Episode Report Card M. Giant: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Re-Juma-nated
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 12 | Aired on 03.02.2009
At 7:39:25, Juma tells his men that their new project is to find Olivia. They scan the hostages' faces. Mayer whispers an inane question to Buchanan, and when Buchanan ignores him, he asks, "You think I made the wrong call with Bauer? You think that if I'd signed off on him torturing Burnett all of this could have been avoided?" "You don't know what I'm thinking, Senator," Buchanan finally lies. By now, Juma and his men have determined that Olivia's not among the hostages, so they'll have to go find her.
Aaron leads Olivia through a hallway, and after peeking around a corner, sees that the last of their three possible exits is covered, just like the others. Which makes three teams of Sangalan soldiers, just on the exits, in addition to the ones guarding the hostages, and the ones roving the hallways, plus one or two who have already been killed. Are Juma's men half-rabbit or something, the way they keep multiplying? Adding to Aaron and Olivia's problems is the fact that the windows are unbreakable. So they have to get a signal out through the windows of the residence somehow. Aaron tries to get her to agree to let him stash her somewhere so he can go alone but she refuses. Looks like they're staying together, then. Well, there are worse places for a First Family member to be in a crisis than with Aaron Pierce. Anywhere else in the world, for example. It's 7:41:34.At 7:45:54, Hovis shows Moss and Walker his infrared scan, but all it shows is a big blob in the middle of the building. So Juma has captured either a large number of hostages, or Jabba the Hutt. Moss asks for better resolution, but Hovis proudly says, "The White House is one of the most heavily shielded buildings in the world." Yeah, I can tell. Hovis then sends Moss and Walker over to the van, where a video conference is being set up with the Vice President.
As Moss and Walker face a giant video screen displaying the Veep's face, we learn that Kiefer isn't the only one on this show who has violated the Constitution, because the Veep is totally Australian. In fact it's Cameron Daddo, the former host of Pirate Master. He's making some kind of uneven attempt to camouflage his Aussie twang with a Southern American one, but it just comes out sounding like a cross between Gary Oldman in The Fifth Element and... well, Cameron Daddo. Moss quickly briefs the Veep on the situation, which is that Juma's got his hostages gathered outside the Roosevelt Room, and there's no reason for him to do that unless Taylor made it into the adjacent lockdown and Juma's bluffing about having captured her. And that's Moss's argument that the Veep should give the green light to storm the building. The Veep has his doubts, but Moss continues to make his case, while Walker nods supportively at his side. But the Veep is acting like he's too worried about getting Taylor killed, and insists on prudence. Walker speaks up: "Mr. Vice President, terrorists are in control of the White House. I would ask you to consider if prudence is the appropriate response in this situation." The Veep condescends to the little lady, and orders them to sit tight until further notice before cutting off the call. Walker bitches that he's covering his ass, but Moss says there's not much they can do about it. And in the Veep's secure location, his assistant tells him he made the right call. "You can't order an operation that results in the President's death and your own elevation to the job. It would be politically untenable." "Never let anyone hear you talking like that, Derek," the Veep snaps. Of course he can think it, but don't ever say it.