Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT Dead Boss Walking
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 18 | Aired on 2004.04.18
Chappelle, of course, hears this all on the chopper's headset. He doesn't say a word. Paul Schulze barely moves, and yet he does a great job of conveying just how profoundly it sucks to be Chappelle at this particular moment. Kiefer slowly takes off his headset, and Chappelle follows suit. They just sit there for a minute, staring straight ahead, knowing their one shot is over and they blew it. Time's up. The clock appears at the bottom of the screen, showing 6:47:02, just in case anyone gets the idea that they're going to try and find Saunders all over again in thirteen minutes. Kiefer's cell phone goes off. It's Saunders: "You underestimate me, Kiefer." Wow, so did I. I didn't think Saunders knew Kiefer was going to be the one to kill Chappelle. In fact the only people who did know are Kiefer, Chappelle, Soul Patch, Palmer, and Brother Palmer. Either this is sloppy plotting, or Saunders is hacked into CTU's communications, or one of those five people is a mole. And I think we can rule out Chappelle. Instead of asking Saunders how he got his information, Kiefer asks why Chappelle has to die, now that it's clear that Chappelle's line of investigation was a dead end all along. Chappelle's ears prick up when he realizes whom Kiefer is talking to; he's obviously clinging to some hope for a reprieve. Saunders doesn't explain his motives. He simply instructs Kiefer to leave Chappelle's body with the driver of a van that will be arriving shortly. Kiefer mustn't try to follow that van, or Saunders will release the V-I-R-U-S. Learn a new tune, will you, Saunders? He hangs up on Kiefer, and Chappelle can tell that nothing's changed. It's 6:48:27.
6:52:50. Chappelle faces his mortality, Kiefer faces his failure, Inn Fection guests bleed into their handkerchiefs, and a hazmatician schleps a silver briefcase into the isolation area. She sets the case down on a table and opens it so everyone can see what's inside. It's the suicide pills. The hazmatician offers them up while Bitchelle stands by. There are no takers for several seconds, and then an older couple makes their way to the front. The man's walking behind the woman with his hands on her shoulders so it looks like he's steering her, which under the circumstances is a little creepy. They get their party favors and step aside. We don't see them take the pills. Middle-Aged Elijah Wood is next. I'm sure Bitchelle would love to stand and watch this all day, but Miller comes by to tell her that the fingerprint they found allowed them to narrow the field of potential Bills from Hill to twelve men. Kathy's paging through electronic mug shots of them as we speak. Miller leads Bitchelle to Kathy just as a photo of Bill from Hill pops up on the monitor. Kathy fingers him, perhaps not for the first time. "Find him," Bitchelle snaps at Miller.