Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Check But Not Mate
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 7 | Aired on 02.02.2009
At 2:18:53, Ethan is just getting off the phone with Moss when Tim from Homeland Security (I wish I could tell you that my failure to call him Tiny Tim before now was a conscious decision) bursts in to tell him what he already knows: shit going down in Kidron. As they take the long way around from Ethan's office through an impromptu briefing room that's being set up in the hallway, Tim reminds Ethan that they still need to get a hold of Henry. Ethan tells Tim he's working on it.
Inside the Oval Office, Taylor is fine-tuning a speech with her press secretary when Ethan and Tim arrive to boot the spokeswoman out so they can tell the Prez about Kidron. Tim commandeers Taylor's big screen to put up a map of Kidron and explain how it's about to be downwind of the world's largest can of Raid. "Even brief exposure causes severe lung damage and chemical burns to the skin," Ethan tells Taylor. You know what word would be a good shorthand for all this exposition? Bhopal. I'm just saying. Tim adds that they have less than fifteen minutes, which is not enough time to get everyone out of town, and the projections are looking like half the city's population is about to be exterminated. "Oh, dear lord," Taylor breathes. Ethan boils it down: "Right now our only chance of stopping this is finding Dubaku and the CIP device." What about giving in, Ethan? It's been a good half hour since you pushed that option.
Good thing Kiefer's working on what Ethan just suggested. At 2:21:22, he and Walker lift the ventilation unit that will allow them to crawl down into the ceiling vent directly over Dubaku's command center. Chloe tells Kiefer what she's heard about the chemical plant from listening to her FBI scanner or whatever, and advises him to hurry. "Moving as fast as we can," Kiefer assures her as he and Walker get into position. He has her pull a little scope out of the backpack he's wearing, and he pokes it through a slot in the vent, unnoticed from below. It has a little built-in camera, but Dubaku keeps it so dark down there they need to switch it to night vision. Their view of the room below shows them Nichols and three armed men, plus thee more at the consoles who are probably also armed, as he reports over comm to his compatriots. Walker spots Dubaku. Chloe can also see the scope's output on her laptop, and she suspects that the computer down there is running the CIP device. Good thing they brought along a technology expert.
At FBI-DC, Sean tells an impatient Moss that the NSA is working as fast as they can to plug the firewall. So without anything else to do, Moss goes over to Janis and gets on the extension with her while she's talking to Brunner, with whom she's now on a first-name basis. She technobabbles at him, he calls her "honey" again at 2:22:47, and tells her that they're not in control of the computer system and he's ordered an evacuation of his staff. "Normally I don't allow people to call me 'honey,' but we can discuss that later," Janis says, and he tells her to lighten up. Always good advice when you're trying to prevent an imminent disaster. As he makes his hardhatted way through the bowels of the plant, he tells her that he's going to try to manually release some pressure. It won't prevent an eventual rupture, but it might buy some time for the evacuation. "I have a thousand workers at this facility and I am responsible for their safety," he says. Well, then, John, maybe you could have sprung for a hazmat suit or two, and a couple of guys to wear them so they could do what you're about to attempt while wearing your street clothes and a paltry respirator mask. Without even a pair of goggles to his name, he lets himself into a secure room with all kinds of pipes and valves running through it. He tells Janis to stay on the line and walk him through the operating procedures, namely the emergency valve release sequence. She quickly pulls it up, because the FBI has everything, and is rather alarmed when she realizes that he's about to release a bunch of nasty-ass insecticide into the room where he's standing. He assures her he's geared up for it, but she asks, "How long will that protect you?" "Don't worry about it, honey," he tells her. Now that he's got three strikes, Janis starts giving him the directions. He's flipping switches and turning giant valve wheels, and coughing at the gas that he's causing to pour into the room. At least he can take pride in the quality of the goods he's been producing.