinner with the family - so they encouraged this. Also Alec planted the bomb but was torn in two between following orders and his new found feelings towards Rachel. His hasty confession backfired when she got caught in the blast.
It makes me wonder if she had not got been injured, whether he'd still be able to talk her round but judging from her initial reaction probably not.

Hmmmmmmmm.............maybe my interpretation of the episode was slightly warped, I was too emotionally involved with Alec and Rachel's relationship.

The confusion on his face when he didn't get what they were asking him ('Under the impression there's a romantic interest on her part?')...

Watched it again for a couple of days and Berrisford Agenda may be my favourite episode of the whole series.
Love it!

Dark Angel
The Berrisford Agenda
Mon Sep 4 10:00P on SciFi Channel

Starring Jessica Alba, Michael Weatherly, Alimi Ballard, Valarie Rae Miller, Richard Gunn, J C MacKenzie.
Alec realizes a target he fell for may still be alive. Michael Weatherly, Jensen Ackles, Kevin Durand, Valarie Rae Miller. 60 minutes- None, 2002, (CC), Stereo

I don't know about the rest of you but to me this was one of the saddest episodes i'd seen thus far. I choked out a few...ok ok I sobbed. lol Those melancholy piano songs in the background did not help at all.
Love is such a powerful emotion it was able to counterract all the training that Alec received at Manticore and make him risk everything by trying to warn Rachel and her father. It must have taken quite a few sessions at the psychotherapist to make those memories go away.
The fact that he never said I love you to any of the two girls he was "dating" at Jampony shows that he knows the importance and significance of it. The memory of Rachel probably prevents him from treating love in a disrespectful way.
All in all it was nice to see that even highly trained operatives can have their guard broken and that despite their superior genetic cocktail..they were human underneath it all.

Wonderful post I love the part about the power of love and how Alec knew the importance and significance of love.

I also love the part about the power of love. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_GATOdvKxw...E+POWER+OF+LOVE

Thank you for that

Bump

Something ran across my mind while watching Berrisford Adgenda last night - in regards to that whole Alec is Ben but Alec vs. Ben theory do you think that maybe Ben was (would have been) capable of feeling something at one point of his life for someone (Max maybe, I dunno I've been thinking on it) like Alec had felt for Rachel?

But, also now thinking on it the people from Manticore knew that Berrisford's daughter was getting emotionally attached - they assumed that Alec had no issue with this, because naturally 'nothing gets in the way of the misson', 'be a good soldier', ect.

I'd think that with Rachel that was Alec's first foot out of the box to humanistic feelings sadness, joy,ect. (non Manticore Training) especially if he was still in Manticore at the time and possibly why it hit him the way it did in the beginning of his feeling something else other than what he was trained to.

Step up on the emotional ladder? It was, but I think him seeing what happened is what caused him to draw back and hold so much in in the first place even when he was out of Manticore. So he took one step up and literally probably fell backwards flat on his back (hence why they appeared to have to 'deprogram' him in some scenes).

I really, really liked this ep, heck, I wished it would've went on for another whole hour

I watched the complete two seasons of Dark Angel a couple of years ago, and out of all of the episodes, this is the only one that really stands out in my memory. I remember the blue lighting, and Alec's first kiss with Rachel in the pool. So, why do I love this episode so much?

Jensen's performance?

'The Berrisford Agenda' is, without a question, my favorite episode on the show.

Having only 2 left to go, I'm gonna go and say ditto, I've watched this ep maybe 2 times in a week a few weeks ago.

Jensen's performance was nice, but I think really the story is what is really excellent about this episode. This episode holds a special place in my heart. Strange as that might sound, it's true.

Why strange?

I think it was one of the most, if not the most, powerful episodes on the series. What can I say, I really love this episode...

Strange to other people, people not us, people who just don't understand. People who will never understand. Outsiders who will forever be on the outside looking in.

Got it.