Episode Report Card M. Giant: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT If We Only Had the Nerve Gas
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 6 | Aired on 01.29.2006
CTU. "Feed's up," says Curtis. And so is Curtis's role in this week's episode. Thanks for stopping by, Curt. Both the CTU big screen and the Not Camp David Sit Room monitor are now showing a live feed of helmeted and armored agents moving in on the cargo container. It's 12:57:12 as Buchanan reminds the agents not to fire their weapons unless absolutely necessary. "If a bullet reaches one of those canisters, we'll have a massive casualty situation." The lead agent acknowledges the order. And here I have to say that I thought the whole operation was about to go completely pear-shaped and the gas was about to be released, simply because Kiefer wasn't around to breathe any of it. But it's about to play out a little differently. The agents carefully but quickly move in, surrounding the cargo container with guns drawn. Everyone watches nervously as a splitscreen goes into effect. Oops, there's Curtis again, doubling his screen time this episode. Don't wear out your welcome, dude. The agents prepare to open the container door, and the lead agent orders his men to put on their gas masks. They do, but they're just mouth-and-nose rebreathers that probably wouldn't provide a whole lot of protection. These guys don't even have long sleeves on. They flood into the container, and get all the way to the back of it before encountering a figure sitting with its back to them. The lead agent orders, "Don't move! Put your hands in the air!" Make up your mind! It's moot anyway, because there's blood dripping from one of the man's hands onto the floor. The agent quickly confirms that Yellow Tie's truck driver -- for it is he -- is really and truly most sincerely dead, and orders his men to open up all of the crates in the container. But when the metal lids come off, all they reveal is empty foam-rubber slots where the canisters are supposed to be. Those things are getting less protected every hour. The lead CBP agent reports that there are no gas canisters there, like, we can see that, Agent Obvious.
At Not Camp David, Kiefer roars at the nearest Secret Service agent, "Get Walt Cummings in here now!" "Dammit!" Logan curses. And that's all the time it takes for Walt to be led right into the Situation Room, looking beat up and disheveled with a bruise under his right eye. Kiefer accuses, "The nerve gas isn't there." Walt seems genuinely confused, until he looks at the live feed on the monitor and recognizes the dead truck driver. "That's the man we had inside," he says worriedly. "They must have found out we reprogrammed the detonators." Kiefer looks at Walt in horror.
And then the actual end-of-episode splitscreen begins. Kiefer, CTU, Walt, and Logan look worried, while FLOTUS heads back to her quarters like the queen bee she once again is. Derek and Diane are on their way home, or at least back to where Diane's car is parked. I was kind of expecting them to be dead by now. And Yellow Tie rides in a truck with his crew as he dials a cell phone.