Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | 1 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Manning Down
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 4 | Aired on 01.14.2007
Kiefer's back on the road, riding in the shotgun seat of Curtis's CTUmobile. Mom's 911 call has already worked its way through the system to CTU, and at 9:21:05, Buchanan's calling Kiefer to give him a heads-up. Kiefer tells Buchanan to patch the call in, and a moment later, Kiefer's talking to Mom. She quickly tells Kiefer her story, mentioning the package. She's got a pretty incomplete picture of the situation, but as soon as she drops the name "Fayed," she's got Kiefer's full attention. Trouble is, Mom says that Dad's not carrying a cell phone, and she doesn't know where he's taking the package. This is all beside the point to her, though; she just wants her son safe. Or so she claims. Kiefer says that they'll do what they can. After she drops off the call, Kiefer asks Buchanan where Mom lives. "Why didn't you ask her?" Buchanan doesn't say. Kiefer is given a location in Grenada Hills, and asks where the nearest TAC team is to that area. Wouldn't you know it, it's Curtis's team. Kiefer says that they're on their way. After he hangs up, he tells Curtis where they need to go, but Curtis protests, "We can't take him on a tactical mission." "Him" is, of course, Assad, who's sitting right there in the back seat. "We may need him when we get there," says Kiefer. Curtis isn't happy about it, but he gets on his earpiece and tells his guys to head to Grenada Hills.
In the Oval Office, Wayne is taking a meeting with the ambassador of some unnamed Middle Eastern country. Karen, Tom, and several other staffers are also in the room. Wayne is quick to get to the point, asking if the Ambassador thinks Assad is telling the truth about wanting to hang up his bombs and enter negotiations. The Ambassador thinks so. Tom wonders if Assad has enough pull to bring many organizations into line. The Ambassador says, "Assad's reputation is such that many of them -- not all of them, by any means, but a substantial number -- would follow his lead." Even though most terrorists don't recognize Assad when they're riding in a tiny little car with him. End of meeting. After the Ambassador has been shown out, Karen advises Wayne that they need to lock in Assad's cooperation. Tom, on the other hand, leans more in Curtis's direction: "I have a problem forming a partnership with a man who has been responsible for the deaths of so many innocents," he speechifies. Because Tom would much prefer it if "so many innocents" were simply locked up. Wayne thinks for a second, and then asks them to get Kiefer on the phone.