Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Swap Meet
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.22.2007
Morris answers his desk phone and finds Doyle on the other end. After a very short conversation, he hops up to tell Buchanan that Doyle found the KieferMobile. "Good," Buchanan says, and keeps walking. Morris only now notices the guards flanking Buchanan. To Nadia, who has just drifted up in Buchanan's wake, Morris asks, "What's happening to Buchanan?" Nadia says that Buchanan's gone and she's in charge. Then she steps into the middle of the floor to make the official announcement: Buchanan has stepped down, and Nadia's acting director. She says that nothing else is changing; they still need to get Kiefer before he can give the component to the Chinese. Hey, maybe now that Nadia's the boss, she can finally afford to buy herself a suit that fits. It's 12:47:13.
12:51:34. Doyle has gotten into Kiefer's truck and is raiding its stores for a live comm earpiece and a handgun with an ammo clip. Over the earpiece, he tells CTU that he's found the truck (which they've known for four minutes) and he's going to check out the buildings nearby. Nadia's about to have Chloe check the infrared satellite to see if that smokin' hot Kiefer shows up, but Doyle tells them not to bother. As he ducks into some bushes for cover, he notices a stretch limo coming up the road. Doyle calls for backup, so Nadia has Morris send two CTU field teams and three CTU helicopters.
From inside the hotel, Kiefer watches the limo pull up and Cheng get out of the back seat. "Cheng just left the car," Doyle tells CTU and any blind audience members. At 12:53:02, Cheng walks into the building alone and apparently unarmed. "That's far enough," Kiefer grunts. "Mr. Bauer!" Cheng smiles, since he hasn't seen Kiefer for a good eighteen hours. Kiefer asks where Audrey is, and Cheng says that she's still in the car. Kiefer says that nothing is going to happen until he sees Audrey and is satisfied that she's all right. Cheng slowly pulls a walkie-talkie out of his coat pocket and speaks Mandarin (or Cantonese, or Afrikaans) into it. The back of the limo opens again, and this time Audrey gets out with a thug at each elbow. The three figures start walking toward the building. Doyle whispers to CTU, "Audrey Raines is entering the premises. I think I'm gonna need that backup." No shit. Inside, Kiefer watches Audrey walk in. She seems to be wearing Kiefer's old pajamas, accessorized with a heavy, oversized jacket so shapeless that I initially mistook it for a blanket. Her hands are free, but she's got a black cotton gag in her mouth. She goes to Cheng like an obedient pet. Kiefer angrily tells Cheng to remove the gag. Cheng moves to comply, but Kiefer suddenly changes his mind: "I'll do it." Does either of them not see that Audrey's hands are free? Cheng sends Audrey over to Kiefer with a gesture and a word in Mandarin, and Kiefer gently removes the gag that Audrey could have taken out at any time. She's really kind of flinchy, even at Kiefer's touch. "I'm so sorry," he whispers, caressing her face gently. Audrey doesn't have much of a reaction, or anything at all to say. Cheng tells Kiefer to save it for later, and demands the circuit board. Kiefer says that Audrey's going to leave by herself, and then he'll give Cheng the component when she's out of range of Cheng's snipers. Apparently, Kiefer can see the split screen windows that are showing us more of Cheng's men are taking up positions around the outside of the building. None of them notice Doyle, who whispers to CTU, "There's at least ten guns. I need the field teams!" Back inside, Cheng's ready to make the trade already. Kiefer leans in close to Audrey and whispers instructions to her to walk a short way up the road to a cab that's waiting to take her to CTU. Good thing he remembered to call the taxi company, or she'd have a much longer walk ahead of her.