Eric Weiss

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For the magician Ehrich Weiss, see Harry Houdini
Alias character
Eric Weiss
Gender Male
Affiliation(s) NSC
CIA
APO
Internet Church of Mammals
Held ranks NSC Covert Operations Coordinator
APO field agent
CIA field agent
Exalted Minister
Known relatives None Confirmed
Portrayed by Greg Grunberg

Eric Weiss, played by Greg Grunberg, is one of Sydney Bristow's CIA co-workers on the television series, Alias.

[edit] Biography

Eric Weiss is a field agent at the CIA. He is a friend of most of the people at the CIA and often gives advice to the other characters, as an outside observer to all of the personal goings-on at the CIA. Weiss has a wry and sarcastic sense of humor which often comes out in his observations.

He initially served as a humorous foil and sounding board for Michael Vaughn in the first season, but with the integration of the former members of SD-6 and the CIA, he gives advice to many of the other characters, including Sydney and Marshall Flinkman.

When Marshall's fiancée, Carrie Bowman, went into labor at CIA headquarters, she insisted on being married before the baby was born. Marshall quickly accessed the website for the dubious "Internet Church of Mammals" and obtained for Weiss the post of "Exalted Minister", which allowed him to officiate at the impromptu wedding.

Weiss was the only member of Sydney's CIA "family" who wasn't recruited into the black-ops division of the CIA, dubbed "APO," at the start of the fourth season, but this was soon rectified when he learned of the existence of APO during a mission in the third episode of the season.

Although there was the potential of a relationship beginning with Sydney Bristow during the third season, nothing developed. At the start of the fourth season, Weiss began a relationship with Sydney's half-sister, Nadia Santos.

In the second episode of the fifth season: "...1..." Eric Weiss was offered a job coordinating covert operations for the NSC, which was only a "few steps from the President"; at the end of the episode Weiss accepted the promotion and left the series. The character returned one final time in "S.O.S" when he used his high ranking position to extract a team of APO agents who had infiltrated CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

In one episode he is heard speaking Dutch while on the telephone. He also speaks Spanish and French.

[edit] Trivia

  • Eric Weiss is a descendant of Harry Houdini (whose real name was Ehrich Weiss {or Weisz}). He mentions this to Will Tippin, who recognized the name, and to Nadia Santos as he's performing some sleight of hand to impress her.
  • Although Weiss is a recurring character in the first season of Alias, Greg Grunberg's name, for unexplained reasons, does not appear at all in the guest credits of each episode he appeared in during that season.

[edit] External links

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