Episode Report Card M. Giant: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Do You Have the Stomach For It?
By M. Giant | Season 8 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.10.2010
Kiefer wakes up Tokarev with some handy smelling salts for round two, and this time he pulls out his knife. He says he already knows Tokarev killed Walker. "What I want to know is the name of the Russian pig inside your government that gave the order." To emphasize the point, he's also using his knife to vandalize the Kremlin, or rather the tattoo of it on Tokarev's torso. "Give me a name and I'll end this quickly, I give you my word," Kiefer offers. Tokarev just spits in his face. Kiefer wipes away the bloody sputum and picks up an unlabeled bottle of liquid. Lighter fluid, maybe? "You think you know about pain?" he asks, starting to squirt the stuff into Tokarev's wounds while his victim screams louder than ever. "You don't know anything yet." Tokarev is looking like a mighty quick study, though. Kiefer continues squirting, repeating his demand. Tokarev isn't giving anything up, even when Kiefer comes at him with a blowtorch. "You people are so stupid," Kiefer says. "Renee Walker was no threat to you. Her work was finished. She was done. We were out. All you had to do was leave us alone. Why? Why couldn't you just leave us alone?" When there's no answer, Kiefer applies the blowtorch to Tokarev's body. The good news for him is that I think we've just ruled out lighter fluid. Kiefer keeps repeating his question through the wisps of man-smoke rising between their faces. "Did it on my own," Tokarev claims, barely able to speak. Kiefer knows that's a lie, but he's still getting nowhere, and he retreats to his workbench to regroup. "This isn't working," he whispers to it. You think?
Then his eye falls on the phone Tokarev dropped earlier, still lying in sections on the table. He grabs it and demands, "Where's the SIM card for your phone?" Tokarev doesn't answer that, either. It's nowhere in sight, and after casting vainly about on the floor for a bit, Kiefer realizes, "You dumb bastard, you swallowed it." He stomps back over, whips out his knife, and whispers. "This is for my friend." And he proceeds to open him right up where he stands.
Why doesn't this bother me more? I mean, obviously it's hideous and repugnant, but it's also obvious that there's no attempt to ascribe any kind of heroic motive to Kiefer's actions here. He's crossing a line he's never crossed before, giving his sadism free rein, and he's doing it for revenge. But at least this time he knows it. All of the arguments he's used to justify torture over the years aren't going to apply this time, and he's got to realize that, even as far gone as he is. Yes, he's back to his old torturing ways, only much worse. But at least now he isn't doing it for me.