Episode Report Card M. Giant: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Do-Over
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 10 | Aired on 02.23.2009
At 5:54:22, Taylor meets Buchanan in the hallway to hear the good news. Buchanan tells her about the database Kiefer recovered, with the names of all of Dubaku's government moles. "Close to a hundred people. Across all agencies. Some at very high levels." Yeah, Ethan. Buchanan says this is exactly what they've been looking for. He's so excited about it he's barely grinding his teeth at all. "We can finally put an end to this conspiracy," he tells her, less than three hours after she heard about it in the first place. Buchanan says that Moss has already found two moles in the FBI. "He's confident the Bureau is secure." Well, except for that guy who helped Tanner get out of the Columbia building, but that was hours ago. He's probably retired by now. Pleased, Taylor asks what's next, and Buchanan says arrests will begin within the hour. As they reach the Oval Office, Taylor tries to express her gratitude to Buchanan "There are a lot of people to thank," he deflects. "Including Jack Bauer." He reminds Taylor that Kiefer is supposed to be back in front of the Senate Subcommittee the next day for a fresh grilling, and he'd like Taylor to call off Senator Mayer. "Jack Bauer helped save this country," Buchanan says. "He doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison." Oh, I see, for a minute I thought Buchanan was trying to protect Mayer. I can't imagine he'd get the best of that rematch. Taylor says she'll need to think about it, which is all Buchanan asks.
At 5:56:13, Kiefer lounges on the steps of the National Mall with the Capitol building behind him, watching the reddening sky and the wonks walking around like a pair of airplanes weren't recently dropped on them. The Washington Monument looms phallicly in the distance. Kiefer allows himself to enjoy the moment, crinkling his eyes down at his shoes. Sure, his best suit is in a trash bin, and he never even addressed his latest romantic prospect as anything other than "Agent Walker," and a lot of people are dead, and he's still going to have to go back to that Subcommittee in the morning. But on the other hand he just neutralized a terror threat, defused an international crisis, and flushed out a government conspiracy in something like a standard business day, and now he's actually going to have a chance to try out this "sleep" thing he's been hearing about. But with fourteen hours, three minutes, and thirty seconds left in the season, you and I know it's not going to happen.