Renée Rienne (real name Renée Goursaud, alias ''Le Corbeau'', "The Raven") is a fictional character in the
spy-fi television series ''
Alias''. Played by
Élodie Bouchez, she was introduced as a new character for the
fifth season. Bouchez appears in the opening credit sequence during the first half of the fifth season; beginning with "S.O.S." Bouchez and her character were removed from the opening and listed as a special guest star.
Character biography
Rienne is number eight on the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
's most wanted list. She worked secretly with
Michael Vaughn for seven years. When she first approached Vaughn, she told him that his father Bill worked with her father on a project:
Prophet Five. Renee has been responsible for numerous crimes, including the assassination of a Turkish interior minister, the deaths of three CIA agents in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, an attack on a CIA listening post in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, the theft of a cryogenic container from the Department of Special Research, and the infiltration of a US Army facility in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
In "
Out of the Box" some details of her past are revealed. She was frequently ill as a child. Her father, Luc Goursaud, was a test subject of Prophet Five until learning something which frightened him. He took Rienne and fled, but was later taken from Rienne as she watched from hiding. She swore to take revenge on
Prophet Five.
Many years later, Rienne stole a cryogenic container believing it contained her father. When opened, it instead disgorged Prophet Five researcher Doctor Aldo Desantis, who had worked with Renée's father. Desantis has been transformed, possibly by Project Helix technology, into a duplicate of Luc Goursaud. Sydney exposed him as an impostor and Desantis was extracted by
Gordon Dean.
Rienne continued to work unofficially with
APO. In the episode "
The Horizon", she assisted
Jack Bristow
Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow, played by Victor Garber, is a fictional character of the ABC television series '' Alias''. He is the father of the central character Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner.
For playing the character, Garber ...
(albeit unsuccessfully) in trying to rescue Sydney from her Prophet Five kidnappers. During this mission, she executed Desantis, who was involved in the kidnapping, on the orders of Jack. In the episode "
Maternal Instinct", she worked with
Marcus Dixon to obtain information regarding a classified
SD-6
The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''.
Alliance of Twelve
The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional international organized crime group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of intelligen ...
mission.
In the episode "
30 Seconds", Sydney offered her a position at APO, but Renée refused because she preferred to work according to her own schedule and she trusted very few people. She is later killed by
Anna Espinosa
The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''.
Overview Main characters
Recurring characters
McKenas Cole
McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
, who altered her appearance and was posing as
Sydney Bristow
Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series '' Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who thought she was working as a spy for the ...
.
A subsequent autopsy of Renée recovered an incomplete microchip, hidden in her body for at least thirty years. It was marked with the name "Andre Micheaux", Vaughn's real name. The other half, hidden inside Vaughn, was marked "Renée Goursaud", Renée Rienne's real name. The completed microchip revealed the location of a nuclear fallout shelter containing research on Prophet Five compiled by Bill Vaughn and Luc Goursaud.
Reception
According to Jennifer Young, Rienne adds to the "show's setting of global diversity."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renee Rienne
Alias (TV series) characters
Television characters introduced in 2005
Female characters in television