Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 1 USERS: C- YOU GRADE IT Dead Boss Walking
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 18 | Aired on 04.17.2004
6:30:25. A guy in a suit sneaks into a dark bedroom, looking guilty. I assume this is Bill from Hill. Hey, it's Gavin Price! A blonde in the bed reaches up and turns on a bedside lamp while he tries not to look too busted. She asks where he's been. He bounces some lame excuses about a client meeting and how he thought she knew he wouldn't come home if it went too late, and he didn't call her because he didn't want to wake her up. I'd almost believe the middle part, considering that it took him more than two hours to get home from Inn Fection. Does he commute by unicycle? During this whole time, he doesn't come near her, presumably because he knows he reeks of forbidden poontang. Mrs. Bill from Hill seems a little suspicious, especially when Bill from Hill goes straight into the attached bathroom, but she doesn't say another word. He looks in the mirror. This actor has always oozed smug smarm from every pore, but at the moment he seems more concerned about the fact that he's just started oozing blood from his nose. Uh-oh.
At CTU, Potato Face calls Kiefer and Soul Patch over; she's cracked the encryption protecting Saunders's data. Kiefer tells her to look for an address, and the camera pans over to that random blonde chick with the bad haircut and -- sweet Christ, it's Spawn! In a suit! At a desk! What have they done to her? Sorry, I'm back. The document in question is Saunders's financial records, and somehow it proves that Saunders was at an apartment five minutes from CTU no more than forty-five minutes ago. Well, that's lucky. Special Agent Charlie Brown's strike team gets to go ahead, but Kiefer warns, "Tell him not go in hard; Saunders can't see us coming." I'm not saying a word. Kiefer congratulates everyone, then dashes to Chappelle's holding room to break the news. Chappelle pulls Kiefer into a relieved hug. You know, Gustave wrote about how Chappelle never gets to actually punish anyone. Going by Kiefer's weirded-out reaction now and Bitchelle's several episodes ago, maybe Chappelle should start disciplining people by hugging them. Then in Season Four we could look forward to tense dialogue like, "If you disobey a direct order, Chappelle's going to squeeze you like a zit." That's assuming Chappelle is still alive at the end of this episode, which, as Kiefer reminds us, is not yet certain. He still wants Chappelle to come with him to the train yard just in case they don't get Saunders after all. Chappelle looks less relieved, but he agrees to accompany Kiefer to the helipad. As they walk through the office full of coworkers who are either unaware of or incurious about Chappelle's brief period of confinement, Potato Face mentions that Division called to confirm Chappelle's three o'clock briefing. "Is that still good?" she asks. "Sure," Chappelle says, as casually as he can. Hey, Chappelle, I don't think you're going to be able to take that anvil on the helicopter. Spawn watches them blankly. They walk out the door at 6:33:06.
A guy comes into the office with Palmer and Brother Palmer, saying he's starting to get calls from the Los Angeles Times about what's going on at Inn Fection. His assessment is that the reporter was fishing. I guess this guy must be Palmer's press secretary. Palmer and Brother Palmer agree that Poor Man's Scott McClellan will be better able to handle the press if he knows what's going on. That guy? He looks like he would have trouble handling a moderately aggressive telemarketer. But Palmer didn't listen to me the first two seasons, and he isn't about to start now. They bring him into the loop. Brother Palmer watches his reaction closely, or perhaps he's trying to get Poor Man's Scott McClellan to tell him how pretty he is. Poor Man's Scott McClellan swallows hard and goes back out to face the voracious news media, which is barely even nibbling yet. I smell a weak link. The V-I-R-U-S may not be the only thing that's about to get out.