Episode Report Card Kim: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Frame
By Kim | Season 3 | Episode 17 | Aired on 03.27.2004
Ops Center. Dixon gives a presentation telling everyone that they tracked Bomani's trucks to the Russian Consulate in Gaborone (the capital of Botswana, and yes, I looked it up). The Consulate General has strong Covenant ties. The team will arrive during a state event, and should proceed to the second floor where Sark and Bomani are analyzing the map. Man, that Sark is just a world traveler. Imagine his frequent flyer miles! I bet he upgrades to first class all the time. Dixon explains that the second floor is like a vault. Syd will go in undercover (of course) pretending to be a Russian fashion designer, and Vaughn and Weiss will run backup. ["Anyone else wish Weiss had gone in as the Russian fashion designer? Because…hee? Just me, then? Okay." -- Sars]
Gaborone. Vaughn and Weiss hang out in a delivery truck outside the Embassy while Syd enters the party. Oh, dear. Syd is wearing a wig of short, red, crimped hair and an emerald green dress. She looks like bizarro-Annie. Spy Annie! It's a hard-knock life, indeed. Syd spots the Consulate General.
Flashback to Marshall explaining that Syd's necklace is actually a recording device. The elevators in the embassy are operated by spoken password (which is "mockingbird," in Russian), so Syd will record the Consulate General's voice. Vaughn is all, "How's she going to get him to say 'mockingbird'?" I imagined she would just start singing the James Taylor/Carly Simon duet of the same name and hope he joins in. But, no. Marshall explains that she just has to get the CG's voice recorded, and they can piece together the password from fragments of his speech.
Syd sashays up to the CG and compliments his contributions to couture. I promise to never use that much alliteration in one sentence again. The CG apologizes for the hoarseness of his voice, explaining that he cheered too much at his son's soccer game. In the van, Weiss worries that the software won't work. Syd walks off, and Vaughn radios that he's on the way in. As Vaughn picks up a tray with two champagne bottles, Weiss promises to upload the password to Vaughn shortly.
Upstairs, Sark and Bomani are trying to pinpoint the location of the keys. Bomani promises that they'll have the location by the next day. Meanwhile, Vaughn has entered the party and catches Syd's eye. She follows him to the elevator and grabs his champagne bottles. Get your minds out of the gutter. Syd tells Vaughn about the security she's seen as they enter the elevator. Syd opens the false bottom on the champagne bottle and pulls out a gun and some ammo. I was wondering what that was about. Vaughn attaches a device to the control panel, and Weiss tries to play back the CG's voice speaking the password. It doesn't work. Weiss scrambles to fix the problem. Syd hands Vaughn a loaded gun. They try the password again, but it's still not working. Weiss announces that a guard is approaching from the south. Syd and Vaughn prepare to be made, but at the last minute, Weiss gets the password to work, and the elevator doors slide shut.