Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Plot Quickens
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 11 | Aired on 03.05.2006
Curtis is already with his tactical team in the back of a CTU SWAT van on its way to the hospital. He's also on the phone to the hospital's Chief of Security, a guy named Wegman, who has apparently already been briefed. At 5:30:20, Curtis tells Wegman to seal off the sub-basement to deny the terrorists access to the ventilation units. Curtis asks how long the hospital's evacuation will take; Wegman tells him that what with the 600 patients, many of whom can't leave under their own steam, it's going to be an hour or two. Curtis says they don't have much time, and tells Wegman to do whatever he needs to do to clear the place out in a half hour or less. Wegman hangs up and stands there, watching the evacuation flow past him and wondering how he might go about tipping the entire hospital up on its side.
Mrs. Henderson is being played by JoBeth Williams, who looks pretty good for someone who's pushing sixty. She's busy in the kitchen when Kiefer menaces into view in the doorway behind her and murmurs, "Hello, Miriam." Startled, she turns and gives a pretty convincing reading of, "My God! We thought you were dead!" I assume she means as of a year and a half ago, not as of a half hour ago. Because that would be kind of a giveaway. Kiefer isn't interested in pleasantries, though, and he asks where her husband is. Miriam starts looking worried when she spots the gun in Kiefer's hand, although it's not leveled at her yet and she's the one who knows where all the sharp knives are. Kiefer's being all quiet and dangerous, and not at all responsive to Miriam's entreaties to tell her what's going on. And relations don't exactly improve when he finally raises his gun at her face and demands to be shown to Henderson's computer. Miriam still isn't saying anything, so Kiefer tells her all about Henderson's deal to help the terrorists acquire nerve gas. Miriam denies the very possibility, until Kiefer tells her that Henderson "tried to kill me less than an hour ago." For some reason, that's the line that causes Miriam to break her eye-lock with Kiefer and steal a glance toward the next room, where the family computer is set up on a desk in plain view. Why just look for yourself when you can intimidate your hostess, after all? Kiefer shepherds her in that direction at 5:32:20 and tells her to park it on the living room couch. She obeys, saying that he doesn't need the gun. "You're not going to shoot me," she errs. But for now, Kiefer holsters his gun, unslings his man-purse, and heads right over to the computer, which is on a desk right there in the living room. This house must be smaller than I thought. As he starts tapping away, he says, "Chloe, it's Jack," which is apparently enough to initiate a phone call. Why don't they just give up and start making him wear a Star Trek communicator pin all the time? He tells Chloe that he's going to need her help getting into Henderson's hard drive. Uh, try starting with "My Documents," Kiefer. Not everything has to be so hard all the time.
Aaron comes to see FLOTUS, just as requested. Looks like he's back on duty, because there's that familiar wire coming out of his ear. I was under the impression that Secret Service agents who save their subjects and almost get blown up in the line of duty would at least get a dinner break afterward. The two of them are alone in her suite as she thanks him for saving her life. "Well, you're welcome," Aaron says blandly, rather than complaining about her putting his life in danger by not warning him about the attack she knew was coming. But FLOTUS has more to say: "The country's lucky to have men like you. I'm lucky. I hope you'll allow me to say that." That looks like a fairly innocuous line as written, but FLOTUS somehow manages to infuse it with weapons-grade sex-voodoo. Aaron looks like he'd allow her to do just about anything right about now. Except kiss him on the lips, and that's only because he doesn't have any. And then a deep voice from the doorway softly says, "Mrs. Logan." Aaron jerks his hand away like she's even hotter than she is as Novick enters, dismissing Aaron and saying that Logan wants to talk to her. FLOTUS reiterates that she isn't interested, and when Novick offers to convey as much to Logan, she flatly says, "You can convey whatever you want, Mike." Novick conveys his detached testicles right on out of there.