Episode Report Card M. Giant: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mole Patch II: Electric Whatever
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.03.2004
And here, I think, is where Soul Patch hits the point of no return. It would be hard for anyone to stand up in the face of real-time video of their spouse being threatened with torture and death, and it's hard to condemn him for his initial reaction, fueled by panic and helplessness. I'd probably do the same thing. Which is one of many, many reasons that I don't run a counter-terrorism unit with my wife as a subordinate. ["Although it's worth stating for the record that that would be one fun-ass counter-terrorism unit to work for. Anyway, please continue." -- Sars] But at this point, Soul Patch is thinking relatively clearly again, as demonstrated by the gymnastics he's about to go through for the next hour trying to keep his ass out of a sling. This show has been hammering away all season at the theme of people making huge sacrifices for the greater good, from Kyle Singer to Poor Man's Angelina Jolie to Bitchelle's shooting of the James Woods-looking guy at Inn Fection to Chappelle to Kiefer himself risking his daughter in a hare-brained swap-op, and now we learn that Soul Patch isn't on board when it's his wife's safety on the line. Furthermore, he knows perfectly well that he's not doing the right thing, which I think is why he never tells anybody what's going on. Well, that's one reason, and the fact that he has completely ruled out sacrificing Bitchelle as an option while not trusting anyone else, even Kiefer, to do the same.
But enough editorializing on that. While I've been blathering, Soul Patch has gone off into a room by himself, pulled up the surveillance satellite images of Saunders leaving the building, and deleted them. I don't know whether to be more incredulous about how easy that was, or about how the angle on the satellite appeared to be from a nearby rooftop, instead of directly overhead as satellite images must be. We'll call it a tie. Soul Patch's phone rings. It's his new boss, Saunders, who's walking around in the open, having for some reason ditched the case he was carrying at the end of the last episode. Saunders wants to be sure that Soul Patch deleted the satellite images, having neglected to ask him to do so initially. I don't know why he cares; he made sure everyone knew he was in the building before he left, and the southwest exit was the one left unguarded, so I would think he'd be prepared to give CTU credit for figuring out he went southwest. Soul Patch just wants his wife back, but Saunders isn't finished; he wants his daughter back as well. Soul Patch tells him that he expects Spawnders to arrive at CTU in five minutes. As Saunders opens an unlocked metal grate to step into a yet another abandoned building (which can't be more than a couple blocks away from his previous hideout, as he's only been walking for seven minutes), he clarifies the current terms: if Spawnders is harmed or not released when Saunders orders it, Bitchelle dies. Soul Patch is just wrapping up the call when Adam rings through on another line with the news that Palmer is calling. It would be interesting to hear what would happen if Soul Patch conferenced them in together, but that's not going to happen.
When Palmer gets on the line, he sounds pretty pissed, but he manages to keep his temper and not fire Soul Patch on the spot, even when Soul Patch can't explain how they lost Saunders. Palmer just orders tight security on Spawnders when she arrives. He's such a wuss. Soul Patch is just wasting all that sweat on his forehead.