Before ‘Fall of the House of Usher,’ Carl Lumbly Was the Backbone of ‘Alias’

The Big Picture

• Marcus Dixon’s character in Alias undergoes significant character development and moral challenges throughout the show, proving to be a steadfast advocate for justice.
• Dixon’s strong moral code is tested multiple times, particularly when faced with the betrayal of his wife’s death and having to work under the man responsible.
• Dixon serves as a source of support and reflection for Sydney, providing guidance and helping her cope with the difficulties of their espionage lifestyle.

If you tuned into the recently released Mike Flanagan Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher, then you got to see C. Auguste Dupin, played by Carl Lumbly, give impassioned arguments against Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) both inside and outside a courtroom. If you thought that the character looked familiar, you aren’t wrong. Before fighting for the U.S. government in the courtroom against the Usher family, Carl Lumbly played a character who fought for the U.S. in the field as a CIA operative. That character, of course, is Marcus Dixon from the hit TV series Alias. Created by J.J. Abrams, Alias follows Special Agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) as she works for the CIA to bring down various criminal elements — including a group she initially discovers she’s been working for, called SD-6. Alongside Bristow are several other agents, one of which is Marcus Dixon. Like the character Lumbly portrays in The Fall of the House of Usher, Dixon is steadfast with his morality and over the course of five seasons, proves to be the very backbone of Alias.

Dixon’s Morality Is Unchanging in ‘Alias,’ Even As His Job Does

Early in Alias, Marcus Dixon is introduced as a counterpart to Sydney’s fieldwork. For much of the first season, his role leans towards disposable as the show could easily replace a partner, yet wasting the talents of Lumbly on a throwaway character would be a grave mistake, and one that Alias avoids. Instead, Dixon’s character arc is fleshed out over the course of the show in very different ways. Even though he starts as a field agent, there is an entire season where Dixon serves as director of operations, eventually returning to the field solely because he wants to.

Dixon, like Sydney, initially believes he is working for the US government in taking down threats when in fact he has been working for the enemy all along. When Dixon finally learns the truth, it shatters him. To balance the immoral acts he perceived he had done, he tells his wife everything and initially refuses to work for the CIA when they offer him a job post-SD-6. His reaction to the incident of learning such a heavy truth is one that makes sense along his moral lines. He must make things right with those he loves first before himself. A strong component of Dixon’s story in Alias comes from how he deals with those he cares about and those who would do harm to them.

Dixon Is Pushed to the Limit Multiple Times in ‘Alias’

Alias may have been a cable TV show in the early 2000s, but that did not stop it from putting its characters through stressful and limit-pushing situations. For Dixon, it was no different, with the series’ plot often testing the very strict moral code that he has, the very foundations he operates on. It can be said with confidence that Alias does this to all its characters in some way. For Dixon, that means losing his wife to the very man he thought was his boss and friend, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin). It’s a revenge move after Dixon accidentally shoots Sloane’s wife in an operation to capture Sloane. This deals a significant emotional and mental blow to Dixon, where he has come face to face with the decisions that many agents in the world of Alias end up facing. Even though he’s in the room with the man who was responsible for his wife’s death, he doesn’t do what we all know he wants to. Ultimately, Dixon doesn’t allow himself to sink to the level that it would have been easy for him to reach.

In the show’s later seasons, Dixon is further tested by having to take orders from Sloane as a field agent under his direction. At first, it seems as though only Sydney is affected by the prospect of working under the very man who had betrayed her and led to the deaths of so many people. Dixon even tries to monitor Sloane to catch him doing something illegal. Dixon’s fierce adherence to his code won’t allow him to sit idly by and trust Sloane does not have some plan. Eventually, Dixon allows himself a brief respite from playing calm around Sloane to let him know that his hatred for the man is still there and that he is going to do everything he can to get Sloane brought to justice.

Dixon Is More of a Father to Sydney than Her Own Dad in ‘Alias’

Throughout the series, Marcus Dixon is often the point of reflection for Sydney when it comes to dilemmas she is having in regard to a particular mission, person, or way something is handled. Typically, it has to do with her father, Jack (Victor Garber), who time and time again has compromised his own morality, though he justifies his actions by claiming he’s trying to prevent harm from coming to Sydney. It is these instances, where Sydney can confide in Dixon, that demonstrate the character’s importance to the greater structure of Alias. The periodic check-ins between Dixon and Sydney are important to the show, as they allow us to see the toll the life of an espionage agent has on the characters.

Sydney often turns to Dixon while struggling to cope with the weight or implications of a situation she is in. Oftentimes, it has to do with a revelation about her father or Jack’s continued support of Sloane, even though he has done worse things than many enemies they face. In Season 4, Sydney even asks Dixon how he can manage to work under Sloane knowing he was the one responsible for his wife’s death. Dixon takes a hard stance — monitoring Sloane so closely and catching him in whatever endgame he’s planning is what will eventually stop him and send him back to prison. This perspective Dixon gives to Sydney helps her cope with her own difficulty keeping her cool.

In a show so full of heinous crimes and villains with downright sociopathic behavior, it is necessary to have a strong advocate for good to remind the viewers that there is always a force pushing against them. No stronger example exists in Alias than Marcus Dixon, who continuously sticks to his moral code even when pushed just about as far as anyone can be. That relentless pursuit of justice is exactly what we’re reminded of in a more indirect way when watching Lumbly’s phenomenal performance in The Fall of the House of Usher.

Alias can be streamed on Disney+ in the U.S.

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