Francie Calfo

Francie Calfo
Alias character
Merrin Dungey as Francie Calfo
Portrayed by	Merrin Dungey
Information
Gender	Female

Francine "Francie" Calfo is a fictional character on the television series Alias, portrayed by Merrin Dungey. She is lead character Sydney Bristow's close friend.

Character biography

Francie is Sydney Bristow's best friend and roommate as the series begins, and during the first two seasons Sydney struggles to keep her espionage lifestyle hidden from her closest friends. Francie acts as an occasional sounding board and confidante for some of Sydney's personal issues, and eventually decides to open a restaurant and become romantically involved with her friend, Will Tippin.

Allison Doren

After the fall of SD-6, a genetic doppelganger named Allison Doren kills Francie in the Season 2 episode "Phase One" (January 26, 2003) and assumes her identity. Under orders from Arvin Sloane, Allison bugs Sydney's apartment, hypnotically interrogates Will, plants eavesdropping devices on Michael Vaughn, and murders Marcus Dixon's wife.

At the end of the second season, Will discovers Allison is not Francie. He attempts to warn Sydney by leaving a frantic voicemail message on her phone, when he is suddenly attacked by Allison, who attempts to strangle him. After failing to kill him, Will corners her with a knife and demands, "It's always been you? Allison?" Allison expresses remorse at what was happening, as she had apparently developed feelings for him during the months she spent posing as Francie. Allison knocks the knife away from Will, takes it, and stabs him with it. She hides Will's body in the bathtub shortly before Sydney arrives home.

Once home, Sydney relaxes on the couch beside Allison, checking her voicemail. She receives Will's message and manages to retain her composure, casually offering Allison ice cream, which Allison accepts. Sydney then excuses herself, hastily making her way to her bedroom to get a weapon, somehow realizing Will was right and "Francie" was a double. Allison appears in the doorway and reveals her mistake, "I just remembered. Francie doesn't like coffee ice cream," to which Sydney replies, "No, she doesn't."

The two engage in a desperate, brutal fight throughout the house during which most of the furniture and possessions are either utilized as weapons or destroyed. During the fight Sydney finds Will's body in the bathroom, although she later learns he survived Allison's attack. The fight ends when Sydney manages to shoot Allison three times, once in the arm and twice in the chest.

Despite apparently dying, Allison is recovered by the Covenant and nursed back to health, turning up in the third season. Sydney confronts her in Sofia and shoots her. Allison heals rapidly and escapes from an ambulance transporting her to a hospital. Later, Will finds and confronts her, stabbing and killing her, in exactly the same manner as she had once stabbed him, as to avenge Francie.

Francie appears in a brief flashback in the series finale, where it is learned Sydney met her first fiancé, Danny Hecht, through Francie and her boyfriend.

Notes

The character shares a name with a onetime vice president in charge of drama series development at Touchstone Television,^[1] who currently works for Imagine Entertainment.^[2] Alias is among the series the real-life Calfo once oversaw in her earlier position.

References