Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 3 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Out of Time
By M. Giant | Season 8 | Episode 24 | Aired on 05.24.2010
At 3:33:58, Jason, already in a new suit and with a bandage over his ear, meets Logan in the hallway and says that Kiefer's covered. How many hit squads do these people know, anyway? They smile and gloat, and as Taylor comes out of her office to head to the signing, Logan wishes her luck. She doesn't bother to respond as he gazes at her, and she gets on the elevator with her guard detail. For once, a closing elevator door does not trigger a ticking clock.
Logan takes Jason into his office and goes to the bar to pour them a drink and give Jason his props. "Here's to all the political capital the president is about to bank downstairs, and here's to helping her spend it," Logan says. Clink. He really thinks he's going to be the next Secretary of State, doesn't he? And maybe Jason can be the Secretary of Not Knowing What Direction Sounds Are Coming From.
In the room where the signing will take place -- no cameras or reporters, just delegates and the Secretary General -- Dalia and Suvarov exchange knowing looks as they take their places on the dais. So she knows, and he knows she knows, and she knows he knows she knows. This treaty is going to be awesome. Taylor enters, to general applause, and Tim places Taylor's new pen in its case on the podium at 3:39:02, because now he's her piss-boy or something. She shakes hands with both the other presidents, and Dalia's expression is unsurprisingly icy. Good thing there are no cameras. The Secretary General gives a little speech and then invites the three presidents up to the dais with him, one at a time. Dalia, the last one, is pretty slow to move, and for a while it looks like she isn't going to at all, but finally she does. That was almost suspenseful. SecGen does some more talking, then turns to Suvarov, giving a rather informal nod as he invites the Russian to sign first. The Russian signs "Yuri Suvarov" using the Roman alphabet, like he's just a regular guy, and it's projected on a screen overhead. All the delegates applaud. Dalia goes next, and again there's a long pause as her pen hesitates over the paper. But finally, after a very tense moment, she signs as well, also in the Roman alphabet, right under Suvarov's name. More applause. Now Taylor steps up to the podium. She opens the case containing the pen from Hassan, takes her time unscrewing the cap, and holds the nib over the paper for an even longer time than Dalia. Perhaps she's looking at the other two signatures, the names of people she threatened, blackmailed, and lied to get them there. Or maybe she's trying to move the pen with her mind. But she finally ends up capping the pen and putting it back in Dalia's hand. "Your husband wanted me to have this," she whispers. "I cannot accept it." Looks like she's keeping the case, though. It'll be perfect for keeping hairpins in. On her way back to the podium, Suvarov quietly but urgently tries to talk her down, but she insists this is something she "should have done hours ago." And I get all the criticism about how unrealistic it is that Taylor would suddenly have an about-face now, in the 24th hour, fully as a result of Kiefer's little speech. But there are pragmatic issues as well; until very recently, Dalia and Suvarov didn't know stuff about each other that they know now. Before, the treaty was only a partial sham, but now it's a complete one. She must realize it's only a matter of time before it all falls apart, and not very much time, either. And when that happens, everything's going to come out. Might as well get out in front of it. And Taylor doesn't do anything halfway.